Commerce Websites

Over the years Milestone has built many different commerce-enabled websites. And when it comes to selling products and services over the Internet there are several ways to close the deal. For those who are so inclined, there are ‘DIY’ solutions to choose from, and for the rest of you we offer three levels of commerce websites.

PayPal

If you’re not afraid to use your credit card online then you’re probably familiar with PayPal. Established in 1998, PayPal is one of the world’s largest Internet payment companies. The company went public in 2002 and was acquired by eBay later that same year.

PayPal is a third-party payment processing service for online vendors, auction websites, and commercial users. Serving as a broker between the buyer and the seller, PayPal charges a fee for their service and they take on the responsibility for providing a secure transaction.

That’s the reason, when you click on a PayPal button, why you leave the website you’re shopping and are redirected to the PayPal website to complete your transaction.

Because of the low cost and ease-of-use, PayPal is a popular choice for small retailers and nonprofit organizations taking their first steps into the world of online sales.

PayPal Pro

For more seamless online transactions, you can upgrade to PayPal Pro. In this case your customer doesn’t have to leave your website to fill out a credit card form. That’s important for two reasons:

First of all, it’s more professional. You have much more control over both the appearance and the steps during the checkout process.

Secondly, it can reduce ‘cart abandonment’ which is extremely important if online sales are the lifeblood of your business.

Integrated Commerce

The difference between using a third-party online payment processing service like PayPal or PayPal Pro and building an integrated commerce website is where the money goes.

With PayPal, the money from your online sales goes into your PayPal account. That allows PayPal to subtract their fee, and then you have to transfer your money from your PayPal account to you bank account.

With an integrated commerce website you need a payment gateway which is a third-party service provider that authorizes the credit card transaction. Basically it is the equivalent of the point-of-sale terminal used in a retail outlet that calls your credit card company to verify that you have enough credit and returns and authorization code to approve the transaction.

In this case you get the benefit of controlling your customers’ online shopping experience and the money from each transaction is deposited directly into your bank account.

For more information about selling your products and services online, be sure to contact Milestone. We just started a new commerce website project for a local business that’s been selling fine art jewelry all of the United States for more than 30 years. Stay tuned to see how their new commerce website comes to life.

Until next week,

Matthew Anderson, President
Milestone Marketing Associates, Inc.