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In the fast-moving, quick world of today, more and more people are ditching the brick and mortar stores for shopping online. Instead of dealing with traffic, crowds, and long lines, they are making purchases from the comfort of their home.

Those who have gone through the convenience of shopping online know the stress-free environment that it offers and choose not to frequent the crowded stores any more than is necessary. With more and more shoppers making online purchases, it's becoming more important for companies to be able to accept credit cards online. Over the past few years, online shopping has more than doubled, and many shoppers do very little shopping in the stores, especially at holiday times.

One of the most beneficial features for online shoppers is the technological advances in software that can store a customers billing information so that he does not have to enter credit card information each time they shop. Although this isn't a feature of credit card processing, it is indeed something that can be arranged with the merchant at the time of credit card set up. In today's market, a shopper wants to be able to browse, choose, and pay within the same range of time and not be delayed because they have to call to give credit card information or send a check or money order. Today credit card processing companies have the ability to receive all kinds of payments including credit cards, debit cards and e-checks, depending upon the requirements of the merchants.

It is hard to imagine that so many people now prefer online shopping instead of a regular store. After all, it is not just the young people who are shopping on the Internet, but also people of all ages. For some, it means the end of long lines and store crowds, but for others, it's the only way they have time to do any shopping with the fast-paced world of the 21st century.

With changes in buying habits comes changes in payment methods, and if a business wants to continue sales growth, it will be necessary that they keep up with the latest in payment processing technology, including that of accepting debit and credit cards online. Improvements in existing payment processing tools means that businesses can process sales quicker and easier for the shopper, which not only increases the number of customers, but also leads to return customers. It's not only important to have online credit card processing capabilities but to have the latest software as well.

A number of options are available to actually process online shopping transactions. One that really shines above others is the DowCommerce gateway. Not only does it authorize, process, and manage credit card transactions manually from any computer that has an Internet connection and a Web Browser, but it also has a built in shopping cart, recurring billing feature, and API for full customization ability. With DowCommerce, online stores can offer their customers what they are looking for and provide them with convenience of a great online buying experience.

This article was written by Todd Nelson, Marketing Director for Capital Merchant Solutions, Inc (www.holyprocessing.com). CMS has been in the merchant account business for nearly 10 years, and offers free merchant accounts to both online and retail businesses. This article may be republished as long as absolutely no changes are made, and the resource box is included. Copyright 2007 - Capital merchant Solutions, Inc. - All rights reserved.