E-Commerce web site

Advanced Media Productions is a Boston based web site development company offering a variety of packaged and custom end-to-end business-to-consumer e-commerce web site solutions.

Our custom template and custom e-commerce web site solutions enable small retailers and other businesses to establish an inexpensive web channel without compromising store functionality and visual appearance.

Custom template and custom e-commerce web sites include product management and order management features, on-line ordering, shopping cart, check-out with automatic calculation of totals, shipping cost, sales tax and secure encrypted transfer of credit card information to a secure web server. The latter ensures maximum protection against corrupted and lost transactions, thus providing our customers with the safest e-commerce web site solutions.

Adding e-commerce to an existing web site
Businesses that already have a functional web site may want to add the ability to sell products online. This can be a fairly simple process after a clear e-commerce web site upgrade and support plan has been established.

Business-to-consumer e-commerce web site components
The following are the basic components of a b-to-c e-commerce web site:
• product catalog
• shopping cart application
• payment gateway
• merchant account
• SSL web server certificate
• Secure e-commerce hosting account

Product catalog
Product information is included in a product database with user interface tools to enable the merchant to build a catalog of products. All payment information is encrypted using 256-bit AES-based encryption technology.

Shopping cart
Customers may view products from the catalog and place them in a temporary storage place (shopping cart) for later retrieval and checkout. The shopping cart may interface with a payment service provider for real-time payment processing.

Accepting e-commerce payments
Extending a business to the web or opening an e-commerce storefront requires merchants to process online credit card transactions. Our B-to-C e-commerce web site are integrated with PayFlow Pro from payment gateway provider PayFlow Pro. VeriSign takes the headache out of payment processing by managing a secure, reliable, and low-cost solution for processing online transactions.

Merchant account
E-commerce payment services provide the means to securely transfer customer payment information from the e-commerce web site shopping cart to a verification center that can determine the validity of the payment information and the availability of funds. Some of these payment gateway providers simplify the process of setting up a payment processing solution by incorporating a merchant account with their payment services. A merchant account is a bank account established to receive the proceeds of online payments. By establishing a merchant account, the merchant bank agrees to pay the merchant for valid online purchases in exchange for the right to collect on the debt owed by the consumer.

E-commerce web site security and SSL
To succeed in the Internet marketplace, online merchants must become fully aware of Internet security threats and take advantage of the technology that overcomes them.

A Server ID, also known as a secure certificate (digital certificate), is the electronic equivalent of a business license. Server IDs are issued by a trusted third party, called a Certification Authority (CA). The CA that issues a Server ID is vouching for your right to use your company name and Web address, just as the office of the Secretary of State does when it issues Articles of Incorporation. Before issuing a Server ID, the CA typically reviews your credentials - such as your organization's Dun & Bradstreet number or Articles of Incorporation - and completes a thorough background checking process to ensure that your organization is what it claims to be, and is not claiming a false identity. Then the CA issues your organization a Server ID, which is an electronic credential that your business can present to prove its identity or right to access information.

Server IDs work in conjunction with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology, which is the industry-standard protocol for secure, Web-based communications. After the Server ID is installed on the web server and SSL activated, a secure communications channel is created between your server and your customer's browser. Your site can communicate securely with any customer who uses Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer, or most popular e-mail programs.

Secure e-commerce hosting account
With credit card security and identity theft rated the top concern among online consumers, online merchants need to reassure their customers that their privacy information won't be violated. Through our firewall protected e-commerce hosting accounts we are able to safeguard your e-business from hackers. Firewall features include port blocking, administration and maintenance.