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Oracle DBA - WebPage - Networking - Office Technology
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E-Commerce - Introduction Introduction : With the astonishing growth of the Internet,
businesses are beginning to find new ways to expand their opportunities.
It seems everyone has a web site these days. And yet, the task of setting
up a web site is often not as simple as it seems. In fact, I would venture
to say that most business sites lack focus and functionality. Others
simply fail to take advantage of their full potential. The Internet
is proving to be the great equalizer, allowing the smallest of businesses
to access markets and present a presence that allows them to compete
against the giants in the industry. So exactly how does a small business
compete? Given the numerous questions we field everyday and the many
options available to businesses, it would be beneficial to lay out a
brief outline of how a business should go about establishing an on-line
presence. Do you need a web site? : This should be the first question asked.
A business should think about what they intend to accomplish by establishing
a web site. Once answered, this will also guide you through some of
the options available. There are three main reasons why businesses establish
web sites:
Most current sites on the web are merely
a marketing presence and this may be your only goal. Determining the
purpose of your site will set a framework for your design. Many companies
have found that the Internet is a wonderful resource to offer customer
service, provide product specifications and furnish on-line answers
to the numerous questions they receive and deal with every day. If this
goal is also part of your web site, then you have to make it easy for
your customers to find the information they are after. Many sites are
setup to go beyond general marketing and to actually generate an order,
often unassisted by any human interface. The simplest version of this
might include instructions to print a page, fill in order details and
fax it to a given number. More sophisticated sites have an easy to maneuver
ordering process with proper order calculations done including shipping
and sales tax. The most advanced sites allow an option of accepting
and approving the credit card information while the customer is on-line. Budget : Setting up and running a business web
site will cost money. Having determined your reasons for creating your
site, you should be better able to consider the costs. The difficulty
here is that the costs can vary substantially. This is new technology,
with numerous options available. It would behoove a business owner to
do a little research in each area where dollars are to be spent. The
main questions to ask in starting this process are:
With these simple questions, you can see
how vast your options are. Some companies have spent millions "developing"
their web sites and yet many others have put up a substantial site for
next to nothing. In this article, I have assumed that you are a small
business wanting to "get your feet wet" with a site and keep
your expenditures to a minimum. Setup and Design : There is no shortage of experts who will
help you design and put up a site. Site size and complexity can vary
immensely. Many computer literate individuals have chosen not to go
to consultants at all. With the excellent web design development tools
available today, such as Microsoft FrontPage, many are able to get a
web site designed with only a few days work. If you do the work yourself,
check it on both Netscape and Microsoft browsers and design for a 15"
monitor. Also, avoid the temptation to over design. Adding large graphics,
animation and music may be impressive to the designer, but most users
don't have the plug ins to hear the sound and won't wait for your fancy
graphics to load on their 28,800 (or worse) Internet connection.Consider
establishing your own domain name if you are serious about your site.
You can apply directly to InterNIC (http://www.internic.net) to get an address
such as www."your_company".com which will be perceived as
more credible than an obviously hosted site. The fee to InterNIC ($70
for two years) is well worth it. Of course you will have to find an
ISP (Internet Service Provider), usually local, and make arrangements
to either host your site or server or provide appropriate connections.
Call and discuss the options and then shop around. Attracting Customers : There is an endless stream of information
available on the Internet about how best to market your site. Suffice
it to say that registering your site with a few search engines is the
minimum. Because this information is so plentiful, I intentionally skip
over it here. However, it should be noted that the net is an ever-changing
environment and marketing should be considered more than a one time
effort at the time you create your site. Moving from Marketing to Selling : So you have your web site up and your
products listed, if not pictured. Your phone number is available so
viewers can call and order your product. If you've done your job well,
some will call and you can start generating orders. But why not make
it easier than that? Why not allow your customer the additional option
of ordering directly on-line with a credit card while he or she is viewing
your site? Here's what you need to consider. You need a "merchant account"
: Merchant Account
is an industry term meaning a banking relationship which allows a business
to accept credit cards. Most existing businesses will already have established
such a relationship and you certainly need this capability to accept
credit card orders on the net. This goes without saying, but many small
businesses have not yet established the banking relationships necessary
to accept credit cards. This is really a first step. There are many
consultants advertising on the web who can assist a business, even a
new startup, to get setup for accepting credit cards. You may or may
not need to buy processing software or hardware depending on how you
plan to clear your transactions. The cost for setting up an account
varies but can easily run to $300 or more. To accept credit card orders on the net,
you will need a "secure server" : There is a lot of concern about security on the net. Most
of this concern is due to misinformation and the Internet continues
to prove itself as a safe medium for transactions. It is important to
follow established conventions in Internet security however, which means
utilizing a secure server for credit card transactions. A secure server
is one running software capable of establishing a "secure"
connection with your customer's Internet browser using SSL (secure socket
layers) technology which encrypts all transmitted information. Most
net buyers insist on this connection before entering credit card information.
You can usually find a secure server to host your site. You don't need
a secure server if you outsource your order processing as discussed
below. You will need an order form : This sounds simple enough. However this
can be a very complicated piece of software. You have to be able to
present all your products, prices and options (sizes, colors etc.).
Before you can request credit card information you need to be able to
automatically subtotal the order, add shipping and handling and calculate
sales tax if appropriate, based on the buyer's location. Writing this
capability into your web pages requires a lot more than some HTML knowledge.
You can purchase software to do this and try and integrate it in to
your site, or you can outsource this function by subscribing to a service
such as Anacom's. On-line clearing : You also have the option of considering
clearing (or authorization) of the credit card, while your customer
is on-line. This feature may be imperative if you are delivering information
or allowing a download of purchased software from your site. Even if
you are shipping a product after the fact, this may prove to be a great
convenience to you. If your business is solely Internet based, this
option would allow you to avoid the expense of purchasing processing
equipment or software which can be quite expensive. Unfortunately, designing
on-line clearing capability is extremely complex and thus, this option
is best undertaken through an outsourcing solution. Unlike general web
site design, there are not many consultants available with expertise
in this area. Accounting : You need a methodology of tracking your
orders. These can include, email notification, electronic receipts,
on-line reports, internal database tracking, on-line query search capability,
conversion programs, etc. It is easy to go overboard on some of these
things and a lot of money can be spent trying to integrate online ordering
with existing business functions. We always recommend that businesses
starting on the web not try to be too sophisticated in this area up
front. If you get your orders and have a paper trail as a minimum, you
can always upgrade in this area later. If you use an outside service,
you may have a lot of backup information available to you to help. Technical Challenges : A simple web site thus may not be so simple
if it is to be effective. A functional site contemplating online ordering
requires expertise in four different areas. Special programs for online clearing option
: If any part
of this puzzle is not available to you in-house, there is a world of
consultants. The other alternative is outsourcing. Outsourcing - a cost effective alternative
: Outsourcing
is the utilization of a third party service company to provide you with
those pieces of the puzzle that complete the total functionality of
the business process. In E-Commerce, the most cost effective way to
meet your goals is often to outsource that portion of your needs that
you don't have the expertise for in-house. This can allow you to get
up and running much faster and concentrate on your business rather than
getting mired down in technical matters. Conclusions : Though nothing is easy, getting a web
site up and running is well within the capabilities of a determined
entrepreneur of small business. There are many success stories of businesses
operating on the web and many of them are not even using all the tools
discussed here. If the product is right for selling on the net, with
a little marketing effort you too could might find yourself overwhelmed
with business orders.
E-commerce
(electronic commerce or EC) : is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet,
especially the World Wide Web. The end-to-end digital exchange
of all information needed to conduct business. Examples include EDI
transactions, electronic mail, archives, audit trails, and all forms
of records, including graphical images. Electronic Data Interchange
(EDI), Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and Continuous Acquisition and
Life-cycle Support (CALS). E-commerce can be divided into:
E-Business : ("electronic business," derived
from such terms as "e-mail" and "e-commerce") is
the conduct of business on the Internet, not only buying and selling
but also servicing customers and collaborating with business partners.
One of the first to use the term was IBM, when, in October, 1997, it
launched a thematic campaign built around the term. Today, major corporations
are rethinking their businesses in terms of the Internet and its new
culture and capabilities. Companies are using the Web to buy parts and
supplies from other companies, to collaborate on sales promotions. and
to do joint research. Exploiting the convenience, availability, and
world-wide reach of the Internet, many companies, such as Amazon.com,
the book sellers, have already discovered how to use the Internet successfully. Increasingly, much direct selling (or e-tailing)
is taking place on the Internet of computer-related equipment and software.
One of the first to report sales in the millions of dollars directly
from the Web was Dell Computer. Travel bookings directly or indirectly
as a result of Web research are becoming significant. Custom-orderable
golf clubs and similar specialties are considered good prospects for
the immediate future. With the security built into today's browsers
and with digital certificates now available for individuals and companies
from Verisign, a certificate issuer, much of the early concern about
the security of business transaction on the Web has abated and e-business
by whatever name is accelerating. E-Tailing : Also called as the Virtual Storefront and
the Virtual Mall. As a place for direct retail shopping, with its 24-hour
availability, a global reach, the ability to interact and provide custom
information and ordering, and multimedia prospects, the Web is rapidly
becoming a multibillion dollar source of revenue for the world's businesses.
A number of businesses already report considerable success. As early
as the middle of 1997, Dell Computers reported orders of a million dollars
a day. By early 1999, projected e-commerce revenues for business were
in the billions of dollars and the stocks of companies deemed most adept
at e-commerce were skyrocketing. Apart from computer and network products,
books (Amazon.com), gardening products
(Garden.com), music
on compact disks (CDNow),
and office supplies (SuppliesOnline)
were a few of the better-known e-commerce sites. By early 1999, even
businesses that have always counted on face-to-face customer interaction
were planning e-commerce Web sites and many businesses were planning
how to coordinate in-store and Web store retail approaches. Meanwhile,
new businesses based entirely on Web sales were being invented daily. EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) : Is a standard format for exchanging business
data. The standard is ANSI X12 and it was developed by the Data Interchange
Standards Association. ANSI X12 is either closely coordinated with or
is being merged with an international standard, EDIFACT. An EDI
message contains a string of data elements, each of which represents
a singular fact, such as a price, product model number, and so forth,
separated by delimiters. The entire string is called a data segment.
One or more data segments framed by a header and trailer form a transaction
set, which is the EDI unit of transmission (equivalent to a message).
A transaction set often consists of what would usually be contained
in a typical business document or form. The parties who exchange EDI
transmissions are referred to as trading partners. EDI
messages can be encrypted and decrypted. EDI is one form of e-commerce,
which also includes e-mail and fax. E-Mail, Fax, and Internet Telephony : E-commerce is also conducted through the
more limited electronic forms of communication called e-mail, facsimile
or fax, and the emerging use of telephone calls over the Internet. Most
of this is business-to-business, with some companies attempting to use
e-mail and fax for unsolicited ads (usually viewed as online junk mail
or spam) to consumers and other business prospects. An increasing number
of business Web sites offer e-mail newsletters for subscribers. A new
trend is opt-in e-mail in which Web users voluntarily sign up to receive
e-mail, usually sponsored or containing ads, about product categories
or other subjects they are interested in. Business-to-Business Buying and Selling
(B to B) : Thousands
of companies that sell products to other companies have discovered that
the Web provides not only a 24-hour-a-day showcase for their products
but a quick way to reach the right people in a company for more information. The Security of Business Transactions :
Security includes authenticating business
transactors, controlling access to resources such as Web pages for registered
or selected users, encrypting communications, and, in general, ensuring
the privacy and effectiveness of transactions. Among the most widely-used
security technologies are SSL and RSA. Secure Electronic Transactions
(SET) is an emerging industry standard.
Most current sites on the web are merely
a marketing presence and this may be your only goal. Determining the
purpose of your site will set a framework for your design. Many
companies have found that the Internet is a wonderful resource to offer
customer service, provide product specifications and furnish on-line
answers to the numerous questions they receive and deal with every day.
If this goal is also part of your web site, then you have to make it
easy for your customers to find the information they are after.
Many sites are setup to go beyond general marketing and to actually
generate an order, often unassisted by any human interface. The simplest
version of this might include instructions to print a page, fill in
order details and fax it to a given number. More sophisticated sites
have an easy to maneuver ordering process with proper order calculations
done including shipping and sales tax. The most advanced sites allow
an option of accepting and approving the credit card information while
the customer is on-line.
With these simple questions, you can see
how vast your options are. Some companies have spent millions "developing"
their web sites and yet many others have put up a substantial site for
next to nothing. In this article, I have assumed that you are a small
business wanting to "get your feet wet" with a site and keep
your expenditures to a minimum. Consider establishing your own domain name
if you are serious about your site. You can apply directly to InterNIC
( http://www.internic.net ) to
get an address such as www."your_company".com which will be
perceived as more credible than an obviously hosted site. The fee to
InterNIC ($70 for two years) is well worth it. Of course you will
have to find an ISP (Internet Service Provider), usually local, and
make arrangements to either host your site or server or provide appropriate
connections. Call and discuss the options and then shop around.
Special programs for online clearing option
: If any part
of this puzzle is not available to you in-house, there is a world of
consultants. The other alternative is outsourcing.
Worried about shopping online? You needn't
be. If you follow our advice, you'll never get burned when you shop
online. Here's what you need to know.
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