Considering the amount of hardware on the market, choosing a device can often have a lot to do with a mobile platform’s application ecosystem. As Wired’s Mike Isaac points out, over the past few years app markets have been springing up along with new hardware releases, all in varying states of maturity. Isaac compared the benefits and drawbacks of the top app stores, with the following observations. READ MORE
Wireless carriers and credit card companies have been maneuvering for control of the smartphone-based mobile payment market which everyone agrees will be huge in the U.S. whenever it finally gets going. (It’s already ubiquitous in Japan.) Now Google jumps into the fray with a new mobile payment system. READ MORE
This is Greg Balestrieri’s first Christmas as the Candy Man and he’s doing everything he can to make it a good — and safe — one for customers of his online sweet shop, Candy.com. Balestrieri and his cousin and co-owner Joe Melville opened Candy.com in July stocked with 6,000 types of candy from 500 sweets makers. Christmas goodies include gingerbread-shaped Peeps, a two-pound mint stick, and old-fashioned ribbons and sourballs like your Grandma used to keep in the living room candy dish. To prep for Christmas, the eight-person Weymouth, Mass. company also stocked up on e-commerce security measures to keep customers safe while they shop, including the latest website encryption technology, multiple security seal programs, and payment options that don’t require customers to input a credit card number. “It’s all about conversion,” Balestrieri says. “When you have thousands of people coming to your site every day, if making one little change like putting a security logo on your checkout page makes a 1 percent difference in conversion rate a day that can make a huge impact on your bottom line over time.” Like Candy.com, small online merchants are mimicking the security practices of bigger, more well-known e-tailers to give customers a little peace of mind along with their wares this holiday season. It’s vital for small businesses to show they’ve got their customers’ best interests in mind because they don’t have the familiarity of big brand names to fall back on, says Robert Siciliano, a Boston Internet security consultant. “In this day and age, you should be screaming about how secure you are,” Siciliano says. “Consumers are overwhelmingly concerned about their personal security as it relates to fraud prevention and identity theft. If you can show them you’re a security-minded brand, they’re more likely to do business with you.” Secure holiday shopping cheer When planning their online store, one of the first things Balestrieri and Melville did was hire a website hosting company that met widely used PCI DSS standards for processing credit card payments, which include a number of mandatory security measures. To keep customers saying “Ho, ho, ho” instead of “Oh, no, oh, no,” here are other measures electronic shopkeepers should take, according to security vendors and consultants: Use EVSSL — Extended validation secure socket layer, or EVSSL, is an upgrade to the existing SSL security standard that requires certification requests to go through a more rigorous identity check and authentication process. When a website’s got EVSSL its browser’s URL address bar turns green: on the left for Firefox, on the right for Internet Explorer or green text on white background on Mac Web browsers. Since its February 2007 introduction, EVSSL has been adopted by 18,000 sites, including big names such as eBay and Overstock.com, but predominately small merchants, says Tim Callan, vice president of product marketing at VeriSign, part of the consortium that created the process. Some companies opt for EVSSL coverage throughout their entire site, while others like Candy.com use it only for the checkout process. Sign up for seal programs — Small merchants can pay security agents to vet their websites to ensure they’re operating within set security precautions and get trust marks or seals to display if they pass. Charges for such programs vary; VeriSign’s is $995 a year per server. Other programs include TRUSTe, BBB and McAfee Secure. Some also display the date and time a site went through its most recent security check up. Experts suggest merchants prominently display trust marks, especially on checkout pages or other spots where they’re asking customers to fill out forms. Offer multiple payment options — For shoppers leery of giving credit card information to an online merchant they’ve never dealt with before, offering alternatives such as PayPal or Google Checkout is another way to gain their trust. Unlike larger merchants, small businesses don’t pay PayPal a monthly fee to maintain an account so it’s helpful and cheap, says Eddie Davis, the company’s director of small and mid-sized business service. However, merchants do pay PayPal a commission of 1.9 percent to 2.9 percent on each transaction. According to Davis, PayPal’s research has shown small merchants conversion rates go up 23 percent when they offer alternative payment methods. “We bring a lot of consumers who love using PayPal and they’ll seek out sites,” he says. Another option that security experts suggest is this: if you accept credit card payments, delete card information after a transaction, thereby eliminating any risk hackers could break in and steal it. Show and tell — It’s not enough to display security program logos or trust marks on your website. You need to create a page somewhere that explains in detail what precautions you take, Siciliano says. That goes against the grain at some major online merchants, who treat their security measures as a competitive advantage. By contrast, smaller merchants who promote their security programs can use it as a way to differentiate themselves from their like-sized competitors. “Partnering with those big companies helps us get closer to that point of being trusted,” Balestrieri says. Keep customers in the loop — If the name of your online store isn’t the same as your corporate name, include both on order confirmations or credit card receipts that get e-mailed to customers — it’ll save them from refusing the charge because they don’t know where it came from. “You’re also showing them you’re conscious of their card activity, you’re concerned for the security of their card,” says Siciliano, the security consultant. Because Balistrieri’s company’s legal name is G&J Holdings LLC, both that name and Candy.com show up in the Web browser window when customers are checking out, and on receipts. E-commerce security isn’t just about keeping customers safe. Merchants have to make sure they’re not getting defrauded either. That’s why security experts suggest small businesses use intrusion protection hardware and software, monitor credit card activity levels and keep credit card blacklists. SIDEBAR: Safe Shopping Resources Resources online retailers can use to find out more about e-commerce security include: PCI Security Standards Council — The online home of the industry group that developed the PCI DSS security standard for credit card payments offers a variety of resources and information, including downloadable specifications. CA/Browser Forum — This volunteer industry consortium creates guidelines used for issuing EVSSL certifications and provides updates related to the standard. The Number One Sign of Trust on the Internet — Results of a May 2009 study from Synovate/GMI and commissioned by VeriSign about online shoppers’ security concerns.
As buyers, we are all too familiar with those little shopping cart icons on our favorite shopping sites. But, not all shopping carts are the same. It may seem that way for the person making the purchase. For the company on the other end of the transaction, the story is much different. When a customer makes a credit card purchase in a bricks and mortar store, he or she swipes their card to initiate a secure electronic transaction. This is called a point of sale system. In the online world, a payment gateway is the equivalent of that. The solutions available to facilitate those transactions range from one-click simplicity to the Byzantine. It all depends less on the payment gateway itself and more on which gatekeeper (merchant account provider) is chosen. Types of merchant account providers “For any small business starting up, the easiest way to go is PayPal. They’ve been around a long time and most likely your customers already have a PayPal account, which is a huge advantage.” says Michael Miller, author of Choosing an Online Payment Service: Google Checkout vs. PayPal (Pearson Education, 2007). Turn key solutions like PayPal or Google Checkout may seem like the obvious choice for the new online seller. But there’s another alternative: dealing directly with a credit card processor. Most credit card processing companies typically offer bundled in services like back end integration with your website and the shopping cart navigation. However, the costs charged back to the merchant can vary wildly; sometimes cheaper than the turn key providers, sometimes much more. Brenda Mize, owner of Beacon’s Glow, an online collectibles store and her newer ecommerce venture, The Toy Bench, skipped right over turn key merchant account services like PayPal and Google Checkout and started out with a credit card processor. In the five years that she’s been in business, she’s never looked back. “We’ve never had one bad transaction. Our Web designer picked out the credit card processor, who waived all the up front fees. Customer service has been great. We’ve even been able to negotiate lower percentage rates. We never even considered PayPal. Their fees were astronomical when we started,” says Mize. Miller would consider Mize an exception to the rule who cautions smaller businesses, especially those just starting out, to avoid credit card processors. “It’s very complex. With a credit card processor, fees can vary. Make sure you shop around,” says Miller. Clearly opinions are divided when it comes to weighing all options. Here’s a look at some of the more popular solutions and the advantages and disadvantages therein. Turn key merchant account providers PayPal charges 2.9 percent of the sale price, plus 30 cents per transaction. It used to be much higher in their earlier days. PayPal has more than 60 million customers worldwide, operating in 190 countries. A major part of its customer base comes from its parent company, eBay. However, it’s not just the merchant account provider of choice for small businesses. Delta Airlines, CompUSA, and Overstock.com are just some of the large companies that use PayPal. “Five years ago, there was a stigma that PayPal didn’t look professional. Now it’s so popular, it’s ubiquitous,” says Miller. Advantages: PayPal can be as simple as embedding one click from your site to theirs to complete the sale. However, it’s scaleable too. Merchants can integrate the entire shopping cart process within their own site. It only takes about a week to set up an account and get it up and running. Disadvantages: Although distribution of funds back to the merchant is immediate, it is also manual. Meaning, it doesn’t happen until the merchant clears his account. PayPal then takes its cut and transfers the rest to the merchant. Miller cautions businesses to clear their accounts on a daily basis. “PayPal, especially, is very consumer friendly. So, if there’s a dispute, they tend to take the customer’s side. It doesn’t happen often, but PayPal has been known to freeze accounts until a dispute is resolved and that means everything in the account. You don’t want to risk money from other sales getting tied up in the event of a customer dispute,” warns Miller. Google Checkout charges 2 percent of the sale, plus 20 cents per transaction. It’s a much younger service than PayPal, less than two years old and only been operating abroad for about a year. Because it’s Google, one can expect its growth to make quick gains on Pay Pal’s market share. Advantages: “Google Checkout is pretty much the same system as PayPal,” says Miller. However, its percentages and fees are slightly lower. Additionally if a business is already using Google Adwords, those fees are reduced, if not waived altogether. “They’re clearly using Google Checkout to drive business to Adwords,” says Miller. Disadvantages: Fewer people are using it than PayPal, so there’s the risk of more lost sales from first time buyers who don’t want to bother opening a new account. Though not measurable, there is also plenty of anecdotal information from former merchant account holders online complaining of technical glitches ranging from incomplete sales, funds collected by Google and then not distributed back to the merchant, poor communication notifying merchants of a sale, etc. Whether the complaints are valid or significant, perception is reality and a dicey reputation online is reason enough for merchants to think twice before they bite on that lower rate. Volusion is a much smaller (and newer) player in this market, with only 10,000 accounts to date. Percentage rates per transaction start at 2.17 percent of the sale with no additional transaction fees. This is a company to watch. Here’s why: Advantages: It’s the only ecommerce solution that integrates with MySpace and Facebook, to date. Instead of that 20 to 30 cent transaction fee per sale, Volusion offers a flat monthly fee based on the number of products for sale on your site, ranging from $20 to $100 a month. Disadvantages: No one’s heard of it. That 2.17 percent taken out for the credit card companies is a teaser rate. No word on how high that rate can go. Credit card processors There are too many companies out there to mention. However merchants basically have two ways to go: dealing with the financial institutions itself or hiring a company to do it for them negotiating the best rates and using its own economy of scale to do so. “Your bank is probably the worst place to go. You will always get the worst rate there,” says Miller. Miller, whose wife works for a credit card processor (in the spirit of full disclosure), offers the following advantages and disadvantages to going this route: Advantages: There’s the potential of negotiating a lower rate, especially as the business grows selling in higher volume. Many sellers, like Mize, simply feel it looks more professional to have a customized cart than a PayPal or Google Checkout button on a site. “We also have a SSL certificate button on our site. I think it helps give our customers peace of mind,” says Mize. Disadvantages: Rates vary and can go up without warning, depending on the contract. There are often up front costs and monthly fees. No two merchant account providers are alike. Business owners really have to shop around for the best deal. “It’s very complex,” says Miller. One last piece of advice for online merchants shopping around for a credit card processor, some of the likely places to get the best deals include: trade organizations, co-ops, buying groups, even Costco or Sam’s Warehouse.
As buyers, we are all too familiar with those little shopping cart icons on our favorite shopping sites. But, not all shopping carts are the same. It may seem that way for the person making the purchase. For the company on the other end of the transaction, the story is much different. When a customer makes a credit card purchase in a bricks and mortar store, he or she swipes their card to initiate a secure electronic transaction. This is called a point of sale system. In the online world, a payment gateway is the equivalent of that. The solutions available to facilitate those transactions range from one-click simplicity to the Byzantine. It all depends less on the payment gateway itself and more on which gatekeeper (merchant account provider) is chosen. Types of merchant account providers “For any small business starting up, the easiest way to go is PayPal. They’ve been around a long time and most likely your customers already have a PayPal account, which is a huge advantage.” says Michael Miller, author of Choosing an Online Payment Service: Google Checkout vs. PayPal (Pearson Education, 2007). Turn key solutions like PayPal or Google Checkout may seem like the obvious choice for the new online seller. But there’s another alternative: dealing directly with a credit card processor. Most credit card processing companies typically offer bundled in services like back end integration with your website and the shopping cart navigation. However, the costs charged back to the merchant can vary wildly; sometimes cheaper than the turn key providers, sometimes much more. Brenda Mize, owner of Beacon’s Glow, an online collectibles store and her newer ecommerce venture, The Toy Bench, skipped right over turn key merchant account services like PayPal and Google Checkout and started out with a credit card processor. In the five years that she’s been in business, she’s never looked back. “We’ve never had one bad transaction. Our Web designer picked out the credit card processor, who waived all the up front fees. Customer service has been great. We’ve even been able to negotiate lower percentage rates. We never even considered PayPal. Their fees were astronomical when we started,” says Mize. Miller would consider Mize an exception to the rule who cautions smaller businesses, especially those just starting out, to avoid credit card processors. “It’s very complex. With a credit card processor, fees can vary. Make sure you shop around,” says Miller. Clearly opinions are divided when it comes to weighing all options. Here’s a look at some of the more popular solutions and the advantages and disadvantages therein. Turn key merchant account providers PayPal charges 2.9 percent of the sale price, plus 30 cents per transaction. It used to be much higher in their earlier days. PayPal has more than 60 million customers worldwide, operating in 190 countries. A major part of its customer base comes from its parent company, eBay. However, it’s not just the merchant account provider of choice for small businesses. Delta Airlines, CompUSA, and Overstock.com are just some of the large companies that use PayPal. “Five years ago, there was a stigma that PayPal didn’t look professional. Now it’s so popular, it’s ubiquitous,” says Miller. Advantages: PayPal can be as simple as embedding one click from your site to theirs to complete the sale. However, it’s scaleable too. Merchants can integrate the entire shopping cart process within their own site. It only takes about a week to set up an account and get it up and running. Disadvantages: Although distribution of funds back to the merchant is immediate, it is also manual. Meaning, it doesn’t happen until the merchant clears his account. PayPal then takes its cut and transfers the rest to the merchant. Miller cautions businesses to clear their accounts on a daily basis. “PayPal, especially, is very consumer friendly. So, if there’s a dispute, they tend to take the customer’s side. It doesn’t happen often, but PayPal has been known to freeze accounts until a dispute is resolved and that means everything in the account. You don’t want to risk money from other sales getting tied up in the event of a customer dispute,” warns Miller. Google Checkout charges 2 percent of the sale, plus 20 cents per transaction. It’s a much younger service than PayPal, less than two years old and only been operating abroad for about a year. Because it’s Google, one can expect its growth to make quick gains on Pay Pal’s market share. Advantages: “Google Checkout is pretty much the same system as PayPal,” says Miller. However, its percentages and fees are slightly lower. Additionally if a business is already using Google Adwords, those fees are reduced, if not waived altogether. “They’re clearly using Google Checkout to drive business to Adwords,” says Miller. Disadvantages: Fewer people are using it than PayPal, so there’s the risk of more lost sales from first time buyers who don’t want to bother opening a new account. Though not measurable, there is also plenty of anecdotal information from former merchant account holders online complaining of technical glitches ranging from incomplete sales, funds collected by Google and then not distributed back to the merchant, poor communication notifying merchants of a sale, etc. Whether the complaints are valid or significant, perception is reality and a dicey reputation online is reason enough for merchants to think twice before they bite on that lower rate. Volusion is a much smaller (and newer) player in this market, with only 10,000 accounts to date. Percentage rates per transaction start at 2.17 percent of the sale with no additional transaction fees. This is a company to watch. Here’s why: Advantages: It’s the only ecommerce solution that integrates with MySpace and Facebook, to date. Instead of that 20 to 30 cent transaction fee per sale, Volusion offers a flat monthly fee based on the number of products for sale on your site, ranging from $20 to $100 a month. Disadvantages: No one’s heard of it. That 2.17 percent taken out for the credit card companies is a teaser rate. No word on how high that rate can go. Credit card processors There are too many companies out there to mention. However merchants basically have two ways to go: dealing with the financial institutions itself or hiring a company to do it for them negotiating the best rates and using its own economy of scale to do so. “Your bank is probably the worst place to go. You will always get the worst rate there,” says Miller. Miller, whose wife works for a credit card processor (in the spirit of full disclosure), offers the following advantages and disadvantages to going this route: Advantages: There’s the potential of negotiating a lower rate, especially as the business grows selling in higher volume. Many sellers, like Mize, simply feel it looks more professional to have a customized cart than a PayPal or Google Checkout button on a site. “We also have a SSL certificate button on our site. I think it helps give our customers peace of mind,” says Mize. Disadvantages: Rates vary and can go up without warning, depending on the contract. There are often up front costs and monthly fees. No two merchant account providers are alike. Business owners really have to shop around for the best deal. “It’s very complex,” says Miller. One last piece of advice for online merchants shopping around for a credit card processor, some of the likely places to get the best deals include: trade organizations, co-ops, buying groups, even Costco or Sam’s Warehouse.
