ACCEPTING CREDIT CARD ORDERS AT YOUR WEB

ACCEPTING CREDIT CARD ORDERS AT YOUR WEB

SITE:HOW TO DO IT AND WHY YOU SHOULD!

By S. Hunter

If you have a web site and aren't allowing viewers to order your product online than you may be losing sales! Here is how online ordering works:

At your web site you provide an order form that can be filled in online. Your customer checks off the products/services they would like to receive; they complete the credit card and contact information; the order and amount is confirmed; then "submit" is clicked and the order appears within a few seconds in your e-mail box. You then have the option of confirming with the customer that the order has been received and will be processed shortly.

Benefits of online ordering for web site owners

You get orders for your products faster and more easily. You do not have the delays associated with waiting for orders to arrive by mail.

Orders can be confirmed with the customer prior to processing to avoid possible discrepancy later over credit card charges.

New products can be added to your online ordering form quickly and easily.

Arranging for merchant status on your own and accepting online orders directly at your web site, eliminates the need for a middle man to receive the credit card orders who then charges you a processing fee.

Orders can be accepted online 24 hours a day worldwide without the need to pay for a telephone order line or someone to staff the line.

You maintain a copy of completed order forms for file purposes.

Your customers gain the assurance that you as a business owner have taken additional steps to secure the privacy of their personal credit information.

Benefits of online ordering for your customer

Internet users like the convenience and ease of online ordering

Internet users are more confident about making credit card purchases online

Your customers can place an order from anywhere in the world 24 hours a day seven days a week.

How do you go about being able to accept credit card orders at your web site?

First you need to have merchant status; that is you need to be able to accept major credit cards. This can be arranged at your local bank. Or if you are a new business and are having difficulty geting merchant status from your bank, visit http://www.trafficcenter.com click on Merchant Services and fill out the request form there for free info on how to get merchant status with a company that specializes in small and Internet based businesses.

Once you have merchant status the next step is to ensure that your service provider can offer you secure online ordering. Secure ordering means that personal and credit card information will be kept confidential. This is possible through special software that encrypts the message while the information is being typed into the form. This prevents the information from being hacked or stolen. One popular example of the software used by many providers is that produced by Verisign (www.verisign.com) which provides digital authentication services and products for electronic commerce

How will your customers know that you offer authentic secure online ordering? Most Internet browsers will prompt viewers about the security features of a form. Further evidence of a secure order form is the appearance of a closed lock or a key in the bottom right hand corner of the browser. This security feature allows users to know whether they can order, confident that their information is protected. A secure form also has a web site address that begins with the prefix, https:// instead of the usual http://

See this example https://www.worldprofit.com/secure/trafficcenter/domain_order.cfm

Once your provider has indicated that they have the proper measures in place to provide you with a secure order form, you will need to have the form developed. The order form itself should include all of your products and services you have available, the cost per item, quantity price, domestic and international shipping, estimated delivery time, a contact number to check the status of orders etc.

The next step is for your provider to secure the form so that information added to the form is safe and confidential. Finally the submit button is activated so that the form is clicked on and sent only to the e-mail of the person designated to process your orders.

That's it! Online ordering is simple to set up and convenient for all who use it. At one time there was great reluctance about ordering products off the Internet with a credit card. Those days are gone, now that verifiable security measures are in place and consumer confidence grows.

Sandi Hunter is Co-Founder of Worldprofit at http://www.worldprofit.com

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