e-Commerce Confusion!?

[RoseMckay]

I'm not sure if this is the proper place to ask this question. I'm trying to help a friend set up a new online shop and we're going to use Zen Cart.

My question is how to figure out the whole credit card enigma. I've looked at the book store, and all over the search engines but there doesn't seem to be any clear step by step instructions for what you need to do to be able to accept credit cards online. When I look through different forums this knowledge seems to be something that everyone just knows but I don't.

There's so much about Merchant Accounts and Payment Gateways and SSL certificates and Verisign/Hacker Safe type places and a lot more but I don't know how it all fits together or what order to do things.

Can someone suggest a good book to guide me or explain this process (“for dummies”) to a beginner/layman?

[Merlinpa1969]

I will try,

first you need a merchant account and a gateway,

( there is a link in the header called partners that will be helpful )

Before you get a merchant account I would make sure that they use either linkpoint or authorize.net for the gateway.

then you just need to setup the module ( Included in Zen Cart )

[sleahcim]

While Merlin is spot on I thought I'd add a little more elaboration.

SLEAHCIM'S DUMMIES GUIDE TO ECOMMERCE

At the top of the food chain is the MERCHANT ACCOUNT. This is the account that your friend should already have if he has a business taking credit card transactions. You usually get one through the bank you do business with. A merchant account is used in stores when you make a credit card purchase as well as any purchases made online. You will have to have the account activated for online use. Each bank handles this differently.

The PAYMENT GATEWAY is the company that sits between your online store and the MERCHANT ACCOUNT. This is the Linkpoint or authorize.net that Merlin was referring to. Some banks have relationships with Payment Gateways already established. And in many cases you can ask them if they work with others. Again, each bank is different. The reason Merlin suggested the two above is that API's are already built for ZenCart which makes integration with your store easy as opposed to some other Payment Gateways that would require you to have to cook your own. You shouldn't need to find a Payment Gateway independently of your merchant account.

If a transaction were a conversation it would sound like this:
YOURSTORE.COM: "hey Payment Gateway, I have an order here, here's the credit card info"
PAYMENT GATEWAY: "sure, let me talk it over with your bank" "Hey, Merchant Account, I have some money for you, it's from yourstore.com."
MERCHANT ACCOUNT: "Okay, let's check on that account and let's see if that card is good [at this point other parties are involved but they don't directly involve you or things you care about]. thanks for the money, I'll add it to their account"
PAYMENT GATEWAY: "okay yourstore.com, the card has been approved and the order processed, you're good to go."

SSL, also known as Secure Socket Layer is the peace of mind you provide to your customers. They know it as a lock icon in their browser. It is also well known by the various icons that appear on cart pages: verisign, trust, thawte, etc. What you will be purchasing is a SECURITY CERTIFICATE. After you purchase yours you should recieve instructions on how to incorporate your particular icon for your web page--they are all different.

You purchase your SSL certificate through your hosting company. It usually comes in two flavors: Shared or Private. Many hosting companies offer a shared certificate for free. What this means is the customer can place an order and it will be encrypted but the certificate does not belong to yourstore.com. If you are running a top operation you will want a private certificate. The price will depend on the amount of liability you want to protect yourself and your customers under and is usually based on the average order placed or expected on your site. This will probably be the most troublesome part of the process. You're going to need some business information from your friend as some Certificates are pretty detailed on the information they require. This is where a good hosting company comes in handy. If you don't understand something then ask them, that's what they are there for.

In order to get a SSL certificate you will have to have a DEDICATED IP ADDRESS. If you have a web presence this is not a given. Many hosting companies share IP addresses but if you are doing ecommerce you have to have a dedicated IP address. Ask them for it when you purchase your SSL Certificate.

So, here's what you'll have to do to set up your store to take orders online.
1. Contact your Hosting company and purchase a DEDICATED IP ADDRESS and an SECURITY (SSL) CERTIFICATE and install it. Once the certificate is installed you will just add an "s" to http to encrypt the transaction. The way this works in ZenCart is configure.php: change "false" to "true" (look at it, you'll understand).
2. Set up a MERCHANT ACCOUNT with the bank you do business with or find another one that offers it. Shop around, prices vary and raping/pillaging is still allowed in the industry.
3. The Bank will guide you through the steps to access the PAYMENT GATEWAY and the payment gateway will hopefully have an API for ZenCart. In many cases you will just have to download a module from the ZenCart site, install it using your particular information and configure it in the ZenCart admin. If you aren't a php pro and don't want to write your own API for some off-brand service you might want to make the PAYMENT GATEWAY the component that determines which bank you work with: "You mean you don't work with authorize.net? Sorry Charlie, I'll find another bank." You can find a list of the Payment Modules already written for many Gateways under the Downloads section of ZenCart.com.
4. Install ZenCart and configure it as mentioned above to use the SSL and the PAYMENT GATEWAY, that's it. See, it's not so hard after all?

The above information is based on my experience. Hosting companies, banks, certificate authorities, etc. all operate differently so your results and experiences may vary.

[RoseMckay]

WOW! Thanks for the explaination, this is very helpful.

[tonkali]

in plain english. fabulous sleahcim, thank you!!!!