Lawyers.com > Understand Your Legal Issue > Business Law > Small Business Law > Online Buying and Selling

Online Buying and Selling

In order for your small business to compete in today's global marketplace, you will need to understand successful selling strategies and safe buying methods on the Internet. Electronic commerce, commonly known as E-Commerce or eCommerce, consists of buying and selling products or services over the Internet and is growing at an ever-increasing rate.

Online retailers are sometimes referred to as e-tailers and E-Commerce that is conducted between businesses is referred to as Business-to-business or B2B. Whether your business sells to consumers or to other business, the Internet gives you the potential to reach an enormous audience. Consumers with busy schedules are doing comparison shopping on the Internet to find the best bargains and they are becoming more comfortable using credit and debit cards on secure Web sites to make numerous purchases.

Successful Selling

To be a successful seller you will first need an E-Commerce Web site. An E-Commerce Web site needs to be functional and secure. There are companies that offer comprehensive Web site development. They will develop your company Web site with E-Commerce integration, host your site and provide secure payment processing.

After you have your company Web site set up, you will need to promote it. You should consider promoting it on the Internet as well as by traditional means. Search engines, such as Google, Yahoo and Ask, are the biggest single source of visitors and also the cheapest. Typically, registering with a few major search engines will generate the majority of your traffic.

In addition to registering with the major search engines, there are other means of building your business, such as:

  • Negotiating links with other Web sites
  • Traditional marketing and public relations
  • Advertising on search engines and other high traffic sites
  • Associate programs by which sites that refer visitors get a commission on sales

If you are selling multiple products on your Web site then you will want an electronic shopping cart feature where items that are selected for purchase are grouped together on a Web page. This allows customers to be able to review the contents of their cart and the total at any time. The electronic shopping cart feature makes it easy for customers to browse your company's Web site and select products as they go.

When customers are finished shopping, they click on a hyperlink which takes them to the checkout page. This is where customers are presented with a list of the goods selected for purchase, the total cost of the items, tax, and shipping and handling charges. The customer can then add shipping instructions, name, and address information. The customer is normally given several payment options and shipping methods. The most common online payment method is the use of a credit card, which allows customers to enter their card number, name on the card, expiration date and sometimes the security code on the back of the card to pay for their purchases. Other alternatives are purchase orders, money orders, cashiers checks, personal checks, phone orders and fax orders.

Your Web site should switch to secure mode at the ordering state. The technology normally used to secure a site is called SSL (Secure Socket Layer). This means that all communication with the server is encrypted so that credit card information can't be stolen. It is important for customer confidence that your company Web site switches to secure mode as soon as credit card information is requested.

If you don't want to go through the hassle of opening a merchant account in order to accept credit cards, you can use PayPal, which is an online payment system, to exchange money securely over the Internet. Other options are Google and Amazon, which both offer checkout services that Web sites can use to provide secure online acceptance of credit cards. Even if you are already set up to accept credit cards, you may want to accept PayPal payments because PayPal makes it possible for people without credit cards to make purchases online.

Accepting PayPal offers many advantages to small businesses:

  • It's easy and you don't have to go through a lot of steps to qualify to receive credit card or PayPal payments
  • Buyers like it because they don't need to give their personal credit card information to unknown sellers
  • It's affordable with rates that compare favorably to credit card processing fees and there are no monthly fees or minimums
  • You can set it up quickly, start accepting payments immediately and get money in your bank account faster than if you accepted checks
  • It's safe with PayPal accepting virtually all risk from fraudulent buyers and it offers buyer protection

Safe Buying

When you are making online purchases for your business you will want to make the buying process as safe as possible. Here are some steps that you should follow to ensure a safe buying experience:

  • Only buy from online companies that you trust and respect.
  • Check the companies return policy. Confirm that they will accept your return or exchange if you are not satisfied with the product. See if the company allows products ordered online to be returned to your nearest store. This can save you shipping and handling fees.
  • Make sure you are moved to a secured Web site before your order is placed. If you are transferred to a secured site, that confirms that you are safe to enter your credit card. There are several ways to confirm that you're in a secure area. All SSL capable browsers have a symbol to indicate secure mode. Some use us a complete key or closed lock to show that you are in a secure area. These same sites use a broken key or an open lock to show you that you are not in a secure area.
  • Review your order before you click the submit button. You want to make sure that the items that you have ordered are correct. Check the billing and shipping address. Check the shipping, handling, tax and total charges. Make sure that the order processing, shipping and delivery times are listed on the page or that there is a link to those so that you may review them before you submit your order. Also, either write down or print out any company phone numbers and the order number so that you will be able to confirm or check on your order later.
  • After the order is placed, re-enter the Web site to check your order and confirm that nothing has changed since you placed the order. Go back and check on your order periodically to see the status and check the delivery date. When it has shipped, look for tracking number information

Related Resources on Lawyers.comsm
- Doing Business on the Internet FAQS
- Small Business Law
- Business - General Matters Message Board for more help
Terms & Conditions    Privacy    Copyright© 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.