When looking in my mail bag this week, I found this question.

I’m trying to set up a book store page on my blog. I can’t seem to grasp the big picture - what all do I need? A shopping cart - a way to pay - a way to download e-books? Are they all separate pieces, or is there one thing that combines them all? -  Phyllis

Phyllis,

Thank you for sending in that question. Can’t tell you how deeply I relate to that. I still remember my first experience with e-commerce. Utter confusion. Where do all these pieces go? Here’s what you should know.

A shopping cart or digital delivery system is not necessary. You can start selling and allowing people to download just using PayPal alone. I sold my very first ebook using a simple PayPal button. But I paid for it in different ways. For one, I found out people were downloading the book without paying. Then, I didn’t have a good hands free way to follow up with customers and there’s no affiliate program. If I wanted an email follow up system or affiliate program, I had to purchase two different third party software and try to connect them all together.

Because you are selling digital goods, what you need is not really a shopping cart although the term “shopping cart” is a bit of a misnomer today. Most shopping carts are not ideal for digital goods which you are selling. What you should look for is a digital product delivery system.

There are some systems that can do both. These systems - like Wahmcart - give you the ultimate flexibility and ties everything together in a nice, neat package.

I’ve drawn up a flow chart - well it’s more like a checklist, that gives an eagle’s eye view of the whole process from putting your order button up to the time the customer downloads and receives the product. Hope it clears up many questions for you.

Click on the picture below to view an enlarged image.

If you want a download-able PDF version, right click here and Save As to your computer.

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