Title: Electronic Commerce
1(No Transcript)
2Electronic Commerce COMP3210
- Dr. Paul Walcott
- 01/11/04
The Department of Computer Science Mathematics
and Physics, University of the West Indies, Cave
Hill Campus, Barbados
3Contents
- Electronic Commerce Software
- Finding and Evaluating Web Hosts
- Electronic commerce software
- Basic functions
- Advanced functions
4Finding and Evaluating Web Hosts
- When a company takes on the responsibility of
hosting their own Web site this is called
self-hosting - Small and mid-size businesses tend to outsource
to a third party, i.e. use a Web hosting service
provider - These third parties are called Internet Server
Providers (ISPs), Commerce Service Providers
(CSPs), Managed Service Providers (MSPs) or
Application Service Providers (ASPs)
5Finding and Evaluating Web Hosts (I)
- To find a host a company must determine what type
of service they require, for example - A shared hosting service where the Clients Web
site is on a server which hosts other Web sites - A dedicated hosting service where only the Client
is hosted on the Server - Or, a co-location service where the Client
installs his own hardware and software, and rents
a physical space, a reliable power supplier and
an Internet connection
6Finding and Evaluating Web Hosts (I)
- Lists of Internet service providers can be found
on - http//thelist.internet.com
- http//www.hostindex.com
- http//www.tophosts.com
- http//www.hostSearch.com
- Exercise use the above sites to find ISPs in
North America
7Electronic Commerce Software
- The software requirement for e-commerce site vary
tremendously and are dependent on several factors
including - The size of the enterprise and its projected
traffic - The budget
8Electronic Commerce Software (I)
- All e-commerce solutions must provide at least
the following - A catalog display
- Shopping cart capabilities
- Transaction processing
9Electronic Commerce Software (II)
- Larger e-commerce site require additional
functionality, such as - Middleware that links the companys existing
system (inventory control, order processing and
accounting) to the e-commerce system - Databases and Applications
- Supply chain management software
- Customer relationship management software
- Content management software
- Knowledge management software
10Catalog Display
- This is used to organise the goods being sold
- Static catalog
- This is a simple list written in HTML that
appears on one or more Web pages - To add or delete items from the catalog it is
require to edit the HTML pages - Dynamic catalog
- Information is stored in a database
- May feature photographs of items, detailed
descriptions and search facilities
11Catalog Display (I)
- Smaller Web stores selling fewer than 40 items
only need a list of products or product
categories - Images of all the products might be able to fit
on the same page - Larger stores require
- More sophisticated navigation, and product
organisation tools - Also they must often alternative ways of finding
products, e.g. product categories as well as a
free-text search capabilities, e.g. stereos
12Shopping Carts
- In the earlier years of e-commerce text forms
were used to enter orders. These forms were error
prone because customers had to - Write down product codes, unit prices and other
information about the products before going to
the order form - Customers also had to write down the price of the
item which was often on another page
13Shopping Carts (I)
- Modern shopping carts keep track of the items a
customer selects, allowing them to add or remove
items, or simply to view the cart - All information about the item, including its
price and product code are stored in the shopping
cart automatically - The clicking of a button (e.g. the checkout
button) executes the purchase transaction
14Shopping Carts (II)
- Some Web commerce sites allow the storage of
items in a shopping cart over a period of days,
allowing the user to come back and pay for the
items at that time
15Shopping Carts (III)
- Companies that sell shopping cart software
include - http//www.salescart.com/
- A one off cost of 250-400
- ASP, ASP.Net PHP
- http//www.webgenie.com/
- Single User license 495
- Perl/CGI
16Transaction Processing
- Transaction processing occurs when the Shopper
proceeds to the virtual checkout - At this point volume discounts, sales tax and
shipping costs are calculated (sales tax and
shipping charges must be kept current) - These calculations must also include any coupons,
special promotions or time sensitive offers (e.g.
make a purchase by a given date and get a
discount) - A secure communication link is subsequently
established to transmit payment information
17Middleware
- Links the e-commerce software to existing system
- Middleware may be written in-house or bought from
middleware vendors or consulting firms - The total cost of a middleware implementation can
range from 50,000 to millions - E.g. of middleware vendors are www.beasys.com and
www.broadvision.com
18Databases
- A database manager stores software in a highly
structured way - The database structure determine how easy the
database manager can retrieve the information
stored in the database - Smaller e-commerce sites can use low cost
databases such as Microsoft Access
19Databases (I)
- Larger e-commerce sites require more expensive
data management software such as - IBM DB2
- Microsoft SQL Server
- Oracle
- These packages cost between US5,000 and
US200,000
20Databases (II)
- An increasing number of companies and
organisations are beginning to use MySQL which is
open source software - Customers pay for service support if required
21Application Integration
- Application programs perform specific functions,
e.g. creates invoices - An application server receives its input from Web
servers which in turn is supplied by the user - The function of the application software is
dictated by the rules of the business this is
called business logic
22Application Servers
- Application servers are divided into two groups
- Page-based application systems which return pages
generated by scripts containing rules for
presenting the data - Examples include Macromedia ColdFusion, Java
Server Pages (JSP), Active Serer pages (ASP) and
PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) - This technology works well for small to mid size
sites
23Application Servers (I)
- Component-based application systems separate the
presentation logic from the business logic. Each
logical component is created in a separate module - E.g. Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs), Microsoft
Component Object Model (COM) and Object
Management Group Common Object Request Broker
Architecture (COBRA)
24Web Services
- An accepted definition. is not yet available
- However it is a combination of software tools
that allow application software in one
organisation to speak to application software in
another organisation over a network
25Web Services (I)
- E.g. a mortgage application service company
obtaining information from consumers - forwarding the information to a Building Society
for a mortgage decision - decision is relayed back to the service company
- These services use XML
26E-Commerce Software for Small to Mid-Size
E-Businesses
- E-commerce software for small to mid-size
business is typically provided by commerce
service providers (CSP) - CSP have the advantage of
- Offering free or low-cost e-commerce site
building software - Cost typically less than US20 month
- Service appropriate for small businesses selling
no more than 50 items - Transaction volumes of fewer than 20 a day
27E-Commerce Software for Small to Mid-Size
E-Businesses (I)
- E.g. ValueWeb hosts over 180,00 Web site for over
130 countries
28Mall-style CSP
- Provide small businesses with
- An Internet connection
- Web site creation tools
- Little or no banner advertising clutter
- Shopping cart software, and payment processing
- The monthly fee is higher than lower-end
providers (therefore less ads) - May charge a one-time setup fee
- Percentage or fixed charge for every transaction
29Mall-style CSP (I)
- Examples include eBay Stores and Yahoo! Stores
30Estimating Operating Costs For Small Web Business
Using ISP
- The first year cost (in US dollars) for Web
businesses that sell less than 50 different items - Initial site setup fee 200
- Annual maintenance 1200
- Domain name registration 70
- Scanner or digital camera 500
- Photo editing software 100
- Occasional HTML design help 400
- Merchant credit card setup 200
- Total first year cost 2670
31Cost of Self Hosting a Site for a Small Business
- Setup and Web site maintenance includes
- Equipment (server and network gear) one time
cost of US3000 - 20000 - Communication T1 or fractional T1 cost US1200 -
US12,000 per year - Physical location including room security, air
conditioning and communication access cost 5,000
a year - Staff minimum cost US50,000 - US100,000
annually - Total cost US60,000 - US100,000 or more for the
first year, and about the same in subsequent years
32Cost of Self Hosting a Site for a Medium-Size and
Large Business
- The startup cost is US100,000 - US500,000
- Recurring annual cost of 50 this amount
- Large businesses spend US1 million - US50
million to launch, with 50 recurring annual cost
33Software Tools For Medium-Size to Large
E-Businesses
- The software tools for midsize to large
businesses include - Macromedia Dreamweaver
- Microsoft FrontPage
- Visual Studio .Net for dynamic pages
- Shopping carts, content management software
- Middleware
34Software Tools For Medium-Size to Large
E-Businesses (I)
- Buying an using mid-range e-commerce software has
an annual cost of US2,000 - US50,000 - Offers connectivity to database systems
- Provides connections to existing inventory
control software - E,g, IBM Websphere Commerce Professional Edition
(cost US80,000 per processor)
35E-Commerce Software for Large Businesses
- Higher transaction loads required
- Software cost much more
- Extensive support for B2B commerce
- Requires several dedicated computers, Web server
systems and firewalls - E.g. IBM WebSphere Commerce Business Edition
-
36Customer Relationship Management
- The goal is to understand the customers specific
needs and customise the product to suit them - A customer whose needs are being met exactly is
willing to pay more for goods or services
37Customer Relationship Management (I)
- CRM software requires input from
- Sales automation
- Customer service centre operation
- Marketing campaigns
- Customer activity data from the Web site
- This helps managers to
- Gather business intelligence
- Plan marketing strategy
- Perform customer behaviour modelling
- Product and service customisation
38Customer Relationship Management (II)
- E.g. Siebel Systems price starts at around
US200,000 an average of about US5,000 per user
39Supply Chain Management
- Helps to coordinate planning and operations with
industry partners - SCM software helps with
- Planning helps companies develop coordinated
demand forecast using information from partners - Execution helps with warehousing and
transportation management - E.g. i2 Technologies. A wholesaler with 3-4
distribution Centres might have to pay US1
million for the SCM software
40Content Management Software
- Used to update or maintain Web site content
- Allows control of large amount of text, graphics
and media files - E.g. Documentum which cost between US200,000 -
500,000
41Knowledge Management Software
- Helps companies to
- Collect and organise information
- Share information among users
- Enhance the ability of users to collaborate
- Retain knowledge gained to be used by future
users - E.g. IBM Lotus Discovery Server
- KM software can cost between US50,000 to US1
million or more
42References
- Sch2004 Schneider, Gary, P., Electronic
Commerce The second wave, Thomson Course
Technology, Fifth Annual Edition, 2004