Turnkey e-commerce solutions should be fully integrated into a Web host reseller's operation to concurrently ensure quick customer setup and payment settlement. In order for a reseller to fulfil their audience's insatiable appetite for instant service, it must have the ability to instantly bill and provision Web hosting services.

Most resellers can achieve this objective through the use of an integrated e-commerce system. An integrated system offers resellers an e-commerce solution that allows their consumers to send an order through an online payment system, which process transactions. That system in turn forwards the sale to an online gateway that securely processes payments and resolves those payments with your financial institution.

Turnkey solutions can be more expensive for resellers to adopt since third-party financial solution providers maintain them and make a substantial commission for each payment that is settled. Third-party providers however can substantially simplify the process of payment, leading to cost-savings for the reseller over the long haul. Integrating turnkey solutions into a reseller operation means that payments can be instantly resolved. This is not the case if a reseller utilizes retail point-of-sale (POS) equipment. If a reseller elects to use POS equipment, then they will most likely have to batch process all of their sales at the end of a business day. This will result in delayed setup times for a reseller's customers, and can also result in human error while processing payments. By utilizing a turnkey e-commerce solution instead, resellers can take advantage of a commerce and payment gateway that instantly resolves pending payments.

At its best, e-commerce should facilitate automated, real-time, seller-to-buyer transactions. E-commerce thus incorporates advertising, selling and supporting goods and services using online shop technology that is accessible 24 hours a day for customers worldwide. The Web shop should be a business that works while you are occupied elsewhere and which is not geographically restricted. This objective cannot be easily achieved if you only accept sale inquiries in a static format, and must move forward through POS equipment. A merchant operation should thus be able to process financial data in real-time. A commerce and payment gateway can achieve this objective.

A merchant commerce and payment services gateway is an encrypted channel that passes the transaction securely from a Web server to a financial institution to capture an authorization and approval for a credit card transaction. Once a transaction is complete, information is sent back vis-à-vis the gateway to complete the order and provide the reseller with verification. The gateway also negotiates the secure transfer of funds from the reseller's credit card to the reseller's merchant account.

A merchant account is a specific type of bank account from a financial institution that receives credit card payments. In order to utilize a turnkey e-commerce solution, a reseller will have to apply and receive an Internet-enabled merchant account from their bank. Such an account is linked to the online gateway, which makes many administrative features possible. Utilizing a payment gateway, resellers can view orders and keep sales tax records for accounting and taxation purposes.

Due to the advantages that a merchant commerce and payment services gateway provides, resellers should opt to use a turnkey e-commerce solutions in order to effectively implement their billing solutions.

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