Electronic Business

E- Business (Part-1)
What are the differences between traditional commerce and electronic commerce?
Answer:
Traditional Commerce
is buying and selling goods and services face-to-face, physically.
Face-to-face , telephone lines , or mail systems .
Manual processing of traditional business transactions .
E-Commerce
is buying and selling goods over the internet, and means shopping on the World Wide Web.
Using internet or other network communication technology.
Automated processing of business transactions .

E-business and E-commerce
Electronic business or e-business is the use of ICT to improve business (from the use of email to facilitate administrative procedures
in buying and selling through the Internet).
Electronic commerce or e-commerce is where business transactions take place via electronic communication networks, especially
the Internet.
The main difference between them is that e-commerce defines interaction between organizations and their customers, clients, or
constituents. On the other hand, e-business is broader term that also encompasses an organization’s internal operations.
Electronic commerce describes the buying and selling of products, services, and information via computer networks including the
Internet, where e-Business describes the broadest definition of EC. It includes buying and selling of products and services, servicing
customers, collaborating with business partners, and conducting other intra-business tasks.

Made by: Mayank Kashyap

Email: mayank_kashyap@ymail.com

E commerce
Electronic commerce, commonly known as ecommerce, is a type of industry where buying and selling of product or service is
conducted over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. Electronic commerce draws on technologies
such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing,
electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic
commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at one point in the transaction's life-cycle, although it may encompass a
wider range of technologies such as e-mail, mobile devices social media, and telephones as well.
Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the exchange of data to
facilitate the financing and payment aspects of business transactions.

Some common applications related to electronic commerce are the following:
Document automation in supply chain and logistics
Domestic and international payment systems
Enterprise content management
Group buying
Automated online assistants
Instant messaging
Newsgroups
Online shopping and order tracking



Online banking
Online office suites
Shopping cart software
Teleconferencing
Electronic tickets

BENEFITS OF E-COMMERCE
 E-commerce expands the market place to national and International market.
 E-commerce decreases the cost of creating, processing, distributing, storing and retrieving paper based information
 Ability for creating highly specialised businesses.
 E-commerce allows reduced inventories and overheads by facilitating “pull” a type of supply chain management
 The pull type processing enables expensive customization of products and services. Which provide an competitive
advantage to its implementers.
 E-commerce reduces the time between the outlay of capital and receipt of product and services.
 E-commerce initiatives business processing re-engineering projects.
 E-commerce lowers telecommunication costs.
 Other benefits include improved image,customer service,new found business partners,compressed cycle,increased
productivity,eliminating paper ,expanding access of information,reduced transportation cost & increased flexibility.
BENEFITS TO CUSTOMERS
 EC enables customers to shop 24X7 all year round almost from any location
 EC provides customers with more choices they can select from many venders and from many products
 EC allows quick delivery.
 EC makes it possible to participate in virtual auctions
 EC facilitates competition , which results in substantial discounts
BENEFITS TO SOCIETY
 EC enables more individuals to work at home and to do less travelling for shopping, resulting in less traffic on the roads and
lower air pollution
 EC enables people in third world countries and rural areas to enjoy products and services that otherwise are not available
to them



 EC allows some merchandise to be sold at the lower prices, so less affluent people can buy more and increase their
standard of living
Limitations of e-commerce
 Technical Limitations of EC


There is lack of system security, reliability, standards and some communication protocols.



There is insufficient tele-communication band width.



The software development tools are still evolving and changing rapidly.



It is difficult to integrate the EC s/w with some existing applications & databases.



Vendors may need special web servers & other infrastructure in addition to network servers.

 Non Technical Limitations of EC


Cost & Justification



Security & Privacy



Lack of trust & User resistance

 Other Limiting Factors


Many legal issues are yet unresolved and government regulations & standards are not refined enough for many
circumstances.



EC as disicipline is still evolving and changing rapidly.



EC could result in breakdown of human relationship.



Accessibility to the net is still expensive and/or inconvinent for many potential customers.

Types of e-business


Business-to-business (B2B)
Business that sells products or provides services to other businesses, B2B e-commerce is simply defined as ecommerce
between companies. About 80% of e-commerce is of this type.



Examples:


Intel selling microprocessor to Dell



Heinz selling ketchup to Mc Donalds



Business-to-consumer (B2C)
Business that sells products or provides services to end-user consumers. Business-to-consumer e-commerce, or commerce
between companies and consumers, involves customers gathering information; purchasing physical goods or receiving
products over an electronic network.


Example:


Dell selling me a laptop

Consumer-to-consumer (C2C)
Consumers sell directly to other consumers. Consumer-to-consumer e-commerce or C2C is simply commerce between
private individuals or consumers.


Example:


Mary buying an iPod from Tom on eBay



Me selling a car to my neighbour

Business-to-government (B2G)
Government buys or provides goods, services or information to/from businesses or individual citizens. Business-togovernment e-commerce or B2G is generally defined as commerce between companies and the public sector. It refers to
the use of the Internet for public procurement, licensing procedures, and other government-related operations


Example:


Business pay taxes, file reports, or sell goods and services to Govt. agencies.

Business-to-employee (B2E)
Information and services made available to employees online
Mobile commerce (m-commerce)
E-commerce transactions and activities conducted in a wireless environment. M-commerce (mobile commerce) is the
buying and selling of goods and services through wireless technology-i.e., handheld devices such as cellular telephones


Mobile Ticketing



Information Services



Mobile Banking

Collaborative commerce (c-commerce)
Individuals or groups communicate or collaborate online



E Commerce Barriers
1. E commerce Infrastructure
E Commerce cannot operate without the required backup services and hardware. Not all the nations have the necessary
infrastructure in place to fully benefit from e commerce. High connectivity costs will minimise the use of the Internet (the e
commerce super highway) by a nations population, thus will effectively keep a large segment of its citizens permanently blind to e
commerce.
Governments together with the private sector should invest in e commerce infrastructure facilities. Action should be taken to
maximize Internet usage among the citizens through increased computer literacy and investment on e commerce research and
development. Both the government and the private sector should also take measures to ensure the safety and reliability of
information infrastructures - especially as a means of reducing transaction costs for users and suppliers. Not having equal access
opportunity for all countries will hinder the expansion of the e commerce market.
2. Trust and Reliability
Measures should be taken to enhance the people’s trust on e commerce by implementing secured payment systems, guaranteeing
confidentiality of personal information, and providing protection from intellectual property rights violations etc.
3. Existence of a Regulatory Environment
Governments by shutting down access to citizens of other countries and by imposing duties and taxes during the physical delivery
stage of the e commerce process can effectively retard the flow of e commerce activities to and from a country.
System Scalability:



– If the company expects 2million customers and 6 millions shows up, website performance is bound to experience degradation,
slowdown and eventually loss of customer.
– Website must be scalable and upgradeable on regular basis.
• E-Commerce is not free:
– Its usage for small retailers is still in question.
• Fulfillment and customer relations problems:
– Shipping delays, merchandise mix-ups, and website crashing.
– Interpersonal part of e-commerce between emerchants and customers continues to be setback.
Products people resists buying online:
– Like furniture.com to purchase a sofa you need to sit on it to feel the texture and fabric etc for comfort.
– But commodities like airline tickets, books, brand name hardware etc. are standardized items, buying them through internet
becomes a matter of price and convenience.
• Cultural, language and trust issues:
– A firm launching a product in a new country must be aware of the culture as well as the language of that culture.
– Example the in European country odd flowers are gifted while in North America there is the concept of a dozen of flowers.
Corporate vulnerability:
– The availability product details, catalogs and information about a business to its competition leads to vulnerability.
– The idea of extracting business intelligence from the competitor’s web page is called Web Farming.
– Web Farming systematically refining information resources on the web for business intelligence gathering.
• Lack of blueprint for handling E-Commerce:
– Survey’s conducted in 2003 and 2004 conclude that few manager’s have e-commerce skills, Internet experience, or foresight.

e-commerce Models
When organizations go online, they have to decide which e-business models best suit their goals.[4] A business model is defined as
the organization of product, service and information flows, and the source of revenues and benefits for suppliers and customers.
The concept of e-business model is the same but used in the online presence. The following is a list of the currently most adopted
e-business models. A company’s policy, operations, technology and ideology define its business model
 A business model is the method of doing business by which a company can sustain itself, that is, generate revenue .
 A company produces goods and services and sells it to customers. If all goes well , the revenue from sales exceed the cost
of operation and the company realizes profit.



 The marketing strategy of the company is needed to access the commercial viability of a business model and to answer
questions like the following : How is competitive advantage being built? What is the positioning? What is the marketing
mix? Which product market strategy is followed ?
 An electronic market allows the participating sellers and buyers to exchange goods and services with the aid of
information technology . Electronic Market has three main functions :
 Matching buyers and sellers
 Facilitating commercial transactions
 Providing legal infrastructure
 A company’s business model is the way in which it conducts business in order to generate revenue. In the new
economy, companies are creating new business models and reinventing old models.
There are many different ways to categorize e-business models, they can be broadly classified as follows :
 E-business model based on relationship of transaction parties.
 E-business model based on the relationship of transaction types.
 Classification of revenue model. A revenue model may comprise :
 Product sales model that charges customers directly for the product or services they buy.
 subscription model that charge a fixed monthly or annual rental for the services
 Transaction fee model that charge a service fee based on volume and value of the transaction offered.
 Classification by distribution channel. A distribution channel may comprise of :
 Direct marketing where manufacturers such as dell, nike or sony market directly from company sites to individual
customers.
 Pure play e-tailers who have no physical stores, only an online sales presense.Amazon.com is an example od such model
 Click and mortar retailers who are traditional retailers with supplementary website like Walmart.com



E-Business models based on the relationship of transaction types
 Business Models is essentially ruled by the following two parameters:
 On the basis of value addition
 On the basis of control - At the high end of control there is hierarchal control and at the low end there is no control , so
that is self organizing . Based on these nine types of transactions can be identified :
 Brokerage



 Aggregator
 Info-mediary
 Community
 Value Chain
 Subscription
 Manufacturer
 Advertising

Information Ecommerce Business Model
The Information e-business model is based largely around specialized information on a particular subject. These websites can
attract a large following of people interested in their specific field of knowledge and will use Ecommerce business models, other
than their specialized information, to create revenue.
Aggregator Model
Ecommerce model that takes information from several similar websites. This helps design a site that will attract customers.

Community Model
 Community is an internet buzzword these days – it is a unified body of individuals – people with common interest-an
interacting population of various kinds of individuals



 Community Structures
 Discussion rooms
 News letters
 Bulletin boards
 Chat rooms
Manufacturer Model
 Direct model is predicted on the power of the Web to allow a manufacturer to reach buyers directly and thereby compress
the distribution channel.
 Manufacturer model can be based on efficiency , improved customer service and better understanding of customer
preferences. In this model manufacturer sells its product through use of website.
 Example : TATA STEEL established in 1907 is now doing E-sales , E-procurement , E-auction & Tenders.
Advertising Model
 It is an extension of traditional media broadcast model. The broadcaster in this case is Website which provides content and
services together with advertising messages in the form of banner and ads.
 Web Pricing Models : Impression only sets cost per thousand of guaranteed ad views
 Click through
 Sponsorships
 Cost-per-lead
 Cost-per-sale
 Straight revenue sharing deals
 Different web advertising formats:
 Banners, Vertical columns , pop up windows, Interstitials, Advertorials, Intromercials, Ultramercials

Storefront Model


Storefront model enables merchants to sell products on the Web


Transaction processing, security, online payment, information storage



E-commerce allows companies to conduct business 24-by-7, all day everyday, worldwide



An e-commerce storefront should include:


Online catalog of products





Order processing



Secure payment



Timely order fulfillment

This model is essentially on online shop. All of the products are listed on the site in an online catalog. The buyer simply chooses
what they want and pays. The product is then shipped to them. The storefront model works best with product-based companies
that want to sell directly to consumers at a set price. This model also works well if you have a bricks-and-mortar store, and want to
use the same marketing and pricing plan for your bricks-and-mortar store as for your online store. The storefront model can
encourage customers to visit your bricks-and-mortar store.
Storefront Advantages And Disadvantages
The main advantage, for sellers, of using a single-business storefront is that it allows you to build a unique brand and to run your
own business. This model also works well for selling services. A marketplace storefront, however, is much cheaper to set up and
run, and does not require any specialized computer knowledge or equipment. Most marketplace storefronts also offer a large
number of tools and services for helping you market and sell your products. The main disadvantage of the marketplace storefront
is your business' unique identity can be lost among the many other stores and does not work well for services.
Marketplace Model
You can think of a marketplace model as a super storefront, where an online retailer offers products from many sellers. Amazon is
the largest marketplace storefront. Amazon sells its own products, and also allows other retailers to sell their products through the
Amazon site. This gives buyers an enormous range of products, all on one site and at the lowest prices. The main advantage for the
seller is that marketplaces allow them to reach a vast number of potential customers. Other marketplace sites specialize in certain
types of products. For example, Etsy.com is a huge marketplace site that helps people sell crafts and art.

Auction Model


Online auction sites



Collect a commission on every successful auction




Act as forums through which Internet users can log-on and assume the role of either bidder or seller

Sellers post items they wish to sell and wait for buyers to bid

Reserve price




Reverse auctions




The minimum price a seller will accept in a given auction

Allow the buyer to set a price as sellers compete to match or even beat it

In an auction model, sellers offer products in an online auction and buyers bid on what they want to buy. The buyer with the highest bid
wins the product. Auction sites make their money by taking a percentage of the selling price. The largest auction site is eBay. This model
usually works best for sellers who have an inventory that fluctuates, and when the seller does not need to sell at a set price in order to



make a profit. This model is also not as useful for selling services, although there are some sites which auction freelance work services,
such as translation and web design.



Auction Advantages And Disadvantages



For the seller, the main advantage of an auction site is that it attracts a huge number of visitors. Most auction sites also provide a large
number of services and tools for attracting customers, and there is also almost no startup cost involved. The main disadvantage is that you
cannot plan your income because you cannot know what a product will sell for. The amount of fees you pay for extra services, such as
including photos, can also mount up, decreasing the amount you earn from each sale

Portal Model


Portal sites




Give visitors the chance to find almost everything they are looking for in one place

Horizontal portals





Portals that aggregate information on a broad range of topics
Yahoo!, AltaVista, Google

Vertical portals


Portals that offer more specific information within a single area of interest



WebMD, IMDB, FirstGov

Dynamic Pricing Models


The Web has changed the way products are priced and purchased



Comparison pricing model




Demand-sensitive pricing model




Group buying reduces price as volume of sales increase

Name-your-price model




Web sites using shopping bot technology to find the lowest price for a given item

Name-your-price for products and services

Bartering Model





Individuals and business trade unneeded items for items they desire
Ubarter.com, isolve.com

Rebate Model




Sites offer rebates on product at leading online retailers in return for commission or advertising revenues

Free offering model





Free products and services generate high traffic



Freemerchant, Start Sampling, FreeSamples.com

Click-and-Mortar Businesses


Brick-and-mortar




Companies that operate solely offline with traditional business practices

Click-and-mortar


Companies operating with both an online and offline presence. Combination of website and physical store.
– Advantage
• Through physical store you can promote your website
• Those who want to return unwanted or defected items can simply go to the store.



Click and mortar companies have brand recognition, and an established customer base


Barnesandnoble.com



Bestbuy.com

Subscription Ecommerce Business Model
In the Subscription e-business model customers pay a set fee on a monthly or yearly basis to get access to the products or services
of the company. Some good examples of this model are online newspapers or magazines, adult websites, and Internet service
providers.

Value chain in E-Commerce
•

In e-commerce , many business processes and activities go un noticed by the consumer and are often taken for granted.

•

The adoption of e-commerce tools has led to the e-commerce value chain.

•

Value chain depicts the series of interdependent activities of a business.

•

A business evaluates its value chain (purchasing, accounting, finance, human resources are links) to find opportunities for
improving the value activities.

•

The value chain is a useful way of looking at a corporation’s activities and how the various activities add value to other
activities and to the company in general.

•

E-commerce views activities as a part of company’s value chain, adding to its competitive advantage .

•

To address the e-commerce value chain means

•

Identifying the competitive forces within the company’s e-commerce environment



•

The business model it will use

•

Identifying the value activities that help the e-commerce value chain

E-Commerce Value Chain



• It is to integrate the entire transaction life cycle,from the time consumer purchases the producton website to the time the
product is actually received.
• This life cycle centers around three major ecommerce applications
– Business to consumer (Done on Internet-mail order)
– Business to Business (Done on Internet and Extranets-procurement fulfillment)
– Business within Business (Done on Intranet-internal procurement& processing)

E-commerce in India
India has an internet user base of about 137 million as of June 2012.[1][2] The penetration of e-commerce is low compared to
markets like the United States and the United Kingdom but is growing[3] at a much faster rate with a large number of new
entrants.[4] The industry consensus is that growth is at an inflection point[5] with key drivers being:


Increasing broadband Internet (growing at 20%[6] MoM) and 3G penetration.[7]



Rising standards of living and a burgeoning, upwardly mobile middle class with high disposable incomes



Availability of much wider product range (including long tail and Direct Imports) compared to what is available at brick and
mortar retailers



Busy lifestyles, urban traffic congestion and lack of time for offline shopping



Lower prices compared to brick and mortar retail driven by disintermediation and reduced inventory and real estate costs



Increased usage of online classified sites, with more consumer buying and selling second-hand goods[8]



Evolution of the online marketplace model with sites like ebay, Infibeam, and Tradus

Infrastructure for eCommerce in India
eCommerce Site Development
Many open source ecommerce softwares and platforms are growing in prominence including Magento, Martjack & Shopify
amongst others.
eCommerce Hosting Service Provider
There are many hosting companies working in India but most of them are not efficient and good for eCommerce hosting purpose.
Because they are providing much less secure and threat protected shared hosting. eCommerce demand highly secure, stable and
protected hosting.[citation needed]
Marketing
There could be various methods of ecommerce marketing such as blog, forums, search engines and some online advertising sites
like Google adwords and Adroll.



India got its own version of the Cyber Monday on 12 December 2012. Google India said it had partnered with many of e-commerce
companies including Flipkart, Snapdeal, HomeShop18, Indiatimes shopping and MakeMyTrip. Cyber Monday is the term coined in
the USA for the Monday coming after Black Friday, which is the Friday after Thanksgiving Day. Google said that, this was the first
time, when an industry wide initiative of this scale was undertaken to offer users an incentive to gain from deals that they can find
on the web on a single day.[13]
Funding
As of 2012, most of the e-commerce companies are yet to start making money. However, due to their growth prospects, many
venture capital firms such as Accel Partners have invested considerably. In one of the biggest fund raising, Flipkart.com, in August
2012, raised about 8.22 billion (US$150 million). Entertainment ticketing website BookMyShow.com raised 1 billion (US$18 million)
investment by Accel Partners.[1]
Unique to India
Some of the aspects of Indian e-commerce that are unique to India (and potentially to other developing countries) are:


Cash on Delivery as a preferred payment method. India has a vibrant cash economy as a result of which 80% of Indian ecommerce tends to be Cash on Delivery.



Direct Imports constitute a large component of online sales. Demand for international consumer products (including longtail) is growing much faster than in-country supply from authorised distributors and e-commerce offerings.

Business Tools for e commerce
1. Analytics. This is the enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives you access to your visitors' behavior. You can
analyze your traffic data to create better-targeted ads; determine the content that interests your visitors the most to drive
traffic up further; and manage your AdWords campaigns. Price: Free for users with less than 5 million page views a month.
2. Alerts. If your business relies on having the latest information in your niche or industry, try Google Alerts. Simply enter in
the topic — or keywords — you wish to monitor, the type of data you want to retrieve on it from news to blogs to video
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3. Groups. Set up a private group that anyone in your company can access, or any clients can access. Organize meetings, store
files, create topics and brainstorm collectively on various projects. Price: Free.
4. Picasa. Edit, store and share photos online with Picasa. Create slideshows of your products and easily embed the slideshow
into your website.
5. Voice. Set up multiple numbers for your business and have them ring to any phone, regardless of which device or carrier
you use. You can set up a single number that rings you anywhere, get transcribed voice mail messages via email, and
receive free calls and text messages in the U.S. and Canada, with very low rates in the rest of the world. Price: Free.
6. Realtime. Search out all activity on social networks, follow trends, track popular posts and find articles, blog posts and
tweets from around the world, in real time. Price: Free.



7. Site Search. Use Google’s powerful search algorithm for your own site’s search engine. Site Search is a hosted solution that
gives users of your website the ability to search for anything on it, just like they would on Google. Tailor the look and feel of
the search bar and search results to match your website’s aesthetic design. Price: $100- $2000 and up, varies on the
number of queries the engine receives each year.
8. Desktop. Search your business computers just like you search the web with this Desktop search engine. Dozens of sidebar
gadget options are available for streaming news, weather and financial reports as well. Price: Free.
9. Directory. Search for virtually everything and everyone that is on the web with this comprehensive, categorized directory
listing. Pick a topic, for example, “ecommerce” and drill down to developers, vendors, software and marketing companies
and many more.Price: Free.
10. Finance. Up-to-the-second domestic and world market news stories from the top sources all over the web, plus stock
analysis, trends and a handy custom portfolio creator for easy tracking of specific businesses. Price: Free.
11. News. Stay in-the-know with the latest breaking news locally and globally. The news site is broken down into familiar news
sections like World, Business, Science and Technology, United States and much more. Price: Free.
12. Calendar. This is an online and interactive calendar to share upcoming events with everyone in your company, allow other
users to suggest events to be scheduled and get event reminders via email or text to your mobile phone. Price: Free.
13. Docs. This powerful suite of online tools to manage office documents rivals anything from Microsoft Office. Create and
collaborate on spreadsheets, slideshow presentations, interactive forms for surveys and robust word processing. Price:
Free.
14. Chart Tools. Create and embed live image oriented or interactive motion charts to your website with Chart Tools. You can
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Merchant Tools
15. Product Search. Quickly scour the Internet for the best deals on products that your business needs.
16. Trends. See what other Google users are searching for right now. Track user search terms in the past day or the past
several years. Search out up-to-the-second data in the present and track specific website usage trends for various regions
all around the globe.Price: Free.
17. Translate. A powerful translation tool that can translate any text into more than 60 of the world’s most used languages.
Use it to translate the text of an ad into another language, search for products or services in the native language of another
region using the Translated Search function. It also includes the "Global Market Finder" utility to seek out key search terms
for popular products overseas, allowing users to then harness that data with AdWords' keyword bid and competition data.
Price: Free.
18. Patents. Do you have a new product that the world has never seen before? Search out over seven million patents
registered at the United States Patent and Trademark Office to be sure. Price: Free.
Marketing Tools
19. Places. Increase your social networking presence with Google’s geo-location listing service. "Places" gives businesses the
ability to set up a page with Google so when customers or clients search for your business, the correct contact information
will be there. Customize your business Places page with photos, user comments, and special offers to Places users. Utilizing



"Google Boost" is done through a Places account as well. Boost gives businesses the ability to advertise on the Places page
and in Google Maps. Price: Free.
20. Google Display Network. The Google Display Network is one of the most popular ad networks online, reaching more than
80 percent of global Internet users, according to Google’s own research. Sign up and use powerful targeting and
remarketing tools to find the best placements for your message in front of an audience that’s interested in your business
across their network. Then measure the progress of your marketing campaign with built in, real-time tracking tools. Price:
Varies depending on type of ad package selected; cost-per-click (CPC), cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) and cost-peracquisition (CPA) are all available.
21. AdSense. Use AdSense to display relevant ads on your website that are suited to your audience’s interests, then earn
revenue from clicks and impressions. Create a custom search engine to your site and then earn revenue from the ads on
the search results pages. Develop specific ads for mobile users and display targeted ads for RSS feeds your site may have.
Tailor AdSense for domains, mobile content, search engine results, content and much more.
22. AdWords. Create your own ads, choose the keywords and when customers use one of those keywords when searching for
a product on Google, your ad appears next to the search results. Take advantage of the "Keyword Tool and Traffic
Estimator" to budget your ads and find the best keywords for your audience. Price: Variable. You’re charged only when
someone clicks on the ad.
23. DoubleClick Ad Planner. Use this tool to help determine the best strategy for your marketing campaign. Find the top 1,000
most visited sites globally, better understand the behavior of visitors to your site, find audiences using specific
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24. Insights for Search. With "Insights for Search" you can compare search volume patterns across various regions, categories
and time frames for any search term or phrase. Track seasonal purchases by comparing one year to the next, find rising
product searches by tracking them over a specific period of time and find potential customers based on the volume of their
searching for a particular keyword. Price: Free.
25. Commerce Search. A custom site search engine designed specifically for online merchants. Create a customized search
engine that customers can use to find products by price, category, brand or any other attribute you set. With this engine in
place you can then analyze your site’s search traffic, find out top customer queries and much more.Price: Starts at $25,000
annually.
26. Merchant Center. Upload your site’s product data so it is available to Google Product Search and other Google search
services. This way, shoppers using Google to find a product can find your site quickly. Price: Free.
27. Google Checkout. If your customers are familiar and comfortable using Google Checkout, allowing them to purchase goods
with it on your site will maintain that trust. Checkout is also integrated with the other Google advertising and analytics
tools so you can easily track customer behavior.
28. E-mail- uses a series of protocol to transfer messages containing text, images, sound, video
29. Search engines- identifies web pages matching a query.
30. FTP - Part of TCP/IP which permits transfer of files from server to client and vice versa.
31. Intelligent agents (BOTS)- s/w programs that gather/filter information on a specific topic



32. Chat- real time communication b/w users
33. Streaming media- enables music, video and large files to be send to the users in chunks for an uninterrupted display
34. Cookies- small text files that allow a website to store information about a user, and are used as an marketing tool for ecommerce
35. Paypal and Propay that let you set up accounts to accept payment from customers without having to have a merchant
account. There are still charges and limitations
36. Electronic checks can also be accepted with the right printing software and validation programs. Your customers would
input their checking account and other identification information and you would print the check on blank check stock and
deposit it as you would a written check. Eg. PayByCheck
37. Active server pages(ASP)-sever side programming
38. Common gateway interface(CGI) -set of standards b/w a browser and program running on a server that allows for
interaction b/w server and user
39. Java, JSP, JavaScript-To create interactivity and active content on client side
40. Order Managers- useful when you sell too much, to handle the complexities of fulfilling, drop-shipping, returns,
cancellations, split orders
41. Customer on-site tracking- enables a site to create a site log for each customer visit, aiding in personalizing the shopping
experience
42. Site tracking and reporting system- monitors the number of unique visitors, pages visited and products purchased
43. Inventory management system- provides a link to production and suppliers to facilitate order replenishment

Intranet
 Simply an organization wide software and information distribution system that applies Internet technology and standards
to a closed network within the organization.
 An intranet is a computer network that uses Internet Protocol technology to share information, operational systems, or
computing services within an organization. The term is used in contrast tointernet, a network between organizations, and
instead refers to a network within an organization. Sometimes, the term refers only to the organization's internal website, but
may be a more extensive part of the organization's information technology infrastructure, and may be composed of
multiple local area networks. The objective is to organize each individual's desktop with minimal cost, time and effort to be
more productive, cost efficient, timely, and competitive.
 An intranet may host multiple private websites and constitute an important component and focal point of internal
communication and collaboration. Any of the well known Internet protocols may be found in an intranet, such as HTTP (web
services), SMTP (e-mail), and FTP (file transfer protocol). Internet technologies are often deployed to provide modern
interfaces to legacy information systems hosting corporate data.
 An intranet can be understood as a private analog of the Internet, or as a private extension of the Internet confined to an
organization.



Composition of Intranet
• The trend in intranet design is to rely on company’s TCP/IP Internet infrastructure, utilizing Internet protocol suite technologies
and client/server Web technologies.
• Intranets have multitier application architecture, there are two types of client/server architecture for intranet design: two tier
and three tier.

Intranet Applications
Organizations everywhere are attempting to implement new, more efficient information technology solutions to common business
needs. One of the key enabling technologies is an intranet: web-based applications running on the LAN to collect and display
company information. This is one of the most versatile, cost-effective ways to support many business needs. Here are some
examples of business applications that can be supported by an intranet (in conjunction with other server-side software such as a
database):
Information Management:


Strategic Decision Support



Enterprise resource management



Financial data reporting system



Time & leave system



Procurement and supply system



Travel system



Employee skills management, teaming



Balanced Scorecard data collection and reporting



Performance-based promotion decision support

Marketing:


Promotional presentations (multimedia)



Customer support



Customer surveys

Workflow:


Process control



Project scheduling and task tracking





Calendars for people and meeting rooms



Process monitoring and data collection



Activity-Based Costing



Business Process Improvement support



Signature authentication, approvals and tracking

Communications enhancement:


Secure communications



Security testing and monitoring



Registration form



Internet telephone



Video and teleconferencing



Anonymous channel ("rumor mill")



Threaded discussions



Chat server



Push technology



Groupware, e.g. NetMeeting



Web email

Document Management:


News

Training:


Online training



Online testing and certification



Collaborative training

• Manufacturing and operations
• Quality assurance

Extranet



An extranet is a computer network that allows controlled access from the outside, for specific business or educational purposes. In
a business-to-business context, an extranet can be viewed as an extension of an organization's intranet that is extended to users
outside the organization, usually partners, vendors, and suppliers, in isolation from all other Internet users. In contrast,business-toconsumer (B2C) models involve known servers of one or more companies, communicating with previously unknown consumer
users.

A new buzzword that refers to an intranet that is partially accessible to authorized outsiders. Whereas an intranet resides behind a
firewall and is accessible only to people who are members of the same company or organization, an extranet provides various
levels of accessibility to outsiders. You can access an extranet only if you have a valid username and password, and your identity
determines which parts of the extranet you can view.
• Extranets are becoming a very popular means for business partners to exchange information.
• Example: Dealers/distributors have access to product files such as :�� product specification,
� pictures,
� images, etc. to answer the queries of the customer.
Components of extranets
Some basic infrastructure components such as the internet Including :• TCP/IP protocols,
• E-mail,
• Web-browsers,
• External business partners &
• Tele-commuting employees place order, check status & send E-mail.
Benefits of Extranet



• Improved quality.
• lower travel costs.
• lower administrative & other overhead costs.
• reduction in paperwork.
• delivery of accurate information on time.
• improved customer service.
• better communication.
• overall improvement in business effectiveness
Disadvantages
• The suppliers & customer who don’t have technical knowledge feel problem.
• Faceless contact.
• Information can be misused by other competitors.
• Fraud may be possible.
• Technical Employees are required.

ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE (EDI)
Electronic data interchange (EDI) is the structured transmission of data between organizations by electronic means, which is used
to transfer electronic documents or business data from one computer system to another computer system, i.e. from one trading
partner to another trading partner without human intervention.It is more than mere e-mail; for instance, organizations might
replace bills of lading and even cheques with appropriate EDI messages. It also refers specifically to a family of standards. The
electronic data interchange process is the computer-to-computer exchange of business documents between companies. EDI
replaces the faxing and mailing of paper documents.
EDI documents use specific computer record formats that are based on widely accepted standards. However, each company will
use the flexibility allowed by the standards in a unique way that fits their business needs.
EDI is used in a variety of industries. Over 160,000 companies have made the switch to EDI to improve their efficiencies. Many of
these companies require all of their partners to also use EDI.

 Communication tool to handle most B2B traffic
 Two systems communicate using a standardized electronic format
 Transfer of business information among businesses using a specific standard format



 Information exchanged could be transaction data, request for quotes(RFQ), order acknowledgement, shipping status,
invoice etc
 transfer of structured data, by agreed message standards, from one computer system to another without human
intervention.

 EDI example
 Here is an example of how the electronic data interchange process works. A buyer prepares an order in his or her
purchasing system and has it approved.
 Next, the EDI order is translated into an EDI document format called an 850 purchase order.
 The EDI 850 purchase order is then securely transmitted to the supplier either via the internet or through a VAN (Value
Added Network).
 If the purchase order is sent using a VAN, then the buyer’s VAN interconnects with the supplier’s VAN. The VANs make sure
that EDI transactions are sent securely and reliably. The supplier’s VAN ensures that the supplier receives the order.
 The supplier’s computer system then processes the order. In the case of CovalentWorks’ clients, we provide VAN
transportation and our servers provide all of the software and hardware required to process EDI documents. Only internet
access and email are needed.
 Data security and control are maintained throughout the transmission process using passwords, user identification and
encryption. Both the buyer’s and the supplier’s EDI applications edit and check the documents for accuracy.

Overview of EDI benefits and drawbacks
The EDI process provides many benefits. Computer-to-computer exchange of information is much less expensive than handling
paper documents. Studies have shown that manually processing a paper-based order can cost $70 or more while processing an EDI
order costs less than one dollar.
Much less labor time is required
Fewer errors occur because computer systems process the documents rather than processing by hand
Business transactions flow faster.
Faster transactions support reduction in inventory levels, better use of warehouse space, fewer out-of-stock occurrences and lower
freight costs through fewer emergency expedites.
Paper purchase orders can take up to 10 days from the time the buyer prepares the order to when the supplier ships it. EDI orders
can take as little as one day.
One drawback to EDI is that companies must ensure that they have the resources in place to make an EDI program work; however,
the need for buying and hiring these resources or outsourcing them may be offset by the increased efficiency that EDI provides

Components of EDI
 Computer-to-computer
 Interbusiness
 Standard format
 Standard transaction
Computer-to-computer



Providing online links between buyer’s and seller’s business application.
– Delivery of information is done using electronic transactions.
Interbusiness

Transmission of data between businesses.
– Most companies using EDI, use third part service provider or Value Added Network(VAN).

Standard format



Electronic version of standard business form
– EDI handles standard business transaction in machine readable form.

Standard transaction
Syntax rules which define the allowed characters
and their order of occurrence
Codes (a vocabulary of allowed values)
Message design defining the structure of information
Transaction must be transmitted in predefined form

Process

Steps the Sender Must Take


Document preparation
Information necessary to produce a business document (purchase order, invoice, etc.) is collected in an electronic file.





Outbound translation
The electronic file is converted by the sender's translation software into the standard format (following ASC X12 standards
and Rail Industry Guidelines).



Outbound communication
The sender's computer connects to a VAN; upon successful receipt, the VAN processes and routes the transaction to the
electronic mailbox of the receiver.

Steps the Receiver Must Take


Inbound communication
The receiver's computer connects with the VAN and receives any files waiting in its electronic "in" box.



Inbound translation
The receiver's translation software "maps" or translates the electronic file from the ASC X12 standard message format into
a format that the receiver's internal system can understand.



Document processing
The receiver's internal document processing system takes over and the newly received document is handled according to
normal internal procedures.



Electronic Business

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