Business-to-Consumer Ecommerce Web Site

B2C ecommerce web sites are based on

Open Commerce Architecture™ framework
includes
• Strategic marketing branding
• web design consultation
• Professional content creation
•Robust ecommerce features set
• Site management and administration
•Systems integration
• Managed services and hosting
Custom Site Design

Custom designed site banner, logo design, navigation buttons

(links), site layout and color scheme of customers' choice

Home page with links to View Account, Customer and Corporate

Account login, Shopping Cart, Checkout page and site map
Product Management
•Customizable product input
•Unlimited number of categories, sub-categories
•Bulk product upload/product feed - Import product information
•Internal product search
•Dynamic imaging
•Color swatch selection
•Out-of-stock notification
•Mark product(s) as "Unavailable
•Video playback
Order Management
•Order editing
•Order search
•Partial and back-order shipment
•Order history
•Order status tracking
Shopping Cart
•Regular shopping cart or drop-down shopping cart
•Shopping cart automatically totals all items in the shopping cart
•Shopping cart editing
•Estimated shipping cost calculation
Checkout
•Shopping cart/Checkout system with automatic calculation of
totals, shipping cost and sales tax
•Real-time credit card processing
•Real-time shipping charge calculation
•Payment processing
•Flexible shipping options
•Email notification
Security
•Secure (SSL) encrypted transfer of order and credit card information
•Secure HTTPS/SSL and password protected access to admin section
•Security access history - Assigns a unique ID to each person with access
to the admin section
•Full log-out capabilities for site administrator and customer
•PCI compliance - Web servers are firewall protected, credit card
numbers are stored no longer than necessary, sensitive data is encrypted
and access restricted, audit logs are created
Merchandising
•"Featured Product(s)" or "Discounted Special(s)"
•Up-selling and cross-selling capabilities
•Sales promotions - % off, Rs. Off etc.
•Discount coupon promotion
•Wishlist/Gift registry
•Newsletter subscription management
Site Management
•Account management
•Product management and order management
•Pricing updates
•Sales statistics/reports
•Content management
•Blog administration
•Customer review management
•XML export
•Email list management
User Engagement
•Voluntary customer account registration
•View account information
•Onsite blog program
•Product feedback & offer
•Onsite user product reviews
•Send-to-a-friend
•Print-friendly print version
•Web site social media optimization and integration
Organic search engine optimization (SEO)
•Dynamic category
•User-defined product image file
•100% static URL’s
Optional Features
•Retail gift module
•Custom sales tax zones
•"Live" Chat (LivePerson) integration
•Accounting management
•Drop shipping from manufacturer
• Enables real-time shipping charge calculations
•Alternate payment options
•Custom systems integration
Web Site Strategy

1.Who is your website target audience?

2.What typically appeals to your target audience?
3.How are the other websites (your competition) reaching out
to this target audience?
4.How will you measure your performance?
5.Have you developed your benchmarks?
6.What will your website do?
7.How will your website stand above the competition?
Web sites Design Principles

•Precedence (Guiding the Eye)

•Spacing
•Navigation
•Design to Build
•Typography
•Usability
•Alignment
•Clarity (Sharpness)
•Consistency
•Don’t squander users’ patience
•Manage to focus users’ attention
•Strive for feature exposure
•Communicate effectively with a “visible language”
Push-Pull Technology

  “Push” technology. Contrary to the “Pull' world of web pages where users
request data from another program or computer, via a web browser, “Push”
enables services to be targeted at the user, without them having to initiate the
information collection activity and an automated retrieval of data from the
Internet, corporate data sources and e-commerce web sites, is delivered directly
to specific user personalised manner.
 “Push” Technology allows you to become an integral part of your customers
daily lives by enforcing your brands and services directly to them every day.
HTTP server push
HTTP server push (also known as HTTP streaming) is a mechanism
for sending data from a web server to a web browser. HTTP server
push can be achieved through several mechanisms

Push let
The server then periodically sends snippets of javascript to update the
content of the page, thereby achieving push capability.
Long polling
Long polling is a variation of the traditional polling technique and
allows emulation of an information push from a server to a client.

Flash XMLSocket relays

This technique, used by Cbox and other chat applications, makes use
of the XML Socket object in a single-pixel Adobe Flash movie.
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)
The representation system or symbols used in AAC include gestures,
hand signal, photographs, pictures, line drawings, words and letters,
which can be used alone or in combination to communicate. AAC may
be unaided, involve low technology such as a signing board, or high
technology such as a speech generating device.
Electronic Payment Systems
 E-payment systems
• To transfer money over the Internet
• Methods of traditional payment
– Check, credit card, or cash
• Methods of electronic payment
– Electronic cash, software wallets, smart cards, and
credit/debit cards
– Scrip is digital cash minted by third-party organizations
 Requirements for e-payments
• Atomicity
– Money is not lost or created during a transfer
• Good atomicity
– Money and good are exchanged atomically
• Non-repudiation
– No party can deny its role in the transaction
– Digital signatures
 Types of E-payments
• E-cash
• Electronic wallets
• Smart card
• Credit card
 Electronic Cash

• Primary advantage is with purchase of items less

than $10
– Credit card transaction fees make small purchases
unprofitable
– Micropayments
o Payments for items costing less than $1
 E-cash Concept
Merchant
1. Consumer buys e-cash from Bank
2. Bank sends e-cash bits to consumer (after
5 charging that amount plus fee)
3. Consumer sends e-cash to merchant
4
4. Merchant checks with Bank that e-cash
Bank 3 is valid (check for forgery or fraud)
5. Bank verifies that e-cash is valid
6. Parties complete transaction: e.g., merchant
2 present e-cash to issuing back for deposit
1 once goods or services are delivered

Consumer still has (invalid) e-cash

Consumer
 Electronic Wallets
• Stores credit card, electronic cash, owner
identification and address
– Makes shopping easier and more efficient
o Eliminates need to repeatedly enter identifying
information into forms to purchase
o Works in many different stores to speed checkout
– Amazon.com one of the first online merchants to
eliminate repeat form-filling for purchases
 Smart Cards
• Magnetic stripe
– 140 bytes, cost $0.20-0.75
• Memory cards
– 1-4 KB memory, no processor, cost $1.00-2.50
• Optical memory cards
– 4 megabytes read-only (CD-like), cost $7.00-12.00
• Microprocessor cards
– Embedded microprocessor
o (OLD) 8-bit processor, 16 KB ROM, 512 bytes RAM
o Equivalent power to IBM XT PC, cost $7.00-15.00
o 32-bit processors now available
 Smart Cards
• Plastic card containing an embedded microchip
• Available for over 10 years
• So far not successful in U.S., but popular in
Europe, Australia, and Japan
• Unsuccessful in U.S. partly because few card
readers available
• Smart cards gradually reappearing in U.S.; success
depends on:
– Critical mass of smart cards that support applications
– Compatibility between smart cards, card-reader devices,
and applications
 Smart Card Applications
• Ticketless travel
– Seoul bus system: 4M cards, 1B transactions since 1996
– Planned the SF Bay Area system
• Authentication, ID
• Medical records
• Ecash
• Store loyalty programs
• Personal profiles
• Government
– Licenses
• Mall parking
...
 Advantages and Disadvantages
of Smart Cards
• Advantages:
1. Atomic, debt-free transactions
2. Feasible for very small transactions (information commerce)
3. (Potentially) anonymous
4. Security of physical storage
5. (Potentially) currency-neutral
• Disadvantages:
1. Low maximum transaction limit (not suitable for B2B or most
B2C)
2. High Infrastructure costs (not suitable for C2C)
3. Single physical point of failure (the card)
4. Not (yet) widely used
 Credit Cards
• Credit card
– Used for the majority of Internet purchases
– Has a preset spending limit
– Currently most convenient method
– Most expensive e-payment mechanism
o MasterCard: $0.29 + 2% of transaction value
– Disadvantages
o Does not work for small amount (too expensive)
o Does not work for large amount (too expensive)
• Charge card
– No spending limit
– Entire amount charged due at end of billing period
Payment Acceptance and Processing
• Merchants must set up merchant accounts to
accept payment cards
• Law prohibits charging payment card until
merchandise is shipped
• Payment card transaction requires:
– Merchant to authenticate payment card
– Merchant must check with card issuer to ensure funds
are available and to put hold on funds needed to make
current charge
– Settlement occurs in a few days when funds travel
through banking system into merchant’s account
Processing a Payment Card Order
 Open and Closed Loop Systems

• Closed loop systems

– Banks and other financial institutions serve as brokers
between card users and merchants -- no other institution
is involved
– American Express and Discover are examples
• Open loop systems
– Transaction is processed by third party
– Visa and MasterCard are examples
 Setting Up Merchant Account

• Merchant bank
– Also called acquiring bank
– Does business with merchants that want to accept
payment cards
– Merchant receives account where they deposit card sales
totals
– Value of sales slips is credited to merchant’s account
 Processing Payment Cards Online

• Can be done automatically by software packaged

with electronic commerce software
• Can contract with third party to handle payment
card processing
– Can also pick, pack, and ship products to the customer
– Allows merchant to focus on web presence and supply
availability
 Payment Processing Services

• Internetsecure
– Provides secure credit card payment services
– Supports payments with Visa and MasterCard
– Provides risk management and fraud detection, and
ensures all proper security for credit card transactions
is maintained
– Ensures all transactions are properly credited to
merchant’s account
 Business Issue and Economic Implications

ECommerce is not limited to a choice of a shopping cart or a good-

looking product. Ecommerce is well beyond that and you have to
ponder various issues that may emerge, specifically in the
ecommerce environment.

Security & privacy

•Have a Spam free, Popup free ecommerce storefront.
•Secure all transactions with latest SSL security standards.
•Host your store in a secure hosting environment.
•Display a disclaimer during the checkout process and respect the
privacy of the visitor.
•Keep a constant watch on the changes in Internet security
environment and periodically test your store for safeguards against
any security threats.
 Processing capabilities

•Look for an ecommerce solution that gives you real time processing &
inventory management capabilities.
•Accept all possible popular pay methods.
•Integrate with secure payment gateways for better payment
processing.
Order Fulfillment

•Place special importance on the order processing capabilities, as any

mistake there will multiply further.
•Establish a powerful web of suppliers before you go online.
•Do not let your online store get overburdened with orders that
cannot be fulfilled.
•Deliver goods through proven shipping carriers that reach to all
locations within time frame.
•Allow users to track their orders online.