Does anyone with experience on this subject… HOW DOES IT WORK??? I mean, to have an E-Commerce… Do I need a Merchant Account? a Payment Gateway?… both?
What is the difference between them, is there is any?…
It seems confusing to me, because some companies seem to explain this thing as the same … … I dont know… I am a little slow with these things…. please help.
To set up an ecommerce website you will need the following:
1) A website. I know this sounds silly but there is a lot more to it then most people understand. To have a website you will need to register a domain name and get web hosting. Then you will need someone to design and build your website for you. Naturally having a website that looks professional and is pleasing to the eye can help you convert lookers into buyers.
2) You will need a shopping cart. A shopping cart will allow you to manage your products and orders. There are many free and paid ones available and they offer many different features. You can also have a custom one made for you by a web developer. The advantages of using an existing script is that your site can get up faster and it costs less then a custom cart. The downside is you have to use what they give you and may have limited customization capabilities.
3) An SSL certificate. This allows for you to secure your order page will is necessary so your customers’ sensitive data (credit card information) is protected from thieves. You can get them cheaply at godaddy.com.
4) A merchant account. This is what will allow you to accept credit card payments. There are lot of merchant account providers out there so make sure you shop around as their rates will vary. Naturally lower rates are better. For an Internet business do your best to get rates as close to 2.00% as possible.
5) A payment gateway. This connects your shopping cart and order form to your merchant account. Basically it acts just like a credit card machine does in a retail store. The most popular gateway is Authorize.Net.
Some companies can actually provide all five services for you. Or you can choose to get them separately and try to save money or get exactly what you want feature-wise.
if you go to http://www.authorize.net and snoop around you’ll find a very helpful diagram that shows how all the pieces fit together. High level thoughts:
Merchant Account – In business, not just online, this is what allows you to accept credit cards.
Payment Gateway – This is the 3rd party that takes your transactions and does everything necessary to get them into the interchange network. This can include authorization as well as submission for settlement. Without the gateway, your online transactions cannot "get into" the interchange network for processing.