Affinity Internet, a web services provider for small businesses, this week announced the launch of ReadyWeb Commerce, an "easy and affordable solution for small businesses that want to establish an e-commerce-enabled web presence," according to a company statement.

ReadyWeb Commerce allows small business owners and managers to deploy and maintain a professional e-commerce web site that fits their business without having to do any web development work — Affinity's team of experts does the work for them. The service includes a professionally designed web site, an online product catalog with shopping cart and an order management system with the ability to automatically process online credit card payments. All of this functionality is designed, installed, configured and maintained by Affinity's in-house experts.

"ReadyWeb Commerce is the next step for Affinity in our mission to help small businesses establish a professional Internet presence in a way that saves them time and money," said Jim Collins, president, Affinity Internet. "Small businesses are focused on serving their customers — they don't have time to learn web design or figure out the intricacies of integrating e-commerce into their site, and they don't have the money to hire teams of design and e-commerce experts — that's where Affinity comes in."

ReadyWeb Commerce brings upfront setup costs down "as low as $200," and includes the design of the web site and the integration of a shopping cart system. Details like product information, sales tax calculation, order confirmations and payment verification are set up for the customer. The $99 monthly price includes web hosting, design updates and product catalog updates.

"In addition to the cost savings, ReadyWeb Commerce saves business owners an even more valuable resource — time. Customers are given a dedicated account manager who serves as a consultant on the development of the site, working with the customer to define their goals and coordinating the development and ongoing maintenance of the site," Affinity says in its statement.

"Affinity's approach gives each customer the personalized attention needed to ensure that their web site is as successful as a big business site without the big business expense," it added.

Brian Kovalesky, spokesman for Affinity, told ECommerce-Guide, "it's a pretty compelling offering for small businesses, as nothing of this caliber has ever been offered at such a low price — and we'll put that statement up against any competitor."

"The service is significant for a major small business service provider because of its low cost and attention to the critical details that can make the difference between e-commerce success or failure," he added.

More information about ReadyWeb Commerce can be found at http://www.affinity.com/readyweb.

Devin Comiskey is the Managing Editor of ECommerce-Guide.com.