e-Commerce FAQ

What is E-Commerce?
Simply it's the buying and selling of goods and services across the Internet. It can be as simple as a catalog with an order form, or it can be as sophisticated as sites such as Amazon.com.

What Do I Need for E-Commerce?
If you are a small to medium size business, here is one example of steps to e-commerce.
1) Order HostAvenue.com's CommercePak.
2) Create Your Web Site and Online Store.
3) Choose Your Payment Processing Method
    3a) Off-line
          Open Merchant Account
    3b) Real-time
          Open Merchant Account
          Select Online Real-time Payment Processor
4) You are all ready to go!

Choosing Online Store Software If you have surfed around the net, you will see that there are many choices available to you when it comes to online store building solutions. Upon testing various solutions out there, HostAvenue.com has decided to offer Miva Merchant by Miva Corp as the online store building solution. The decision was based on the ease-of-use, robustness, and salability. Miva Merchant is tightly integrated with our CommercePak, presenting one-stop e-commerce solution for your online store.

Off-line Credit Card Processing
The easiest and the most affordable way of processing credit cards is an off-line authorization and settlement process.  Your customers' credit card information is captured and stored on our server for later
authorization and transaction processing through a traditional card swipe terminal or through a computer.  CommercePak makes this process much easier by preparing a batch report whenever you are ready.  If you are clearing more than 100 transactions a month, you may want to consider real-time payment processing option.

IMPORTANT: If you already have a merchant account number from your existing business, you should be aware of the following. Depending on the type of merchant account you have, Internet transactions may not be acceptable to your merchant account bank. Internet transactions are considered "card-not-present" and you may need to obtain a merchant account specifically designed for such transactions.

Real-time Credit Card Processing
A customer comes to your online store. Purchases your product and enters the credit card information...What next? Here is what happens if you have real-time payment processing:

1. Credit card information is sent over the Internet(securely) to your
   online payment processor.
   
2. Your online payment processor in turn contact the card's issuing bank
   over the private financial network.
   
3. Your online payment processor returns approved/declined notice to
   your customer who is still at your online store.
   
4. Typically, both you and your customer receive email notifications of
   the transaction with tracking numbers.

Now, you have several choices when it comes to real-time payment processors. Here are few examples:

The world's leading payment authorization service for online businesses.

The CyberCash CashRegister provides all of the tools needed to accept secure credit card transactions over the Internet.

CommercePak is already configured to support above payment processing solutions.

eCheck
eCheck.Net is a NETSolutions payment service that allows online and traditional merchants to accept and process electronic check payments -- either directly from their Web site's storefront or through the Authorize.Net Virtual Terminal. Customers who wish to pay for a purchase with an electronic check scan simply select the electronic check option and enter the requested bank account information. eCheck.Net encrypts the data using the same SSL 3.0 encryption technology as Authorize.Net and transmits it to the secure server for posting. Transactions are automatically settled each day. Then, the system debits the consumer's account via the Automated Clearing House (ASH)* and transfers the funds to the merchant's account. If the account numbers are entered incorrectly or the account has insufficient funds, the eCheck.Net system notifies the merchant.

Merchant Account
If you want to accept credit cards, you need a Merchant Account. If you already have a Merchant Account, you can use your existing account to accept credit cards for Internet transactions. This will work fine if you wish to do off-line payment processing as described above. If you wish to add real-time payment processing or you are a new merchant, you need to apply for an "Internet enabled" Merchant Account.  Each Merchant Account provider has different rates and different solutions.  You should shop around for the best solution.

Does HostAvenue.com offer Merchant Account and Real-Time Payment Processing?
We do not directly provide such services. However HostAvenue.com has a relationship with Cardservice International who can help you setup a merchant account, AuthorizeNet real-time credit card solution, and eCheck. Please contact our representatives today!