As we finally feel better around here, we are continuing on with our planned changes for our website and business, one of which was our new web design which we rolled out a couple of weeks ago. Secondly, our site is now Boutique Web Design as you can now see on our homepage! Along with the name comes the domain www.boutiquewebdesign.com, however our old domains will still work as well. Red Peach Solutions is now the “parent company” and we will do business under the name of Boutique Web Design from now on.

I mentioned we are finally feeling better - I want to add a little more about that…these last two weeks have been pretty terrible with a nasty virus circulating through our three kids and then to ourselves, hopefully to never return again! My poor husband had the worst case our doctor has ever seen in her life. So today my first day back to work almost full time and so things should return to normal soon. Thanks for all your well wishes during this time! I try to keep my site updated with current info, but I wasn’t always able to do so this time and I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Stay tuned for more news and changes coming soon!

The tenth annual Shop.org report, The State of Retailing Online 2007, conducted by Forrester Research states that e-commerce has come of age and its profitability throughout the channel has stabilized. Eighty-three percent of respondents to the survey reported making more money and 78 percent said they were more profitable than just two years ago. The report found that apparel, accessories and footwear reached $18.3 billion in 2006 for online purchases and is expected to hit $22.1 billion by the end of 2007.

e-onlinedata (EOD) is the nation’s fastest-growing, most trusted provider of online payment solutions. Thousands of Internet, mail order, auction sellers and retail businesses — from start-ups to billion-dollar companies — are choosing EOD every month for affordable, reliable, and easy-to-use credit card processing and Authorize.Net payment gateway solutions. For more information on e-onlinedata or to apply for a merchant account, please visit http://www.e-onlinedata.com/redpeachdesigns

I get a lot of questions about accepting credit cards, how it works, and why it’s important so here is some information that I hope is helpful for you.

Years ago, an exchange of cash was all it took for a customer to make a purchase from a merchant. How things have changed! Today, most businesses offer their products or services on the Internet — clearly, they can’t be restricted to cash-on-delivery practices anymore. E-commerce has emerged as a lucrative channel for merchants to boost sales and grow their bottom lines. Many consumers have Internet access both at work and at home, and browsing an online catalog can be faster than browsing the aisles of a physical store — and customers get the added convenience of shopping 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Merchants should understand the value of operating in multiple channels. For those who haven’t yet incorporated e-commerce into their business but want to, there is much to learn. They must educate themselves on how payment processing works in order to best accommodate their online shoppers and serve the needs of their business. Though paying for an online purchase takes just a few seconds, it involves a complex chain reaction of behind-the-scenes processes.

Merchants can increase revenues and reach more customers by offering an efficient, successful e-commerce solution. This article examines what must be in place in order to complete a transaction that is both secure and offers superior customer service.

What Makes an E-Commerce Solution Possible?
In addition to the range of software and hardware that companies use to support the sale of products and services online, there are three vital components that make online shopping possible: the shopping cart, payment gateway and payment processor. Each is critical to ensuring successful implementation of e-commerce functionality.

Shopping cart. The shopping cart acts quite literally as a virtual shopping basket. It holds the items customers select from a Web site until they are ready to proceed to the checkout stage, where their credit card information will be processed. The shopping cart:

• Keeps track of items until they are purchased
• Automatically totals the amount of a customer’s order, including shipping and tax
• Allows shoppers to securely enter address and credit card information

Red Peach Solutions offers two shopping cart systems that are easy to use and provide the means to accept credit card (and other) payments online. Click here to read more about our shopping cart solutions.

Payment gateway. In order to accept credit cards through the Internet, a payment gateway is critical to transport the credit card information from the shopping cart to the payment processor once the consumer clicks the “Buy” button. In most cases, this transaction happens almost instantaneously. The payment gateway receives encrypted transactions from the merchant’s shopping cart. An encrypted transaction simply means that credit card numbers can’t be read by people who are not supposed to read those numbers. Authentication is then provided and the decrypted payment information is transmitted for authorization. The payment gateway:

• Fulfills the same function as a point-of-sale (card swipe) terminal at a physical retail location
• Takes information provided through a shopping cart and transmits it electronically and securely to a payment processor to be routed for authorization of payment

Payment processor. The payment processor transmits a customer’s credit card information via the Internet to the merchant bank for authorization. It also sends data back to the merchant’s bank to approve payment or the transfer of funds. Specifically, a payment processor:

• Acts as a link from the merchant to the acquiring bank or merchant bank
• Receives information from the merchant through the payment gateway and packages the information for delivery to the acquirer, ensuring that all necessary transactional data is present and valid
• Later transmits information back from the acquirer for delivery to the merchant to settle the transaction

With the shopping cart, payment gateway and payment processor in place, merchants have all they need to offer convenient e-commerce solutions that deliver superior security and service. With a little research and education, merchants can find the best providers to accommodate their business needs and those of their consumers. It just makes sense — with online shopping projected to account for $116 billion, or five percent of all retail sales this year — e-commerce provides merchants an opportunity to make more money and succeed in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Want to get started accepting credit cards on your site? Visit e-onlinedata — it’s quick and easy!

Merchant Processing 101 is a production of e-onlinedata, reprinted with permission from e-onlinedata. Content is intended to provide merchants and small business owners with practical information and insight into the world of payment processing.