e-commerce FAQ

What is e-commerce?
How many products can I sell in my online store?
Can I sell products that can be downloaded, such as music or software?
What do I need to set up an ecommerce Web site?
How much does it cost to set up an online store?
I already have a Web site. Can I integrate an online store into it?
What is MivaMerchant? What about Cart32?
Will I be able to customize the "look and feel" of my online store?
What are my options for handling transactions?
What are third-party online credit card processors?
What do I need to handle "real time" online credit card transactions myself?
What is a merchant account? How do I get one?
I already have a merchant account. Can I use it with efuture page ecommerce plans?
What is a payment gateway? How do I find one?
How can I assure my customers that their transactions are secure?
What is SSL?
What is an SSL Certificate? How do I get one?

What is "e-commerce"?

Ecommerce is the term used to describe the selling of goods and services over the Internet. In the most general sense, simply creating a Web site that advertises and promotes your products can be considered “ecommerce.” In recent years, however, ecommerce has become much more sophisticated.

Ecommerce businesses now offer elaborate online stores where customers can browse thousands of products, place an order, select the desired shipping method and pay for their purchases using their credit cards.

[ Back to Top ]

How many products can I sell in my online store?

You can sell any number of products on your site, from just a few items to thousands. Once you decide how many products you want to sell, you can pick the hosting plan that best meets your needs. efuture page Gold Plan, for example, lets you list up to 20 products while our Platinum Plan allows you to list an unlimited number of products.

When you chose a plan, be sure to consider how your site and your product offerings may grow in the future, as well as what advanced features and functionalities you want to offer your customers. For example, you may want to provide a search feature that lets your customers search for a specific product. You want to be sure that the plan you choose will be able to accommodate your growth and your changing needs as your customer base expands and your traffic increases.

[ Back to Top ]

Can I sell products that can be downloaded, such as music or software?

efuture page’s shared Web hosting accounts are not configured for the purposes of distributing software and/or multimedia products. If you wish to distribute software and/or multimedia files, please contact sales@efuturepage.com to make special arrangements.

[ Back to Top ]

What do I need to set up an ecommerce Web site?

What you need depends upon a number of factors, such as how you want to handle transactions and what types of security you want to provide.

For example, if you don’t need to accept credit cards or process transactions online, all you need is a Web site that lists your products, provides some sort of order form and lists the address where your customers should send their payments.

However, if you want a full-featured online store that can process credit card transactions in “real time” in a secure environment you will need a shopping cart, an Internet-ready merchant account, a payment gateway and an SSL certificate.

[ Back to Top ]

How much does it cost to set up an online store?

Ecommerce plans may range anywhere from $20 a month to $130 a month, depending upon the number of products you want to sell, the traffic you anticipate and the features and functionalities you want to provide to your customers.

There are other costs associated with an online store, too. For example, you will need a shopping cart and, if you want to be able to accept credit cards and process those transactions online, you will need a merchant account and a payment gateway service. Typically, there are initial setup fees as well as on-going costs for these services that will be in addition to your hosting costs.

[ Back to Top ]

I already have a Web site. Can I integrate an online store into it?

Yes. efuture page makes it easy for you to add ecommerce to your site. You can order a plan that includes ecommerce or, if you are already a efuture page customer, you can add ecommerce directly from SiteControl. The exact steps you must take vary depending upon your current hosting plan. For example, if you are currently on the Value Plan, upgrading to a plan that supports ecommerce will require a complete reinstall. For more information, contact efuture page support at support@efuturepage.com

Once you have built your online store, you can easily integrate it into your existing site by either providing a link to your new store front or incorporating your products into your existing site’s pages.

[ Back to Top ]

What is MivaMerchant? What about Cart32?

MivaMerchant (for UNIX Platforms) and Cart32 (for Windows Platforms) are software packages that enable you to develop your online store. These shopping cart applications integrate all of the things you need to build and manage your online store, including cataloging, products, order fulfillment, inventory management, shopping carts, and order and credit card processing.

When you order an ecommerce plan from efuture page, we will handle the initial installation and configuration of the shopping cart software. You can then use the Web-based interfaces to design and maintain your store.

For more information, visit www.miva.com and www.cart32.com.

[ Back to Top ]

Will I be able to customize the "look and feel" of my online store?

Yes. Both packages enable you to quickly and easily customize the appearance of your store. You design the layout of your pages, select the colors and fonts you want to use and add graphics and text as you like. Plus, you can use HTML to enhance the text on any of your Web pages.

[ Back to Top ]

What are my options for handling transactions?

You have a number of options for handling transactions. The most basic approach is to handle all of your transactions offline. For example, you could publish your address and have your customers send their orders along with a check or money order directly to you. You could also collect your customers’ credit card information via email or phone and then process the credit card transactions offline using your retail merchant account.

These are probably not the best approaches, though, because one the main reasons customers shop at an online store is for the speed and convenience it provides.

To increase the chances that customers will want to shop at your online store, it should be able to accept and process credit card transactions online and in “real time.” You can handle your own online transactions or outsource them to a third-party credit card processor.

[ Back to Top ]

What are third-party online credit card processors?

If you want to be able to accept credit cards but do not want to handle this yourself, you can use a third-party online credit card processor. When your customers want to purchase a product, they click a link that takes them to the third-party’s Web site. There, they will submit their order and credit card information, which is then processed by the third-party processor. Essentially, these processors act as resellers. They may charge you a variety of fees for this service, including an initial set up fee, monthly fees and/or per-transaction fees.

While outsourcing your online transactions may seem appealing, you should consider the fact that it will be obvious to your customers that their transactions are being handled not by your company but by a third-party.

[ Back to Top ]

What do I need to handle "real time" online credit card transactions myself?

If you want to handle online credit card transactions yourself, you will need an Internet-ready merchant account, a payment gateway service and an SSL certificate.

[ Back to Top ]

What is a merchant account? How do I get one?

A merchant account enables you to accept credit cards as payment for the purchase of goods and services. There are different types of merchant accounts. For example, if you have a traditional “brick and mortar” store, you can get a retail merchant account. If you want to accept credit cards on your Web site, however, you need a specialized type of merchant account known as an “Internet-ready” merchant account.

Internet-ready merchant accounts enable you to handle Internet transactions in "real time" without any human intervention. Because the risk of credit card fraud is greater when you are accepting credit cards over the Internet, these specialized merchant accounts also provide additional checks that can significantly reduce the chance of credit card fraud. Once the transactions are processed, the merchant account provider transfers the funds received from the credit card transactions from your merchant account to your bank account.

A number of companies offer Internet-ready merchant accounts. efuture page has selected Card service International as its preferred merchant account provider. When you sign up for an ecommerce plan with efuture page, you can sign up for an account with Cardservice at the same time. Of course, you are free to choose another merchant account provider, as long as they support one of the following payment methods:

[ Back to Top ]

I already have a merchant account. Can I use it with efuture page’s ecommerce plans?

Yes. If you already have an Internet-ready merchant account you can use it with efuture page’s ecommerce plans as long as it supports one of the following payment methods:

[ Back to Top ]

What is a payment gateway? How do I find one?

A payment gateway is a service that connects your online store with your merchant account provider. This service reads the information from the order forms and translates that information for the merchant account. The payment gateway also verifies that the customer’s credit card account has the necessary credit available for the purchase.

You can obtain a payment gateway separately from your merchant account; however you may find it simpler to choose a merchant account provider that also offers a payment gateway.

[ Back to Top ]

How can I assure my customers that their transactions are secure?

Obviously, if your customers will be submitting their credit card information to you online they will want to know that this information is safe. If they are not comfortable with the security your site offers, they will probably not buy products from you.

The best way to alleviate your customers’ concerns is to secure your site using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). When a site is secured with SSL—the standard form of encryption currently used on the Web—visitors will see a special symbol in their browser window that indicates the site is secure. Visitors can also tell that a page is secured by looking at the URL. A secure page’s URL begins with the letters “HTTPS” instead of the standard “HTTP.”

[ Back to Top ]

What is SSL?

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a method of ensuring that information submitted through your Web site is secure and cannot be accessed by unauthorized users. When a site offers an SSL-secured form, the information submitted via that form (typically credit card information) is encrypted using a special “certificate key” and then decrypted with another key after it has been transmitted.

When users access a site secured with SSL using either Netscape or Internet Explorer, a symbol displays in their browser windows indicating that the site is secure.

[ Back to Top ]

What is an SSL Certificate? How do I get one?

An SSL Certificate, or a digital certificate, is an electronic document that contains the information necessary to establish a secure SSL connection. When used in credit card transactions, the Web site collecting the credit card information and the site to which the information is being transmitted must both have an SSL Certificate.

efuture page can provide both the secure server and secure server certificate needed to support SSL. SSL certificates are free with the Gold Plan and above.

[ Back to Top ]