FAQ for eShop and eCommerce
HKWebDesign.net prepares this FAQ by collecting some frequently-asked-questions for eshop/ estore setup to explain our eshop (e-commerce) solution. If you have any question which could not be answered by this FAQ, please feel free to let us know.
Question Section:
Q1: Is an eCommerce website appropriate if my business is small?
Q2: Do I need any programming knowledge?
Q3: What do I need to start selling my products on the web?
Q4: What is a shopping cart?
Q5: What is a merchant account?
Q6: What is a payment gateway?
Q7: What are the benefits using a payment gateway?
Q8: How does a payment gateway work?
Q9: What is PayPal?
Q10: How does PayPal work?
Q11: Do customers need to register before purchase using your shopping cart system?
Q12: Do you charge fees per transaction?
Q13: Are there any additional payment options for the cart?
Q14: Does the shopping cart support different languages and currencies?
Q15: Is there a limit to the number of categories or products?
Q16: Are there any system requirements to manage my eshop?
Q17: Can I add/change delivery charges?
Q18: Can you offer to build sites in different languages if I need to go global?
Q19: How long does it take to build an eshop?
Q20: Can I build my new eshop while my present eCommerce site is still live?
Answer Section:
Q1: Is an eCommerce website appropriate if my business is small?
Ans: It is great for a small business to employ eCommerce website to access to new markets and customers with only a small investment. It is an excellent way for businesses to grow using eCommerce website without having to employ sales staff or negotiate distribution deals.
Q2: Do I need any programming knowledge?
Ans: No, you can set up a complete store without any HTML knowledge. We may completely design a professional looking eshop for you. You may add and update the website contents and products at any time after directly logging on our administrative panel via internet.
Q3: What do I need to start selling my products on the web?
Ans: You may need an eCommerce website with a shopping cart. In order to accept credit cards online, you must have a merchant account or use a payment gateway.
Q4: What is a shopping cart?
Ans: A shopping cart is simply an online software that provides a website with the ability to build a catalog of products and allow a visitor to browse and make selections to purchase online.
Q5: What is a merchant account?
Ans: A merchant account is a special agreement with a bank that allows you to accept credit card payments. This is one of the most popular method of online payment to process credit card transactions. Generally, it may involve a setup fee, annual fees and a transaction fee. For security, the ecommerce site should set up SSL to secure credit cards information during online payment.
Q6: What is a payment gateway?
Ans: A payment gateway is a server that is dedicated to linking eshops / ecommerce websites and banks so that online credit card transactions can be completed in real-time. The payment gateway providers try to protect critical consumer data (e.g. personal and credit card information) by using encryption to ensure that this data can be securely exchanged between the seller, the consumer, and other parties like banks and credit card companies. PayPal is one of the leading payment gateway in the world.
Q7: What are the benefits using a payment gateway?
Ans: By incorporating a payment gateway into your eshop, you can ensure you are providing the easiest and most streamlined buying experience for your customers. You will also take advantage of the third party secure payment processing facilities at low cost.
Q8: How does a payment gateway work?
Ans: Payment gateways work by providing the secure link between an eshop and the bank. When a customer checks out after selecting the products on the eshop, he/she will be redirected to the payment gateway site (e.g. PayPal) for payment credit card details. After the payment gateway receives these details and sends them to the bank for verification, the bank then replies with a response; usually either accepted or declined. Once payment is completed, customers are redirected back to your eshop. The payment gateway also sends a payment notice with the appropriate shipment details to you for subsequent delivery.
Q9: What is PayPal?
Ans: PayPal is a third party service that allows eshops / estores to accept credit card payments online. PayPal's service is secure and protected by SSL to ensure that all sensitive data is protected. PayPal takes a small percentage of each transaction completed via their service. PayPal charges no setup fee and annual fee. Since PayPal is a well known secure payment service, they are trusted by a lot of online shoppers.
Q10: How does PayPal work?
Ans: To start using PayPal to accept payments on your eshop, you first require a PayPal account. It is free to sign up for a standard business PayPal account. Once PayPal has been integrated into your eshop, customers can start making payments to you using the PayPal interface.
Q11: Do customers need to register before purchase using your shopping cart system?
Ans: Your customers can purchase your products without prior registration.
Q12: Do you charge fees per transaction?
Ans: No, there are no transaction fees or any other hidden fees when you use our shopping cart system.
Q13: Are there any additional payment options for the cart?
Ans: The shopping cart system accepts credit card payment via PayPal, cash on delivery, cheque and bank transfer.
Q14: Does the shopping cart support different languages and currencies?
Ans: Yes, it supports different currencies and languages.
Q15: Is there a limit to the number of categories or products?
Ans: No, we do not limit the number of products you sell. But there may be a limit on the hardware resources (e.g. amount of disk space and memory, etc.).
Q16: Are there any system requirements to manage my eshop?
Ans: To access your eshop admin. panel, you must have internet access and use a JavaScript enabled browser.
Q17: Can I add/change delivery charges?
Ans: Yes. You can specify rules for postage and update it latter.
Q18: Can you offer to build sites in different languages if I need to go global?
Ans: Yes. Our eshop solution includes a content management system that supports to build site with different languages. Of course, you may consider the content translation yourself.
Q19: How long does it take to build an eshop?
Ans: That depends on how complicated the eCommerce website will be. Generally, it is possible to complete it in 2-3 weeks if all is ready.
Q20: Can I build my new eshop while my present eCommerce site is still live?
Ans: Yes. Your present eCommerce site can still work while you are building your new eshop. When you are ready to begin hosting your new online store, we may change your DNS settings to point your existing domain name to your new eshop site.
