How Ecommerce Works

Many people find the world of ecommerce confusing. We want to bring clarity to what goes on "behind the scenes" that allows you to receive payments through your website from a customer at their computer.

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The diagram above outlines the path the information travels to create an ecommerce transaction. Here is an explanation of each piece.

  • Customer
    Hopefully, this one is obvious and needs no explanation!
  • Website
    Your visitors are constantly sending and receiving information over the internet from their computer to your web server. An ecommerce transaction would send credit card data to perform a transaction.
  • SSL Certificate
    While most data can flow freely, we want to be sure the credit card data is transmitted safely. So it is encrypted as it is sent to keep prying eyes from seeing it. An SSL Certificate is what accomplishes this task.
  • Online Gateway
    The gateway is the "middle-man" that allows a website to send data to a merchant (credit card) account. The website sends the credit card data to Authorize.net, who performs a live check on the card and received a charge authorization (or decline). This information is passed back through to the website. We use the major player out there: Authorize.net.
  • Merchant Account
    A merchant account allows your business to accept credit cards. We have partnered with First Data, Amercia's leading processor, to offer preferred rates to our customers.
  • Bank Account
    The money paid is deposited to your bank account within a few days!