As an ecommerce entrepreneur, you already know the power of online selling. The convenience, flexibility, safety, and security that customers find when purchasing goods over the internet, combined with the sea change brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, mean that e-retailing is here to stay. However, you are selling your buyers and yourself short if you fail to make your online business into a place where smartphone and tablet users feel like opening their wallets.

Offering your customers the ability to order items from the safety and convenience of their own phones or computers benefits everyone involved. They pay for the goods and services they want day or night, without the need to visit a physical store. Meanwhile, you get extra sales due to your multi-channel marketing savvy. Although fraud can represent a significant stumbling block that can cause plenty of financial stress, there are easy steps you can take to minimize the likelihood that it will happen to you.

As a small business owner, competing with the big box stores and corporate chains may seem like an uphill battle you can’t win. However, you do have one advantage over those impersonal retailers: You aren’t beholden to some corporate leader in a boardroom across the country or the world. If you haven’t already cashed in on this benefit, it’s time to combine the strength of your ecommerce model with your regional connections by starting a “shop local” campaign.

There is a whole world full of customers out there who are waiting to benefit from your products and/or services. As you contemplate this intoxicating fact, it is no wonder that you are chomping at the bit to expand your company overseas.

Now that the calendar page has been turned to signal the start of another year, you can feel the excitement mounting. After building a strong foundation of high-quality items, as well as customers who want them, you know that the time has come to expand by launching a new product. So, what is the best way to go about this all-important task?

Are you itching to make a splash in the world of ecommerce? Do you want to put your knowledge of technology and your whip-smart business acumen to work by founding and running a top-flight internet enterprise? Before you get too excited, take a few deep breaths, take a moment, and decide upon the optimal products to sell.

At first glance, a new entrepreneur would be forgiven for believing that ecommerce only involves a merchant, their website, and a consumer interested in purchasing products and services. Dig a bit deeper, however, and it soon becomes apparent that online retail is a good deal more complex and includes two very important additional players: The merchant account and the payment gateway. Understanding what both are, as well as how they relate to each other and to your workflow, is essential if you intend to sell items via the internet.

As your parents used to say every time you begged for the newest and shiniest toy or article of clothing, “money doesn’t grow on trees.” Now that you own a business, this old adage undoubtedly remains just as true. Incorporating a payment gateway into your business is a necessity in this era of ecommerce because it is an essential means to bring additional customer dollars into your hands.

Hopefully, the point of sale (POS) system that you have incorporated into your business does infinitely more than just communicate with your payment processor. If it comes with robust analytics functions, your POS device can soon become a source of invaluable information, including customer profiles, and target market data. Armed with this intelligence, you can catapult your company to the next sales tier.

Make no mistake: We are operating in a global marketplace. If you want your business to reach customers from countries beyond your own nation’s borders, there are several factors to consider. Incorporating some of the suggestions from this international payment processing guide into your company’s model can make this sometimes complex process a great deal easier.