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The future of e-commerce is a bright one. I truly believe e-commerce will never go out of style or fall out of popularity. For many many people it has become a way of life, a means of income, a chance at a "piece of the pie" that otherwise would never be available to most individuals, as most of us could never afford a brick and mortar store of our own.

E-commerce has opened up so many opportunities for so many people. Displaced workers who no longer have a job due to economic factors, health, injuries, etc. and who are either forced to stay home or are collecting unemployment have found a way out of the dark thanks to e-commerce. Retired individuals also have found a way to supplement their income via e-commerce. Stay at home moms and dads have taken many a cottage industry and built it into a viable income through e-commerce.

Many people start their e-commerce journey on eBay where they basically "learn the ropes" of finding a product or products to sell, carving out a niche market for themselves, learn about customer service, shipping, pricing, presentation and establishing their "brand", as well as how to deal with the competition and to stay ahead.

Oftentimes people move on from eBay to their own e-commerce website. This takes a real learning curve however it is worth it. Your own website is where the full power of e-commerce is unleashed. So many template driven tools and shopping carts are available now which have almost completely replaced hand coded HTML driven sites. These template driven tools make it literally a snap to have a professional looking e-commerce venue of your own, however there are pitfalls to watch for that really cannot be ignored.

Security is of major concern ~ if your customer has to login to do anything in your e-commerce website, an SSL (secure sockets layer) certificate is of utmost importance to obtain. This ensures that any personal information, from one's email to one's credit card info is encrypted and safe from hackers, phishers, spammers, and other notoriously dishonest types. The SSL cert changes the website URL on the protected pages from http:// to https:// with the "s" meaning the page is secure and the information that will be transmitted will be secure. A lock will also appear in your browser bar as a highly visible sign of secure encryption.

Another major concern for the e-commerce store owner is that their template driven shopping cart is sophisticated enough to include either SEO friendly URL options and/or the ability

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