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Security
and Payment Because they're impersonal, Internet transactions
can get downright touchy. You need to establish a
sense of security without creating the feeling of
Fort Knox. Customers must be able to select a mode
of payment and the software must verify their ability
to pay. This can involve credit cards, electronic
cash, or purchase orders. Specialized software such
as CyberCash, CommercePOINT eTill, and Microsoft Wallet
can verify the purchaser and the purchase. E-commerce
software packages should also work with Secure Socket
Layer (SSL) or Secure Electronic Transfer (SET) technologies
for encryption of data transmissions. The more of
these supported by an e-commerce package, the better.
Most e-payment solution providers will require that
your company establish a special bank account to handle
the online transactions.
Minding
the Store
Managing customer information is a crucial part of
an e-commerce operation. More sophisticated packages
maintain a great deal of customer data, including
where people go in the site, and make this information
available in the form of analytical reports. A nice
feature to look for in an e-commerce package is the
ability to use the customer's information to customize
the page contents to their tastes.
The
Software's not Perfect,
but I Today's "imperfect" software is a sign of a
relatively nascent industry. There are good values
on the market: Some are robust, and others may scale
well. None, however, can be installed, configured,
run, and updated without some adjustments. E-commerce
products are built on top of other complex software
(operating systems, other servers). The relationships
between components are critical, which means that
problems can frequently occur.
Even
with problems, it's quicker and less expensive to
deal with commercial software than it is to build
custom e-commerce programs from scratch. In cases
where the software has been well thought out the results
can be spectacular - good enough to run successful
e-commerce sites such as Dell Computer (www.dell.com)
that bring in millions of dollars each day.
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