BlueCat Data Systems can help you with every aspect of getting your eCommerce site up and running. Online store website design, shopping cart setup and customization, hosting, Secure Certificates (SSL), Merchant Accounts, Order Management and more. We can tailor a shopping cart to your needs and customize functionality so that it works for your business.

What is a shopping cart system and why do I need it?

A shopping cart is a piece of software that enables your customers to browse around in your online store and place items they want to buy in a "cart". The main job of the shopping cart software is to track what they are buying and how many of each. At the time of checkout, the shopping cart will calculate a total, add applicable taxes, collect payment information and send it to your Payment Gateway for authorization, and will notify the customer whether their payment was approved. If the order is successful, the shopping cart system will store the order information and will notify you, the store owner, that you have an order, usually by email. Different shopping carts have different functionality and features, and depending on what type of items you are selling, and how many items you are selling, some shopping cart software may be more suitable than others.

What is an SSL certificate?

An SSL certificate confirms the identity of your website and allows you to encrypt payment transactions, such as credit card numbers and customer information, ensuring that this informationis transported safely and securely between your store and the credit card processor.

What is a Merchant Account and why do I need one?

A Merchant Account is an online "bank" that will receive the funds from the customer. The funds will then get transferred from the Merchant Account into your bank account. A Merchant Account is required in order to accept online payments.

What is a Payment Gateway?

A Payment Gateway is the entity that authorizes credit card payments. You can set your Payment Gateway to only accept certain types of transactions, for example, you can tell it to only approve orders where Bill To and Ship to is the same address.

What is a Payment Processor?

A Payment Processor is the entity that sends the payment to your Merchant account - it does so only after the transaction has been authorized by the Payment Gateway.

So how do I get started?

Give us a call today at 337-465-4678 and we will help you get your e-Commerce site up and running.