e-Commerce is the process of buying products and services online. The most typical form of e-commerce is a online catalog (shopping cart) that allows users to select products and pay for them by credit card. e-Commerce is a very popular mechanism for companies large and small to sell their wares on a world-wide market.

e-Commerce requirements:

• Shopping Cart Online catalog that allows users to select products to purchase at 'check out'.
• Merchant Account Service that handles the financial processing of credit cards.
• Processing Gateway Service that enables transactions from your Shopping Cart to your Merchant Account
• Digital Certificate / Secured Server Encrypts information to provide secure transaction processing

e-Commerce Tips

• e-Commerce is available in many packages. Thoroughly research a solution provider before committing, particularly those that have low up-front costs. There are often hidden costs or special terms that will prove detrimental in the long run.
• Be careful when selecting a Merchant Account, read the fine print in the agreement. (See Merchant Accounts for more tips).

Activities, Time and Costs Estimates

• Pre-packaged e-Commerce: 2Days - 2Wks, $4,000 (Ave) Purchase of application, installation, configuration (see app categories for more specific pricing)
• Custom e-Commerce: 5 Day - 1+ Years, $2,000 - $1M+ Custom e-commerce can be small (a few hours) to extensive (thousands of development hours). Custom programming has to be custom quoted based on your needs.