Making Ecommerc EasyTM 123EzBiz Ecommerce Glossary of Terminology Quickly and easily launch an advanced ecommerce web store with unique software that can be utilized from any web browser with no programming skills required! Here`s the Answer to What You`ve Been Looking for: We have prepared a brief list of terms commonly used on the Internet to help you in your search for a good shopping cart and website hosting for your website or web store. We hope that you find this page helpful in your quest. GLOSSARY Checkout The mechanism whereby the shopping cart purchases are totaled and buyer, shipping method and payment is collected and processed to complete the sale. Ecommerce Electronic commerce: Transacting any kind of business on the Internet, including buying and selling goods and services, and the transfer of funds through digital communications.   Gateway An interface to the bankcard processing network that receives encrypted transactions from a merchant’s website and sends them to the card issuing bank for approval. This allows the secure transfer of credit card funds from users on your website to your merchant account. A gateway is a third-party service such as Authorize.Net or Verisign that securely transacts Ecommerce transactions to a payment processor for authorization. Gateways allow businesses to expand their potential and increase their sales as a result of offering customers an easy, secure means of buying online.  Merchant Account An account whereby ecommerce transactions convey funds to your bank account; transactions are usually settled daily. Merchant accounts are usually procured from a merchant service company or a bank. A commercial bank account is established between the merchant or business and a bank and/or payment gateway, which enables the merchant to accept bankcards like Visa or MasterCard and other forms of payment. You must apply for a merchant account directly from your bank or the merchant service company or from the Payment Processor.   Online Store See definition under "Web Store"   Shopping Cart  A mechanism whereby a virtual shopping basket is created for a user to place selected items for purchase prior to checkout. Users search for products in the web store, then add them to an abstract shopping cart. The entire list of items in the shopping cart is displayed when they go to an order page to review and finalize the order.   Web Store Like a real brick and mortar store, an Internet web store has the same basic elements: information, products, services, and includes, in some cases, a shopping cart and checkout process.