A Little Technology Shoppe LLC

Last Updated: January 21, 2000

Everything you ever wanted to know about E-Commerce

ECommerce Server Extensions

Start Making Money Today!
Over 20 million people are currently buying products and services online. By 2001 online retail sales are expected to top $17.8 billion. Consumers are gaining confidence in the security of the Internet which will further increase the growth in sales. Now is the time to get a piece of the action! Merchants who experiment today have the opportunity to grow with the Web and become the giants of tomorrow.

What is E-Commerce?
E-Commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services across the Internet. An e-commerce site can be as simple as a catalog page with a phone number, or it can range all the way to a real-time credit card processing site where customers can purchase downloadable goods and receive them on the spot. E-Commerce merchants can range from the small business with a few items for sale all the way to a large online retailer such as Amazon.com.

Program
Description
Last Updated
Miva Merchant Virtual Server
January 21, 2000

Miva Merchant Server
Our new Miva Merchant Virtual Server makes it easy for you to take advantage of the explosive online market NOW! We've combined the power of theVirtual Servers with the ease-of-use of the Miva Merchant e-commerce platform to provide you a simple, yet extremely robust, e-commerce solution. Order a Miva Merchant Server and start making money today!

Secure Sockets
Layer (SSL) and
Certificates
January 21, 2000
You can provide encrypted web server sessions for your clients by using the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). With SSL, your customers will feel confident sending you their credit card information online because they know it will be a secure encrypted transaction. You should also use a Digital Certificate in conjunction with SSL for authentication purposes.
ShopSite
January 21, 2000
Storefront creation software from ICentral. ShopSite software is an online store creation system that allows merchants to build and maintain catalogs of products to sell on the Internet. ShopSite includes tools for site creation and management, sales and traffic statistics, secure encrypted transactions, and online order fulfillment.
ShopZone
January 21, 2000
ShopZone allows you to develop comprehensive, robust and secure on-line stores using its graphic templates, WYSIWYG developer tool, and database support.
Web Business Builder
January 21, 2000
Web Business Builder allows you to easily create an on-line store selling your products and services on the web. A step-by-step multimedia tutorial guides you through the process of creating your own site. In just five easy steps, even a beginner can assemble an on-linestore that will professionally conduct secure transactions.
CyberCash™
January 21, 2000
If you are interested in creating sites with the capability to charge credit cards on-line, then you will be happy to know that the Virtual Server System supports the CyberCash™ merchant system. In addition to supporting CyberCash™, In most cases, you will also want to use the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption technology and a Digital Certificate in conjunction with CyberCash™ if you wish to have a successful online site that conducts electronic commerce.
AuthorizeNet™
January 21, 2000
NETSolutions International provides a simple, real-time transaction processing solution: AuthorizeNet™. AuthorizeNet™ will allow you to automatically accept, authorize, and process credit cards and check orders directly from your web site.

Definitions

Ad Clicks
Number of times that a viewer clicks on an ad banner.

Address Verification
Process used by a credit card processor or other party to verify that a customer's ordering address matches their records.

Automated Clearing House
An ACH transaction is an electronic fund transfer through the Federal Reserve Bank from a checking or savings account

Authorization
The process of checking the validity and available balance of a customer's credit card before the transaction can be accepted.

Bandwidth
The amount of information (webpages, text, graphics, video, sound, etc) that is downloaded through a connection.

Banner
An interactive ad placed on a webpage that is linked to an external advertiser's website or another internal page within the same website.

"Card Not Present" Merchant Account
An account that allows merchants to process credit cards without a face to face transaction with the purchaser.

Certificate Authority
A Certificate Authority (CA) is a third party which verifies the identity of merchants and their sites. The certificate authority issues a certificate (also called a digital certificate or an authentication certificate) to an applicant company, which can then put the certificate up on its site.

Commerce Server
The server that manages and maintains all transactional and backend data for a commerce website.

Cross Promotion
The promotion of a website through other traditional forms of advertising such as magazines, newspapers, radio, TV, billboards, etc.

Delayed Settlement Processing
Once a transaction has been authorized, the merchant must ship the hard goods before a transaction can be settled. Delayed settlements are stored online until the merchant selects the transactions for settlement.

Digital Certificate
A Digital Certificate issued by a Certificate Authority certifies that a merchant and a particular website are connected, just as a photo on your driver's licence connects your identity with your personal details. A digital certificate verifies to the shopper that the virtual store is actually associated with a physical address and phone number which can increase the shoppers confidence in the authenticity of the merchant.

Distribution Channel
The method through which a product is sold including retailers, catalogers, internet commerce websites, etc.

Domain Name
The unique name of an internet website. For example, yahoo.com is a domain name.

Download
The transfer of information from the internet to the browsing computer.

Drop Ship
The shipping of a product directly from the manufacturer to the customer without requiring inventory carrying by the retailer.

Electronic Software Distribution
Software that can be purchased and downloaded directly from the internet.

Hit
Each time a Web server sends a file to a browser, a "hit" is recorded in the server file logs.

Home Page
The first page through which a viewer usually enters a website.

HTML
Hyper Text Markup Language is the standardized language which allows web browsers to interpret websites.

HTTP
Hyper Text Transfer Protocol is a protocol which allows computers to communicate with each other.

Keywords
Words that may be used by viewers searching for information. Keywords can be purchased from search engine companies so that an appropriate ad banner may be displayed when a viewer searches on a particular word.

Merchant Account
A "bank account" established with a payment processor for the settlement of credit card transactions. Any merchant who wants to take credit card orders must establish a merchant account. Internet merchants need a "Card Not Present Merchant Account."

Off-Line Transaction Processing
Capture of order and credit card information for later authorization and transaction processing through a traditional card swipe terminal or through a computer.

Order Confirmation
An email message notifying a customer that an order has been received and will be processed.

Order Management System
A system that accepts orders and initiates a process that results in the outbound shipment of a finished good.

Real Time Credit Card Processing
On-line authorization of a credit card number in real time informing the merchant that the card has been approved.

Settlement
Once the goods have been shipped to the customer, the merchant can key a transaction for settlement at which time the customer's credit card is charged for the transaction and the proceeds are deposited into the merchant account.

SSL
Secure Socket Layer is an encryption technology on the server that scrambles important data such as credit card numbers and order information when it is being stored or passed from one computer to another.

Shipping Confirmation
An email message that notifies a customer that an order has been shipped.

URL
Uniform Resource Locator which describes the "address" for a document on the internet.


In order to conduct electronic commerce on the Internet you will need software that provides a secure environment, a shopping cart system, and transaction processing. We have compiled a list of software that offers our Virtual Server Administrators options in each of these areas. These programs were all developed by third parties. Though our Technical Support Staff will offer you assistance in installing these software packages, questions regarding general use and problems encountered should be directed to the software authors.

Each of the e-commerce components is accompanied by a large amount of documentation which you should review and understand if you expect to fully utilize the power of these components. Some of the e-commerce components have license agreements that you should make yourself familiar with and agree to. Furthermore, some components require a small setup fee (which is indicated when appropriate).


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