Are you ready to launch a new company on the web? Do you already have a nice website? You will need more than a beautiful website to run a company online. Creating a quality website without the right tools is setting your business up to fail. While customers might enjoy shopping around your site, they won’t be able to contact you or purchase anything. Most importantly, you won’t get paid!
Owning an online company needs the right tools. With the right tools in your hand, you can properly showcase your products and provide a way for your customers to pay for your products and services online. Here are the three most important tools you will need to run a successful business on the web.
An Online Shopping Cart
Every website needs a way for clients to checkout straight from your website – an online shopping cart! An online shopping cart features the list of items your customer has placed in the cart so that they can buy them at a later time. When they are ready to purchase the items, the online shopping cart provides information about the items, including the price and the final amount with shipping and tax.
Where can you get an online shopping cart? Many companies offer online shopping carts. It’s important to find one that works well with your website. You can ask your web developer for some ideas, or use the software provided by your merchant account provider. (Some merchant account companies such as Charge.com Payment Solutions, Inc. offer free shopping cart software when you open an account with them.)
Payment Processing Software
Along with a great online shopping cart, you will also need online payment processing software. This software will allow you to accept and process all types of payments over the web. This means your customers can choose to pay via check, debit card, or credit card in real time. The software should be safe, secure, and easy to use for your customers.
How do you buy payment processing software? There are many products on the market. You can ask your web developer for some suggestions or consider using the software provided by your merchant account provider. Merchant account providers specialize in processing credit cards online and usually carry the most advanced software on the market.
Online Credit Card Terminal
Some companies need to process credit cards the old fashioned way. You might need an online credit card terminal if you have phone orders or face to face clients. Just like a traditional credit card terminal, an online credit card terminal helps you process credit cards manually.