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E-Commerce websites
are so-called because there is an electronic exchange of
money between the end-user and the owner of the website.
There are four parts to a true e-commerce website:
- The "shopping cart" is the front-end of an
e-commerce store with which people are most familiar. As
they browse the "aisles" of a virtual store,
they add items to their "basket" until they "checkout".
- The Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is
what encrypts the information being entered by the
customer, such as their credit card or social security
number. A secure site address will always begin with
https. Next time you're shopping somewhere, look at the
address bar of the browser you're using to see if the
checkout page where you're entering your credit
card information begins with https. If it doesn't,
don't shop there!
- The Payment Gateway is the virtual credit card
processor that approves or declines the payment method.
The Gateway is sometimes hard for people to understand,
but think of it just like the device you use at the
stores when you swipe your credit card to pay for your
purchases. A payment gateway "swipes" your
card virtually.
- Finally, as with every business, a merchant account
is the bank that allows you to accept credit cards and
handles the clearing of the transactions (the movement
of funds between accounts).
All of these are necessary parts of an
e-commerce website. Is e-commerce right for you? |