Electronic commerce and internet security

See a sample: Mercantec SoftCart

What kind of products are appropriate for e-commerce?  Because of its global reach, the web is ideal for expanding mail and telephone order business.  If you manufacture a specialty item and can reliably fulfill orders, electronic commerce may be a good match.  Internet security remains a major concern for most customers.
Travel businesses, including agencies and especially smaller independent resorts and motels, including bread and breakfast lodges, can potentially reach distant customers and compete with the big chains, using the web.  It is comparatively easy to design a response form, such as a reservation request, which would be confirmed later by e-mail.  Payment can be by check or credit card, but most consumers are leery about submitting credit cards online unless there is some means of encryption.  Encryption, to be sound, must involve a SSL secure server, a feature offered in Open Veld's Corporate plans and higher.  Most modern browsers support SSL connections, although occasionally web visitors may have their encryption features turned off.  To further protect customer's credit card information, after it reaches the server, the data must somehow be reencrypted.  One method involves PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) software, which costs about $50.  You will also need a second copy of PGP for your office computer.
How does the web enable shopping carts?  The web connection, the HTTP protocol, is stateless, which means you never know whether a potential customer is still visiting your web site.  The basic language of the web, HTML, provides no direct means for tracking shopping carts, or generating an order.  Several indirect means have been developed, all somewhat complicated, yet quite effective.  One method involves using a script, such as a program called perl, to dynamically create web pages containing data from the previous page.  Another method involves appending order information in the address.  Normally, that would be used with a database maintained on the server.  Since usually one order is completed within a short period of time, a very simple database can be used, and when the order is completed (or expired), the database is deleted.  If you have the need to maintain customer records, or room availability, the costs and complexity escalate rapidly.
What are inexpensive methods to enable e-commerce?  We make available Hassan's Consulting Shopping Cart system which you can download and install in the Corporate hosting account and higher.  Hassan's is suitable for web sites selling less than about 100 items.  Even with Professional hosting you can adapt scripts such as Matt Wright's WEBSHOP.CGI script, available for purchaser's of the CGI/Perl Cookbook (or visit the book web site at http://cgi-perl.com)  In our experience, it can take considerable time to adapt and bug-proof such nearly free scripts, but they work well once the time is put into getting them running right.
What other methods are there to enable our e-commerce?  We have advanced E-commerce plans available with either Mercantec's SoftCart (see Demo) or Open Market's ShopSite (see Information).  These are essentially turn-key solutions (though you need to manage the stores.)  Prices start at $50 per month for plans supporting a small number (10-12) SKUs, and they include all the other features of the Professional hosting plan.  Due to U.S. export restrictions on encryption technology, we are not permitted to sell the Mercantec's SoftCart to people in the following countries:  Afghanistan, Cayman Islands, Chile, People's Republic of China, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mexico, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Romania, the Russian Federation, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, and Venezuela.  People in those countries should consider Open Market's ShopSite instead.