The document discusses various aspects of e-commerce and online shopping. It covers topics such as the global online marketplace, 24/7 trading without physical stores, low start-up costs for websites, search functions on websites, fluid pricing that adjusts based on demand, building consumer trust, the lack of human contact online, limitations of product descriptions without seeing the physical item, security issues like identity theft, browsers to access websites, database systems to store information, and ensuring an effective user interface.

2. Global Marketplace
Global market place is basically a
market which all of the world look at.
All of the countries get involved in this
marketplace, so it’s a huge marketplace
with a lot of competition.
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3. 24/7 Trading
There is no need for staff in 24/7
trading because there is no shop
involved. 24/7 trading happens all
around the world and never stops.
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4. Low Start -up & Running Costs
Many company owners invest in
websites because it doesn’t cost a lot to
start-up so the risk is much lower than
say a company in a warehouse.
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5. Search Facilities
Search facilities are where you go
on a website and search what you
want. It then takes you to the
product you have searched
straight away.
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6. Fluid Pricing
Fluid pricing is where prices are
increased or decreased rapidly. For
example if more tickets to a football
match are sold then there wont be many
left to buy so the prices of the remaining
ones will go up.
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7. Consumer Trust
To ensure consumer trust to people you could
have someone sit on a live-chat and speak to
people who have questions. Also you could
accept money from PayPal so they know you
won’t be able to get into their bank account
from your website.
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8. Lack of Human Contact
When you are buying something on the internet.
You sit at your computer and do not
communicate with a single person. It is all written
on a screen for you to read.
This might put people off because they might
want to speak to a person when buying
something so they might not choose to use E-
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9. Product Description Problems
When buying something on the internet you
only have the information which is one the
screen. If you have questions about the product
there is no one there to ask. This is why some
people choose to go to the shop so they can get
the full information on the product.
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10. Security issues
When shopping online with your credit card you
could become a victim of identity theft. This is
where someone steals your card information and
pretends to be you. They can do this by
pretending to be a secure website and then steal
your information. You can avoid this by making
sure the website you’re on has a ‘https’ in the
link, this means it’s a secure website.
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11. Browsers
A browser is something on the internet which you
search to get to another website. Like when you
search something into yahoo and it comes up with
lots of other websites.
Web Authoring Software
Web authorizing software is something which
generates HTML code for you.
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12. Database systems
Websites like EBay usually have database systems.
It is where all the information is stored.
IP addresses
An IP address is four numbers that you need to
type in to find your router. The numbers need to
be between 0 and 255.
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13. Domain Names
The domain name is something you type in to get
to a website. If typed in correctly it takes you to the
website but typed in wrong and it doesn’t.
Multiple Domain Registration
A domain registration is where you register for a
domain name. A company will need at least 4
domain names just to be safe.
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14. Ports & Protocols
A protocol is an agreement between two
computers. If two computers don’t use the same
protocol as each other they won’t be able to work
together. Ports connect protocols and IP addresses
to each other. Computers have lots of ports.
Browser & Platform Compatibility
A browser is something on the internet
which allows you to view web pages. The
browser has a search bar. You enter a
websites URL into the search bar and it will
take you there.
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15. Paying to be prominent in search engine results
When you search something you assume
the website which is best for your search
appears but it doesn’t. The ones which
come up at the top are ones that pay to be
there. So they pay for there website to
appear first because more people click on
the first one that appears. This is how they
make money.
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16. Newsgroups & Forums
Newsgroups are usually very focused on a
specific topic. They are more structured
than most things. You usually need special
software to use them.
Web forums are just another place where
people discuss things. They are like
newsgroups.
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17. Banners & Pop-ups
When clicking on most websites a lot of the time
a banner or pop-up appear. This is where a
small box appears on your screen automatically
when you click on the website link. This is the
website promoting another website and the
other website will be paying them to promote
their website.
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18. Spam
Spam is where you receive a number of
messages at a time. If you subscribe to a
website sometimes they start spamming
your email address promoting other
websites. This puts some people off from
shopping with e-commerce because they
are scared they will be attacked with spam.
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19. Ensuring An Effective User Interface
If your website has an effective user
interface then it will run a lot faster. This
will make people enjoy it more because
they will find it easier to buy things. Also
this will make people want to come back
if they save the website link.
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20. Establishing Customer loyalty in a virtual
environment
Setting up a loyalty system for a website could
be like giving customers points or money so that
they can claim rewards for staying with your
company. Treat customers individually by
greeting them by their name when they log onto
your website.
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21. Site Names
If your site name is really long people will not
remember it so less people will find it. Also if your site
name has nothing to do with your website it will not
make sense so that’s another reason less people will
visit it. This is why Google, YouTube and twitter are so
popular because they are all easy to remember
because they are all one word websites.
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22. Direct Marketing
Direct marketing is targeting a specific
customer to buy your product. Like if
someone signs up for a newsletter they want
to be part of it. You then send them offers
and they are more likely to want them.
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23. Hacking
Hacking is when someone gains access to
someone else's computer without them
knowing.
Hacking Prevention
You can prevent hacking by purchasing
an anti-virus software.
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24. Viruses
A virus is a harmful bit of code or software that
can damage your computer.
Virus Prevention
You can prevent your computer from
getting a virus by installing an anti-virus
program.
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25. ID Theft
ID theft is where someone steals someone else's
identity by pretending to be them.
ID Theft Protection
Make sure you have a password that
isn’t easy to guess.
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26. Strong Passwords
Having a strong password is having a password
that is hard to guess. Like a password with a lot
of numbers in it is hard to guess whereas a
password which is someone's name is easier to
guess.
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