There has been many changes and advancements in the services available to businesses in Trinidad and Tobago and the technology has transformed making a basic E-Commerce website inexpensive and quick to implement.  We have been providing E-commerce websites for businesses in Trinidad and Tobago since the year 2000.  It was not simple for us as developers nor our clients back then.  There were significant hurdles, in particular online credit card processing, delivery and the cost of an E-commerce website.

E-Commerce Website Technology

This is the software and back office integrations that run a website.  There are many E-commerce platforms available, both free and paid, we work with Magento, Oscommerce, Prestashop, Woocommerce and can work with any open source platform that you may need to work with.

These are well tested and offer a wide range of choice to meet the needs of any type of business.  As they are open source we can make any customizations that you may need.  Out of the box you get many of the popular features that you will find in an E-commerce website, they all offer lots of expandability beyond the base using free or paid for addons.  The final choice depends upon your needs, back office systems and future plans.

For existing businesses or businesses that need to integrate their online store with back office systems of inventory and accounting, it has become significantly easier to do so.  All major back office systems offer integration components of there are third party providers that offer tools to allow your back office NAV, Great Plains, SAP and others to communicate with other applications like a website.

These advances have all brought down the cost and time to get an E-commerce website launched.

Delivery

There was a time that TTPOST had the sole rights for local delivery, but this has long changed and all the courier companies in Trinidad and Tobago now offer local delivery.  Delivery cost and service varies significantly.  You can get cheap delivery from TTPOST, but delivery costs must be manually maintained in the website and it is a manual fulfillment process of getting your package to TTPOST, paying, etc.  On the other hand you have DHL that is not as inexpensive, but is fully integrated and automated for your website, from order placement to tracking are all automated.  All other courier companies offer this service, some companies only do local delivery, while others do both local and international.

You will need to consider service and cost when selecting the one that is best for you.  With so many choices you can now find a delivery service that you and your customers will be happy with.

You own delivery service is also a very viable option especially if you already do deliveries or you expect enough volume to justify this cost.  You have more control over your service, costs and payment options when you do your own deliveries.

Online Payment Processing

This was almost non existent when we started providing E-commerce solutions in Trinidad and Tobago.  Now merchants have many choices.  You can process credit cards online and get the funds immediately available in your bank account, using First Atlantic Commerce ( FAC), use third party processors like Paypal and WiPay and get the funds at a later date and you can even process E-money, like WiPay and Paywise!

This makes it possible for your customers that have a credit card and those that do not have a credit card or even a bank account to purchase from you by paying online.

Conclusion

It is exciting times and many companies are opening their online doors.  When backed by a solid technology company like Webberz.com Ltd. you can feel confident that your E-commerce website will work properly, securely and reliably and you can focus on business strategy and the bottom line.