Electronic Commerce is one of the most important aspects of the internet to emerge. It allows people to exchange goods and services immediately and with no barriers of time or distance. Any time of the day or night, you can go online and buy almost anything you want.

However, the road to creating a successful online storefront can be a difficult and confusing one if you are unaware of the concepts and principles behind eCommerce. The trick to entering this market smoothly is to find out what you need to do before you have to do it. This page is designed to help you do just that.

This is how eCommerce works.

The consumer moves through the internet to the merchant's web site. From there, he decides that he wants to purchase something, so he is moved to the online transaction server, where all of the information he gives is encrypted. Once he has placed his order, the information moves through a private gateway to a Processing Network, where the issuing and acquiring banks complete or deny the transaction. This generally takes place in no more than 5-7 seconds.

There are many different payment systems available to accommodate the varied processing needs of merchants, from those who have a few orders a day to those who process thousands of transactions daily. With the addition of Secure Socket Layer technology, eCommerce is also a very safe way to complete transactions

There are several basic steps involved in becoming Commerce Enabled.

• Getting an Internet Merchant Bank Account
• Web Hosting
• Obtaining a Digital Certificate
• Finding a Provider of Online Transactions
• Creating or Purchasing a Shopping Cart Software
• Conclusion