The convenience and ease of use offered by online shopping has resulted in a rapidly growing number of people using the Web to purchase all sorts of products and services. Businesses, which for years relied solely on a physical brick-and-mortar presence for their sales, have benefited enormously from opening up Web storefronts with integrated e-commerce capabilities. While e-commerce sites can be extremely useful, setting one up can be tricky, especially for small and medium businesses.

Any site that supports e-commerce, regardless of its size, needs to let online shoppers browse through the product catalogue, search for, select and purchase the products they want, and have it shipped to them. This means, such sites need to give buyers, not just a way to shop for products and services but also a way to pay for the products and services they are purchasing online. Typically, sites that allow online purchases, feature an indexed, searchable product catalogue or product portfolio presented in an aesthetically pleasing format. The catalogues typically allow users to enter search terms into a search field in order to quickly find the products they want. E-commerce sites also feature virtual shopping carts that allow users to select the products they want to purchase and to continue shopping on the site until all product selections are made.

In addition, e-commerce sites need to be enabled to accept secure online payments either via major credit cards or through other forms of online payment such as PayPal. Sites that allow online purchases and payments need to ensure that they have the proper security controls in place to protect confidential information and credit card data.