Electronic commerce fundamentals ch4

Large Electronic Commerce Site Figure 4-1... Small Electronic Commerce Site Figure 4-2... An Electronic Commerce Shopping Cart Figure 4-4... Basic Packages ◆ Fundamental host services ●

Chapter 4

Electronic Commerce

Software

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:

● Enterprise size and projected traffic & sales

● Budget

● Target commerce audience

● Technical ability, training, and equipment

● Rule: Never stand in the way of a customer who wants to purchase!

Large Electronic Commerce Site

Figure 4-1

Small Electronic Commerce Site

Figure 4-2

Shopping cart

◆ Represents an improvement over forms-based shopping

● Forms were awkward and time-intensive

● Not user-friendly, confusing and error-prone

◆ Shopping carts

● Keeps track of items selected

● Items can be added or removed

● All item identification is stored automatically

● Running totals are kept

Using a Form to Enter an Order

Figure 4-3

How Shopping Carts Work

◆ 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

● Connected with seller’s internal accounting system

to allow tallying of Web sales

An Electronic Commerce Shopping Cart

Figure 4-4

E-commerce Tools

◆ Inexpensive hosted e-commerce solutions

● 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

◆ Digital signatures and signed receipt notices

◆ Ability to connect to existing legacy systems including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Business-to-Business Commerce Server Topology

Figure 4-5

● Least expensive method for getting visibility

is obtaining and registering your own domain name

◆ Make the name say something about your business

Hosting Services

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

Basic Packages

◆ Fundamental host services

● Free 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

BizLand.com’s Hosting Service

Figure 4-6

LinkExchange

Figure 4-7

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

● Web-based editing of storefronts

Editing a Yahoo!Store Storefront Page

Figure 4-8

An Item’s Order Page

Figure 4-9

Management, Reporting, and Site Settings Page

Figure 4-10

● Basic plans cost $25

● Transactional Processing costs $100 monthly, plus 55 cents per-transaction fee, and a set-up fee of $195

● No long-term contracts

GeoShops’ Home Page

Figure 4-11

Successful Store Builders and

Hosting Services

◆ ShopBuilder

● Credit card transactions

● Tracks sales trends

● Computes and graphs statistics

◆ Items sold

◆ Customers who visit

● Generates and sends receipts by e-mail

● $20 - $250 monthly fee, depending on

ShopBuilder Web Page Sales Statistics

Figure 4-12

Midrange Packages

◆ INTERSHOP Merchant Edition

● $5,000 package, providing over 50 storefront templates, set-up wizards, good catalog and data management tools

● Web-based store managing and editing

● Special notice goes to the inventory manager

◆ Tracks inventory levels, list of transactions, enters new products, discount rules

INTERSHOP Home Page

Figure 4-13

● Scalable to grow as your company grows

● Site building wizards

● Accommodates electronic download products

● Requires some knowledge of JavaScript,

Net.Commerce Home Page

Figure 4-14

Midrange Packages

◆ Site Server Commerce Edition

● Published by Microsoft

● Site Foundation Wizard

● Store Builder Wizard

● Tools for the commerce cycles

◆ Engaging the customer

◆ Transacting an order

◆ Analyzing the sales information

Site Server Commerce Edition Home Page

Figure 4-15

Enterprise Solutions for

Large Firms

◆ IBM’s Net.Commerce Pro

◆ Netscape’s Netscape CommerceXpert

◆ Oracle’s Internet Commerce Server

◆ Intel & SAP’s Pandesic Web Business Solution

Large E-Business System Architecture

Figure 4-16