Your eStore
Connie Hancock
University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Extension Educators
chancock1@unl.edu
Online Shopping
Continues to Grow
Newbie shoppers – cling to familiar
More experienced – spending increases
Protection of Credit Card Information
Reasonable shipping and handling fees
Parts of an eStore
Domain Name
Hosting and Support
Building an eStore
Shopping cart system
Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
Online payment processing system (credit cards,
PayPal, etc.)
Domain Names
Domain Names

Web site name (mybiz.com ≠ ACME, Inc.)

Can have more than one
Shorter the better
 Avoid hyphenated names
 Avoid plurals, “the”, and “my”
 Easy to remember, type and promote

Amazon.com
Amazonvideo.com
How Do You Get A Domain Name?
InterNIC Web site

http://www.internic.net/
Registry Whois
Accredited Registrar Directory
 Do some shopping for pricing
Example Accredited Domain Name Registrars


Go Daddy – www.godaddy.com
Network Solutions – networksolutions.com
Hosting and Support
Hosting Company MUST HAVE
Easy to use interface, navigation, support
 Telephone support number (try it out!)
 Reliable hosting (99.999% uptime
guaranteed)
 Support for the features of your Web site
(ASP/PHP, FrontPage Extensions, SSL,
Database support)
 Clear pricing structure, quick turn-a-round

Hosting
http://webhostsonline.com/
http://comparewebhosts.com/
http://cheaphostingdirectory.com/
http://webhost.thelist.com/
comparewebhosts.com
Building an eStore: Options
eCommerce Hosting Provider

i.e. - Yahoo
Contracting / Outsourcing

Individuals or companies
Do it Yourself

From scratch, combination of the above
Choosing an eCommerce
Hosting Provider
Full Wizard-Driven Setup
Choice of templates
Catalog import/export features
Additional marketing capabilities
Payment
Shipping
Analytics
eCommerce Hosting Provider
Examples
Yahoo
 Interland
 1&1
 GoDaddy
 Hostway

Building an eStore: Options
eCommerce Hosting Provider

i.e. - Yahoo Web Store

Shopping
Shopping.yahoo.com
Building an eStore: Options
eCommerce Hosting Provider

i.e. - Yahoo Web Store
Shopping
 Build

smallbusiness.yahoo.com/
Smallbusiness.yahoo.com
Tour
eCommerce Hosting Provider
Advantages
Easy to use
 All-in-one solution
 Relatively fast setup
 Browse before buying
 Can list in online categories and directories

Example
eCommerce Hosting Provider
Disadvantages






Limited flexibility
Your store may look like other stores
Additional features, bandwidth, or support may be
extra
Costs usually increase as additional items are
added
Limited support (may be web only)
May be tied to that web host for software to
function properly
Additional Templates
www.fargodigital.com
www.ipixie.com
www.boxedart.com
http://www.4layouts.com/
http://www.templatemonster.com/
http://www.321templates.com/
http://www.dollartemplates.com/
www.dotcombuilder.com
http://www.templatetop.com/
Contracting/Outsourcing
Various types of web pages are possible today

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)




Dreamweaver MX
FrontPage
Altova XMLSpy
CMS (Content Management System)



Plone (http://plone.org/)
MAMBO (http://www.mamboserver.com/ )
Xyeria (http://xaraya.com/ )
Example 2
Contracting/Outsourcing
Advantages
Increased complexity and customization
 Experienced individuals can guide your online
business and goals
 Technical translation and increased support

Example 2
Contracting/Outsourcing
Disadvantages
May take hours or days to make changes
 Requires time for meetings and reviews
 Contractors differ with services, support,
professionalism and assistance
 Pricing system may quickly escalate costs

Contracting/Outsourcing
Considerations
Always have a contract signed by both
parties with complete disclosure
 Contractors will often retain the code,
design, features, images, or even content
until payment is received
 Make sure you have agreements on the
length, limits, and rates or total price

Contracting/Outsourcing
Rates vs. Project
Rate systems are generally per hour or per
element (page, logo, graphic)
 Prices can quickly increase, with many
changes
 Projects usually have defined ceilings,
such as number of pages, features, or
modifications.
 Permits changes more often and flexibility.

Do It Yourself
Advantages




Customization limited only by your time and
financial resources
Unlimited and free updates (instantly)
Wealth of software and design support available
on the Internet
Easy to incorporate site and business for
continuity
Netscape Composer
Do It Yourself
Disadvantages
Time investment: learning software
 Time investment: designing site
 Time investment: troubleshooting, updating
 May require initial upfront costs (often used
as business investments
 Must learn Internet marketing and search
engine techniques

Do It Yourself: Costs
Software
 Macromedia Dreamweaver
MX ($270)
 Adobe Photoshop 7.0 ($580)
 Microsoft FrontPage 2003
($190)
 Adobe Elements ($85)
Training
 Free
 Web Based
 Academic: ($0 - $400 per
course)
Hardware/Internet
 Computer ($400-$1600)
 Digital Camera? ($200 - $600)
 Printer/Scanner? ($70-$700)
 Internet Access? ($25 - $60)
Helpful sites
www.download.com
www.macromedia.com
http://www.mattockgraphicdesign.com/flashmov.html
http://webmonkey.wired.com/webmonkey/
http://tizag.com/
http://htmlhelp.com/reference/css/references.html
http://yourhtmlsource.com/stylesheets/
Building a Web Store: Costs
eCommerce Hosting Solution

$40 - $200 (monthly)
Contracting / Outsourcing

$500 - $15,000
Do it Yourself

$0 - $3000 (depends on current situation)
Other Needs:



Domains ($15-$35 annually)
Hosting ($15 - $200 monthly)
Secure Connection ($200-$400 annually)
Shopping Cart
Shopping Carts/Bags


Must be easy (intuitive) to use
Support common functions (add, remover, modify,
clear, save, checkout)
SSL
Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
Provides a secure transaction link
 Gives buyer and sellers confidence

Online Payment Methods
Online payment processing system

Standard:


Verisign.com Example
Alternatives:


PayPal.com
Example
Paybyweb.com
Resources
ecommerce-guide.com
yahoo.com
internic.com
networksolutions.com
paypal.com
versign.com
Not an easy decision
Your eStore
Connie Hancock
University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Extension Educators
chancock1@unl.edu