To ensure secure payment processes, these providers also usually assist with setting up Internet merchant accounts, which are bank accounts established to process Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover credit-card transactions. Some hosting providers will register a company’s domain name as part of the package.

E-commerce hosting firms customarily manage all the technical aspects of creating and maintaining a commercial Web site for its customers. For smaller companies, this is often more effective and cost-efficient than setting up and manageing their own e-commerce site themselves since they are essentially sharing the cost of expensive equipment and Internet connections with other companies.

An e-commerce hosting provider may also provide services other than managing online transactions, including EDI, the gathering of demographic or other information (usually for marketing purposes), or transactions between businesses (business-to-business e-commerce).