[Gllug] Software for on-line sales?

[Walter Stanish]

> Can anyone recommend software suitable for a company selling
> retail goods via the internet? Thanks for any replies.

In short "no", but you will get a lot more pointers and 
general mileage out of asking here if you provide some
more information, as there are quite a few different
approaches to selling goods online.

In short it depends on many factors such as:
 - budget
 - volume of trade
 - type of goods (eg: digital downloads, electronic media, 
    physical goods self-stocked, physical goods with 
    outsourced warehousing)
 - corporate structure (tax issues)
 - expected customer base (currencies required, tax...)
 - commercial situation
    - competition's offering
    - time to market restrictions
    - degree of technical control required
    - potential future plans...

Overall, if you have volume you can get a merchant account.
If you don't, there is a large array of offerings that
tend to increase transaction overheads significantly...
and then there's fraud.

Recently I implemented an HSBC payment gateway via 
their Secure ePayments system for online electronic 
media retail. Secure ePayments is a pain of a system
to deal with (due to voluminous but largely useless
documentation), but GREAT once you get it set up.
I just wish they offered it in more countries...

- Walter
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