Advice You - Internet and Businesses Online

Starting an e-commerce website (or adding a shopping cart to your existing site) can be a daunting task. There are literally thousands of shopping carts out there, ranging in pric

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

e from free to tens of thousands of dollars. While most small businesses can't afford the expensive solutions, there are several good shopping cart choices that are under $500.00,

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

well within the reach of most small businesses.

However, there are other costs associated with setting up an online store. Here is a guide of the major pieces required to put yo

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

r store online:

- Hosting Account: You want to make sure your hosting account is compatible with your shopping cart. Web servers operate on Windows or Linux systems. Gener

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

ally speaking, you'll have more choices and less expensive hosting costs if you choose Linux as your server platform. Linux runs the majority of web servers worldwide, has less do

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

ntime than Windows, and is more secure when properly managed.

- Shopping cart software: Ranges from free to expensive. You'll generally spend a lot more time and effort se

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

tting up a store using a free shopping cart, and support from the author is often than what you need. What you save in money will be spent in time and effort. Make sure the softwa

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

re you choose can be customized to match the look and feel of your website, and that multiple sources of support are available.

- Secure Certificate: You'll need a Secure

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

ertificate (SSL) installed on your web server to conduct financial transactions and collect sensitive customer information. There are several vendors offering SSL certificates, bu

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

t you'll probably be limited by what your web host offers. Be sure to find out what an SSL certificate will cost from your web host before you sign up for your hosting account.

-

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

Merchant Account: Most companies will take credit cards as payment for their products or services. A merchant account allows your customers to pay by credit card and the fu

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

nds are deposited directly into your bank account. Fees vary widely, so be sure to shop around and make sure the merchant account is supported by your shopping cart.

- Site De

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

sign: Often overlooked, some store owners feel they can 'do it themselves' to save money. The benefits of using a web design company experienced in e-commerce will far outweig

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

the initial cost. You want a site that is attractive, easy to navigate, and professional, as well as one that will rank well in search engines. A professional e-commerce site des

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

igner is probably the single most important key to your success. Your site is often the only impression a customer will have of your company, and many online shoppers are hesitant

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

to give their money to a site that doesn't instill confidence.

- Search engine friendly web pages: Most online stores utilize some sort of database to manage products. The

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

address of each page is often long and confusing, like this:

myxyzstore.com/cgi-bin/cartsoftware.cgi?txo=454rr4&size=76&uid=344323434

This is not only

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

confusing to your human shoppers, some search engines have a hard time indexing pages like that. By using a shopping cart that can use short, easy to read page addresses, your pag

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

s are more likely to show up in search engines so shoppers can find (and buy from) you. Here is an example of a search engine friendly page address:

myxyzstore.com/v-

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

bluewidget.html

As you decide what shopping cart to use, be sure to consider each of these factors. You'll be far ahead of the game when you launch your online store

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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Did your Section 508 checklist have the desired effect? How will you know? Try observing disabled people as they perform tasks on your web site.

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