Website Design

What is eCommerce?
E-Commerce is easy

An Ecommerce website is simply, any website which accepts payment online. This can be in the form of a retail (online) store where users may purchase products via a shopping cart, or a simpler store where people pay for single services.

All our dedicated servers with Hetzner, support a number of eCommerce applications.  osCommerce, an Open Source based online shop e-commerce solution, is available as an install from the konsoleH control panel of all Basic hosting packages and higher.

Imbali Studio, however specialises in Custom Designed and Developed Ecommerce websites. Altough we endorse the use of Open Source software, we do recommend that if you are going to invest in a Ecommerce website, it's by far better to invest in a custom developed website tailored specifically for your business.

What is a Merchant Account?

A merchant account is special "commercial" account which will enables your business to accept major credit card transactions.

There are four major elements typically found on an eCommerce website:

  • A Shopping Cart

    Basically exactly the same as your shopping cart used in retail stores such as Pick 'n Pay. It lists all products and quantities of each that are in your shopping cart. More advanced shopping carts will include product colours or sizes.

    See an example of a simple shopping cart below:

    An Example E-Commerce shopping cart

  • A Secure Server Connection (optional)

    A secure server connection or SSL certificate encrypts data sent between your browser and the server. Thus, eliminating the risk of theft. Should your website however make use of a 3rd party payment gateway such as VCS, there is no need for a SSL certificate. This is because any "secure" data such as your credit cards details etc are processed directly on the 3rd party vendors website. Therefore eliminiting the need to secure your own website with a SSL certificate.

    See an example of a SSL Certificate endorsement below:

  • A Merchant Bank Account (optional)

    You will need an inernet merchant account before you can accept payment via credit cards on your website, with the exception of PayPal.

  • Payment Transaction Software

    In order for your website to actually "process" a deduction from a credit card, you will need transaction software.

    Recommended payment gateway service providers are:

If you are unsure, please contact us directly and we will be happy to assist you with any questions you may have. Contact us by email at

Some Examples of ECommerce Websites we have developed

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