Ecommerce websites have changed the world of marketing…to the better! You can now buy almost everything online; from cars to food, saving you both time and energy, but how exactly does it work?
When you include a marketplace in your website, you will have two goals:
1.Selling goods
2.Having the money deposited safely into your account
Most companies prefer adding an online store as part of their marketing goals, though there can be some disadvantages to having one, it is much preferred by businesses all over the world.
In this blog I will explain a little bit about Ecommerce websites, and then list down some so the most popular and well preferred payment gateways, their pros & cons and benefits according to Nate Woodbury from gowallaby, who explains it perfectly in a video which I will put at the end of this blog. Stay tuned!
The shopping cart
The shopping cart makes the purchase process easier for your customer (add to cart, buy now…etc.)
Before the invention of the shopping cart, purchasing was a little more complex, you would have to display the product along with its price and give the customer your contact details to carry out the purchase. But with a shopping cart, customers can simply click and enter their information ready for the purchase, making the who process more straightforward.
The shopping cart makes the purchase process easier for your customer (add to cart, buy now…etc.)
Before the invention of the shopping cart, purchasing was a little more complex, you would have to display the product along with its price and give the customer your contact details to carry out the purchase. But with a shopping cart, customers can simply click and enter their information ready for the purchase, making the who process more straightforward.
SSL Certificate
What is an SSL certificate?
SSL certificates are small data fragments that combine a cryptographic key to your personal details ensuring a secure platform for customers to enter their billing information and credit card numbers ready for a purchase.
Purchase process
Once a customer enters their billing information and credit card number, we have the payment gateway, where their credit card is processed and is either approved or declined. When a credit card is approved, the money will be withdrawn from the credit card and imported to your merchant account and then to your bank account.
What is a merchant account?
A merchant account is a bank account made special for receiving credit card funds.
What payment gateway should I use?
In order to find a suitable payment gateway for your store, a good idea would be to deploy one that is inexpensive and simple to use.
Pros:
PayPal is well known for its ease of use and simple set-up, that’s what makes it so popular. It is free and you only pay for the transaction taking place. PayPal provides full security to customers as they only have to enter their information once without disclosing it online ever again. PayPal also allows you to enter a variety of accounts so you don’t have to worry about having your card declines, shop to your heart’s content!
Cons:
Where there are pros, there are almost always cons. Due to the popularity of PayPal, thieves and hackers can practice their evil on your account making you a victim of fraud. A good idea to prevent this would be to not link it to your bank account and to check up on your PayPal account every now and then to track any suspicious activity.
Benefits of using PayPal:
- Unlimited website setup
- Easy custom web design
- The SSL certificate is included
- SEO friendly
- You claim the ownership of the website
Infusionsoft is a very powerful payment gateway, probably the best on the planet. However, it is very expensive and difficult to use. If you are going to use Infusionsoft, a good idea would be to hire someone who can work on it for you.
Pros:
Infusionsoft is a very powerful payment gateway, probably the best on the planet. It includes sales & marketing reporting, sales management, e-commerce, CRM, contact management, secure and responsible email marketing in addition to other useful systems. Infusion soft is also the best tool for tracking customer behaviour, you will be able to see all the purchases and actions of each and every contact on your list! Of course there are other advantages for using Infusionsoft, but these are the basic pros.
Cons:
Though infusion soft is said to be the best, some claim to have swallowed their fair share of tough pills while using this program. Infusion soft is definitely going to cost you a pretty penny, though you’ll be getting lots in return, many aren’t willing to pay $2,000-$3,000 (you’ll have to pay around $300 for the base software as well as add-ons, leads and customers, amount of emails you send, start up pricing…etc.) so yeah, it’s fairly expensive, but like I mentioned before, you’ll get loads in return if it’s the right software for your business. Another thing is the “feature overload”. Infusionsoft has too many features, this can be quite frustrating at first, but once you get the hang of them you’re all good to go. Infusionsoft holds training sessions for beginners because you’ll need that to get the hang of the system as it’s reasonably complicated.
Of course like I said with the pro’s there are more disadvantages here, but these are generally the basic.
Benefits of using Infusionsoft:
- You can send product through email
- SEO friendly
- You claim ownership of the website
- Advanced and intuitive features
- Auto-Responder available
- Unlimited website setup
- SSL certificate included
Pros:
For those of you using Joomla, ProCart is recommended to work best for your website. ProCart is not that hard to set up and at the same time it’s actually not expensive ($39 a month) so it’s a good idea to use ProCart if you have around 3,000 or less people on your list.
Benefits of using ProCart:
- Inexpensive
- Easy custom web design
- Unlimited number of websites on a single account
- SSL certificate included
- You can send product through email
- SEO friendly
- You claim ownership of the website
- Advanced and intuitive features
- Auto-Responder available
Here’s a table of the three gateways I listed above to clarify the advantages you’ll for using each one:
Image from gowallaby
Watch Nathaniel Woodbury’s full video on how Ecommerce works here!
