Essential Software and Tools for Online Companies
Are you planning to start a new business on the internet? If so, your e-commerce business needs more than a website. Designing a fancy website without the right online software and tools is the equivalent of designing a grocery store without a cash register, shopping carts, or products on the shelves. Customers might visit the store because of the sign on the door, but they can’t purchase anything!
Running an e-commerce business requires specific software and tools. With the appropriate tools in your toolbox, you can display your products, provide an online shopping cart, and accept credit cards and other payment methods on the internet. There is even software you will need if you want to provide your customers with quality customer service, such as email support or virtual face-to-face support. But how do you know which tools and software to use? Here are the top three software and tools you need to run an e-commerce website.
Get a web shopping cart. An online shopping cart provides a way for your customers to checkout at your website. It shows your customers the list of items they have placed in their online “shopping cart” in order to purchase at a later time. Once they are ready to buy the products, the shopping cart software shows customers what they have ordered, the price of each item, and the final cost with tax and shipping. Using the online shopping cart, customers can checkout and pay for your products and/or services.
How do you purchase a shopping cart? There are many different types of shopping carts on the market. Talk to you web developer about which one is right for you. Or, to make things easier on yourself, you can use the shopping cart software provided by your merchant account provider. When you setup an account for processing credit cards online, you might even get the shopping cart software for free.
Buy payment processing software. In addition to a shopping cart, you will need to have online payment processing software in order to accept credit card payments over the internet. Advanced software should be able to accept most credit cards and debit cards on the web in real time. Make sure that the software is safe and secure for your customers.
Before purchasing payment processing software, make sure to find out if your merchant account provider offers this type of software. Many companies offer it for free if you open a merchant account.
Purchase an online credit card terminal. Similar to a traditional credit card terminal you would find in a brick-and-mortar shop, an online credit card terminal provides fast and easy manual processing of credit card orders.