E-Commerce Definitions

Ad Clicks - Number of times that a viewer clicks on an ad banner.

Address Verification - Process used by a credit card processor or other party to verify that a customer's ordering address matches their records.

Automated Clearing House - An ACH transaction is an electronic fund transfer through the Federal Reserve Bank from a checking or savings account.

Bandwidth - The amount of information (Web pages, text, graphics, video, sound, etc) that is downloaded through a connection. EBTCO manages a customer's Web site based on the amount of data transfer used per month.

Banner - An interactive ad placed on a Web page that is linked to an external advertiser's Web site or another internal page within the same Web site. For more information, please see EBTCO Banner Design & Promotions Services.

"Card Not Present" Merchant Account - An account that allows merchants to process credit cards without a face to face transaction with the purchaser.

Certificate Authority - A Certificate Authority (CA) is a third party which verifies the identity of merchants and their sites. The certificate authority issues a certificate (also called a digital certificate or an authentication certificate) to an applicant company, which can then put the certificate up on its site.

Commerce Server - The server that manages and maintains all transactional and backend data for a commerce Web site.

Cross Promotion - The promotion of a Web site through other traditional forms of advertising such as magazines, newspapers, radio, TV, billboards, etc.

Delayed Settlement Processing - Once a transaction has been authorized, the merchant must ship the hard goods before a transaction can be settled. Delayed settlements are stored online until the merchant selects the transactions for settlement.

Digital Certificate - A Digital Certificate issued by a Certificate Authority certifies that a merchant and a particular Web site are connected, just as a photo on your driver's license connects your identity with your personal details. A digital certificate verifies to the shopper that the virtual store is actually associated with a physical address and phone number which can increase the shoppers confidence in the authenticity of the merchant. For additional information or to buy a Digital Certificate, please visit EBTCO e-Security Services

Distribution Channel - The method through which a product is sold including retailers, catalogers, Internet commerce Web sites, etc.

Domain Name - The unique name of an Internet Web site. 'ebtco.com' is a domain name. To reserve a name, please visit EBTCO Domain Services.

Download - The transfer of information from the Internet to the browsing computer.

Drop Ship - The shipping of a product directly from the manufacturer to the customer without requiring inventory carrying by the retailer.

Electronic Software Distribution - Software that can be purchased and downloaded directly from the Internet.

Hit - Each time a Web server sends a file to a browser, a "hit" is recorded in the server file logs.

Home Page - The first page through which a viewer usually enters a Web site.

HTML - Hyper Text Markup Language is the standardized language which allows Web browsers to interpret Web sites.

HTTP - Hyper Text Transfer Protocol is a protocol which allows computers to communicate with each other.

Keywords - Words that may be used by viewers searching for information. Keywords can be purchased from search engine companies so that an appropriate ad banner may be displayed when a viewer searches on a particular word.

Merchant Account - A "bank account" established with a payment processor for the settlement of credit card transactions. Any merchant who wants to take credit card orders must establish a merchant account. Internet merchants need a "Card Not Present Merchant Account."

Off-Line Transaction Processing - Capture of order and credit card information for later authorization and transaction processing through a traditional card swipe terminal or through a computer.

Order Confirmation - An e-mail message notifying a customer that an order has been received and will be processed.

Order Management System - A system that accepts orders and initiates a process that results in the outbound shipment of a finished good.

Real Time Credit Card Processing - Online authorization of a credit card number in real time informing the merchant that the card has been approved.

Settlement - Once the goods have been shipped to the customer, the merchant can key a transaction for settlement at which time the customer's credit card is charged for the transaction and the proceeds are deposited into the merchant account.

SSL - Secure Socket Layer is an encryption technology on the server that scrambles important data such as credit card numbers and order information when it is being stored or passed from one computer to another. To obtain more insights, please visit EBTCO e-Security Services

Shipping Confirmation - An e-mail message that notifies a customer that an order has been shipped.

URL - Uniform Resource Locator which describes the "address" for a document on the Internet.