getting started in ecommerce

To start trading on the Internet, you'll need the following:

An eCommerce Merchant Account

You can obtain an ecommerce merchant account from your Bank. An ecommerce merchant account is not the same as the standard merchant account used to process cardholder present transactions.

A Payment Provider/Payment Page Service

You will also need a payment provider who will authorise and route the transactions for you. The following Companies provide these services (not an exhaustive list):

All-in-One Merchant Account & Payment Solution

You can also obtain an all-in-one account providing both your Merchant Acount and Payment Page. This option can be suited for businesses with unusual Business models or those who find it more difficult to obtain credit, and usually provides for fast setup. Companies providing "all-in-one" packaged solutions are:

Payment via PayPal and NoChex

You can optionally add PayPal or NoChex payment to your website, these require you to open an account at the relevant website and sometimes to provide evidence of bank account and/or trading. Your website can be set up to use Pay Pal or NoChex exclusively if you prefer.

If you're not certain which is the right option for you, we can help you to choose. Merchants intending to sell large volumes of low value items, those with unusual or adult merchandise, or requiring subscription based payment services should select carefully from the available options as some solutions may provide cheaper processing for specific applications.

Your Product Catalogue

You will also need to either add your products to your website, or we can import them in automatically to set up the website for you, if they can be supplied in one of the following formats: Sql Server, Access, Microsoft Excel, Comma Separated Values File, Tab Delimited Text.

If you wish to display photographs of your products, you will need to supply these in such a way that we can identify what each photo is for. We suggest that you supply all photographic material in JPG format, with the file name as the identifier of the product e.g. "243.jpg" for product 243.

We can provide scanning services for photographs at additional cost if required. All photographs will be resized and optimised automatically for you.

The majority of ecommerce websites are supplied with a comprehensive administration area to make it possible for you to maintain the product catalogue and photographs yourself on an ongoing basis.

Your Company Logos and Branding

If we are to utilise your existing logos and branding to build your website, we will require high quality versions of the logo files and other material.