CS 111 – Oct. 13 With a network, you can make $: E-commerce Commitment: –Homework #1 due Oct. 18: Discuss your favorite infamous example of a computer crime. Why is it significant, and could it happen again?

E-commerce Means the browsing, buying, and selling of goods and services using public or private computer networks. Two types of commerce: Business to consumer –Web site used as the showroom. –Some businesses exist only online. (amazon) –Some sites are “portals” that tell you where to buy. Examples: Kayak and salescircular. The travel-agent model. Business to business (the client is another business) Benefits and challenges of e-commerce? What are some goods/services that are easy vs. hard to sell online?

Desired functions Advertise elsewhere, draw people in On Web site: provide product information Shopping cart Back-office processing –Update inventory –Process payment (credit card) –Send goods to consumer, provide return mechanism This is on top of other ordinary business functions, such as payroll, taxes, insurance, etc.

Behind the scenes Commerce usually involves the following players: –Supplier of raw materials –Manufacturer –Distributer –Retail outlet –Consumer Between each, there can be an e-commerce relationship. –Besides business-to-customer, we have “business-to- business” or B2B for short. –Gives rise to a “supply chain”

Supply chain Need to manage flow of materials and $ between your suppliers (upstream) and your customers (downstream). –You don’t want to be sold out of an item. –The business has its own bills to pay. Example goals where IT can help: –Keep inventory low, but not zero. (Detect when getting low.) –Cut cost of keeping inventory. –Reduce replenishment times. –Reduce transportation costs! –Perhaps outsource activities that do not add value to the company ($ or reputation). –Anticipate change, look at trends. (school supplies, Christmas)