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Web_Design_Integrating_e Commerce
| Web Design: Integrating e-Commerce
For web developers who prioritize graphics and design work,
reconciling the art of web development with building an
e-commerce platform can be somewhat problematic. Design and
programming are the foci - and these are the skills developers
spend years refining, weekends investigating, and long nights
tweaking. That's why for many people providing web design
solutions, the e-commerce dimension of building a site can often
be a bit unruly - if not downright utilitarian.
Here, it's the art and science of web development that's the fun
part. Juggling a variety of e-commerce vendors for different
e-commerce needs (or performing the in-house technical work of
commerce-enabling a client site) can be infinitely less
rewarding than primary web design/development.
Unfortunately, most clients don't spend a lot time reviewing the
nuances of source code - that weird cipher rippling beneath the
surface of their web pages. Instead, business functionality is
their primary goal - and online credit card authorization may
supplant web artistry on your clients' list of priorities. And
rightly so - it's their business at stake.
So on the web developer's plate, you have the responsibility of
translating a client's vision into a web-based reality, of
mobilizing the underlying code. In many cases, you also have the
additional task of e-commerce enabling the site - integrating
e-commerce systems and coordinating various service providers.
Synchronizing these latter aspects of development can be
frustrating, regardless of whether you outsource or perform
tasks in-house.
Here, you may be required to organize secure server hosting,
integrate an automated payment processing system and secure
order page, incorporate catalog and shopping cart functionality,
and in some cases you may even have to help swing a
card-not-present merchant account so your client can accept
credit cards on the Internet. There's a lot of detail work to
manage.
The solution, of course, is to eliminate all this confusion by
finding one reliable service provider who you can handle the
entire spectrum of e-commerce tasks for you. The ideal situation
- for both the web developer and the client - is to have these
e-commerce duties out-sourced to a 'single-source' e-commerce
company: a vendor that can manage and coordinate every feature
of a solid, flexible e-commerce platform.
Why is that ideal? Because rather than simultaneously juggle
three or four different companies to expedite services for your
client's site, you have one point of contact for all your
e-commerce needs. Later, this benefit extends to your clients as
well: they will have that same point of contact for all of their
customer service and maintenance issues. Everything is already
consolidated and streamlined.
Of course, compatibility and integration is key to a successful
partnership. Therefore, technology like automated payment
processing systems, catalogs, and shopping carts must not only
be state-of-the-art, but flexible enough to be seamlessly
integrated into your design work. Here, your vendor should be
able to offer secure transactions, a robust processing system,
full-featured catalogs and shopping carts (with custom-design
capability), and secure hosting at a recognized data center.
And so you don't have to foreclose the possibility working with
a wide variety of clients, your service provider must be able to
accommodate multiple business models and commerce channels -
from shippable e-tail and downloadable goods to subscription and
donation-based platforms.
Above all, the process of adding e-commerce functionality to a
website should always enhance design. Aesthetics and
navigability cannot be jeopardized. Your web development
credibility is at stake when you integrate an e-commerce
platform into a client site - and that's why your service
provider has to be reputable on all fronts. With a single,
reliable vendor, you also avoid any 'weak links' among a group
of individual service providers.
Finally, if you are working with a single-source partner, you
have the opportunity to negotiate a lucrative reseller or
revenue sharing plan. Your web development packages will not
only offer total e-commerce functionality, but every time you
e-commerce enable a client site, you'll earn a percentage or fee
for the referral. By working with a vendor who consolidates all
aspects of an e-commerce platform, you have a better position to
leverage a worthwhile revenue sharing deal.
About the author:
Kurt Thumlert is Internet Content Specialist for PaymentOnline -
a company that provides e-commerce solutions like the eCom
Business Pack Pro for Web Developers
. Feel free to
contact Kurt at kurt@paymentonline.com
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