“If you’re looking to sell products online or move paper-based
transactions online, e-commerce web hosting is the perfect
solution. Outsourcing your web store is a time and money saving
decision. Packages typically start at $35 per month but can
reach several hundred dollars per month for more advanced
e-commerce hosting. Prices of hosting packages differ because of
such factors as disk space, number of e-mail accounts, and data
transfer, as well as the amount of distinct items you are
allowed to sell. You will also find different hosting provider
varying in terms of the transaction software that they employ.
Consider the following samples of common e-commerce hosting
packages:
Budget Packages ($35/month, 10-15 items, 30-40MB of disk space,
unlimited data transfer.)
If you’re looking to sell products for the first time this is
where to start. These types of budget packages allow you to sell
around 10-15 unique items, with about 30 to 40 megabytes of
storage space, and an unlimited number of visitors. What’s great
about budget packages is that you can usually upgrade easily as
your store grows. A cheap and realiable host would sell their
product for under $7.00 a month. One example of this is
http://www.weblinkhosting.com and http://www.midphase.com. For
companies that expect to succeed, the ability to upgrade quickly
and efficiently is extremely important..
Moderate Packages ($70-$100/month, 100-115 items, 100MB of disk
space, unlimited data transfer.)
This type of package is great for a growing store, with a
moderate variety in terms of number of products. It would allow
for a range of 100-115 products to be sold, and you receive much
more capability for a marginal increase in price. For many
companies, middle of the run e-commerce packages are much more
efficient starting levels than budget packages. Once again, the
ability to upgrade allows you to adjust to the success of your
business by expanding into a high-end e-commerce package.
Professional Packages ($150-$200/month, unlimited products,
250MB of disk space, unlimited data transfer) These types of
packages are quite affordable considering the ability to sell
unlimited products. This factor allows your business to grow
it’s online presence to whatever scale required. While 250 MB of
disk storage is impressive, most plans will allow your company
to upgrade with time if need be. High-end e-commerce packages
are occasionally associated with dedicated server solutions.
Ideally, serious e-commerce endeavors should start at a high-end
e-commerce plan, as even at a monthly rate of several hundred
dollars it is more affordable than offline “”retail space.”"
Media 3 Media3: Premium Business Web Hosting
It’s apparent that web hosting providers are able to adjust
their e-commerce solutions accordingly to your company’s needs.
This flexibility and customization is likely to continue, as
e-commerce becomes a natural step for business moving online or
expanding their current Internet presence. When starting an
online storefront, a web host will be able to guide you through
the hosting process effectively. Ask the host about upgrade
options so you can have an upgrade plan in place for when it is
needed.
When looking for e-commerce providers, be certain to pay
attention to these factors – bandwidth (data transfer), cost,
disk space, and the amount of items you can sell, etc. These are
basic parts of a web hosting plan and will be similar to those
found in non e-commerce plans. There are a number of software
applications that allow you to setup your online store. The
dominant software solutions used by hosting companies include
Mercantec SoftCart, iCat Commerce Publisher, and Icentral
ShopSite. Make sure your web host provides for transactions
online to be made securely through SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)
encryption. If you also plan to accept credit card transactions
online, you’ll need payment processing services, from a reliable
company such as CyberCash or CardService. Most hosting companies
have the ability to set-up complete payment processing systems,
including the actual merchant account (which you will need to
bill customer’s credit cards.)
Starting an online store is an exciting opportunity, and your
web host will impact the success of your store. For this reason,
take the time and effort to compare several e-commerce web
hosts. Shown below are some links here at HostIndex.com that can
help you get started. “