Is e-commerce a viable market?
Statistics from the Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce show us:

U.S. retail e-commerce sales for the second quarter of 2006 was $26.3 billion, an increase of 4.6 percent from the first quarter of 2006.
Total retail sales for the second quarter of 2006 were $984.9 billion, an increase of only 0.9 percent from the first quarter of 2006.

'Cyber Monday' Sales Set Record The season's kickoff beats last year's figures, breaking $700 million in single-day sales for the first time." (Karen Jacobs, Reuters)

"We believe that large numbers of consumers are already using the Internet to find bargains, save on time and gasoline by avoiding store visits, and get better selection and choice online."

If I open my store will the orders pour in?
If you offer a product people want, your store is easy to navigate and use, and accessible (advertised and promoted), you will get orders.

It is important to note however that an e-commerce site is a real store and thus should have all the necessary “departments” in place and operating smoothly before ordering takes place. It will be our role at Wildwood Forest Studios to make this happen.

What do I need to learn before opening my store?
You need to be familiar with the basics on how to use a computer and the Internet. You need to understand how to use your e-mail for communication. If you need help with these skills and are local to the Atlanta area, a member of the Wildwood Forest Studios staff is available for training sessions. If you are not located near Atlanta we can recommend several excellent, easy to use books on the subject.

Is there a risk involved in accepting credit card payments?
Purchasing goods over the Internet using credit cards has become an extremely secure process if set up correctly. Your customers will want to see that you are using an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) where all data is encrypted before being transmitted. Purchasing a digital certificate to display on your site will insure confidence in all parties involved.

What will I need to run my store?
On the web site you will need.......

• Product display and order-taking system: Wildwood Forest Studios will build a product display of your inventory and a shopping cart to enable customers to peruse a catalog, click to drop items into a virtual “cart”, then proceed to a “check-out”. Extras such as an item search function, information about you and your company, promotionals to increase visitor count will all enhance the e-store.
• Payment processing system: As your customers proceed to the “check-out”, they will be asked to provide payment information. In order to process this payment you will need to utilize a “gateway” service, such as Authorize.Net. This service will do the task of debiting the funds from the customer’s account and crediting it to your business account. The service will charge you a set-up fee, a monthly fee and a per-transaction fee based on your sales volume. We will facilitate your application for the service and handle the connection to your e-store.
• Merchant account: A merchant account is set up with the bank where you will receive the funds from the on-line transaction. It must be an account that accepts credit cards. You may already have such an account set up for your business where you are presently physically processing credit card sales. If so, then this account can most likely be extended to receive the online sales as well.
  
  

  IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A MERCHANT ACCOUNT AND JUST NEED TO ADD A GATEWAY: Wildwood recommends that you use Authorize.Net. We will provide you with an application to fill out and return directly to Authorize who will assign a representative to you who will help you through the process and then provide us with the proper key code to complete the connection to your e-store. You will pay:    a one-time set up fee of $99    a monthly gateway-fee of $17.95    a per-transaction fee of $0.10 Note that these fees are subject to change, so ask us to verify with Authorize that we have quoted you current rates. IF YOU WILL NEED BOTH A GATEWAY AND A MERCHANT ACCOUNT: Wildwood recommends that you use our e-onlinedata package. We will provide you with an application to fill out and return directly to e-onlinedata who will assign a representative to you who will help you through the process and then provide us with the proper key code to complete the connection to your e-store. You will pay:    2.29% of the sale    $.30 per transaction    $10 monthly report fee    $25 monthly processing fee if the fee generated by the 2.29% does not reach       $25 minimum for the month    $79 one-time set up fee and $15/month access fee to authorize.net Note that these fees are subject to change, so ask us to verify with e-onlinedata that we have quoted you current rates. click here to get all the details and an application

  
  
  
• SSL Secure Server Certification: E-stores should always provide an extra guarantee to their customers that the orders are going through an encrypted “secure server”. Customers see the “lock” icon at the bottom right of their screen telling them that your server is secure. We will secure an SSL Certification from whatever hosting service you decide to use. For an additional fee you can also add a viewable certificate such as the one provided by Geo Trust (which links to your certification) which will further insure their confidence in your store.

• a person designated to fulfill the orders: You will be notified by e-mail of each order placed. Using a computer you will log on to your secure Miva order center. There you will retrieve the orders and print them out for your records. Then depending on the system you choose, you will either hit the “process now” button, launching the fund transfer process, or you will manually process the credit card transaction on a terminal the same way you do for sales in your physical store. Upon completion of your store we will provide you with a training manual with easy to follow instructions.
• a system for shipping the orders: This you will handle on your end. You will have your order print-outs to pass on to your shipping department. They can be folded and used in a windowed envelope attached to the box as a shipping label.
• a system for keeping your product catalog up-to-date (items, prices, etc.): We can provide you with instructions and training (if local ), to make your own updates. Or we can contract to provide up-dating services for you.
• a system for providing customer service: Your e-store will include instructions for contacting customer service. You will need to be available to follow up with that contact as the success of your store will depend on it.

What kind of Shopping Cart and Payment Processing system will be used?
Wildwood uses a variety of resources and will suggest the system that is right for your business plan and project budget. Among the possibilities are the following:

	Miva Merchant, an industry leader in e-commerce software allows flexibility in design and a wide range of modules to handle various utilities. With an easy-to-use administrative interface, you will able to manage your store, keep track of your customers, batch your orders at the end of the day, run a batch report to analyze order data, and process your orders through your payment gateway.
	Wildwood Forest Studios' own version of OS-Commerce, based on the wildly popular "open-source" Software, is a powerful solution which includes PHP web scripting language, the stable Apache web server, and the fast MySQL database. With both frontend and backend functionality your eStore has unlimited possibilities.
	The PayPal shopping cart and payment system is a viable option for small businesses on a tight budget. Although somewhat limited in versatility, some of our clients find PayPal's fees are more affordable.