eCommerce & Web Solutions Newsletter |
Issue 08/04 April 2008 |
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Competition to Win AdWords Vouchers
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What you need to do:
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Note that these AdWords vouchers can only be used for new AdWords accounts that are less than 14 days old. Only one voucher per customer who must be based in the UK or Ireland. An activation fee of £5 may apply when opening a new AdWords account. Vouchers only valid until 30 June 2008.
If you have any questions or experience problems please contact us
Accepting Credit Cards Online
There are a number of different ways that credit cards can be accepted online – information about the general options is available from www.electronic-payments.co.uk:
- PSP - Automatic handling of payment transactions online by a Payment Services Provider, (or PSP) – the customer is transferred to a secure website hosted by the PSP, but customised to the same look and feel as the business’s website. The transaction takes place and is validated on the spot. The customer receives an acknowledgement and control is returned to the business’s website with an indication of whether the card was accepted or declined.
- The most common type of PSP acts as a gateway and passes the completed transaction to an Acquiring Bank that is providing the Internet Merchant Account. Payment to the business then proceeds in the normal way.
- Certain PSPs can also provide a complete end-to-end service – they provide an Internet Merchant Account and will complete the transaction, settling net funds directly into the business’s bank account on a weekly or monthly basis.
- SSL - Encryption of credit card details online, that are sent to the business by e-mail – the business then validates the payment and enters it via a PDQ machine that is rented from the Acquiring Bank providing the Internet Merchant Account. Payment to the business then proceeds in the normal way.
- In order to accept credit card details online securely and encrypt them for transmission back to your office by e-mail, a special type of web space called SSL space is required in addition to the main website space. You will also need an email encryption facility.
- In order to accept credit card details online securely and encrypt them for transmission back to your office by e-mail, a special type of web space called SSL space is required in addition to the main website space. You will also need an email encryption facility.
- Note that if you handle card details yourself as would be the case with the SSL approach, then you will need to comply with the PCI DSS Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard which can be quite onerous. If you use a PSP, then you need to ensure that they comply. For more information about PCI DSS see the special feature in our February newsletter.
We can supply solutions for integrating PSP solutions or SSL space and email encryption. Our eCommerce solutions based on Actinic Catalog can be configured to integrate seamlessly with all major PSPs as well as work with SSL space.
SecureTrading was one of the first gateway PSPs to achieve full PCI DSS compliance and we are a SecureTrading Partner, so if you would like to discuss switching to SecureTrading please contact us.
more details on Payment Solutions and Internet Merchant Accounts
Combining Online & In-store Commerce
Although this doesn't apply to all businesses trading online, a lot of businesses also have "bricks-and-mortar" stores and could benefit from having solutions that integrate both in-store and online trading.
Many small businesses operate online stores in addition to premises where customers can walk in and purchase items in person. Specialist shops often fall into this category and would benefit from the in-store and online systems operating from a single product database with common pricing, invoicing, stock control and back office systems:
Actinic Actinic provides a range of products catering for:
Actinic Catalog or Business has the capability to meet most business requirements for online trading and includes a number of options for handling discounts and special offers. It also includes stock control, order processing and sales analysis:
Actinic EPOS provides an advanced, computerised cash register and works with the standard EPOS peripherals to provide a complete in-store checkout, stock control and reporting system:.
Actinic solutions need to be customised and implemented by specialist web developers such as ourselves. |
Cybertill Cybertill is an online Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS) system that provides both eCommerce and in store functionality. It also includes Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and sales and stock analysis. A PC acts as an EPoS till and touch screen capability is available if required. The stock database is hosted remotely and can be accessed by both the merchant's eCommerce website and from a PC that the merchant can use as a till in-store. Although this means that a high-speed Internet connection is required to use the system, it has the advantage that all of the data is located off-site in a resilient and backed up data centre - guarding against disasters and facilitating business continuity. However, Emergency Till is available to use locally to ensure continuity in case of any loss of Internet access to the data centre. Once the connection is re-established, transactions are uploaded automatically. We do not have any direct experience with implementing Cybertill systems, but it comes highly recommended by some of our consultancy associates. |
In both cases the eCommerce functionality can be integrated with the main website to provide a seamless transition between the two, while online payment services can be integrated with the solution as explained above.
Actinic Version 9 - an update
Actinic has now released version 9.0.1 of their award winning eCommerce software package. This new version builds upon previous versions but we would still recommend caution before upgrading production eCommerce sites from earlier versions. It is always best to run the upgraded site in test mode before overwriting the live production site. For help with how to do this please contact us.
We are planning to install this version over the next couple of weeks and if our tests are successful, we will upgrade our production site in the near future. We will report back on progress and our experience with this new version in forthcoming newsletters.
Actinic has also announced a point version upgrade to version 8. Version 8.5.3 fixes a few user-reported bugs, and adds support for Actinic Payments as a payment method.
Actinic is the premiere eCommerce package designed for small and medium sized businesses in the UK. It is highly customisable and includes an unparalleled number of facilities and options, making it the most flexible system that we have come across at an affordable price, more details
We are an Accredited Actinic Web Designer and we have extensive experience of developing and enhancing eCommerce websites based upon the Actinic packages.
Contact us if you would like any further information about the items in this newsletter.
Please let us have any feedback you might have, and also let us know if there are any articles you would like to see covered in future issues by sending an email to sales@wise.co.uk.
Best regards,
Tim Weaver
Weaver Information Services (Europe) Limited trading as WISE.CO.UK,
Telephone +44 (0) 1438 453013. Email info@wise.co.uk
Registered office 11 Watton Road, Knebworth SG3 6AH.
Registered in England no. 2618391. VAT registration GB 573 1139 51.
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