Introduction to e-commerce 11/10/2012 at ITS Volterra Elia (Ancona) Comenius Project New Ideas Factory http://www.istitutovolterraelia.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=373&Itemid=342

1. New Ideas Factory - Italian Meeting
E-commerce
and online shopping
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Carlo Vaccari (University of Camerino , ISF , MZ , ...)
vaccaricarlo@gmail.com
http://vaccaricarlo.wordpress.com
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This material is distributed under the Creative Commons
"Attribution - NonCommercial - Share Alike - 3.0", available at
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
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3. index
e-commerce: definition, characteristics, pros and
cons
Websites for e-commerce: make or buy
Buy: Amazon EBay
Make: Zen Cart
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Tips and threats
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4. e-commerce definition
Distributing, buying, selling and marketing products
and services over electronic systems
E-business for commercial transactions
Involves supply chain management, e-marketing,
online marketing, Electronic Data Interchange
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Uses electronic technology such as Internet
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5. Traditional vs. e-commerce
Traditional e-commerce
Face to Face No personal contact
Printed / written documents Documents on the web / multimedia
Telephone communication E-mail communication
Postal mail Social Network communication
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Ads: printed, radio, tv Ads: online, radio, tv
Payment: cash, check or CC Payment: CC, direct, fund transfer
Customer takes product home Deliver home 2-5 days
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6. e-commerce and the internet
The Internet is the perfect vehicle for e-commerce
because of its open standards and structure
No other methodology or technology has proven to
work as well as the Internet for distributing
information and bringing people together
It’s cheap and relatively easy to use it as a medium
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for connecting customers, suppliers, and
employees of a firm
The only way that allow organizations to reach out
to everyone
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7. e-commerce categories
Business originated from
Business Customer
Business B2B C2B
And selling to
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Customer B2C C2C
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8. e-commerce categories
Business to Business (B2B) refers to the full
spectrum of e-commerce that can occur between two
organizations (purchasing and procurement, supplier
management, inventory management, channel
management, sales activities, payment management
&service and support)
Examples: AirClic, Salesforce
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Business to Consumer (B2C) refers to exchanges
between business and consumers, activities tracked
are consumer search, frequently asked questions and
service and support
Examples: Amazon, Yahoo
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9. e-commerce categories
Peer to Peer (C2C) exchanges involve transactions
between and among consumers. Can include third
party involvement, as in the case of Ebay
Examples: Craigslist, Tinypay.me
Consumer to Business (C2B) involves when
consumers band together to present themselves as a
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buyer in group
Example: www.planetfeedback.com
Now m-commerce (mobile) → shop anywhere anytime
issues: devices – network speed - security
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10. e-commerce pros
Lower transaction costs
Larger purchases per transaction
Integration into the business cycle
People can shop in different ways:
build an order over several days
configure products and see actual prices
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easily build complicated custom orders
compare prices between multiple vendors easily
Larger catalogs (Long tail!)
Improved customer interactions - company
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11. e-commerce potential cons
To organizations: lack of security, reliability,
standards, changing technology, pressure to
innovate, competition, old vs. new technology
To consumers: equipment costs, access costs,
knowledge, lack of privacy for personal data,
relationship replacement
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To society: less human interaction, social division,
reliance on technology, wasted resources, JIT
manufacturing
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12. e-marketing
Website
Online ads and promotions - banners, interstitials,
sponsorship, viral marketing (buzzwords → word of
mouth: video clips, images, texts: examples)
Web communities - social networks (Facebook fan
pages, Twitter lists), work-related communities
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Email - problems: too many emails, spam
See: http://www.emarketingassociation.com/
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13. how to sell online
Make or buy choice
Criteria/issues:
Customers / Market
Product standardization (+)
Logistics
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Payment (CC, PayPal, others)
Delivery: download, shipping, store pick-up
Privacy / Security
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14. Amazon model
Started with books (paper and then e-books), then
MarketPlace
Selling on Amazon: see
Guided process to
1. List your items
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2. Get orders
3. Ship
4. Get paid
5. Process refunds and returns
Now also Amazon Webstore as a product you can install
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15. EBay model
Started with auction model (C2C) now also B2C
and shops online
Selling on EBay: see
Set up a seller account
Create your listing
Manage your listing
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Conclude with your buyer
Now EBay store : see example
From EBay started PayPal
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16. Make choice
Now many opensource tools available: see
Example: Zen Cart (the art of Ecommerce):
Open-source software: GPL license
LAMP or WAMP platform: PHP - Apache – MySQL
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on Linux or Windows server
Many free templates available: see and here
A lot of documentation, also on youtube
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17. Zen Cart features - 1
Easy to install - our helpful installation program
Template system using stylesheets and images.
Sale options: percentage-off, fixed amount off, new price, etc.
Products can be marked as free or Call for Price.
Quantity discounts can be configured per-product for varying
pricing levels or quantity levels.
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Store layout can be controlled in great detail simply by
switching settings (columns/box widths, sideboxes to appear
where on the page, enable/disable links, ...)
Sort order of products easily controlled
Integrated with phpBB (forum)
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18. Zen Cart features – 2
Site offline for maintenance, with notices and dedicated page,
Override maintenance and access the site for testing.
Multiple images to each products, in small/medium/large
format. Popups available if desired for larger images
Agreement to the Terms of Service
Credit Card verification number support available
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Multiple shipping carriers supported
Search options for products: name, description, metatags,
price, ..
Intelligent generation of metatags content for search engines.
Built in WYSIWYG page editor for modifying pages
Advanced Email management for marketing and audit trail
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19. Zen Cart features – 3
Estimator for shipping costs prior to checkout
Newsletter and product notification systems
Tax rates, tax zones, etc easily configured in the Admin area
PayPal™ and other popular merchant services supported
Customers can write product reviews (moderated)
Low stock notifications to administrator (level can be
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configured)
Scalable from small shops to larger shops with hundreds of
thousands of products
Track who's online interactively
Multiple language/currency support
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20. Supply Chain organization
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Not only a website: from the organizational point of
view, the company/business has to plan many
aspects!
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21. Five tips to sell online
1. Build an effective shopping cart : shopping carts allow
for more customization and the potential to provide more
product information.
2. Recommend related products: use a "Recommendation
engine" to suggest complementary products, upgrades
and additional services
3.Optimize your site for search engines: a website can't
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sell if it can't be found. (see)
4. Start a contest or promotion: an online contest or
promotion can help attract attention in social media
channels and in potential customers
5.Develop a shipping strategy: define clear prices strategy,
between free and costly
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22. Threats to e-commerce
Digital divide: many consumers not ready
Intellectual property issues:
Patents - Copyright - trademarks
Fraud:
Phishing
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Online auction fraud
Spam
Invasion to Customers privacy:
Online profiling
Clickstream data
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