E-Commerce
Short for electronic commerce, e-commerce refers to the buying and selling of goods online, through websites. Products sold through e-commerce can be physical products that require shipping, or digital products delivered electronically.
Online shopping is big business and has increased in popularity over the years opening up new revenue opportunities to established and upcoming companies and individuals. These days more people have access to the Internet than ever before and Broadband speeds are getting faster all the time. We are living in a 24/7 society and with increasing demands on people's time it's no wonder more people are discovering the convenience of shopping from the comfort of their own home at a time that suits them. No queues, no set opening hours and easy comparison of prices are just a few of the benefits to the consumer.
One of the main benefits to the retailer is the ability to sell products without the need for an actual shop premises. This not only reduces overheads such as rent but it can also cut costs in other areas. Orders can be taken at all hours of the day and night without the need to hire cashiers and handle cash. Your business will be available to clients all over the world, not just in one area- therefore increasing your potential customer base.
Of course, you may already have physical shop premises but it doesn't matter what size of business you are, if you don't have an online shop how are you going take any orders online?
We can help, with e-commerce solutions to suit all types of business - an online shop custom built either around your already existing identity or from scratch.
We provide full online shopping cart systems that can be administered by the shop owner themselves. The owner can add, remove and amend products and categories, and has access to a fully featured stock control system.
Our e-commerce systems also come complete with secure server facilities and online credit/debit card clearing, either through an online merchant such as Paypal or through high street banks.
Features of our e-commerce package
- Administration / Backend Functionality
- Add/Edit/Remove categories, products, manufacturers, customers, and reviews
- Contact customers directly via email or newsletters
- Print invoices and packaging lists from the order screen
- Statistics for products and customers
- Multicurrency
- Automatically update currency exchange rates
- Select what to display, and in what order, in the product listing page
- All orders stored in the database for fast and efficient retrieval
- Customers can view their order history and order statuses
- Customers can maintain their accounts
- Addressbook for multiple shipping and billing addresses
- Temporary shopping cart for guests and permanent shopping cart for customers
- Secure transactions with SSL
- Control if out of stock products can still be shown and are available for purchase
- Accept numerous offline payment processing (cheque, money orders, offline credit care processing, ..)
- Accept numerous online payment processing (PayPal, 2CheckOut, Authorize.net, iPayment, ..)
- Shipping Functionality
- Set different tax rates for different products
- and more ...
Tax Issues
Taxes is a complex issue for on-line stores. Especially VAT (Value Added Tax).
Before starting an on-line store, it is advisable to consult a tax adviser.