< Back to How do I Accept Payments?
After your customers place orders, you're responsible for making sure they get what they paid for. ShopSite will send you an e-mail to notify you when a customer places an order. For security reasons, the e-mail does not include any customer payment information. You can go to the section of your back office to view the order details. You can print an invoice or packing slip for the order as well.
If you offer more than one shipping option to your customers, the method selected for each order will be displayed beside the shipping rate in the totals section of the order. When you package the ordered items for shipping, make sure you use packaging materials that are appropriate for the selected shipping method. Be sure to provide adequate padding to avoid damage to your products during shipping. You may also want to include a copy of the invoice or packing slip in the package. Follow the shipping service's rules for sealing and labeling the package.
After you have the order ready to be shipped, capture the funds for the order. In many places, the law requires you to have the order ready to ship before you can capture funds. Most payment gateways will allow you to authorize an order, which puts a hold on the funds in the customer's account, then capture the funds to your merchant account at a later time. You should, however, capture the funds before you actually ship the order.
Once the shipping carrier has the package, it is a good idea to notify the customer via e-mail that their order is on its way. If the carrier provides a package tracking service, you can include the tracking code in the notification message so your customer can track the package as well. After the package arrives, you can also send a follow-up message to check that the order arrived in good condition. Good customer service during order fulfillment is a great way to encourage repeat customers.
Continue to How can I Get More Customers? >