1. What should I look for in an E-Commerce Plan?
2. What E-Commerce Plan is right for me?
3. How do I get started?
4. What do I need for E-Commerce?
5. What is E-Commerce?
6. Can I get a Merchant Account with you if I reside in another country?
7. Can I take orders with eCatalog Order system and not use credit cards?
8. What security options do you offer?
9. What are the advantages of Online/Electronic Transactions?
10. Can I use eCatalog Order system with my existing merchant account?
11. What is the difference between a web site and an e-commerce web site?
12. I already have an E-Commerce Store, I want to now change my Hosting Provider, what do I do?
13. When am I charged the set-up fee and how long does the approval process take?
14. I have secure server access on my account, do I still have to pay secure gateway fees?
15. Do you include Merchant Accounts with your Web Hosting Services?
16. Do you provide Shopping Cart software?
17. What is an Electronic Shopping Cart?

1. What should I look for in an E-Commerce Plan?

Examine the following key parameters before deciding on any e-commerce plan:

• Functionality
• Scalability
• Reliability
• Customization
• Cost of implementation (monthly fees plus additional costs for Merchant Accounts etc.)
• Cost and ease of maintenance
• Security Options

2. What E-Commerce Plan is right for me?

It depends on numerous factors like:

• Are you a beginner? Or do you have a certain amount of experience with e-commerce?
  
• What are your requirements? - Single category with limited products to sell or multiple product categories with multi-user and multi-store capabilities?

Once you have decided what your marketing strategy is, go ahead and chose any plan from our wide array of options.

3. How do I get started?

Everyone is talking about the great potential of doing business over the Internet, but the biggest question for numerous individuals/businesses is "how to get started?" The best suggestion is start with one of our simple entry-level plans and then grow exponentially. The advantage here is that you have time to get comfortable with this new selling channel and also test drive the chosen application model for your business. We offer highly scalable integrated solutions for starters as well as small to medium size businesses.

To help you get your business off the ground we provide you complete solutions: from domain name registration, web hosting, e-commerce capabilities, web site development tools, Merchant Accounts and lots more.

First things first, you will need to register your domain name, for that we offer discounted domain registration services. Once you have submitted your application, we will provide you with an ecatlogorder site Username and password so you can to start setting up your store in our secured servers. Then you need to setup your departments or categories and products specifications price etc (product profiles etc) using our easy web based entry system so that prospective customers can view your products/services when they access your catalog site. Then you need to decide how you want to accept payment for your products. Depending on your decision; for real time credit card processing you will need to sign-up for a Merchant Account and install a Payment gateway. Now that you have successfully completed all the steps you are ready to start selling.

We also offer additional tools to help you succeed like the GIF reducer (so your customers can access the graphics on your site faster), Promotion tools like the search engine submissions, training and development tools and many others.

4. What do I need for E-Commerce?

A. Chose Payment Options:

• Off-line Credit Card Processing

This is a good option if you currently have a Merchant Account with a local bank. 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. If you are clearing more than 100 transactions a month, you may want to consider the real-time payment processing option.

• Real-Time Payment Gateway Processing enabled by Merchant Accounts

To process credit cards transactions in real time through your web site you need to:

• Open a merchant account with a financial institution

Sign up with a payment gateway, for example Card Services or CyberCash. Merchant Accounts give you the ability to take Credit Card information from your prospective customers over the Internet. All the Miva products (E-Commerce Software) offer seamless integration with our online payment gateways providing you with a completely integrated E-Commerce Solution.

Merchant Accounts are issued through an Authorizing Bank. A Merchant Account is like a Drivers License. Though you have a driver's license you can't move around without a vehicle. Similarly for you to use your Merchant Account you need a vehicle to move the information around. For example you could ask your web site prospects to call you on the phone to place their orders. Now the phone is your vehicle to move their Credit Card information.

Online e Catalog Order is another example of a vehicle to move Credit Card and ordering information. Your customers can efficiently order 24 hours a day. Also an e Catalog Order solution eliminates some potential for error as there is only one human involved in the process rather than two.

The e Catalog Order solution is a vehicle that enables you to:

• Get the ordering information from the customer
• Verify via email to the customer that his order has been placed
• Deliver the notification and ordering information to the seller
• The more information the shopping cart can collect, the wider its application can be.

5. What is E-Commerce?

Simply put Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce) is any business transacted electronically. Electronic commerce is the buying/selling of product and/or services over the Internet.

To conduct business on the Internet you need an e-commerce web site. An e-commerce web site can be as simple as a catalog with an order form, or it can be a complex multi-media enabled web site with real-time credit card processing capabilities. The Internet has enabled merchants to offer their goods and services to potential customers around the world 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year. E-Commerce offers customers the opportunity to browse, select and pay for goods in real time from the comfort of their own home or office.

E-Commerce supplements the traditional selling channels and attracts customers that you never knew existed. The Internet revolution is affecting every company, no matter its size. Business of all sizes can equally share in the benefits of e-commerce, but they are all equally vulnerable to being left behind if they do not adopt the new business models.

6. Can I get a Merchant Account with you if I reside in another country?

We can provide you with a Merchant Account subject to your status. You would have Merchant Account with ProNet International and will be able to accept credit card payments either in various currencies or in a single-currency.

7. Can I take orders with the e Catalog Order system and not use credit cards?

Yes. You can have customers place orders through your web site and process them only after receiving payment by any means you desire, either by cheque, or by wire transfer, etc.

The cost of installing a Thawte certificate for your own domain is $325 which covers the first year fee and $125 for every additional yearly renewal.

9. What are the advantages of Online/Electronic Transactions?

• Reduces Errors: No need to enter transaction amounts at both the cash register and processing terminals.
• Creates Transaction Database: Stores transaction information in your database for as long as you want. You'll never have to search for lost transaction information.
• Increases Accountability: It is easy to confirm whether you have received the proper amount of credit for each transaction.
• Minimizes Fraud: Performs address verification (AVS), and eliminates the chance of shipping to someone using a stolen credit card, saving you from a charge back.
• Quicker Transactions: Allows you to send multiple transactions as a batch, thus reducing authorization time to as low as three seconds per transaction.
• Eliminates Equipment: Multiple registers can share a single modem, and phone line, thus saving money.
• Lowers Transaction Costs: Electronic processing is faster and less expensive than paper processing.
• Faster Billing: Makes it easy to build and process a batch of transactions as often as needed; great for recurring billing.
• Recurring Billing: Schedule transactions to be processed according to your specific billing requirements.

10. Can I use eCatalog Order solution with my existing merchant account?

Yes. eCatalog Order will work with your existing merchant account.

11. What is the difference between a web site and an e-commerce site?

An ordinary web site presents prospective customers with only information and the only purchasing options available are off-line. On the other hand an e-commerce site not only presents all the required information but also provides secure options to complete the sale right there.

An ordinary web site is like a copy of your printed catalog, only presenting information, whereas an e-commerce web site is a new business unit that complements your existing traditional selling channels and accentuates an entirely new sales/distribution channel.

An ordinary web site offers limited security options. On the other hand e-commerce sites provide options for high levels of security by encrypting data and transferring it over secure servers.

An ordinary web site operates entirely outside your existing business system. All orders have to be manually entered into the system and processed off-line. Whereas an e-commerce web site integrates into your existing system for inventory control, order processing and order fulfillment. A fully integrated e-commerce web site automatically ties into your existing business process and acts like an extension to your existing sales force.

12. I already have an E-Commerce Store, I want to now change my Hosting Provider, what do I do?

You will need to submit a domain modification/transfer request to the registry you originally registered with. Within 72 hours your domain name will be transferred to our servers. But in the mean time you can upload all your files to our servers using the information you receive once you have signed up as an e-commerce hosting customer. The best way to avoid any downtime for your store during the transfer is to make sure that you don't cancel your account with your current hosting provider, until all your files have been uploaded to our servers and your site is live and ready to go.

13. When am I charged the set-up fee and how long does the approval process take?

You will be charged a setup fee at the time of application. Should your application be rejected, then you will be refunded your application fee minus $50 for administrative charges. Suffice to say that unless your application is fraudulent, there is a very high probability that you will be granted a Merchant Account.

14. I have secure server access on my account, do I still have to pay secure gateway fees?

Yes. We provide all accounts with access to secure servers so customers can order your product/services over a secure server.

The Secure Gateway Fees are for the secure transfer of information between your web page and the bank for processing the orders your customers place through your web site. Hence you need to pay the Secure Gateway Fees.

15. Do you include Merchant Accounts with your Web Hosting Services?

Yes. Our web hosting services provide a home for your web site and online store. As an option, you can also be assigned a Merchant Account subject to your status.

16. Do you provide Shopping Cart software?

Yes we do. We offer eCatalogOrder software solution shopping cart system which is highly customisable and can be integrated with your website design very easily.

17. What is an Electronic Shopping Cart?

An Electronic Shopping Cart works the same way a shopping cart does in the physical world. As customers browse through your online store, they can place products they intend buying in their virtual shopping cart, which keeps track of the products placed in it. When they are ready to leave your store, they click a "check out" link which shows them what they've placed in their virtual shopping cart. Here they have the option to remove items they are no longer interested in purchasing. Then they enter their shipping and payment information to process the order.