On Line Shopping

GIVE ME THE MONEY!

Once you've attracted some visitors to your website, the next thing you have to do is convince them to spend some money on your products. Consumers are fickle creatures. They may decide one moment to buy your product and a few minutes later decide not to. While you've got their attention, if you have a mechanism to relieve them of some of their hard earned cash, they're more likely to spend online than if they have to telephone, fax or visit you to make an order.

Spending money over the internet is now established as a form of shopping that most consumers are reasonably comfortable with. But don't expect them to just e-mail you their credit card details. Most consumers aren't that stupid although you'll doubtless be able to catch a few if you've a mind to. Activeminds recommends using an established third party credit card processor such as Paypal, Internet Secure or Google Checkout. These can be easily interfaced to most shopping cart applications, including Activeminds' ActiveBusiness product. The main advantage of using a reputable third party is that if something should go wrong with the transaction, the consumer has a better chance of getting a refund than if they have to deal directly with you, the merchant.