1. 1 4 Chapter 4 Electronic Commerce Software Electronic Commerce

2. 2 4 Objectives u Desirable functions of E-commerce software and ISP-hosted solutions u Types of traditional and electronic stores u Software packages for small, medium, and large e-commerce sites u Characteristics of several electronic commerce sites

3. 3 4 What kind of software solution is necessary for your needs? u Range of pricing options, from almost nothing to more than $100,000 u Factors that determine E-commerce software needs: l Enterprise size and projected traffic & sales l Budget l Target commerce audience l Technical ability, training, and equipment

4. 4 4 E-commerce Requirements u All e-commerce solutions must provide at minimum: l A catalog display l Shopping cart capabilities l Transaction processing l Tools to modify and add to the store catalog and storefront display

5. 5 4 Catalog Display u Definition: a static listing of goods and services l Small storefronts (less than 35 items) can have minimum navigation and organization l Large storefronts must categorize items, and provide several methods of finding items (i.e. search engines) l Rule: Never stand in the way of a customer who wants to purchase!

6. 6 4 Large Electronic Commerce Site Figure 4-1

7. 7 4 Small Electronic Commerce Site Figure 4-2

8. 8 4 Shopping cart u Represents an improvement over forms-based shopping l Forms were awkward and time-intensive l Not user-friendly, confusing and error-prone u Shopping carts l Keeps track of items selected l Items can be added or removed l All item identification is stored automatically l Running totals are kept

9. 9 4 Using a Form to Enter an Order Figure 4-3

10. 10 4 How Shopping Carts Work u The Web is a stateless system- unable to remember from one transmission to another l Therefore, shopping carts must store information about each shopping cart, to avoid mixed-up purchases. Methods used include: u Cookies- stored information on a shopper’s hard drive u Temporary numbers added to the end of a shopper’s URL

11. 11 4 Transaction Processing Mechanism u Required when the shopper clicks the checkout button u Usually, browser changes to Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) u Software calculates tax, shipping charges, discounts l Some software packages connect directly with shippers to get shipping costs l Connected with seller’s internal accounting system to allow tallying of Web sales

12. 12 4 An Electronic Commerce Shopping Cart Figure 4-4

13. 13 4 E-commerce Tools u Inexpensive hosted e-commerce solutions l Can create a storefront in less than 1 hour l Fees vary, but some allow online business for a few hundred dollars a month; one-time setup fees can be up to $200 u All charge monthly fee based on number of items for sale u Mid-range systems l Prices range from $1000 to over $5000 l Connect into database servers, but are not included in the commerce server price

14. 14 4 E-commerce Tools u Large business solutions l Business-to-consumer transactions l Business-to-business transactions require additional tools: u Encryption u Authentication u Digital signatures and signed receipt notices u Ability to connect to existing legacy systems including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software

15. 15 4 Business-to-Business Commerce Server Topology Figure 4-5

16. 16 4 Marketing Smarts u Critical to obtain visibility to get traffic to your site l Web malls will list your site in a portal- style directory l Least expensive method for getting visibility is obtaining and registering your own domain name u Make the name say something about your business l Use Meta tags and search engines

17. 17 4 Hosting Services u Good for businesses unprepared to obtain all the hardware and software necessary for a Web presence l Advantages u Spreads costs of a large website over several “renters” u Host provides all expertise, registration, payment processing, shipping, and taxes u Lowers costs because other “tenants” share hardware and software infrastructure

18. 18 4 Basic Packages u Fundamental host services l Free or low-cost for small businesses (less than 50 products and low order volume) l Do not include shopping carts or transaction processing l Host makes money by placing advertising banners on storefronts l Provide templates for constructing a commerce site, although unsophisticated

19. 19 4 BizLand.com’s Hosting Service Figure 4-6

20. 20 4 Banner Advertising Exchange Sites u Help electronic merchants promote their stores online u Banners are mutually exchanged instead of selling advertising space u Provide ad monitoring software to help determine their advertising click- through count u Provide helpful articles on a variety of advertising topics

21. 21 4 LinkExchange Figure 4-7

22. 22 4 Full-Service Mall-Style Hosting u Offers online stores good service, good Web creation tools, and no banner advertising clutter u Charges a higher monthly fee than basic service providers u Provides shopping cart software u Comprehensive customer transaction processing, including credit card acceptance

23. 23 4 Successful Store Builders and Hosting Services u Yahoo!Store l Monthly fees that vary between $100 - $700 l Provides store fronts for very small businesses, as well as The Shaper Image and Rolling Stone l Web-based editing of storefronts

24. 24 4 Editing a Yahoo!Store Storefront Page Figure 4-8

25. 25 4 An Item’s Order Page Figure 4-9

26. 26 4 Management, Reporting, and Site Settings Page Figure 4-10

27. 27 4 Successful Store Builders and Hosting Services u GeoShops l Product of GeoCities l Similar to Yahoo!Store l Basic plans cost $25 l Transactional Processing costs $100 monthly, plus 55 cents per-transaction fee, and a set-up fee of $195 l No long-term contracts

28. 28 4 GeoShops’ Home Page Figure 4-11

29. 29 4 Successful Store Builders and Hosting Services u ShopBuilder l Credit card transactions l Tracks sales trends l Computes and graphs statistics u Items sold u Customers who visit l Generates and sends receipts by e-mail l $20 - $250 monthly fee, depending on number of items

30. 30 4 ShopBuilder Web Page Sales Statistics Figure 4-12

31. 31 4 Midrange Packages u INTERSHOP Merchant Edition l $5,000 package, providing over 50 storefront templates, set-up wizards, good catalog and data management tools l Web-based store managing and editing l Special notice goes to the inventory manager u Tracks inventory levels, list of transactions, enters new products, discount rules

32. 32 4 INTERSHOP Home Page Figure 4-13

33. 33 4 Midrange Packages u Net.Commerce Start l Produced by IBM l Costs $5,000 l Scalable to grow as your company grows l Site building wizards l Accommodates electronic download products l Requires some knowledge of JavaScript, Java, or C++

34. 34 4 Net.Commerce Home Page Figure 4-14

35. 35 4 Midrange Packages u Site Server Commerce Edition l Published by Microsoft l Site Foundation Wizard l Store Builder Wizard l Tools for the commerce cycles u Engaging the customer u Transacting an order u Analyzing the sales information

36. 36 4 Site Server Commerce Edition Home Page Figure 4-15

37. 37 4 Enterprise Solutions for Large Firms u IBM’s Net.Commerce Pro u Netscape’s Netscape CommerceXpert u Oracle’s Internet Commerce Server u Intel & SAP’s Pandesic Web Business Solution

38. 38 4 Large E-Business System Architecture Figure 4-16