Electronic commerce fundamentals ch4

Chapter 4

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Electronic Commerce
Software

Electronic Commerce

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Objectives
Desirable functions of E-commerce
software and ISP-hosted solutions
◆ Types of traditional and electronic
stores
◆ Software packages for small, medium,
and large e-commerce sites
◆ Characteristics of several electronic
commerce sites
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What kind of software solution is
necessary for your needs?
Range of pricing options, from almost

nothing to more than $100,000
◆ Factors that determine E-commerce
software needs:
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Enterprise size and projected traffic & sales
Budget
Target commerce audience
Technical ability, training, and equipment
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E-commerce Requirements
◆

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All e-commerce solutions must provide
at minimum:
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A catalog display
Shopping cart capabilities
Transaction processing
Tools to modify and add to the store catalog and
storefront display

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Catalog Display
◆

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Definition: a static listing of goods and
services
● Small

storefronts (less than 35 items) can
have minimum navigation and organization
● Large storefronts must categorize items,
and provide several methods of finding
items (i.e. search engines)
● Rule: Never stand in the way of a
customer who wants to purchase!
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Large Electronic Commerce Site

Figure 4-1

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Small Electronic Commerce Site
Figure 4-2

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Shopping cart
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Represents an improvement over
forms-based shopping
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◆

Forms were awkward and time-intensive
Not user-friendly, confusing and error-prone

Shopping carts
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Keeps track of items selected
Items can be added or removed
All item identification is stored automatically
Running totals are kept
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Using a Form to Enter an Order
Figure 4-3

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How Shopping Carts Work
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The Web is a stateless system- unable
to remember from one transmission to
another
●

Therefore, shopping carts must store information
about each shopping cart, to avoid mixed-up

purchases. Methods used include:
◆ Cookies- stored information on a shopper’s
hard drive
◆ Temporary numbers added to the end of a
shopper’s URL
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Transaction Processing
Mechanism
Required when the shopper clicks the
checkout button
◆ Usually, browser changes to Secure
Sockets Layer (SSL)
◆ Software calculates tax, shipping
charges, discounts
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Some software packages connect directly with
shippers to get shipping costs
Connected with seller’s internal accounting system
to allow tallying of Web sales
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An Electronic Commerce Shopping Cart
Figure 4-4

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E-commerce Tools
◆

Inexpensive hosted e-commerce solutions
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◆

Can create a storefront in less than 1 hour
Fees vary, but some allow online business for a few
hundred dollars a month; one-time setup fees can be
up to $200
◆ All charge monthly fee based on number of items
for sale

Mid-range systems
●
●

Prices range from $1000 to over $5000

Connect into database servers, but are not included
in the commerce server price
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E-commerce Tools
◆

Large business solutions
● Business-to-consumer

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transactions
● Business-to-business transactions require
additional tools:
Encryption
◆ Authentication
◆ Digital signatures and signed receipt notices
◆ Ability to connect to existing legacy systems
including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
software
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Business-to-Business
Commerce Server Topology
Figure 4-5

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Marketing Smarts
◆

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Critical to obtain visibility to get traffic to
your site
Web malls will list your site in a portal-style
directory
● Least expensive method for getting visibility
is obtaining and registering your own
domain name
●

◆

Make the name say something about your
business

● Use

Meta tags and search engines
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Hosting Services
◆

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Good for businesses unprepared to
obtain all the hardware and software
necessary for a Web presence
● Advantages

Spreads costs of a large website over several
“renters”
◆ Host provides all expertise, registration,
payment processing, shipping, and taxes
◆ Lowers costs because other “tenants” share
hardware and software infrastructure
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Basic Packages
◆

Fundamental host services
● Free

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or low-cost for small businesses (less

than 50 products and low order volume)
● Do not include shopping carts or
transaction processing
● Host makes money by placing advertising
banners on storefronts
● Provide templates for constructing a
commerce site, although unsophisticated
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BizLand.com’s Hosting Service
Figure 4-6

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Banner Advertising
Exchange Sites
Help electronic merchants promote
their stores online
◆ Banners are mutually exchanged
instead of selling advertising space
◆ Provide ad monitoring software to help
determine their advertising clickthrough count
◆ Provide helpful articles on a variety of
advertising topics
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LinkExchange
Figure 4-7

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Full-Service Mall-Style Hosting
Offers online stores good service, good
Web creation tools, and no banner
advertising clutter
◆ Charges a higher monthly fee than
basic service providers
◆ Provides shopping cart software
◆ Comprehensive customer transaction
processing, including credit card
acceptance
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Successful Store Builders and
Hosting Services

◆

Yahoo!Store
● Monthly

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fees that vary between $100 -

$700
● Provides store fronts for very small
businesses, as well as The Shaper Image
and Rolling Stone
● Web-based editing of storefronts

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Editing a Yahoo!Store Storefront Page
Figure 4-8

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An Item’s Order Page
Figure 4-9

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