Shopping Cart Reviews

People selling things over the Internet are generally known as ‘Merchants’. All the transactions that happen over the Internet are via Credit Cards, Bank Checks, MoneyGram or Internet Banking. When a series of transactions occur, it requires protection. You would ask: ‘protection from whom?’ The answer is protection from everyone who has access to this vital information. When you buy things over the Internet you provide the seller (in fact the interface program between your source of payment and the sellers account) with the details. This makes your account information vulnerable to others ill-intentions. The interface records the information and provides it to your bank once approved. When your bank approves the transaction the money is then transferred to the sellers account. For this entire process to go smoothly you would basically need to provide the bank details. Now a question would arise in your mind, is it safe to do these transactions over the Internet. The answer is YES.

What is the most crucial factor which assures and protects both the buyers & the sellers? Security and protection of vital information. This is where the SSL certificate or the Secure Sockets Layer comes into picture. What is SSL? Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), are cryptographic protocols which provide secure communications on the Internet for things such as web browsing, e-mail, Internet faxing, instant messaging and other data transfers. In other words all the vital information that you provide over the Internet while selling or buying things is kept secure and no one, literally no one has access to this information. Hence all your vital information is kept safe, let it be your credit card number, Social Security Number or your Internet banking details.

SSL certificates have two broad categories Dedicated SSL & Shared/Wild Card SSL. A dedicated SSL certificate requires a dedicated IP address. The reason being this SSL will secure all the data for that particular domain only. This means if there are any sub-domains under that domain, these sub-domains will not be secured or covered by this dedicated SSL certificate. For example – a dedicated SSL will secure and encrypt all the data for website www.comparecarts.com but it will not cover a sub-domain www.myworld.comparecarts.com.

On the other hand we have this Wild-Card SSL certificate which covers all the sub-domains under a particular domain. For example - a shared/Wildcard SSL will secure and encrypt all the data for website www.comparecarts.com and also for its sub-domain www.myworld.comparecarts.com.

When a person visits a  shopping mall to buy his daily needs, he is very happy to have visited the store as he finds all that he needs under one roof. Think of a situation where you would need to visit 10 different stores to buy your daily requirements. That would be a nightmare, would it not? The same is the case when it comes to running a successful e-commerce business. Many a time merchants who are not aware of all the requirements to start with an e-commerce business end up paying more as they have different service providers for different services. But, today the times have changed - you can receive all the required services for an e-commerce business from a single company. It is only a question of you discovering  these companies.

Having a one stop service provider for all services related to your e-commerce business has many advantages besides the monetary advantage. Think of a dreadful time when the existence of a business is at stake and one has to deal with more than one company to  reposition oneself and recover all the damages incurred. Now in this particular case it all depends on the best possible co-ordination between you and all of your service providers. If things work out well within themselves, you are saved from sustaining heavy losses but what if this does not happen? One might even be out of business.

So, now it is all up to you to decide if you want to take this chance of spending more money and also along with it accepting major risks which can be fatal for your business. I would recommend you find the provider who provides you with all the services required, while considering the cost which you pay. There are providers who would demand a large sum only on the assurance of providing the best services under one roof without extending technical support.

Considering my personal experience with buying in general, I deem that the best is not always mean the most expensive as the saying goes, “All that glitters is not gold”. The glitter blinds one’s eyes to the intrinsic worth of a thing. “Price does not assure value.” Being an entrepreneur, you certainly do not stand in need  of business basics; but; after having spent a considerable time in the e-commerce industry, I would warn you against the price trap that lures the best mind into making wrong choices.
In case you have any clarification that you need, or would like to discuss things in depth, the contact details are mentioned on the ‘About Us‘ page.

Have you ever wondered how Internet payment processors that don’t charge any monthly fees make money?
I’m fed up with companies like PayPal that taint the e-commerce industry by ‘deceiving’ their customers into thinking that their services come for free when in fact they do not. They market themselves as the providers of a free account as they do not charge any monthly fees. You would ask me if they do not charge monthly fees & if it is free then what is the problem? The problem lies with the fact that there is no monthly fees but there are other fees which are much higher. If you look closely you would find that these companies charge you fees for everything that you do with your account. For instance, you wish to sell things over the Internet letting people use only PayPal account.
These so called free services end up hurting legitimate Internet businesses far more than they help them. It is true they don’t charge any monthly fees however what they are not telling you is that they decline a whopping 25% of all credit worthy transactions sent their way. Just imagine how loosing 1 out of every 4 sales would hurt your business.
On top of this Not to mention the fact that those companies also hold their customers money for days on end and also charge a much higher percentage on each sale. Many new start up companies fail because of those lost sales, lack of automatic deposits and higher per item charges. It’s a shame when Internet business owners think they are getting a good deal when in fact they are not. Don’t give up all those sales and automated deposits just to save around a dollar a day.
Having taken care of all other factors contributing to successful selling, to suffer a handicap at the actual point of transaction would mean ‘penny wise, pound foolish’! Many new start up companies fail because of lost sales, lack of automatic deposits and higher charges per item. It’s deplorable when Internet business owners think they are getting a good deal when in fact they are not.