Web Site Hosting Needs
When first starting out in the world of ecommerce it is hard to know what one is going to need in the way of online services. Let’s just say you are a physical store with products that you want to sell online as well as out of your storefront. Your online needs may vary depending on how many products you are selling.
If you are Ebay, you are going to need more online service and support than if you are a boutique shoe store. A small store will only need to be set up with a small web site hosting account. If you are a larger store you with lots of items for sale you will need more bandwidth, disk space, databases and security.
Everyone is going to need to get set up with a way to process credit cards. This will require vendors to apply for a SSL which stands for Secure Sockets Layer certificate. Now customers will feel better about buying products from your site because they know that the information they give you will be protected.
There are some great articles written by universities that can help you with the topic of eCommerce that can give you a great overview of this growing industry.