Expanding your business on the internet through an Ecommerce online store can help assist you in reaching target audience and result in increased sales and profits. Through the use of an online store front and shopping cart software, your business has the ability to tap into foreign markets with very little economic investment or risk.

What is an Ecommerce Website?

Ecommerce is typically referred to as the buying, selling, distributing, marketing and servicing of products through the internet. An Ecommerce website provides the means for these transactions to occur. Typical features of an Ecommerce online store include a storefront, a catalog of products and services, online shopping cart software and some form of payment processing application.

Who are some of the major Ecommerce hosting providers?

>With so many competing Ecommerce providers it can sometimes be difficult to sort through the pile and find the best Ecommerce provider for your unique business needs. Which ones offer the best shopping cart software? Which ones have the best online stores business opportunity? The following are some of the top providers that offer Ecommerce solutions.

Easy Store Creator

Easy Store Creator offers a vast assortment of Ecommerce solutions that are sure to fit the needs of even the most unique business. For just $67 per month or $603 with an annual contract, companies seeking a comprehensive Ecommerce plan need to look no further. Easy Store Creator provides:

• Managing Inventory
  • 1 GB of disk space
  • 8 GB of transfer
  • Unlimited email accounts
  • Unlimited departments, department levels and products
  • Overview and detail pages of each item
  • Automatic inventory control
  • Set minimum and maximum purchase limits
  • Provide item options, accessories and price differences
  • Allow customers the option to personalize items
  • Ability to upload files from text file, mass and quick edit items
• Marketing Tools
  • Detailed site stats
  • Banner impressions and tracking
  • Rewards and affiliate programs
  • Froogle submission
  • Digital coupons and special quantity discounts
  • Search engine optimization tips and tools
• Support
  • Live online support
  • Phone support
  • Web based administration
  • Upload via FTP or web based interface
  • 128 SSL technology
  • Accept Paypal, credit cards, money orders, checks and debit cards
• Customer Service
  • Optional newsletters
  • Limited access
  • Email notifications
  • Ability to save shopping carts for a future date
• Store Front Construction
  • Built in templates
  • Custom designs
  • Theme builders
  • Flash or JavaScript compatible
  • Ability to change department layouts
  • Preview changes before they happen
  • 100's of configuration options

EasyStoreCreator.com also provides MaxMind Fraud detection and USPS, FEDEX and UPS real-time rate quotes along with a 45 day money back guarantee.

Store Front

StoreFront.com offers a variety of Ecommerce solutions that fits an entire range of businesses, from the small start ups to the large world wide conglomerates. Some of their current customers include Lee, Mudd and Panama Jack. Their price start out at $59/ month and range up to $2,000 or more per month. Included in their basic plan, SafeGuard Ecommerce Hosting, 300 MB of disk space and 20 GB of traffic. They also provide 1 free domain, with extra domains running $29/ month and subdomains costing $15/ month. They include 50 mailboxes and 25 MB of mailbox storage. Also included with the basic program Shared SSL technology, 1 MS SQL database, limited website statistics and web services like CGI resources, FrontPage, ASP.NET and PHP module. Overall the plan is fairly basic and offers several pay for use add on features.

Monster Commerce

Monstercommerce.com is another viable alternative in the Ecommerce hosting market. They boast clients like Women's Day, Winn Dixie and Car and Driver. Monster Commerce offers 24/7/365 toll free in house technical support, a 99.8% uptime guarantee and a 30 day money back guarantee. For $99.95/ month, Monster Commerce provides users with 200 MB of disk space, 8 GB of bandwidth, 50 email accounts and 128 bit SSL security. They also offer an editable StoreFront, Urchins 5 Analytics, Set Up Wizard, Upgrades, Integrated FTP clients, tax calculation and reporting, sales reporting and training and support tools and information. Additionally Monster Commerce provides Search Engine Optimization tips and tools, a catalog generator, site design tools, image galleries and nightly back ups. They also offer a $100 credit toward Google Adwords services. For those willing to sign a year long contract, Monster Commerce offer considerable discounts and waives the $99 account set up fee.

1ShoppingCart

1Shoppingcart.com is somewhat different from the other Ecommerce providers listed above. They do not host Ecommerce storefronts, they do however, provide tools and resources Ecommerce users need to expand their businesses and more efficient. They have a variety of options available, including their Professional package, which includes all the resources an Ecommerce business would need to take their business to the next level. For $79/ month they include a secure HTTPS/ SSL shopping cart certified by Verisign, comprehensive client management, bulk uploading of products, the ability to order fraud protection, email order notifications, custom tax table, automated up sell module, custom thank you pages, multiple order discount options, run multiple websites from a single account and inventory tracking. They also include shipping calculators, multiple payment options including Paypal, customizable recurring billing options, ad and coupon tracking, domain integration, auto responders, affiliate software and database licensing.

With so many choices and options with potentially thousands of dollars on line it may be hard to make a confident decision when selecting shopping cart software or an Ecommerce storefront provider. There are sites, www.vendorseek.com that can help you locate a qualified provider who will help you build a high quality, effective Ecommerce online store.

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