TP Web Solutions can develop your "virtual" storefront at a fraction of the cost of an actual store. We have the experience in producing profitable sites with positive results.

      We can develop all of your e-commerce needs: accepting credit cards, forms, shopping carts, auctions, classifieds, chat rooms, streaming audio/video, secure sites, database integration, merchant accounts and credit card verification.

Keep reading to find out more information about E-commerce or click on the links below to get straight to the answers.

• What do I need to sell products on the web?
• What does it cost to do E-business?

The internet is growing at a rate of 6 new people per second. 150 million people are estimated to be online by the end of this year and 720 million approximately by the year 2005.

     There are many possibilities to open a virtual storefront. The easiest and most inexpensive is to put the products or services on a Free homepage with your phone/fax number. Unfortunately, no one can find the site and it doesn't actually exist as a virtual storefront, since orders aren't placed and money isn't being received without the user contacting your actual store. A "true", virtual storefront is exactly that. A place that a user can find, browse, select and purchase items with ease and confidence. We can help create an informative and easily traversed site that will motivate users to purchase products in a safe, secure manner that will build confidence and create strong relationships with customers.

Requirements are:

• Merchant account- Without a merchant account, you're unable to receive payments. Click here to fill out a free application for a merchant account. Our bank rates are the lowest on the net at 2.25% and only 20 cents per transaction! Or there are third party companies that will cut you a check monthly or bimonthly. Setup fees vary from $150.00 to $1000's depending on the business or services. Transaction costs vary from $0.50 to 25% depending on the business or services.
• Credit Card Verification- This allows for real-time verification and transactions. Our virtual terminal allows you to verify credit cards in "real-time" or "off-line" from your own computer.The rates depend on the business,services being offered and the quantity and prices. Please feel free to apply to recieve a free quote.
• Tax info- We all hate it, but it's true. Luckily, if you purchase or lease or software, the taxes are automatically done for you!!
• Shipping- The goods have to be transported, FedEx, UPS, US postal. Once again, our software can be setup with all major shipping services.
• Products or services- Oh, yeah, you've got to have something to sell!!

What does it cost to do E-business?

For a true, virtual online business it will be an investment to get it up and going, but much lower overhead than a "brick and mortar" business. When we say "True" we mean everything is done in real-time; credit card verification, shipping, taxes, subtracting items from your inventory...the whole enchilada!! But not everyone needs this type of E-commerce at the beginning, here are some options.

The T-shirt designer could start his/her business for less than $500 (if he/she designed the site themselves).

That's it, but of course we know that doesn't build the confidence in your consumers. So what's a more professional option? Hire professionals, take your time and build a business that has the ability to grow....Quickly! A solid foundation and bulletproof infrastructure will keep things running smoothly. Here's a checklist.

     E-commerce transactions are often difficult to understand and clumsy to complete. Despite good surface appearance, many sites do not come close to solving users' problems: They do not have the information users need and they do not allow the transactions users want. · The overall user experience can be highly unpleasant, even when individual components seem fine. Slow download times often frustrate users and cause them to abandon sites. And the final proof that we do need Web usability: About 90% of current commercial Web sites have horrible usability. If you try to find something, you will fail at the average Web site. Even when you succeed, it only will be after painful struggle and endless work. Experience shows that usability does not happen automatically: Web designs always turn out bad unless the project management takes explicit care to apply usability engineering throughout the design process. Use the Web usage paradox: if 90% of the sites have bad usability, why do people keep using the Web? The short answer is that 10% of the sites are good or even great. And since the Web is a completely user-dominated medium, people go exactly where they please - so users spend most of their time at the good sites and shun the bad ones.

Ecommerce services:

• Shopping Carts
• Custom Forms/form processing
• Credit card verification/processing
• Online catalogs
• Database connectivity
• Chat rooms
• Merchant accounts
• Streaming Audio/Video
• Site statistics (track visitors-#'s,where they go, where they come from,
  how long they stay)
• Customer receipts
• Package shipping/handling
• Tax calculations
• Advertising/Banner Ads
• Site promotions/ Search engine submissions
• Classified ads/ Message boards
• Customer/ Tech support pages