Benefits Of E-Commerce

By Bradley Fenney Unit 8P2 – The impact of introducing an e-commerce system to an organisation

Why E-Commerce?You can buy off the website at

anytime you want.They deliver globallyNo dangerous risksGood if you work nights 24/7 sales

Benefits of E-commerceGlobal Marketplace

P2

• By having this they can target customers all over the world.

• It is very beneficial as you can buy items and they deliver world wide.

• People will use this instead of shops.• Much easier as its world wide.

• People can use this globally when they want to.

• Website is always running.

• No job to small

• For instance websites such as eBay and Amazon are world wide for example amazon.co.uk, amazon.com, amazon.fr, amazon.gr so Amazon will provide in different languages to meet different users needs. As you can see from the screenshot on the right it is the Amazon website in French.

Benefits of E-commerce24/7 Trading

P2

• This is very handy as people do not always have the time.

• You can shop day or night

• They deliver world wide

• Use the website at your leisure

• You can buy single items such as cat food.

Benefits of E-commerceLow Start -up & Running Costs

P2

• Costs for the company will be low as where there will be an area full of shops they will only need one warehouse

• The cost of running the website would be tremendously low.

• Owners will make more money as they only pay for the rent for the warehouse instead of areas of shops.

• The only thing you would need to consider is keeping the website up to date.

• Security will also be required to protect stock at the warehouse.

Benefits of E-commerceSearch Facilities

P2

• On the website its beneficial as the product you need is very easy to find as you would have a search bar and also links.

• You can also save your most bought items to your favourites

• It is a great advantage the search facility as if you cannot find it you can use the search bar.

• This has a great advantage to proper shops as sometimes stores do not have items which you need.

• Also you do not need to leave your house, you order it online and its delivered to your door.

Benefits of E-commerceFluid Pricing

P2

• Generally this is where the price of an item/product increases/decreases in price

• On the website E-Commerce they will automatically decrease/increase the price of the item.

• The website is more beneficial to people as in a real shop/store staff will have to go around re-pricing every item they have.

• Easier for people that use the website as they don’t have to do anything what so ever.

Weaknesses of E-commerceConsumer Trust

P2

• There are many issues to consumer trust for instance it is all card payments which some people may not trust.

• You do not talk to anyone when you buy the item/products

• Whether you can trust the company for instance is it legitimate

• Worries about giving your personal information away to people you don’t know.

Weaknesses of E-commerceLack of Human Contact

P2

It may scare some customers off for instance:

• They don’t talk to anyone when purchasing items

• They give away personal information to the company

• Some people may like to buy face to face

• You never know if it is a scam

• Some people may like to pay cash for their items instead of card.

Weaknesses of E-commerceProduct Description Problems

P2

• Some customers may not trust the products that they have ordered.

• Items that are advertised on the internet may not be the actual item you want.

• The product that you have ordered could be a fake.

• They could display an item that you want and they send the wrong one

Weaknesses of E-commerceSecurity issues

P2

Worries that the consumers could face are:

• Giving out there personal details such as name, address and card details.

• The company could overcharge them for items as they have the customers card details

• Customers will not feel safe in case their information is passed on.

• May not be satisfied paying on card, customers may to prefer to pay in cash.

The TechnologyBrowsers

Web Authoring Software

P1

Which generally allows you to view many different web pages of websites of your choice, the user will type in what website they want to use. You can browse websites by entering the website in the address or search bar

Browser Features:Address bars, scroll bars, toolbars for help also icons of websites which you can click on and the website will pop up for instance on internet explorer you can add websites to favourites and the appear when you click on internet explorer.

Examples of different browsers:Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome etc.

Web pages are generally written in HTML (HyperText MarkupLanguage), if you don’t know of this coding it is impossible for a user to create web pages. This bit of software basically allows users to develop a website in desktop publishing format. Software will basically generate the HTML coding for the layout of what the user has selected it to look like. The user can go back and forth between graphical design. Also the HTML will allow you to make changes to the webpage.

Examples:Microsoft FrontPage, Adobe Dreamweaver and also online web authoring tools are also available on sites such as wix.com

The TechnologyDatabase systems

IP addresses

P1

E-Commerce will have a database system in place where customers will have the choice to create an account on the website which will store all of their information and history of what they have bought and looked at on the website. Also if they use the website often enough the website will display items recommended for you. All this will be controlled by a database at the company which will have to be secure for every user, for instance there information will be hidden so no other users can see it.

Each computer is given its own unique number to make sure data reaches its location on a network it has something called an Internet Protocol Address IP. It is a set if four numbers each from 0 to 255, For instance 125.3.74.255 would address a specific computer on a network. When this is entered two computers can be linked on to the same network. Ports connect protocols and IP addresses together each computer has several ports for data to pass through they are virtual so they cannot be seen in person.

The TechnologyDomain Names

Multiple Domain Registration

P1

It is vitally important that every website has a domain name so it is easy to remember so when a user uses the computer they can easily remember the site. Also a name that is different or odd may also stay in the mind of users. Domain names are used in web addresses to identify particular web pages, for instance, in the http://www.wix.com/btecictsharepoint/unit-2-computer-systems the domain name is wix.com. They you could access all of the information above by starting on the website such as wix.com

Many companies may not have only one domain they may use quite a few multiple domains so for instance if someone is to type in the wrong address for the company they may be redirected to the proper website for the company. Some people may try and use a similar name like bigger companies to get more people viewing the website.

The TechnologyPorts & Protocols

Browser & Platform Compatibility

P1

A protocol is basically making a connection for instance both computers have to have the same IP address to make sure the data reaches the right location on a network. A protocol is basically like a human handshake if they don’t meet they will not connect.

People need to gain access to possible websites they need to be accessible on as many browsers as possible, people will use platforms such as W3C we can then check the compatibility with other browsers and platforms. The main features of web browsers is you can search for pretty much anything you want, they are generally easy to use with user friendly toolbars and saved history so you can save what you have accessed so next time you use the web browser you can access websites from your history.

Web designers should design to meet the lowest specification possible otherwise potential customers may be excluded from purchasing products and so the business can lose potential profit. W3C, in collaboration with Adobe, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and many more. It is generally a new community-driven site that aims to become a comprehensive and authoritative source for web developers documentation.

PromotionPaying to be prominent in search engine results

M1

When consumers type there search terms, it should display most relevant sites but it doesn’t always. Mostly search terms will look over your search term within the web pages that they have collected. Some search engines will generally rank sites that are mainly higher in your search results. A general weakness to this is you do not always find the website that you are looking for straight away

Lots of other sites will indicate whether placement is paid for, generally your search engine will split search results as ‘’sponsored listings’’ but they may be paid for placement. But you generally have to remember that results can be grouped under different labels so an idea would be to look under recommended sites or featured listings etc. generally sites are often ranked much higher than others that are in a more prominent location than other websites.

As you can see why these ads?

PromotionNewsgroups & Forums

M1

Newsgroups tend to be very accurate and focused, they tend to have many discussions about folk music or postings of recipes there is never a big discussion about anything or about other things such as programs on windows and other stuff.

They tend to be structured and you often need some kind of special software in order to use them.

Web Forum:Web forums are generally where a whole host of people come together to talk about something for instance a new phone, people will buy the phone and comment on what they think about it whether guiding people into buying one or not. It is pretty much the same as newsgroups. People can also use the web forum to leave positive comments and also negative so it gives the person buying the product an idea on what they are buying.

PromotionBanners & Pop-ups

M1

This is basically a form of advertisement for many different companies for instance when your on websites such as amazon and facebook you will get advertisements of o2 trying to entice you on buying a phone or even opening a contract with them. It will generally be down the side of the screen or at the top or bottom. It is usually animation to make the user interested and the company will receive money on a pay per click.

Pop-ups which is also another form of advertisement for instance when you open a website another window may open for instance ‘’William Hill Betting’’ so the company will try to entice you to bet online. Also lots of anti-virus software comes with pop-up blockers, to stop users being bombarded with pop-ups when they are using websites.

PromotionSpam

M1

Spam is basically email that isn’t aimed at customers or even customers needs, it is generally mailed to people in bulks which the customer will have no interest in and just delete it. Users generally delete them before opening them to protect themselves from viruses and will report spam to which ever email company they are with for instance Hotmail and Gmail.

Generally these days many different companies to get hold of your email address and then they will send you regular emails. When they are received people will put them in the junk bin or delete them so they don’t receive anymore hassle.

PromotionEnsuring An Effective User Interface

M1

An effective interface for your website is very important and essential to make sure when web users get to your site. they stay there for as long as possible. When creating a site there are several factors to avoid- broken links, difficult navigation, they will also tend to use unclear fonts and lots of text.

A simple and clear website will mean they will be able to purchase products and services with ease. If they like the website they may even come back. People will trust websites that are clearly displayed and well laid out that people can trust. For instance amazon that is basically a website that is used world wide and people sell items on there and people buy off there.

PromotionEstablishing Customer loyalty in a virtual environment

M1

There is lots of different methods that websites can create customer loyalty for instance, direct emailing from the company to customers, this will help the company keep the customers mind on the company

The company could also set up a loyalty system for instance a club card which the company can put points on and customers can spend the points on the website.

Also you could treat the customers as individuals for instance like a friend and you could recommend items to them that the look at often and also items that they have purchased before so it saves them from looking for the same item again.

PromotionSite Names

M1

The site name of a website is very important, it generally has to be a suitable name that is simple and really easy for users to remember. It will have to be relevant to the website for instance if they sell mobile phones they could name the website www.mobilephones.co.uk.

This is easy for users to remember. If lots of people use this site it will become popular and if they have multiple domain names, registration will help to maximise the number of users that can access your site.

PromotionDirect Marketing

M1

Direct targeting is generally aimed at the specific user, often users may sign up for information such as off web forums. They may often receive updates. This means if the customers have chosen to be a part of this and they have a big interest in the products and they are kept up to date with the information so are more likely to purchase the product from the site after they have looked into the product in depth before buying.

General weaknesses of direct marketing is that when you are on other websites you don’t always want to be bothered by advertisements in the corner of the screen about the web forum your signed up to.

A strength of direct marketing is you receive lots of good information about new products and some of the direct marketing may interest you a lot and in the end may entice you into buying the product.

SecurityHacking

Hacking Prevention

P3, M2

A hacker is basically a person that tries to find weaknesses in either a website or a computer system, hackers may search for things in websites for instance profits the sites has made and many more. When a person tries to hack into a site or computer system this is illegal and the person who is having will be breaking the computer misuse act.

To prevent hacking on computer systems or websites it is vital that a security system is in place for instance windows defender, Norton etc. this will prevent people from hacking into systems and if they do the security system will warn you and ask you to run a scan. After a scan is run it will show up what the problem is and the security system will be responsible to remove the problem that is occurring.

SecurityViruses

Virus Prevention

P3, M2

There are many different types of viruses out there that affect many different computer systems and sites everyday for instance one type of virus is Worm. A worm is basically a program makes copies and copies of itself, for instance from one hard drive to the other, in time the worm will damage the computer system and keep developing and in the end destroy the system if it is not dealt with in time. It may come in an untrusted download.

The way to prevent computer systems from getting bad viruses is to make sure that a security system is in place on the system and that scans are run regularly to make sure that no viruses are trying to attack the system. Make sure also that disk clean-up is run often so the system will delete old and unwanted files in the system.

SecurityID Theft

ID Theft Protection

P3, M2

Identity theft is basically a form of fraud which is basically going online and using another persons identity, people may delve into things for instance somebody’s card and buy things online in somebody else’s name, this is classed as identity theft as it isn’t you buying the item, you are using somebody else’s property.

To prevent ID theft online when you are using websites to buy items or even using social network sites such as facebook or MSN it is vitally important that you use that you use large passwords which are very difficult to guess. Also if you can prevent using your picture on sites do. People will generally use your picture when they hack you to make sure that it is your face the police will see when they try to solve the issue and you will be to blame.

SecurityStrong Passwords

P3

When opening a site that you are going to buy off for instance eBay or Amazon it is vitally important that large passwords are used to protect yourself from hackers trying to get into your account. Also its important that you don’t use the same email and password for each site you use for instance eBay and Amazon as if a hacker hacks into your eBay account they will have not chance of hacking into your amazon account as everything will be different.

If you can make sure its 8 characters long or more and it consists of letters, numbers and symbols if possible.

Also capital and small letters.

Try and not use you name and D.O.B in your password as if people know you well they will be able to hack into your accounts.

Evaluate Existing E-commerce

D1

Business Summary

Discuss: What business sells, Why they would have moved into e-commerce, Structure of website, Layout of products, Website security, Ease of use, Delivery options

Evaluate Existing E-commerce

D1

Strengths

Weaknesses

Strengths- think about the benefits for this company when moving into e-commerce. Strengths of current site. Weaknesses- think about problems that may have had to overcome. Weaknesses of current site.