How do I set up an eCommerce website?

The essentials for starting an eCommerce business include a unique URL or web address, a user-friendly presentation of your products and services for sale, a reliable server to host your website and – of course – a secure way to process customer payments.

Starting eCommerce sites

Web address

• If you don’t have a name yet, search ASIC for available business names.
• Be sure you can buy the domain name for your chosen business name (web address or URL). You can find available URLS by typing “domain name registry Australia” into Google. Check that both the .com.au and .com extensions are available.

How to build it

• Don’t have coding or design skills? Shopping cart platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce and PrestaShop have page templates you can choose from to set up your eCommerce site.
• Or for more control over how your website looks and functions, you could hire a web developer to build a custom website – bearing in mind that you’ll also need their expert help in keeping it updated.

Website hosting

• Why you need it – website hosting makes your eCommerce business viewable to everyone on the web.
• Server and provider – your choice is typically influenced by the type of site you have and how many visitors (traffic) you’re likely to attract.
• Questions to ask potential providers – whether they lock you into a contract; server uptime and reliability; the kind of support they offer.

eCommerce payment set-up

Shopping cart or custom website

• Shopping cart – this can be as simple as connecting your cart to a plug-in to process the payment, which you can do with very little technical support.
• Custom websites – the payment experience can be completely imbedded and customised within your site, or you can send the customer to a secure hosted page outside of your site.

Features and functions

You can typically take your pick of features for accepting eCommerce payments. For example:

• If you have EFTPOS with Tyro you could link online payments so you can manage everything together.
• Do you want to encourage easy repeat business? You’ll want the ability to set up subscriptions on your site if so.
• How about automation? Do you want receipts to be sent immediately on payment?

Reliability and security

No matter who you run your payments through for your eCommerce business, it’s important for customers to know that their details are protected. At the very least, you need:

• Industry compliance
• Real-time fraud monitoring
• System back-ups

Are you looking for an eCommerce solution?

Whether it’s online or in-store, Tyro makes accepting payments simple, fast and secure. Take a look at our eCommerce page here: https://www.tyro.com/products/ecommerce/