E-Commerce Merchant Server Software Functionality And High Cost Of Websites Maintenance - Essay Example

E-commerce packages are intended to provide the functionality of time and money saving. However, the customization of websites cost a high amount. An E-Commerce suit is only reliable and robust in functionalities when it supports the different business models, reporting system and visual management tools. Additionally, the software packages also handle the direct payment transaction from customers or through the payment gateway. Merchant’s server software handles the sensitive information through a server socket secure layer (SSL) or digital certificates (Srikanth and Dhanapal 2012).

Merchant Server Software is the essential component of the system that connects the web server for the order fulfilment, inventory and other systems in the offices. Main functions of the merchant server software include the processing of the payment, and exchange very critical information like payment authorization, tax, shipping, invoicing, and payment authorization. Other functionalities of a merchant server are the database querying, web page composition in a real time, user profiling, and targeting of the contents based on the user’s interest and history.

There are many open source software, which provide the functionality as a Merchant Server. Security is the priority-based requirement for every entrepreneur in the market. Buyers require the confidentiality for transactions via the credit cards. Shoppers are worried about fraudulent means of fake entrepreneurs. Security precautions can save the buyers from a big loss of money and preserve the business for the future. By adoption of fraudulent tactics, one can face the mistrust from customers and wrath of the companies issuing the credit cards.

A secure shopping cart system provides the essential integration of payment transactions. Both, open source and licensed propriety software are available in the market (Richmond 2012). A shopping cart is embedded with the credit card verification. However, a third party services like eBay or Etsy may be achieved for security of payment processing. PayPal is another third party, which charges a trivial fee and provides the secure in and out transactions for customers (Lagorio 2010). Why is a website so costly to maintain?

Building a website also requires its maintenance. Regular updates and maintenance of a website leads to the extra cost. A company may cut the expenses by removing the intermediaries. Maintenance of a website requires the well skilled staff and trained people. A company launches the business via the website but there are no enough people who visit the website and purchase products. Website development and maintenance are the critical factors in order to attract the market shares and create loyal customers.

Website maintenance encompasses all those activities, which are necessary for the operational integrity of a website. The cost of keeping the website operational and current depends on the complexity and size of the website. A well designed requires a high cost of maintenance because it requires effective updates (Avila-Weil and Regan 2007). Another factor that determines the maintenance cost of a website includes that how many times features require to be updated. A business owner estimates the length of the time required for updating the features.

A static website needs to be updated weekly or monthly that requires less cost than maintenance of the interactive product catalogue. Nature of business also impacts the maintenance cost of a website. For example, an e-commerce website requires