Electronic Productivity Solutions (EPS)

eCommerce

eCommerce is literally short for electronic commerce. Specifically it is the process of transacting on-line and receiving payments for goods or services on-line.

You may remember ‘eCommerce’ being a buzz word of the late 1990s. Companies scrambled to sell whatever they could online in an attempt to share in the "dot com" boom. Unfortunately for many companies their planning was inefficient and uninformed. The reality was that the Internet was not an appropriate way for all businesses to sell their product or service. The core issues come down to logistics.

EPS are experts in the field of eCommerce. We understand the issues and all the alternatives available to organisations wishing to transact on-line.

If you are wishing to develop or expand your business’ capacity for eCommerce, EPS can consult with you and inform you of all the possible options suitable for your business, and then help you implement the most suitable solution.

There are two main areas which make up the eCommerce component of your business. They are:

  1. Creating a shopping environment, e.g. an order form or shopping cart by which potential customers select a product/service to purchase on-line
  2. Ensuring that customer information, orders and payments are securely transmitted from customer to merchant. E.g. a real-time Internet payment gateway or EPS’ own AusMerchant product which securely transmits transaction details to you.

eCommerce Overview

Any business wishing to sell goods or services on-line by receiving credit card orders must firstly register with a bank for a merchant account that allows you to process credit card transactions. Contact your business bank to begin this process or talk to EPS and we shall begin the process with your bank.

EPS can put you in contact with the relevant departments at your bank, or advise you which banks are offering the best rates.

EPS will work with you to set-up the two critical areas:

These two options are outlined in further detail below.

As long as you consult with EPS on any aspect of your eCommerce needs we will provide you with all the advice and guidance you need to transact on-line:

  • Sales strategy; how to encourage customers and visitors to purchase from your website
  • Legal considerations; how to avoid legal risks
  • Privacy concerns; satisfying the Privacy Act
  • Technical options; setting up the right technical infra-structure
    • Load balancing; ensuring your eCommerce system can handle the amount of traffic and transactions
    • Shopping baskets; how customers select goods or services for purchase
  • Risk management
  • Credit card processing options; real-time versus batch processing
  • Bank and payment gateway negotiations; negotiating on your behalf the best rates and per transaction costs
  • Security

Payment Options

There are two core ways for which organisations can receive credit-card payments for goods or services on-line:

Real-time payment gateway:

EPS will negotiate on your behalf for the best rates from the third party payment gateway providers and banks. EPS has successfully negotiated on behalf of multi-national corporations such as DMG Radio Australia Pty Ltd to get the best rates available.

After ensuring terminal IDs are received we will then set-up the link between your website, the payment gateway, a web database, the secure server and your bank.

Our experience ensures that we are well aware of all the issues. Load balancing, error checking, redundancy, etc, ensuring the smooth running of your business’ eCommerce component.

Batch Processing

Much simpler and less costly to set-up, this solution involves collecting customers’ credit card payment information and orders in a secure environment. However the money is not physically taken out of the customer’s credit card account and placed into the merchants.

Credit card details are securely transmitted to you the merchant for manual processing via an existing merchant facility (e.g. an EFTPOS machine at your premises or by using a click-clack hand written processor)

Batch processing does not incur on-going transaction fees other than what your bank charges you when you process the credit card.

New, emerging technologies

SMS, SmartCards and mobile phone accounts can all be used to receive payments. EPS can educate you in the different payment options to offer your customers.

Shopping Baskets & Order Forms

Whilst the most appropriate payment gateway is being negotiated and set-up EPS can create your shopping environment. Depending on your requirements there are simple or more advanced options to consider2E

Entry level; AusMerchant
A simple order form with all products listed on one page. No shopping cart is included.
Standard; Merchant services
Using our standard shopping cart system we will create a full shopping cart which also comes with online customer management. Read more about this via our web hosting site or visit a full working demo at demoshop.epshosting.com
Fully customised
We will build a shopping environment specific to your needs

Benefits For You

  • EPS is not aligned to any bank or payment gateway provider. We will provide you with unbiased recommendations as to the most appropriate payment gateway to use.
  • EPS has been building eCommerce systems for over seven years. We will provide you with the right solution matched to your business requirements.
  • All systems we build are built with the customer in mind and high attention to detail. The process will take into account the year’s of EPS’ experience in dealing with a wide range of customers and usability needs.
  • Download the features and benefits documentation

Examples

To view a showcase of some of our existing eCommerce clients please visit the Our eCommerce Experience section of the website.

Alternatively try our demo by visiting http://demoshop.epshosting.com.