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Series of Lecturesthe course MISS213:

Introduction to e-Commerce(parts 6 and 7)

Dr. Mirsobit MirusmonovAssistant Professor

Management Information Systems College of Commerce and Business Administration

Dhofar University, Salalah, OMAN

PART 6

LAUNCHING A SUCCESSFUL ECOMMERCE BUSINESS:

PHASES OF WEB STOREFRONT DEVELOPMENT

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Important issue in a new e-commerce business

1. Identify a consumer or business need in the marketplace

2. Investigate the opportunity3. Determine the business owner’s ability to meet

the need

16-4

Building or Acquiring a Web SiteClassification of Web Sites

– informational Web siteA Web site that does little more than provide information about the business and its products and services

– interactive Web siteA Web site that provides opportunities for the customers and the business to communicate and share information

16-5

– attractorsWeb site features that attract and interact with visitors in the target stakeholder group

– transactional Web siteA Web site that sells products and services

– collaborative Web siteA site that allows business partners to collaborate

Building or Acquiring a Web SiteClassification of Web Sites

16-6

Web Site Design• information architecture

How the site and its Web pages are organized, labeled, and navigated to support browsing and searching throughout the Web site

• Consistency• Response time• Appearance• Quality Assurance• Availability

• Interactivity• Content • Usability• Security• Scalability

Web Site Design Criteria Navigation

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Web Site Design

16-8

Web Site Design

• Stage 1– Creating an EC Architecture= a plan for organizing the

underlying infrastructure & applications of site.• Business Goals • Business Vision • Application Modules• Hardware / software• Security / reliability required• HR & procedures for implementing the architecture

Stages of Development process

• Stage 2– Selecting a development option

• In-house• Outsource• Combination of both

Stages of Development process

• Stage 3– Installing– Testing

• Unit testing• Integration testing• Usability testing• Acceptance testing

– Deploying EC applications

Stages of Development process

16-12

Stage 3: Building or Acquiring a Web Site

– Select a Web host– Register a domain name– Create and manage content– Design the Web site– Construct the Web site and test– Market and promote the Web site

16-13

Web Site Hosting and Obtaining a Domain Name

• Web Hosting Options– storebuilder service

A hosting service that provides disk space and services to help small and microbusinesses build a Web site quickly and cheaply

• Registering a Domain Name– domain name

A name-based address that identifies an Internet-connected server. Usually, it refers to the portion of the address to the left of .com and .org, etc.

– domain name registrarA business that assists prospective Web site owners with finding and registering the domain name of their choice

16-14

Content Creation, Delivery, and Management

• contentThe text, images, sound, and video that make up a Web page

• Categories and Types of Content– dynamic Web content

Content that must be kept up-to-date– commodity content

Information that is widely available and generally free to access on the Web

• Stage 4– Operation and maintenance

• Site continually updated• Study usage patterns and performance

Stages of Development process

16-16

Content Management and Maintenance

– content managementThe process of adding, revising, and removing content from a Web site to keep content fresh, accurate, compelling, and credible

– Content testing and updating– Measuring content quality– Pitfalls of content management– Content removal– Content management software

The Major EC Applications & their functionalities

• B2C storefrontsAn Electronic storefront need to offer buyers the abilityto:-– Discover, search, evaluate, compare.– Select, negotiate– Place an order– Pay– Confirm an order– Track orders

• On the other hand, the merchant needs to:-– Provide access to current catalogs– Provide E-shopping cart– Verify customer’s credit– Process orders– Arrange product delivery– Track shipments– Provide registrations– Provide FAQ– Analyze purchases– Provide language translation– Measure & analyze traffic at the site

The Major EC Applications & their functionalities

The Major EC Applications & their functionalities

• The 3 inter-related subsystems:1. Catalog, products, prices, promotions,

shopping cart2. Transaction system3. Payment gateway

The Major EC Applications & their functionalities

• Supplier Sell-side B2B sites– Similar to B2C but has additional features:-

• Personalized catalogs & web-pages • B2B payment gateway• Electronic contract negotiation features• Product configuration by customers• Affiliate program capabilities• Business alerts

The Major EC Applications & their functionalities

• E-Procurement site– Is an online intermediary that offers businesses access to

hundreds of parts & services provided by suppliers.• Aggregating Catalogs sites

– Some specialized requirements for this type of site:-• Search engine• Comparison engine• Ordering mechanism• Budget & authorization features• Usage comparison• Payment mechanism

The Major EC Applications & their functionalities

• Reverse Auctions sites– Sites of this sort provides:-

• Catalog of items content management• Search engine• Personalized pages• Reverse auction mechanism• Ability to bid dynamically• Automatic vendor approval & workflow• Electronic collaboration with trading partners.

The Major EC Applications & their functionalities

• Online Exchange sites– An e-market place tying many buyers to many suppliers– Combines functions of buy-side, e-procurement, auction

sites, in addition to:-• Collaboration services• Community services• Data mining, customer behavior tracking• Transaction flow managers • Negotiation mechanism• Language translation• Comprehensive links to related resources

PART 7LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES

IN E-COMMERCE

Where does e-commerce begin…

• E-commerce, whether indirect or direct, is a layer (or several) above the actual infrastructure. It can consist of any range of activities unique to the needs or demands of specific consumer or user groups. – E.g., On-line business activities – E.g., On-line information sources

Introduction

Why care about emerging legal and regulatory frameworks?

• There is an expression that arose from old western movies – “where the pavement ends and the West begins”– The Internet and emerging e-commerce has created new

and emerging business and legal challenges– Dot ‘com’ companies challenged traditional business

models– E-commerce, whether direct or indirect challenges legal

and regulatory frameworks in which they’re developing– Have seen much activity in Europe, and beginning to see

more in other regions of the world.

Introduction

Why care?….

• Local policy and regulatory issues impact operations on the Internet– Each country or distinct economy has unique issues,

distinct to respective laws, cultures, perspectives.

• Legal frameworks impact current and future use and functionality of the Internet and and the benefits of e-commerce– That is, the laws in tangible world apply on-line, and often

new ones for on-line are created.

Introduction

Interest by industry and legislators

• Impact is on all aspects relating to e-commerce, that is conducting some for of business on-line. – Impacts consumers, and operational costs.

• Perpetuated by Internet explosion• Social awareness• Consumer demands• Solutions to challenges – some technical, much

private sector, and some legislative – National, international, regional.– The recipe to allow continued development and use

Introduction

InformationCollection, Privacyand Data Protection

Domain NameSystem

Authentication,Certificates, Digital

Signatures

Intellectual Property(Copyright, Patents,

Trademarks)

CyberCrime,Network Security,Law Enforcement

Illegal and HarmfulContent

Taxation On-Line

Jurisdiction

Technical Standards

ISP Liability

Global e-commerce issues – jurisdictional distinctions Introducti

on

Issue areas

• Authentication• Privacy and data protection• Liability and responsibility for illegal acts,

including content issues• Cybercrime• Others

Overview

Authentication

• Authentication of users– E.g, signing, certificates

• Uses include – verification of source in communication– authentication of data holders for data protection

purposes• Issues include:

– Mutual recognition and inter-operability– Responsibilities and Liabilities– Varying legal recognitions of online authentication– Opportunity for any business or one national source

Overview

Data Protection [Privacy]

• Protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. – Personal data ranges from name, address, other.

• Collection, use and transmission of personally identifiable data – – Collection on websites, customers, users, employees.– Use for purposes other than intended– Transferred by company, customers, or others to another

party our third country.

Overview

Data Protection cont.

• Transfer of data to a third country• Impact on companies, consumers, users

– Marketing– Customer service– Employees

• Solutions – Safe harbor areas (abide by mutually approved principles)– Opt-in versus opt-out

Overview

International Copyright Protection

• International is Copyright protection on-line– WIPO Copyright Treaties– National Implementation

• Digital Millennium Copyright Act• EU E-Commerce and Copyright Directives

• Responsibilities and Liabilities– Transmitting content– Caching content– Hosting of content

Overview

International Copyright Protection cont…

• Main criteria in determining responsibilities and liabilities – Threshold of knowledge or control

• Where did the content come from• Model – Notice and Takedown

– Transmission – merely relay it. Can’t monitor– Hosting – if proven to have knowledge, then take down

• Notice• indemnification

Overview

Content – transmissions and hosting

• Related to the international copyright debate came the discussion of illegal or harmful content.

• But problem – what is legal in one jurisdiction, may be illegal in another.– E.g., Yahoo case, Google case– Or advertising -- Lands End in Germany

• Attempted solutions: – Companies part of connection – either ISP, registry, often sought to

monitor– Introducing a gTLD that is only for one content area, such as .kids – not

feasible, what is one parent’s view as appropriate for their child may not be that of another.

Overview

Content – transmissions and hosting

• Challenge – – enforceability– limited applicability to relevant jurisdiction– cost goes to consumer

• Solutions – notice and takedown– watch groups– content rating

• It is that content is allowed and encouraged to develop – consumers access sites where there is content, while global, why not have the source local.

Overview

Cybercrime

• Recent developments seen in Europe, with the Council of Europe, European Commission, United States, Australia, South Africa, etc.

• Cybercrime convention seeks to– harmonize domestic criminal substantive law in the area of cyber-

crime– provide domestic procedures to investigate and prosecute offences

committed by means of a computer system or evidence in relation to electronic form

– set up a fast and effective regime of international cooperation.

Overview

Cybercrime – cont.

• Issues and Impact– Interception– Data Retention– Cost Reimbursement– Corporate Liability– Protection when cooperating with law

enforcement– Privacy/Due process

Overview

Intellectual Property

• Copyright– protection on-line

• Trademark– protection in global market– domain name and use of trademarks

• Patents

Overview

Conclusion• Industries (current and emerging), Internet, e-

commerce, opportunities, and consumers impacted• Main challenges to substantive issues

– Avoid patchwork of laws, policies, etc. – self regulatory v. legislative solutions– Technical reality …

• These are new and emerging areas in the e-commerce legal field, they have to do with the outcome of using the Internet for all it has to offer.

Summary