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Chapter 4. Electronic Commerce Software. Electronic Commerce. 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
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Chapter 4 Electronic Commerce Software Electronic Commerce
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
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
E-commerce Requirements • All e-commerce solutions must provide at minimum: • A catalog display • Shopping cart capabilities • Transaction processing • Tools to modify and add to the store catalog and storefront display
Catalog Display • 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!
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
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 • Some software packages connect directly with shippers to get shipping costs • 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
E-commerce Tools • Large business solutions • Business-to-consumer 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
Business-to-Business Commerce Server Topology Figure 4-5
Marketing Smarts • 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
Hosting Services • 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
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
Banner AdvertisingExchange 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 click-through count • Provide helpful articles on a variety of advertising topics
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
Successful Store Builders andHosting Services • Yahoo!Store • Monthly 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
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
Successful Store Builders andHosting Services • GeoShops • Product of GeoCities • Similar to Yahoo!Store • 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 andHosting 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 number of items
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
Midrange Packages • Net.Commerce Start • Produced by IBM • Costs $5,000 • Scalable to grow as your company grows • Site building wizards • Accommodates electronic download products • Requires some knowledge of JavaScript, Java, or C++
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 forLarge 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