Entrepreneurship & Commerce in IT - 10 - The Internet today and How to build an e-commerce website
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The document discusses the structure and technologies of the internet, focusing on the internet backbone, e-commerce website development, and design considerations. It outlines the essential components required for building e-commerce sites, including planning, system analysis, design guidelines, and optimization strategies. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of customer focus in website design and the various functionalities necessary for successful e-commerce operations.
Entrepreneurship & Commerce in IT - 10 - The Internet today and How to build an e-commerce website
- 1. Entrepreneurship & Commerce in IT 10 Sachintha Gunasena MBCS http://lk.linkedin.com/in/sachinthadtg
- 3. Last Week’s Discussion • The Internet and World Wide Web • Evolution of the Internet • Key Technology Concepts of the Internet • Internet Protocols • Email • FTP • Telnet • Ping • Tracert
- 4. Today…
- 5. Today’s Discussion • The Internet Today • Building an E-Commerce Website
- 7. The Internet Backbone • principal data routes between large, strategically interconnected networks and core routers on the Internet • a very high-speed data transmission line that provides networking facilities to relatively small but high-speed Internet Service Providers all around the world. • require high-speed bandwidth connections and high-performance servers/routers. • Backbone networks are primarily owned by commercial, educational, government and military entities because they provide a consistent way for Internet service providers (ISPs) to keep and maintain online information in a secure manner.
- 8. The Internet Backbone Cont.d Internet Home ISP NAP/IXP (Network Access Point/ Internet eXchange Point) Business PC1 PC2 PC3PC POP (Point of Presence) Router Modem/ Router Backbone T1 LinePhone / DSL / Cable Modem T3 Line
- 9. The Internet Backbone Cont.d • Internet • a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to link several billion devices worldwide • NAP • a public network exchange facility where Internet service providers (ISPs) connected with one another in peering arrangements (old) • IXP - Internet eXchange Point • a physical infrastructure through which ISPs and CDNs exchange Internet traffic between their networks (new) • ISP • an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet • POP - Point of Presence • an access point to the Internet
- 10. The Internet Backbone Cont.d • first packet-switched computer network was the ARPANET. • It used a backbone of routers called Interface Message Processors • National Science Foundation created NSFNET in 1986 by funding six networking sites using 56kbit/s interconnecting links and peering to the ARPANET • In 1987, this new network was upgraded to 1.5Mbit/s T1 links for thirteen sites. • IBM, MCI and Merit upgraded the backbone to 45Mbit/s bandwidth (T3) in 1991 • combination of the ARPANET and NSFNET became known as the Internet. • dominance of the NSFNet backbone became dominant • redundant ARPANET infrastructure was decommissioned in 1990.
- 11. The Internet Backbone Cont.d • The Internet backbone is a conglomeration of multiple, redundant networks owned by numerous companies. It is typically a fiber optic trunk line. • The trunk line consists of many fiber optic cables bundled together to increase the capacity. • The backbone is able to reroute traffic in case of a failure. • The data speeds of backbone lines have changed with the times. • In 1998, all of the United States backbone networks had utilized the slowest data rate of 45 Mbit/s. • However the changing technologies allowed for 41 percent of backbones to have data rates of 2,488 Mbit/s or faster by the mid 2000s. • Fiber-optic cables are the medium of choice for Internet backbone providers for many reasons. • Fiber-optics allow for fast data speeds and large bandwidth; they suffer relatively little attenuation, allowing them to cover long distances with few repeaters; they are also immune to crosstalk and other forms of electromagnetic interference which plague electrical transmission.
- 12. Building an E- Commerce Website
- 13. Website Design Lifecycle • Planning • System Analysis • System Design • Building the System • Testing • Implementation
- 14. Planning • Planning an e-commerce web site is essential for business. • the complexities of running an online business can be the reason for not planning a site • a website is a business’s window to the world • can be the difference between having a successful online presence or not.
- 15. things to remember • The e-commerce website is not for you, it must meet the expectations and needs of your customers/clients. • An e-commerce website is • a flexible, • extensible • communications instrument that reflects, • positively • or negatively, • on the business.
- 17. Primary Objective • To establish and promote your businesses credibility. • To increase exposure. • To describe your products or services. • To offer online transactions, purchasing (e-commerce) or information on how to buy products and services. • To provide customer service and/or support. • To communicate business identity or branding. • To decrease print and sending costs. • To compete with competitors.
- 18. Secondary Objectives • To make your e-commerce website search engine friendly. • To generate repeat visitors and/or custom. • To encourage visitors to recommend the website to others. • To create an online community. • To offer a newsletter or members section. • To encourage visitors to stay and visit parts of the site.
- 19. Website Design
- 20. Design Guidelines • Target Audience • Website Design : Look & Feel • Logo & Branding • Content • Web Pages • Search Engine Optimisation & Promotion • Site Technical Details • Project Timeline • Unanswered Questions
- 21. Target Audience • Who is your target audience? • What is your target audience looking for? • Will people find you by search engines or will you provide them with your domain name via printed material and/or emails and/or social networks? • What questions are your customers and/or clients always asking you? • What can you offer your customers and/or clients that would save them time?
- 22. Site Design: Look & Feel • Look at other websites to gather ideas of what you would like on your website. • Which features and layout styles do you like best and feel that your business will benefit? • Do you need to decide on a colour scheme or overall theme? • What kind of image do you want your website to portray for your business? • Navigation and Menus – Single, Multiple, Dropdowns? • Graphics and Photographs - Do you have electronic or favoured choices or are you looking to find royalty free stock or custom photos? • Are you interested in animation graphics or videos for the website? • Do you need to take photos of you, your staff, your services, or your products? • Do you have any vendor supplied photos or graphics you are authorized to use?
- 23. Logo & Branding • Do you have a logo for your business? • Do you have a high resolution digital copy of it? • Do you need a logo or would a stylized text of your business name be sufficient? • Do you need to design and develop a brand image and logo for your business? • If yes, how would you describe your business in one sentence? • Do you have an idea for the logo in mind
- 24. Content • Do you have existing written material which can be used? • If not, put together the content required or have a good indication to what you require so that you may either • request copywriting services • use the content management facility to insert the content • Do you have information in electronic format which can be used? For example, • Brochures • Presentations • Flyers • Case studies • Testimonials • Business timeline history • Previous or current website (if any)
- 25. Web Pages • Home • Our Services • Our Products • About Us • Why Choose Us • Testimonials • Frequently Asked Questions (also known as FAQ’s) • Discussion Forum • Documents / Downloads • Our Blog • Members Area • Links or resources • Make a booking • Contact us • Other (specific to your business)
- 26. Search Engine Optimisation & Promotion • How will people find you: by name, keywords, products, services, etc. • Resource linking: if you don’t offer it, who does? Would you like to link to them? • Keyword orientated content and web page names • Ensure you research your keywords and/or request keyword research to ensure the best use of keywords in accordance to your specific industry and competitor analysis. • Monitor your websites ranking in the various major search engines frequently and modify your website as often as possible based on your discoveries.
- 27. Site Technical Details • Have you registered a domain name? • If not, what are the options that work for you? • Hosting Plans: do you already have adequate hosting? • If not, what are the options that work for you? • Do you have your control panel access information for domains and hosting if already acquired? • Do you have the expertise to carry out maintenance on your website should your website face any technical difficulty? • If not, what are the options that work for you?
- 28. Project Timeline • What is your deadline for the website? • Beginning when • finishing when? • Is your launch date tied to a product or service that you are introducing? • Is your business dependant on seasonal, social or financial timeframes?
- 29. Unanswered Questions • If you are left with questions after going through the checklist, have you made a note of them so that you can discuss them with an expert? • If not, you should do so as it may prove vital in obtaining a website designed and developed with the right content & features for your target audience.
- 30. System Analysis
- 31. Systems Analysis • Business Objectives • list of capabilities that should be in the site • System Functionalities • list of information system capabilities needed to achieve business objectives • Information Requirements • information elements that the system should produce in order to achieve business objectives
- 32. BUSINESS OBJECTIVES, SYSTEM FUNCTIONALITY, AND INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS FOR A TYPICAL E-COMMERCE SITE Business Objective System Functionality Information Requirements Display products Digital catalog Dynamic text & graphic catalog Provide product information Product database product description, stocking numbers, inventory levels, Personalize/customize product Customer on-site tracking Site log for every customer visit; data mining capability to identify common customer paths and appropriate responses Execute a transaction Shopping cart/payment system Secure credit card clearing; multiple payment options Accumulate customer information Customer database Name, address, phone, and e-mail for all customers; online customer registration
- 33. BUSINESS OBJECTIVES, SYSTEM FUNCTIONALITY, AND INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS FOR A TYPICAL E-COMMERCE SITE Business Objective System Functionality Information Requirements Provide after-sale customer support Sales database Customer ID, product, date, payment, shipment date Coordinate marketing/advertising program Ad server, e-mail server, e-mail campaign manager, ad banner manager Site behavior log of prospects and customers linked to e-mail and banner ad campaigns Understand marketing effectiveness Site tracking and reporting system Number of unique visitors, pages visited, products purchased, identified by marketing campaign Provide production and supplier links Inventory management system Product and inventory levels, supplier ID and contact, order quantity data by product
- 34. System Design
- 35. Hardware & Software Platforms • System design specification • describe the main components of the system and their relationship to one another • System Design Components • Logical Design • dataflow diagrams • processing functions • databases • Physical Design • specifies actual physical, software components, models, etc.
- 36. Logical Design Site Customer Verify Login Ship Products Purchase Products Display Catalog Pages Customer DB Catalog DB Order DB HTTP Request Customer Information Accept/Reject Visitor Fullfil Order Order Shipped Confirmation
- 37. Physical Design Customer’s Device E-Commerce Suite Website HostingInternet Ad Server SQL DB Shopping Cart Online Catalog Mail Server Web Server HDD Bandwidth T1 highspeed internet connection cable dsl t1
- 39. In-house vs. Outsourcing • requires team with diverse skill set; • choice of software tools; • both risks • and possible benefits
- 41. In-house 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
- 42. System Testing • Unit testing • individual units of source code, sets of one or more computer program modules together with associated control data, usage procedures, and operating procedures, are tested to determine whether they are fit for use • System testing • testing conducted on a complete, integrated system to evaluate the system's compliance with its specified requirements • Acceptance testing • determine if the requirements of a specification or contract are met
- 43. Implementation and Maintenance • Maintenance is ongoing • Maintenance costs: parallel to development costs • Benchmarking • the process of comparing one's business processes and performance metrics to industry bests or best practices from other companies
- 44. Website Optimization Factors • Page Generation • server response time • device based accelerators • efficient resource allocation • resource utilisation thresholds • monitoring site performance
- 45. Website Optimization Factors • Page Delivery • content delivery networks • edge caching • bandwidth
- 46. Website Optimization Factors • Page Content • optimize HTML • optimize images • site structure • efficient page style
- 47. Choosing Server Software • 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
- 49. Multi-Tier Web Server Layer Backend Layer Middle-tier Layer Web Servers E-Commerce Servers Application Servers Database Servers Ad Servers Mail Servers Corporate Applications Finance Production MRP Enterprise Systems HR Systems incoming internet requests
- 50. Choosing Server Software • Apache • Leading Web server software • Works with UNIX, Linux operating systems • Microsoft’sInternetInformationServer(IIS) • Second major Web server software • Windows-based
- 51. Functionality of Web Servers Functionality Description Processing HTTP requests Receive and respond to client requests for HTML pages Security Services (SSL) Verify username & password; process certificates and private/public key information for credit card processing FTP Transfer very large files from server to server Search Engine Indexing of site content; keyword search capability Data Capture Log file of all visits, time, duration, referral source E-Mail send, receive, store emails Site Management Tools statistics, check links, etc
- 52. Site Management Tools • Basic Tools • Included in all Web servers • Verify that links on pages are still valid • Identify orphan files • Third-party software and services for advanced site management • Monitor customer purchases, marketing campaign effectiveness, etc. • E.g. Google Analytics
- 53. Dynamic Page Generation Tools • Dynamic page generation • contents of web pages are stored as objects in the database and fetched when needed • Common Tools • CGI, ASP, JSP, ODBC, JDBC • Advantages • lowers menu costs (cost of changing prices) • permits easy online market segmenting • enable cost-free discrimination • identical or largely similar goods or services are transacted at different prices by the same provider in different markets • enables content management systems (CMS)
- 54. 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 increasingly being replaced by integrated software tools that combine all functionality needed for eCommerce site
- 55. Application Servers Functionality Application Server Functionality Catalog display provides a db for product descriptions and prices Transaction Processing ( Shopping Cart) accepts orders and clears payments List Server creates and serves email lists, manages online marketing campaigns Proxy Server monitor and control access to main web server, firewall Mail Server manages internet email Audio/Video Server stores and delivers media content Chat Server creates an environment for online text and audio interactions with customers
- 56. Application Servers Functionality Cont.d Application Server Functionality News Server provides connectivity and displays internet news feeds Fax Server fax reception and sending via web server Groupware Server create workgroup environments for online collaboration Database Server store customer, product, price information Ad Server maintains web-enabled DB of advertising banners that permits customised targeted ads based on consumer behaviour Auction Server provides transaction environment for online auctions B2B Server implements buy, sell and link marketplaces for commercial transactions
- 57. E-Commerce Merchant Server Software Functionality • 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
- 58. Merchant Server Software Packages • Integrated environment with most or all 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
- 59. Choosing the Right Hardware for Your E-Commerce Site • Hardware Platform • underlying computing equipment that uses to achieve eCommerce functionality • Objective • enough platform capacity to meet peak demand without wasting money • Important to understand the different factors that affect speed, capacity, and scalability of a site
- 60. Right-Sizing Your Hardware Platform • Customer Demand • most important factor affecting speed • 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
- 61. Right-Sizing Your Hardware Platform Cont.d • Scalability • ability of the site to increase in size as needed • Ways to scale hardware • Vertically • increase processing power of individual components • Horizontally • employ multiple computers to share workload • Improve Processing architecture
- 62. Right-Sizing Your Hardware Platform Cont.d • Will share some notes later.
- 63. Other E-Commerce Site Development Tools • Website Design: Basic business considerations • enabling customers search and buy what they need • Tools for website optimisation • Search Engine Placement • meta tags, page titles, content • identify market niches, localise site • expertise • links • search engine ads (SEM) • local e-commerce
- 64. Personalization Tools • Personalisation • ability to treat people based on personal preferences and prior history with site • Customisation • ability to change product to better fit to an individual customers needs • Cookies • primary method to achieve personalization
- 65. Case Studies
- 66. System Analysis: Case Study 1 • Requirement: • E-Commerce site to enable members to buy and sell Portals/Domains • A robust but user-friendly site was what the customer desired. • Analysis: • A site of this concept would attract advanced and frequent visitors. • User’s sole intentions to benefit from the deals are to be assured by securing the site well. • This should however not be a very restrictive site considering the growth potential.
- 67. System Analysis: Case Study 1 Cont.d • Design: • Restrict Buy/Sell activities to members only. • Take a Legally binding agreement signed by members who want to put up ads as well as Buy • Extensive usage of Client-side scripting to guide users at all point. • Database incorporating best of RDBMS concepts with Referential integrity among various tables. • Enable Session state and identify user at all stages and give a definite time to make page unavailable after that time. • Use Site-Map to allow target browsing, by advanced users. • Check the Domain names with an Admin and allow listing. • Usage of E-Mail components to inform user of developments.
- 68. System Analysis: Case Study 2 • Requirement: • Develop an Educational web site which will cater to the needs of students in the age group of 6 –17. • To make user-friendly interfaces and implement sturdy system to with stand errors by ignorant users. • Solution: key areas to focus. • Understanding existing system of teaching and possible modification. • Content Designing and allow Automatic Updating • Selection of Web Technology and Application Development. • Cost benefit analysis, for site owner and users as well
- 69. System Analysis: Case Study 2 Cont.d • Design: • Develop and deploy database of MS SQL Server. • Proper management of table spaces, Segments, Buffers and security options. • Develop Administration tool using ASP technology for uploading and manipulating content in site. • Studying & developing site module wise like registration, Content Management, Questions module, Admin and Tutor module • Develop Credit card processing system. • Modularity with the help of ActiveX Custom Component for data retrievals. • Allow Index searching system • A sturdy chat-server system to enhance interactivity among students and teachers.
- 70. Next Up… • Security and Encryption
- 71. References • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_backbone • http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225961 • https://www.geotrust.com/resources/guides/creating-ecommerce- website.pdf • http://e-commercewebsitedesign.me.uk/planning-an-e-commerce- website/ • http://gantecusa.com/case9.htm • http://www.prenhall.com/behindthebook/0132240858/pdf/Kendall_Featu re1_Why_We_Wrote_This_Book.pdf • http://www.rhicsstudios.com/e-commerce-development-report.pdf
- 72. Thank you. Sachintha Gunasena MBCS http://lk.linkedin.com/in/sachinthadtg