Is eCommerce Right for My Small Organization?

Making the switch to eCommerce may not be the right choice for all organizations, but for small organizations eCommerce can be a great solution with a number of different benefits. If you’re looking to streamline your organization and ensure that it’s running both effectively and efficiently, then eCommerce is something that you should consider. If the payment transactions your organization makes on a daily basis are taking up lots of your time and you are getting requests to use credit cards and you currently don’t offer and are tired of saying no, then eCommerce can be an excellent addition.

 Ø Saving Time

For most small organizations, time is not something that can easily be spared. In many cases, there are a limited number of employees and a limited amount of time for all business responsibilities and interactions to get completed. As such, wasting time handling payments in person is something that many organizations want to limit. eCommerce, because it is inherently both quick and easy, can really provide small organizations with a way to save their valuable time, so that it can be devoted elsewhere. Let your customers do your data entry for you! Your office is essentially open for payments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

 Ø Saving Money

Another reason why eCommerce is right for small organizations is that it can help to save money. The physical process of handling and processing payments on-ground can be costly, especially if it’s a slower process that monopolizes the time and attention of many employees. With eCommerce, transactions can take place over the Internet, freeing up employees in your small organization to handle other duties and responsibilities. 

 Ø Integration

With an integrated eCommerce solution, that is the best of both worlds. Your customers are happy that you offer an option to use a credit card and if your eCommerce solution is integrated with your back-end software (utility billing, courts and tax billing) then it is a big win for your organization. Your customers are essentially doing the data entry for you and you get your money typically the next business day. Most integration solutions provide reports so that you can easily reconcile the receipt of money to the transactions posted.

 Ø Credit Card Charges – who pays the fee?

Another important question is who pays the credit card processing fees? When looking for a solution your organization should determine if it is better for the customer to pay the credit card fee or if your organization should use an agency fee module where your organization absorbs the credit card fees as a part of doing business.  There are valid arguments on both sides however most municipalities opt to have their customers pay the convenience fee.

Moving to an eCommerce solution can be quick and easy task if you select the right vendor. If you’re a small organization thinking about making the move to eCommerce, then get in touch with USTI. We have eCommerce solutions that are integrated with our existing applications and also to organizations that are not using our software but want to offer payments on their website.