Thinkun.

At Thinkun we’ve helped many clients over the years start to sell their products online, by implementing e-commerce into their web presence in some way or another. If you’ve begun to do your research on the subject, you’ll have already realised that there are many products and services available and that it can all get a bit confusing when you’re trying to sort the men from the boys.

This goes with that

What’s most important is finding the solution that suits your type of business and its processes, and allows for scalability later on. The wrong package or a mismatch of components could cause you a perpetual migraine and actually cost you money as your business grows.

Thinkun is able to guide you through the decision making process inherent in choosing an e-commerce or shopping cart solution, and then implement the right system smoothly and quickly, whether it plugs into your current website, or you decide to let us build you a beautifully branded, built from scratch e-commerce enabled website, based on a platform such as Magento, Zen Cart, or the like.

If you’d like to talk about finding the right system for your business, contact Thinkun. Or perhaps you’d like to know a little more about enabling your business for e-commerce.

What is this thing known as an online shopping cart?

A shopping cart is a software package that showcases products, collects customer details, assembles the order, calculates price, shipping and GST, then submits the data to you and a credit card payment gateway for further processing. The funds are then transferred into your bank or merchant account if the transaction is successful.
It’s important to realise that the shopping cart, payment gateway and merchant account are three separate components of selling online.

What is a payment gateway?

Simply stated, a payment gateway is the facility connected to your website that allows you to take credit cards as payment methods. It is the equivalent of a physical point of sale terminal located in most retail outlets. Payment gateways protect credit cards details, encrypting sensitive information such as credit card numbers, to ensure that information passes securely between the customer and the merchant and also between merchant and payment processor. Payment gateways are typically supplied by a third-party provider.

What is a merchant account?

An online bank account required by a store or website to receive payments through electronic mediums like credit cards. It can be considered as a virtual bank account that receives funds electronically, and you need to set one up with your bank.

The benefits of e-commerce:

• Your market is expanded across the globe and literally anyone can transact with you, from New York City to Timbuktu
• You NEVER close
• Your cost of sale is lower due to the reduced pressure on staff, premises and other resources
• The elapsed time from decision to purchase is shorter for online transactions, and you receive payment before products are dispatched
• Collection of customer data happens as part of the purchase process and can be used for marketing purposes later
• Consequently, marketing and advertising costs are reduced
• Your customers don’t have the leave the comfort of their home or office to do business with you, and the environment has to deal with one less car ride