“Dremus is a hosted e-commerce platform used to build online shopping websites. Â We take care of everything from hosting, security, and software updates so you can concentrate on managing a successful online business.” – Dremus
MW & Dremus = e-Commerce for Everyone!
Preparing your business to go online is never an easy task and one of the biggest decisions is working out which shopping cart solution to implement. Business owners often have to make a decision as to whether they will be hosting a shopping cart themselves or whether to implement a hosted shopping cart solution.
Dremus is a powerful hosted shopping cart that allows merchants to get up and running with an online store in minutes. The beauty of Dremus is in the elegant design and powerful features which allow merchants to operate a secure online shopping store in a simple manner.
Dremus Features
Free Themes
Free Trial Available
Custom Designs
Built in Analytics
Free Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Create Coupons & Discount Codes Easily
Inbuilt Customer Relationship Management
Multiple Language Translations
Multiple Currencies (20 Currencies)
Country Specific Application of Taxes (GST, VAT etc.)
Dremus now supports the Merchant Warrior Payment Gateway out of the box. That means that if you are currently searching for an online shopping cart solution that you should be looking at Dremus.
Sign up for the Free Trial and give it a test run! You might also want to ask us about the discounts that are available when you combine Dremus & Merchant Warrior 😉
The Merchant Warrior Payment Gateway now supports Authorization and Capture for merchants through both the Merchant Administration Panel and API. A full explanation of exactly how Authorization and Capture operates and why certain merchants require it can be found at the Authorization & Capture article at Australia’s Payments Gateway Resource.
We have worked closely with our merchants to implement Authorization & Capture capabilities the right way. The Authorization & Capture feature is available through both the Merchant Warrior Direct API and Transparent Redirect.
Who needs Authorization and Capture support?
There are specific business models that will require the ability to have control over when they issue a credit card Authorization and credit card Capture. A simple example of this would be a computer repair company that sent out employees to fix computer problems. Assuming they have a service cost of $50 this is how the process would look:
The Customer books computer repair specialist for $50
The Computer repair company issues a credit card Authorization for $50 to the customer’s credit card
The credit card Authorization is successful and therefore the Computer repair company knows that the Customer has the funds
A computer repair specialist is sent to the Customer’s house on the booking date which happens to be three days later
The computer repair specialists fixes the customer’s issue and notifies head office that the job has been completed
The computer repair company issues a credit card Capture for $50 from the customer’s credit card
The $50 is then transferred from the customer’s account to the computer repair company’s settlement account
This is a simple scenario in which the merchant can benefit from having control over when they issue a credit card Authorization and credit card Capture.
Merchant Warrior likes to K.I.S.S
Our merchants benefit from our features and Payment Gateway functionality due to the K.I.S.S (Keep it simple, stupid!) design principle that we follow. The video below demonstrates a brief overview of the Authorization and Capture functionality through the MW Merchant Administration Panel.
Feel free to contact us if your business payment model requires Authorization and Capture functionality.
Merchant Warrior is now supported by the beautiful Shopp Plugin for WordPress. Have you ever wondered if it’s possible to turn your wordpress blog into an online store? If so the Shopp Plugin is the solution that you’ll be wanting to get the job done seamlessly.
Shopp is an e-commerce plugin that adds a feature-rich online store to your WordPress-powered website or blog. Get your store up and running in minutes. Then, take it to the next level with the flexibility of Shopp’s customization tools that allow production studios and power users to tailor every aspect of the shopping experience. – Shopp Plugin
Simple, Effective, Instant.
Features that are supported by Shopp Plugin that we like are:
Bolt-on e-commerce functionality, just install and activate
Search engine optimized shopping pages
Works out-of-the-box with any theme
Focused development to be fast, efficient and play nicely with other plugins
Shortcode support for placing products and categories in blog posts or pages
Basic inventory management and low-stock e-mail alerts
Support for selling digital & physical products and donations
Export orders and customers into Tab, CSV and Excel formats
Export orders for import as transactions into Intuit Quickbooks (As Australians we can only hope this functionality is added to MYOB in the future!
The tutorial video below displays just how easy it is to integrate your online business with the WordPress Shopp Plugin.
If you’re currently looking for a payment solution to tie into your WordPress blog don’t look past Shopp Plugin. To our beloved merchants who have requested that we work with Shopp Plugin to get integrated we’re happy to say that your wish has been our command!
As we all prepare for Australia day one man has set his goals helping all Australian’s ‘Live The Dream’. Kent Grogan is offering 10 shares for each carton of Broo beer purchased from his website come tomorrow. The idea behind this is to keep Broo 100% Australian owned and give each Australian the chance to take part in being a part of an Australian beer company. It’s also great to see the Broo team supporting the flood victims by offering to donate to those flood effected communities.
“Broo is 100% Australian owned and has the belief that beer is beer, great beer is better and we should all drink great beer. Broo stands for a lot of people. It’s for everyone who works hard, everyone who did, everyone who can’t, won’t or doesn’t need to. It stands for pride in our country and it’s dedicated to everyone who cared enough about this country to do something about it. It’s about having a go, getting it done, getting up and getting on with it. It’s a bloody road sign on a stubby of beer, nothing subtle about that, but deadly proud and broodifully honest. Come on the ride with us. Get onto the Broo. Stay on the Broo.” – Broo.com.au
Have a Session!
We wish Kent and the Broo team all the best and would like to know that we’ll be right behind them doing our part to keep Broo Australian owned. What better way to celebrate Australia day than to crack open a nice cold Broo and celebrate the country we live in.
The CRELoaded Shopping Cart is now supported by MW! As always our merchants receive exactly what they demand from us. In your search for an easy to setup online secure shopping cart, make sure you have CRELoaded on your list of carts to check out.
What is CRELoaded?
“CRE Loadedâ„¢ is much more than your average shopping cart. It’s the industry’s first downloadable ecommerce system that can easily make your store fully compliant with all Payment Card Industry (PCI) security rules.
Organize, manage and ship your products from your online store. Together with CRE Secure, your CRE Loaded 6.4 can safely and securely accept credit card transactions.” – CRELoaded
OK – I’ve got it. Now what?
In order to install the module review the README included with the module bundle which can found at our Developer Zone.
We’re pleased to announce that Rebecca Fashion Lingerie have placed their website live today. The store now has an online presence as well as two physical stores located in Brisbane and Rockhampton.
Who is Rebecca Fashion Lingerie?
Rebecca Fashion Lingerie has been trading as an intimate apparel retailer for the past 20 years. There are 2 retail outlets that cater to both the metropolitan based women of Brisbane through a store at Toowong, and to the regional and country ladies via a store in Rockhampton.
Rebecca Fashion Lingerie provides a unique shopping environment – a sophisticated, elegant, yet comfortable space in which to buy not only practical and functional underwear but also beautiful lingerie, sleepwear and leisurewear.
Rebecca Fashion Lingerie products are sourced only from well respected local, national and international brands. This ensures the highest quality and finish to all purchases.
All store staff are trained fitters and are passionate about the product they sell and the service they provide to customers. Customers who prefer the convenience of online shopping, will also have access to knowledgeable staff via phone or email.
As well as being a store in its own right, the Rebecca Fashion Lingerie website showcases the latest lingerie fashion trends, provides tips for finding the perfect bra, and features the best selling new designs for the season.
It’s a question that we’ve been getting asked quite frequently by new merchants or those that are curious about the product. It is a very simple concept and exists for the sole purpose of removing the requirement of storing any credit card data on the merchant’s servers. Most merchants are aware of the PCI DSS which states that:
“PCI DSS requirements are applicable if a Primary Account Number (PAN) is stored, processed, or transmitted. If PAN is not stored, processed, or transmitted, PCI DSS requirements do not apply.”
The idea behind the Token Payments application is that a merchant submits a credit card number to the Merchant Warrior Payment Gateway for storage. We work with our merchants to ensure that the transmission of this data is secure and then encrypt the credit card information and store it. A Token/ID is assigned to the specific credit card number and this Token/ID is transmitted securely to the merchant for future processing.
In short – merchants substitute all credit card data storage for Token/IDs. This means that a merchant’s database will contain a Token/ID for each credit card that they plan on billing in the future. For all future transactions for a specific credit card, the merchant will simply send a Token/ID to the Merchant Warrior Payment Gateway and we will handle the processing of the payment.
Some of you may be wondering why or when storage of credit card information would be necessary, so let’s discuss that.
Why Token Payments?
Any business that operates with a recurring billing model will know that storage of credit card information is extremely important. In order to bill a customer more than once (automatically) you will need to know their credit card details. Quite a few businesses will utilize the Recurring Payments features that come bundled with their Payment Gateway, however, this is only useful for merchants that plan on billing customers a static amount over a period of time. What happens if you’re billing amount changes frequently? What happens if YOU want to control when your billing takes place? These are situations where Token Payments come in handy. One of the reasons why so many merchants choose to implement Token Payments into their applications is due to the ability to to remain PCI DSS Compliant, whilst not having to worry about storing any customer credit card information, and still having access to your customer’s details when the time comes to bill them.
This is not the only reason why merchants look into Token Payments. Customer loyalty is another very important aspect of business that can be increased by implementing Token Payments into an application. How many of you hate having to enter in your credit card number every time you wish to purchase an item? If you sign up with a particular store and they already have your credit card number on file are you not more inclined to use them again for future purchases?
Apple is a perfect example of how Token Payments can be used to increase customer loyalty. After your first purchase with Apple your credit card is stored against your account and all future purchases only require you to enter your CSC (Card Security Code). By implementing Token Payments into your applications you are able to take advantage of this feature.
Token Payments may not be a requirement for every online business, but they should be considered by merchants that require a way to control their own recurring billing and/or need to store credit card information securely, whilst still remaining PCI DSS Compliant.
Should I offer American Express as a payment method?
As a merchant you’ve almost certainly asked yourself this question before – Is offering your customers American Express as a payment method really required? How much difference does it actually make? What are the pros and cons of doing this? We’ll get straight to business and discuss this from a merchant’s point of view. After all we (Merchant Warrior) are a merchant as well and we’ll explain why we chose to offer American Express (AMEX) to our customers as a payment option.
American Express fees are too high, it’s not worth it to me.
The above heading is often the answer that most merchants give when asked about why they are not offering AMEX as a payment option. It’s a very valid response. Generally speaking when merchants think of Merchant Service Fees relating to VISA & MasterCard they think of varying percentages around 0.5-2%. Ask a merchant about the rates that come to mind when dealing with AMEX and they will often quote figures from 2-3% as a minimum. With this said it’s no wonder why merchants are turned off by AMEX and choose not to offer it, BUT the real question is: is it worth it?
American Express charge an establishment fee and the only ongoing cost is the merchant service fee as discussed above, so what is there to lose? If your AMEX facility does not process any transactions you will not be charged anything extra. For those of you who have an AMEX, how often have you walked into a store and been disappointed to find out that the store does not accept AMEX? And if you are asked to pay a surcharge due to having an AMEX, have you ever declined?
Customers are kept happy when they are offered multiple payment methods. As a merchant, not offering a specific payment method could lead to a reduction in sales and no merchant would want that to happen.
It’s for this reason that it is our recommendation that all merchants look to establish an American Express facility when looking to operate an online store.
Show me the MONEY!!
It’s understandable that some merchants will not want to move forward with establishing an AMEX facility unless they see the proof that it is actually required. After all, there is no point in having an AMEX facility if you have statistics that are proving that 0% of your customers use an AMEX to purchase your products.
We understand that and that’s why we provide our merchants with reporting that helps them make the important decision as to whether they require a specific payment method or not.
The above image (please click the image to view it) is an example of a merchant who is yet to have an AMEX facility established for their online store. This report informs the merchant that $25,000+ worth of sales have been declined due to the fact that AMEX was not offered to customers as a payment option. By viewing this report the merchant is able to take notice of the large number of sales that are being declined due to customers not being able to purchase products with their AMEX cards. This report proves to the merchant that an AMEX facility is a definite requirement for his/her store.
How do I accept American Express payments?
In order to establish an American Express merchant facility you will have to apply with American Express Online Merchant Services directly. You can begin the application process by visiting https://www.americanexpress.com/australia/merchant/home/merchant_p.shtml and clicking on the “APPLY NOW TO ACCEPT THE CARD” link at the top of the website. Alternatively, you can simply call the following number 1300 363 614 – option 4. Please note that these instructions are for Australian merchants only.
Multiple payment methods enable merchants to increase sales and provide customers with a pleasant purchasing experience. Put quite simply – when starting your online store and establishing a merchant facility with your Bank to accept VISA & MasterCard transactions, American Express should not be forgotten.
We’re here today to announce that the Merchant Warrior Payment Gateway now supports WP-eCommerce. We’ve had numerous merchants ask that this product be supported and we can successfully say that you now have a module to play with!
What is WP-eCommerce?
This wordpress extension is the handy work of Dan Milward, Tom Howard and Jeffry Ghazally.
“The WP e-Commerce shopping cart plugin for WordPress is an elegant easy to use fully featured shopping cart application suitable for selling your products, services, and or fees online.
WP e-Commerce is a Web 2.0 application designed with usability, aesthetics, and presentation in mind.
We’ve made it as simple as possible. If you head to our Developer Zone you will be able to download the module directly to your WP-eCommerce shopping cart and begin processing payments through the Merchant Warrior Payment Gateway! Happy Integrating!
“VirtueMart is an Open Source E-Commerce solution to be used together with a Content Management System (CMS) called Joomla!. Joomla! and VirtueMart are written in PHP and can be used in typical PHP/MySQL environments.” – Virtuemart
What do our integrators have to say about us?
Are you thinking about integrating your project or application with Merchant Warrior? Are you wondering about how complex an integration with our advanced Payment Gateway may be? Here’s what Max Milbers, the Project Leader of the Virtuemart shopping cart had to say about his experience of integrating the Merchant Warrior Payment Gateway. He also mentions how the Merchant Warrior Token Payments product will be integrated in a future release of Virtuemart.
“As I started to implement the MerchantWarrior payment plugin for virtuemart, I didn’t have any knowledge about the idea and security concept of MerchantWarrior. I expected a complex security concept and high requirements.
Merchantwarrior gave me some easy to read pdfs describing the system. The idea behind the Token system is that a customer uses its credit card information only once and crucial information is not stored at the shop. But the customer is able to reuse the credit card without entering the data again.
When a shopper uses its credit card the first time, Merchantwarrior creates a unique id (token), which only works for one shop. Normally when a shop gets hacked, all stored credit cards must be frozen, replaced and deleted. This is a big damage for the credit card institutes and the shopper. The security gain using Merchantwarrior is that the information stored at the shop, fits only to one shop in the world and has nothing to do with the normal credit card data. This is a very good security gain.
Virtuemart 1.1 series works now with the more simple solution without token. Virtuemart 1.5 will support the advanced system which makes it possible to store different credit card tokens at the shop.”
– Max Milbers (Projectleader Virtuemart.net)
We will definitely keep you updated with the future releases of the Virtuemart plugin for Merchant Warrior and the ability to take advantage of Token Payments.
All merchants that are implementing a fresh installation of virtuemart 1.1.5 will be able to select Merchant Warrior as their Payment Gateway quite easily. For those merchants that are upgrading from an earlier version of Virtuemart the following steps should be taken to enable Merchant Warrior as your Payment Gateway:
Go the Admin Panel of Virtuemart in the Joomla backend.
Go to the topic store and click “Add Payment Method”.
Give your payment method a name, ensuring that you enter the correct code (MW).
Choose a payment class name – “ps_merchantwarrior”.
Set the Payment Method Type to “Use Payment Processor”.
Enable the default Credit Cards.
Go to the Configuration tab to set your Merchant ID and Merchant Password.
If you have any issues during this process feel free to contact the Merchant Warrior Support Team.
Life @ Merchant Warrior 