1. ELC 200 Day 8 Introduction to E-Commerce 1 Copyright, Tony Gauvin, UMFK, 2011

2. Agenda Questions? Assignment 2 Posted  Due Feb 28  assignment2.pdf assignment2.pdf Assignment 3 Posted  Due March 4  assignment3.pdf assignment3.pdf  budgetTemplate.xls budgetTemplate.xls Quiz 1 will be March 11 Chap 1-5, Open Book, Open Notes Extra credit question on different Web Browsers (5 points) Begin Chap 4, Building an E-commerce Presence

3. Chapter 4 Building an E-commerce Presence: Web Sites, Mobile Sites, and Apps

4. Learning Objectives Explain the process that should be followed in building an e- commerce Web site. Describe the major issues surrounding the decision to outsource site development and/or hosting. Identify and understand the major considerations in choosing Web server and e-commerce merchant server software. Explain the issues involved in choosing the most appropriate hardware for an e-commerce site. Identify additional tools that can improve Web site performance. Explain the important considerations involved in developing a mobile Web site and building mobile applications.

5. Class Discussion Tommy Hilfiger Right-Sizes Its Web Store What are the factors you should take into account when sizing a Web site’s infrastructure? Why are peak times an important factor to consider? What reasons were behind Hilfiger’s choice of ATG for its Web site solution? How can operators of smaller sites deal with the right-sizing issue? Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-5

6. Building an E-commerce Site: A Systematic Approach Most important management challenges:  Developing a clear understanding of business objectives  Knowing how to choose the right technology to achieve those objectives Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-6

7. Pieces of the Site-Building Puzzle Main areas where you will need to make decisions:  Human resources and organizational capabilities Creating team with skill set needed to build and manage a successful site  Hardware/software  Telecommunications  Site design Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-7

8. The Systems Development Life Cycle Methodology for understanding business objectives of a system and designing an appropriate solution Five major steps: 1. Systems analysis/planning 2. Systems design 3. Building the system 4. Testing 5. Implementation Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-8

9. Web Site Systems Development Life Cycle Figure 4.2, Page 203 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-9

10. System Analysis/Planning Business objectives:  List of capabilities you want your site to have System functionalities:  List of information system capabilities needed to achieve business objectives Information requirements:  Information elements that system must produce in order to achieve business objectives Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-10

11. Table 4.1, Page 204 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-11

12. Systems Design: Hardware and Software Platforms System design specification:  Description of main components of a system and their relationship to one another Two components of system design:  Logical design Data flow diagrams, processing functions, databases  Physical design Specifies actual physical, software components, models, etc. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-12

13. Logical Design for a Simple Web Site Figure 4.3 (a), Page 206 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-13

14. Physical Design for a Simple Web Site Figure 4.3 (b), Page 206 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-14

15. Build/Host Your Own vs. Outsourcing Outsourcing: Hiring vendors to provide services involved in building site Build own vs. outsourcing:  Build your own requires team with diverse skill set; choice of software tools; both risks and possible benefits Host own vs. outsourcing  Hosting: Hosting company responsible for ensuring site is accessible 24/7, for monthly fee  Co-location: Firm purchases or leases Web server (with control over its operation), but server is located at vendor’s facility Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-15

16. Choices in Building and Hosting Figure 4.4 Page 207 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-16

17. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-17

18. Insight on Business: Class Discussion Curly Hair and Appdicted: Getting Started on the Cheap How does a small, niche Web site become profitable? What is the primary source of income for these kinds of sites? What benefits are there to starting a business in a recession? Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-18

19. Testing, Implementation, and Maintenance Testing  Unit testing  System testing  Acceptance testing Implementation and maintenance:  Maintenance is ongoing  Maintenance costs: Similar to development costs  Benchmarking Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-19

20. Factors in Web Site Optimization Figure 4.7, Page 214 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-20

21. Web Site Budgets From $5,000 to millions of dollars/year Components of budget:  System maintenance  System development  Content design and development  Hardware  Telecommunications  Software Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-21

22. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-22

23. Simple vs. Multi-tiered Web Site Architecture System architecture  Arrangement of software, machinery, and tasks in an information system needed to achieve a specific functionality Two-tier  Web server and database server Multi-tier  Web application servers  Backend, legacy databases Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-23

24. Two-Tier E-commerce Architecture Figure 4.9(a), Page 217 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-24

25. Multi-tier E-commerce Architecture Figure 4.9(b), Page 217 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-25

26. 12-26 © 2007 Prentice-Hall, Inc

27. Web Server Software Apache  Leading Web server software (66% of market)  Works with UNIX, Linux OSs Microsoft’s Internet Information Server (IIS)  Second major Web server software (16% of market)  Windows-based Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-27

28. Table 4.3, Page 218 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-28

29. Site Management Tools Basic tools  Included in all Web servers, e.g., Verify that links on pages are still valid Identify orphan files Third-party software for advanced management  Monitor customer purchases, marketing campaign effectiveness, etc.  WebTrends Analytics 10, Google Analytics Google Analytics Reports Google Analytics Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-29

30. Dynamic Page Generation Tools Dynamic page generation:  Contents of Web page stored as objects in database and fetched when needed Common tools: CGI, ASP, JSP, ODBC Cold Fusion, PHP, Ruby Advantages  Lowers menu costs  Permits easy online market segmentation  Enables cost-free price discrimination  Enables Web content management system (WCMS) Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-30

31. Application Servers Web application servers:  Provide specific business functionality required for a Web site  Type of middleware Isolate business applications from Web servers and databases  Single-function applications being replaced by integrated software tools that combine all functionality needed for e-commerce site Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-31

32. Table 4.4, Page 222 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-32

33. E-commerce Merchant Server Software Provides basic functionality for online sales  Online catalog List of products available on Web site  Shopping cart Allows shoppers to set aside, review, edit selections, and then make purchase  Credit card processing Typically works in conjunction with shopping cart Verifies card and puts through credit to company’s account at checkout Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-33

34. Merchant Server Software Packages Integrated environment that includes most of functionality needed Key factors in selecting a package  Functionality  Support for different business models  Business process modeling tools  Visual site management and reporting  Performance and scalability  Connectivity to existing business systems  Compliance with standards  Global and multicultural capability  Local sales tax and shipping rules Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-34

35. Merchant Server Software High end  IBM websphere Enterprise  Broadvison Commerce Midrange  IBM websphere express  Microsoft Commerce Server Basic  Bizland Bizland  Hypermart Hypermart  Yahoo Merchant Solutions Yahoo Merchant Solutions Free  OSCommerce OSCommerce Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-35

36. Building Your Own E-commerce Site Options for small firms  Hosted e-commerce sites, e.g., Yahoo’s Merchant Solutions Site building tools E-commerce templates  Open-source merchant server software Enables you to build truly custom sites Requires programmer with expertise, time Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-36

37. Choosing the Hardware for an E-commerce Site Hardware platform:  Underlying computing equipment that system uses to achieve e-commerce functionality Objective:  Enough platform capacity to meet peak demand without wasting money Important to understand the factors that affect speed, capacity, and scalability of a site Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-37

38. Right-Sizing Your Hardware Platform: The Demand Side Demand is the most important factor affecting speed of site Factors in overall demand:  Number of simultaneous users in peak periods  Nature of customer requests (user profile)  Type of content (dynamic vs. static Web pages)  Required security  Number of items in inventory  Number of page requests  Speed of legacy applications Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-38

39. Table 4.7, Page 227 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-39

40. Degradation in Performance as Number of Users Increases—Resource Utilization Figure 4.11(a), Page 229 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-40

41. Degradation in Performance as Number of Users Increases—Number of Connections Figure 4.11(b), Page 229 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-41

42. Right-Sizing Your Hardware Platform: The Supply Side Scalability:  Ability of site to increase in size as demand warrants Ways to scale hardware:  Vertically Increase processing power of individual components  Horizontally Employ multiple computers to share workload  Improve processing architecture Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-42

43. Table 4.8, Page 231 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-43

44. Vertically Scaling a System Figure 4.13, Page 231 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-44

45. Horizontally Scaling a System Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Figure 4.14, Page 232 Slide 4-45

46. Table 4.9, Page 233 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-46

47. Other E-commerce Site Tools Web site design: Basic business considerations  Enabling customers to find and buy what they need Tools for Web site optimization  Search engine placement Metatags, titles, content Identify market niches, localize site Expertise Links Search engine ads Local e-commerce Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-47

48. Table 4.10, Page 234 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-48

49. Table 4.11, Page 235 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-49

50. Tools for Interactivity and Active Content Web 2.0 design elements: Widgets, mashups CGI (Common Gateway Interface) ASP (Active Server Pages) Java, JSP, and JavaScript ActiveX and VBScript ColdFusion Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-50

51. Personalization Tools Personalization  Ability to treat people based on personal qualities and prior history with site Customization  Ability to change the product to better fit the needs of the customer Cookies:  Primary method to achieve personalization Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-51

52. The Information Policy Set Privacy policy  Set of public statements declaring how site will treat customers’ personal information that is gathered by site Accessibility rules  Set of design objectives that ensure disabled users can affectively access site Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4-52

53. Developing a Mobile Web Presence Three types of mobile e-commerce software  Mobile Web site  Mobile Web app  Native app Planning and building mobile presence  As with regular Web site, use systems analysis/design to identify unique and specific business objectives Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-53

54. Table 4.13, Page 246 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-54

55. Developing a Mobile Web Presence Design considerations  Platform constraints: Smartphone/tablet Performance and cost  Mobile Web site: Least expensive  Mobile app: Can utilize browser API  Native app: Most expensive; requires more programming Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-55

56. Insight on Society: Class Discussion Designing for Accessibility in a Web 2.0 and Mobile World Why might some merchants be reluctant to make their Web sites accessible to disabled Americans? How can Web sites be made more accessible? Should all Web sites be required by law to provide “equivalent alternatives” for visual and sound content? What additional accessibility problems do mobile devices pose? Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-56

57. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.Slide 4-57