How do I build my own ecommerce business? What kind of budget do I need?
You have a product or service to sell and want to use the Internet to expand your sales. Fortunately, there are only a few steps involved in setting up your own e-commerce website so that it is ready to process transactions and orders: - Register a Domain Name: If you don't have one yet, get to it; this is a very important part of the process. A good domain name should be easy to read, A good domain name should be easy to read, catchy so that people remember it, and should contain a few of your most important key words. For more information on how to select the best keywords for your site, refer to this article.
- Select your Payment Method(s): The most common and flexible way to accept payments is to set up your own merchant account. A merchant account is a type of bank account that allows businesses to accept payments from their customers via debit or credit cards. This will give your customers the choice of paying with different types of cards, such as American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, etc… For more information on things you should know when shopping for a merchant account, refer to this article. Also, there are many other methods of payment available today, such as Paypal, Google Checkout, BillMeLater, Echeck, and many others. You may want to add some of these methods to increase the number of potential buyers to your site.
- Payment Gateway: Because a merchant account is just a bank account, you will need an application called a "payment gateway" in order for your website to communicate with the bank. It is the equivalent of your physical point of sale machine or credit card terminal. Most merchant account providers also offer their own payment gateway- sometimes they offer this for free, but most of the time they will charge an additional fee to your transactions. One of the most popular payment gateways is Authorize.net, which charges a transaction fee. Alternative payment methods such as Paypal, Google Checkout, and Billmelater work as their own payment gateway, but are usually more expensive globally than a traditional gateway.
- SSL Certificates: Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates are cryptographic protocols that provide security for communications over the Internet. This is required to encrypt sensitive information such as credit card numbers and email addresses that are transferred from your customer's computer to your website. There are a variety of providers for SSL certificates with different options and pricing. Once issued, your e-commerce provider will install the certificate on the server. Check out our article on SSL certificates for more information.
- An E-commerce Platform: Choose a platform that has the most features to help you market your website, process your order, manage your product inventory and integrate with your current business workflow. Your e-commerce platform should evolve as your sales and business grows. Vendilis has been designed to provide the most complete platform at a fraction of the cost, so be sure to check out our great features and plans.
How Much Does All of
That Cost? This table shows you a range of prices so you can estimate a
budget for running your ecommerce website: | | Start at | Up to | | Domain Name | $10 per year | $35 per year | | Merchant Account | $0.10 transaction fee
2% of your sales
average for Visa, Amex, MC | $0.50 transaction fee
4% of your sales
average for Visa, Amex, MC | | Payment Gateway | $0 monthly fee
$0.10 transaction fee | $35 monthly fee
$0.30 transaction fee | | SSL Certificate | $50 per year | $2,000 per year | | Ecommerce Solution | $25 per month
0% of your sales | $500 per month or more
7% of your sales | | | | | This table is just there to give you an idea of what you’ll
need to budget annually to run your ecommerce website. This is mainly for
starter websites; existing sites with heavy traffic may expect to pay more
yearly fees and expenses due to hardware and network requirements. |