E-commerce & Automation
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E-commerce is a very complex process. Before we continue we should define e-commerce. E-commerce is the act of doing business, mainly the transfer of money, over the internet. As mentioned E-commerce is a very complicated process and when starting out it is best to use third party all in one solutions.

Third party all in one solutions have huge discount rates typically 8% or more but ease the process of getting into the e-commerce waters. Also third parties offer less control, but when starting any business there is enough to worry about in the beginning. Eventually, as your business grows, you can get more advanced and get your own systems.

Examples:

• Clickbank only allows digital products such as eBooks. They will even run an affiliate program for you and pay your affiliates all with out you having to track anything.
  
  
• Paypal allows just about anything to be sold. A disadvantage is clients must join Paypal, which is free, however it can be a source for lost sells. Paypal has a low discount rate.
  
  
• CCNow only allows physical products to be sold.
  
  
• 2CheckOut a lot like Paypal but clients do not have to join anything.

Needed when using third party all in one solutions:

• Webhosting account for webpages & webpage creation software
• Third party account(s). You can use multiple services to sell different products.

Professional E-commerce:

Over time as a business grows a professional e-commerce account will give you more control and make you look more professional. There are many companies that can help ease this process, including Cyberweb Solutions, however the following lists the necessary pieces to the puzzle (order doesn't necessarily matter):

• Webhosting account for webpages & webpage creation software
• SSL certificate
• Payment Processor
• Merchant Account
• Gateway Provider (Authorize.net considered the best)
• Commercial Bank Account
• Shopping Cart and/or ordering software (optional)

The above is not meant to scare you, but serve as a list for pieces to the e-commerce puzzle. As mentioned many companies can setup all the pieces for you, minus a commercial bank account which you can obtain from your favorite banking institution.

Also with a professional e-commerce account you can control what is listed on your client's credit card statement. So instead of seeing say Clickbank, Inc. they can see your own website or company name.

Automation For Digital Products:

You may use Clickbank and Paypal to automate the system by allowing automatic downloading of digital products. Unfortunately, people can cheat you by looking at the code. However when using your own e-commerce you can stop this by using better software. When you are ready for this it is best to consult with a professional company before moving forward.