How E-commerce Works

The diagram above outlines the path the information travels to create an e-commerce transaction. Here is an explanation of each piece.

·         Customer
Hopefully, this one is obvious and needs no explanation!

·         Website
Your visitors are constantly sending and receiving information over the internet from their computer to your web server. An e-commerce transaction would send credit card data to perform a transaction.

·         SSL Certificate
While most data can flow freely, we want to be sure the credit card data is transmitted safely. So it is encrypted as it is sent to keep prying eyes from seeing it. An SSL Certificate is what accomplishes this task.

·         Online Gateway
The gateway is the "middle-man" that allows a website to send data to a merchant (credit card) account. The website sends the credit card data to Authorize.net, who performs a live check on the card and received a charge authorization (or decline). This information is passed back through to the website. We use the major player out there: Authorize.net.

·         Merchant Account
A merchant account allows your business to accept credit cards. We have partnered with First Data, Amercia's leading processor, to offer preferred rates to our customers.

·         Bank Account
The money paid is deposited to your bank account within a few days.