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So, you want to sell something, do you? Oh, you don't work just for the fun of it? Well, we have been discussing sales throughout this book—not in the direct sense, perhaps, but everything we have discussed (making your site appealing, mass
mailing, and so on) comes down to working for your sale. They now know who you are, what you do, and they want your product. So now what? Well, they can contact you via the e-mail address, phone number, or address listed on your Web site to order your
product. But most likely you're now thinking, "Why can't they just order my product online?" Well, all right then, you can do that too.
Although online ordering is still in its infancy, everyone seems to agree that this baby is growing, and fast. So, this is a great time to test the waters and work out your online ordering system. Don't despair if your sales are on the meager side in
the beginning—this is very normal. The first step is getting the system to work and to make it appealing; with lots of promotion, time, and great customer service the sales will (if done right) follow. Just remember: Just as with a retail
business, it will take time to develop a customer base; it doesn't happen overnight, and it may never happen if you don't aggressively promote and adapt your site on an ongoing basis.
There are many facets in the creation of a successful online ordering system, and many more things to take into account aside from the obvious technical issues. Here are some guidelines you should consider, which will help you along the way:
If you build it they will come. Not! This may have been true when there were only a handful of sites, but that is not the case anymore. If you want to attract crowds, you will need to promote your site vigilantly (more on this in Chapter 20, "Marketing Your Site Offline," and Chapter 21, "Marketing Your Site Online") and you will need to pay close attention (as you always should) to your target markets when you do
this. You want to attract customers, not surfers.
Offer a fully representative product line. Don't just offer a few of your products online to save time. Customers will visit your site looking for one of your products—if it is not there, don't count on them sticking around to buy something else.
(Not finding something also leads them to believe that your site is not useful, and for that reason they may never return.)
Don't get greedy! Yes, online shoppers are generally more well-off than the general public, but this does not mean they will pay a premium just for the convenience of ordering online. In fact, it would serve you well to discount your rates slightly for
online customers (for example, 5 percent off of orders received via the Internet); this will encourage people to order from your site rather than using your (costly) traditional distribution channels.
In a regular retail outlet, a customer can examine products and have personal contact with a sales representative who can provide assistance. Unfortunately, this immediate personal contact is difficult to achieve via the Web. Although there are the
means out there to provide it, like Internet telephone applications, most of your customers would not have the hardware/software needed to take advantage of those means. So, you're left with e-mail, which can still be a significant means of developing a
personal relationship with a customer.
The only way good way to establish a feeling of personal contact via e-mail is to answer your e-mail quickly (the faster the better). You should have a salesperson standing by at all times to answer e-mail questions as soon as they come in. This person
should not only possess excellent writing skills, they should also be very personable and friendly. Just as in any sales situation, this sales person (the customer's first contact) should remain the person through whom all contact with the customer comes.
That way, the customer begins to know them by name, knows a specific person to contact if they have further questions, and this, in general, fosters a feeling of friendship between your company and this customer.
In other words, don't just answer prospects' questions and forget about them. Save their e-mail addresses, keep them informed (by adding their name to a mailing list), and close that deal.
Usually the payment for goods is made by cash, check, or credit card. Until recently, the exchange of credit card information had to take place over the telephone or by mail (because of perceived security risks). This is no longer necessary since an
increasing number of companies have introduced systems to enable secure credit card Internet transactions. Digital forms of currency are also emerging, offered by companies like CyberCash, DigiCash, and NetCash. The best course of action is to offer as
many payment methods to the customers as possible and to let them choose (secure transaction over the Net, by fax, by phone, by mail, and so on.)
This is not just a matter of the shipping alone. You must consider how the billing and shipping information will arrive at their required destinations (your shipping and/or billing departments) quickly. Customers will not order from your online store
if they know they will receive the product much faster if they order it via your 800 number.
There are some good Web sites that are enjoying successful online sales. You can learn a lot by browsing through these sites and noting how they are arranged. Here are a few:
Figure.16.1. Virtual Vineyards' site, which is enjoying success at selling online.
To develop an online ordering system, follow these steps:
"THIS TRANSACTION IS NOT SECURE!" If you have ordered a product via the Internet using your credit card, you have likely run into this message (or the message in Figure 16.2). Does this mean people can steal a customer's credit card number
sent via the Net? Well, yes. Does it happen very often? Far from it. Is there anything you can do to prevent it from happening? Yes, which is what we discuss next.
Figure 16.2. A security message.
Business-to-business commerce has used online transactions for years. Many large companies routinely move funds through automatic deposits, EDI systems, and EFTs (Electronic Funds Transfers). The difference between these methods and the Internet is
that they ordinarily use point-to-point terminal connections or secure (private) networks via private communications lines. Someone would need to physically tap into that connection to monitor the transaction. On the other hand, the Internet is not
private; it is susceptible to hackers wanting to intercept a stream of information (such as a credit card number) sent along the network.
Our belief is that sending credit card numbers via the Net is just as secure as using your credit card at your local gas station (where someone can just copy the imprint); in other words, we recommend using a credit card with a good protection policy.
While credit card fraud is not uncommon in general, there has only been one case (that we have heard of) in which credit card numbers were stolen over the Internet—and he was caught). However, just because we can rationalize all this does not
necessarily mean the buying public has (yet). You see, the media made quite a huge deal out of this occurrence, which served (as it often does) to scare the pants (or wallets) off of the public. So, although many people carry on online transactions without
worries, you will need to ease the public's fears if you intend to make selling directly on the Net a viable alternative to your other, more traditional distribution channels.
So, how do you ease the public's fears? By offering a secure network transaction. For a network transaction to be secure, you must provide the following:
Luckily, there's a protocol for meeting all of these needs: Public Key Encryption (PKE). With PKE, each transfer is encrypted by a verifiable key. If we want you to send us an encrypted message, we give you our key. When we receive the message, we will
be able to verify your key, and the fact that the message came from you.
There are actually four keys involved—each party has both a public and private key. The public key enables someone to write you an encrypted message, but only your private key (which you NEVER send out) will allow you to open it.
Don't worry, most of the new popular servers (Netscape Enterprise Server, Microsoft Information Server, and so on) on the market come with capabilities to provide PKE. Some even have wizards or help systems that will save you a lot of time in
developing an online ordering system.
Hopefully you are using one of these, in which case the process won't be too complex. Check the documentation (or online help system) that came with your software, or visit the company's Web site. This is one of the most requested features of a
commercial server, and all of the big guys have information on how to set things up.
We hope you read through our suggestions before making a decision and have chosen a host that provides a secure transaction channel. Call your host, tell them what you want to do, and ask what services they provide for this. They will let you know how
and where to set up your secure site. If you are using a host without a secure server, you'll either need to switch servers, use an additional commercial service (some of the companies that offer credit card merchant services also offer hosting of your
order system on their secure server), or skip the whole secure credit card transaction thing altogether. (Check out the Quick and Dirty Guide at the end of this chapter.)
Once a customer sends you credit card information requesting a product, you must of course process the sale through a merchant banking system (to make sure this is a valid card, and that the customer has credit available), just as you do through other
distribution channels (unless you are using a system that automatically does this for you).
The best way to do this is through specialized software provided by service companies like Techcom, ICVerify (http://www.webstar.net/tyner/ic.htm), and VeriFone (http://www.verifone.com). A listing of these companies is available at
http://gnn.yahoo.com/gnn/Business_and_Economy/Products_and_Services/Financial_Services
/Transaction_Clearing/.
Many of these services will even host your order forms on their secure server; this can be a really simple solution if you are using a virtual host. Two we have found that offer this service are VersaNet International, Inc.(http://www.versanet.net/secureorder/—see Figure 16.3) and Techcom (http://www.tech-comm.com/techcomm/imark/). You could, of course, intercept the
sale at this point and verify the card and process the sale manually (over the phone, or however you normally do it), but this will take time (which equals money, as we all know). Besides, automated processing can often result in lower processing fees by
the banks, which can have a big effect on the profitability of your Web-based business.
Figure 16.3. VersaNet International, Inc.
Credit cards work great for companies selling products that cost more than $15, but what if you want to sell very low-cost items? Credit cards quickly turn into "too much trouble" for a customer wanting to purchase an item for, say, $2. Not
only do credit customers find it a pain to fill out their card number and information for small items, some have another concern as well: privacy. They want protection against marketers, financial institutions, and the government tracking their buying
habits through their credit. You remember Big Brother, The Net, Nowhere Man? The answer to this dilemma may be cash—virtual cash, that is. While virtual cash is far from a widely used commercial reality, people seem to be crying for it, and you know
what that means
Ecash (provided by DigiCash at http://www.digicash.com/ecash/ecash-home.html) was the first anonymous system of its kind. Only one U.S. bank (Mark Twain Bank) supports this anonymous method
for small financial transactions. This St. Louis-based bank can be reached via its Web site at http://www.marktwain.com/fee.html. Ecash is similar to a traveler's check in that it provides finality (no chance
for a user to renege on a transaction as they might with a check or credit-card transaction), peer-to-peer transactions, anonymity (for both payer and the payee), and "cash" that is refundable if lost or stolen.
This system uses CyberCash (representing secure checks or currency), and will soon also use CyberCoins (representing virtual coins). CyberCash (see Figure 16.4) use an electronic "wallet" in addition to software that augments the Web browser.
Once customers are ready to buy, they pay out of the "wallet" via their credit cards or their virtual (CyberCash) checking accounts.
Figure 16.4. The CyberCash Web site (http://www.cybercash.com).
CyberCoin will provide for very small transactions with or without a preexisting relationship between the customer and the merchant. Not only does CyberCash validate the transaction, it also does the record keeping at the end of the day, transferring
the real cash to the merchant's checking account.
Customers will need the free client software that communicates with the CyberCash servers. As the merchant, you will need a CyberCash server (or the use of one) that is linked to the bank's own private networks. CyberCash's services also enable secure
credit-card transactions (see more about this under their listing for credit card systems at http://www.cybercash.com/cybercash/merchants/getstarted.html).
A number of Internet check services allow you to accept checks as payment online. It works like this. Rather than mailing a check to you via the mail, customers can provide their check information once to a check service (Figure 16.5). This information
generally includes the customer's name, e-mail address, phone number, mailing address, and the routing number from the bottom of the check. When your customer places an order by filling out your online order form, only the customer's username and password
need be entered (no check information is required). This information is then transmitted securely to the check service, which responds by sending an e-mail to both the customer and you containing a copy of the order. The check service then creates a check
(just like the one in the customer's checkbook), and deposits that check into your account.
Figure 16.5. The customer fill-out form for Redi-Check, one of the Internet check services.">Figure 16.5. The customer fill-out form for Redi-Check, one of the Internet check services.
That's it! If you're interested in this method of payment, check out the list of Internet check services at
http://gnn.yahoo.com/gnn/Business_and_Economy/Products_and_Services/Financial_Services
/Transaction_Clearing/Check_Services/
Now that you're aware of the payment options, let's put this to practical use. To complete an order you'll probably need not only the customer's payment information, but details about the products he or she is ordering, and where to send them. The
easiest way to accomplish this is through the use of an online form.
We've used online order forms a couple of times already in this book (in Chapter 11, "Integrating HTML with CGI," and Chapter 14, "Mail Delivery Systems), so you should have a pretty
good idea of what's involved. Here's a quick form to get you started on an online ordering system.
Our goal is to create an online order form that will collect all the information necessary to fill the order and will allow the customer to make payment either by check or credit card. We will need a CGI script to decode the form, and will use
formmail.pl (included on your CD-ROM). We would manually validate credit card orders after we received them via e-mail.
So, the first step is to create the online order form. This can be achieved with the HTML code in Listing 16.1.
Listing 16.1. An online order form.
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 3.0//EN" "html.dtd"> <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Simple Online Order Form</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <BGCOLOR="FFFFFF" TEXT="000000" LINK="425AFF" VLINK="0018C4" ALINK="FFFFFF"> <FONT FACE="Lucida Sans", "Arial","Times Roman"> <CENTER> <H2>Online Order Form</H2> <FORM ACTION="/cgi-bin/formmail.pl" METHOD=POST> <INPUT TYPE="hidden" name="recipient" value="hampton@ha.net"> <INPUT TYPE="hidden" NAME="redirect" VALUE="http://www.ha.net/thanks.htm"> <TABLE BORDER=2 BGCOLOR=GAINSBORO BORDERCOLORDARK=INDIGO BORDERCOLORLIGHT=GAINSBORO> <TR> <TD>Your Name:</TD> <TD COLSPAN=3><INPUT NAME="realname" TYPE=TEXT SIZE=35 MAXSIZE=40></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD>Email Address:</TD> <TD COLSPAN=3><INPUT NAME="email" TYPE=TEXT SIZE=35></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD ROWSPAN=2>Shipping and<BR>Billing Address:</TD> <TD>Street:</TD> <TD COLSPAN=2><INPUT NAME="address" TYPE=TEXT SIZE=24 MAXSIZE=40></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD>City:</TD> <TD COLSPAN=2><INPUT NAME="city" TYPE=TEXT SIZE=24 MAXSIZE=40></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD>State:</TD> <TD><INPUT NAME="state" TYPE=TEXT SIZE=6 MAXSIZE40></TD> <TD>Zip:</TD> <TD><INPUT NAME="zip" TYPE=TEXT SIZE=12 MAXSIZE=15></TD> </TR> <TR> <TH>Item #</TH> <TH>Qty</TH> <TH>Price</TH> <TH>Total (Qty X Price)</TH> </TR> <TR> <TD><INPUT NAME=ITEM1 TYPE=TEXT SIZE=22></TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=QTY1 TYPE=TEXT SIZE=6></TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=P1 TYPE=TEXT SIZE=6></TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=EXT1 TYPE=TEXT SIZE=12></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><INPUT NAME=ITEM2 TYPE=TEXT SIZE=22></TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=QTY2 TYPE=TEXT SIZE=6></TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=P2 TYPE=TEXT SIZE=6></TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=EXT2 TYPE=TEXT SIZE=12></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><INPUT NAME=ITEM3 TYPE=TEXT SIZE=22></TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=QTY3 TYPE=TEXT SIZE=6></TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=P3 TYPE=TEXT SIZE=6></TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=EXT3 TYPE=TEXT SIZE=12></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><INPUT NAME=ITEM4 TYPE=TEXT SIZE=22></TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=QTY4 TYPE=TEXT SIZE=6></TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=P4 TYPE=TEXT SIZE=6></TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=EXT4 TYPE=TEXT SIZE=12></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD COLSPAN=3>Shipping and Handling (6%)</TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=SH TYPE=TEXT SIZE=12 ></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD COLSPAN=3>CA Residents Add 8% Sales Tax</TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=TAX TYPE=TEXT SIZE=12></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD COLSPAN=3>Total Of Order</TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=TOTAL TYPE=TEXT SIZE=12 ></TD> </TR> </TABLE><BR> <TABLE> <TR><H3>Payment Method</H3></TR> <TR><INPUT TYPE=RADIO NAME=PMTMETHOD VALUE=M>Check (Click <A HREF="check.html">here</A> for remittance address. Order will be shipped upon reciept of order.</TR> <TR><INPUT TYPE=RADIO NAME=PMTMETHOD VALUE=V>Credit Card</TR> </TABLE> <TABLE> <TR> <TD><H5>If Paying By Credit Card:</H5></TD><BR> </TR> <TD>Card Type:</TD> <TD><SELECT NAME=CARD_TYPE > <OPTION VALUE="MC">MasterCard <OPTION VALUE="V">VISA <OPTION VALUE="AX">American Express <OPTION VALUE="D">Discover </SELECT></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD>Card Number:</TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=CARD_NO TYPE=TEXT SIZE=19 MAXSIZE=19></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD>Expiration Date (MM/DD):</TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=CARD_EXP_DATE TYPE=TEXT SIZE=5 ></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD>Name as it appears on card:</TD> <TD><INPUT NAME=CC_NAME TYPE=TEXT SIZE=19 ></TD> </TR> </TABLE> <BR> <INPUT TYPE=SUBMIT VALUE="Submit My Order!"> <INPUT TYPE=RESET VALUE="Clear Order Form"><BR><BR> </CENTER> <INPUT TYPE=HIDDEN NAME=FORM_NAME VALUE=ORDER> <HR> </FORM> </BODY> </HTML>
The code in Listing 16.1 creates the page shown in Figure 16.6.
Figure.16.6. How our order form looks.
The customers simply fill in the required information on the form(we would have provided the item numbers in our product information site). They then move on to the second part of the form (see Figure 16.7), which requests payment information. After
they have filled this out, they submit the form.
Figure.16.7. The customer submits the form, having completed the payment information.
The customers then jump to the thank you page (thanks.htm, a standard HTML page thanking them for their order and letting them know when to expect their receipt), and we receive their order via e-mail. After we process the order, we send them their
receipt and let them know when to expect shipment. That's all there is to it.
Often new clients come to us with their grand idea to charge viewers for access to their site. Here's what we tell them: "Don't even think about it." Even if you plan to present information on your site that is truly unique, viewers will
rarely pay to see it. Even the huge corporations who have dumped millions into marketing have had trouble in their efforts to charge for access.
An alternative to charging for access to your site would be to charge for "premium access," which usually means allowing everyone to view your general site but charging for access to specific files—usually through the use of a password,
a subject we discuss in Chapter 17, "For Your Eyes Only: Site Security."
Another option is to allow full access to your site while offering special files to be downloaded for a fee. Some publishing companies, graphics houses, and software companies have had some success using this method. You could either set a system up
like this yourself (by the use of a payment system integrated with a password-protected site) or use a company like InfoHaus (Figure 16.8), which will help you sell text, graphics, and other forms of digital information for viewers to immediately download
via payment by an Internet Payment System. A good listing of companies such as this is located at
http://www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Financial_Services/Digital_Money/
Figure.16.8. The InfoHaus Web site.
If you find all of the preceding methods too much trouble, there is a very simple solution.
This method simply involves adapting an existing order form (from your catalog) for use on the Web. By adapting your order form (or creating a new one) into HTML and ensuring that it can be printed, you can simply suggest to customers that they either
print the order form, to be faxed or mailed to you, or that they have the required information handy when calling your phone number (an 800 number, preferably). Figures 16.9 and 16.10 provide a couple of real-life examples.
Figure.16.9. The order form on Tan America's Web site.
Figure.16.10. The order form on ITService's Web site.
In this chapter we have discussed
Now that you know how to charge for your products, the next chapter show you how to protect your site.
