Online Marketing and Project Management

WBD5300

 

E-commerce systems

Shopping cart software can be categorized into three types of E-commerce software

 

Open source software: The software is released under an open source licence and is very often free of charge. The merchant has to host the software with a Web hosting service. It allows users to access and modify the source code of the entire online store.

Licensed software: The software is downloaded which is most often associated with a one-time fee.

Hosted service: The software is never downloaded, but rather is provided by a hosted service provider and is generally paid for on a monthly or annual basis.

Popular E-commerce software

 

Free:

Opencart

Prestashop

WP+Woocommerce

 

Not free:

Magento

 

Hosted:

Shopify

 

 

Payment gateways

 

A payment gateway is a merchant service provided by an e-commerce application service provider that authorizes credit card or direct payments processing for e-businesses.

 

http://www.paymentbrain.co.uk

Payment processor

 

A payment processor is a company (often a third party) appointed by a merchant to handle transactions from various channels such as credit cards and debit cards for merchant acquiring banks.

 

http://www.paymentbrain.co.uk

Choosing e-commerce - case study

 

http://www.ecommercefuel.com/shopify-vs-magento/

References:

 

• Sheahan, J., Spencer, S., Matzan, J. (2014) Social eCommerce: Increasing Sales and Extending Brand Reach. Beijing: O’Reilly Media
• Safko, L. (2010) The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business
  Success. 2nd Edition. John Wiley & Sons.