Live Processing vs. Offline Processing

Live processing is by far faster and more efficient in an online business however there are times when offline processing may be necessary. First you will need to understand the difference between the two.

Live processing is when a customer pays for their order by credit card over the internet. You, the business owner, do not have to do anything with the order. The money from the sales is added directly to your bank account and you receive a receipt for the sales. Live processing allows you to focus your efforts on marketing and bringing in new customers to your business.

Offline processing is slower and was used before the internet and ecommerce solutions. There are some instances where you may still need to deal with offline processing even with your online business. A customer may not feel comfortable paying for a purchase online and will instead mail you the order or phone it in. In this case you will need to place the order yourself using offline processing.

There are now ways you can incorporate offline processing with live processing. For example, once you receive an order via mail or phone you can then use your database or an eterminal to place the order yourself.

Live processing is a much more convenient way to do business for all parties involved. You receive the money faster and the customer receives the product faster without much effort on either of your parts. Because offline processing is still necessary on some occasions, there are now solutions available to quicken the process for you allowing you time to worry about other matters.