E-Commerce

E-commerce options, using PayPal, are available for USU departments, colleges and programs that have the required accounts in place. Interested colleges, departments, and programs need to follow the required steps to set things up. Please note that this process takes time so plan accordingly.

Steps

  1. Request a PayPal account through ServiceNow.
  2. Reach out to the USU Card Office to set up the specific instance of your PayPal account (PayNow button or BigCommerce site, depending on your need).

If a single item is being offered (i.e. t-shirt, single-price event or item, etc.) even in multiple quantities (i.e. 3 t-shirts = 3 x the base cost of the t-shirt), then a PayNow button is simplest:

  • Cost: see ServiceNow for current rates (charged to the sponsoring organization)
  • Organizational considerations: keep in mind that the charges being assessed come out of the price the purchaser pays, and are not added onto the price the purchaser pays (they don’t see the cost), so plan your pricing accordingly (i.e. if you need to bring in $10, then charge $11 to be safe).

If multiple items with multiple prices are being offered, especially if it’s over an extended period of time, then a BigCommerce e-store is the best option:

  • Cost: $27/month if paid annually (or $30/month if paid month to month (the default method is to pay annually, unless a shorter time is needed)
  • Organizational considerations: this option is best for a robust and long-term e-store, selling multiple items in a variety of quantities and prices. If you only have one item then a Big Commerce e-store is overkill.

What's Next?

PayNow Button

If a PayNow button is selected, the USU Card Office will then prepare the embed code for web integration (into Omni CMS websites) and share it with the USU Web Team who will put the code in the appropriate part of your web page and work with you to gather any additional (non-protected) information needed to complete a purchase or registration.

The Card Office will ask for the URLs for two additional pages:

  1. Cancelled payment page (typically containing a message and a link back to the payment page in case they cancelled their payment in error)
  2. Successful payment page (could be a link back to an already existing page, or a new page created to give follow-up information or instructions about what will happen now that a payment has been made)

Big Commerce Store

If a BigCommerce e-store is selected, the USU Card Office sets that up and provides training and answers questions about how to input your items. The IT Web Team can provide BigCommerce styling using the blue USU template free-of-charge (please note that custom styling beyond the current blue USU template option is a cost-recovery project for the IT Web Team and there will be a cost for the requesting department). Note that managing the actual content of your e-commerce store is up to the requesting department (i.e. adding products, photos of products, pricing of items, etc.)

Assisting with styling is something the IT Web Team manages (with access granted by working with the USU Card Office).

Assistance with the BigCommerce site itself (content) can be accessed through the USU Card Office.

Resources

USU Card Office

Wade Anderson
797-2128

IT Web Team
itweb@usu.edu
797-8551

PCI Compliance

All USU colleges, departments, and programs that choose to use e-commerce resources are required to comply with all University policies that apply to receiving payment.

PCI Information