E-Commerce

1. E-Commerce

2. What is E-commerce? • Electronic commerce (e-commerce) • A business transaction that occurs over a computer network. • Sometimes called e-business.

3. E-commerce Basics • Bricks-and-Mortars Business • A company or business with a physical location. • Clicks-and-Mortars Business • A company or business with a physical location and an online presence. • Online Presence Only Business • A company or business that exists online only without a physical location. • Theoretically lower cost. • Examples: Amazon.com, E-Trade, and eBay

4. E-commerce • Business-to-Consumer (B2C) • Sale of products or services from a business to the general public.

5. E-commerce • Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) • Individuals using the Internet to sell products to other individuals. • Online auction, such as eBay

6. E-commerce • Business-to-Business (B2B) • Sale and exchange of products and services between businesses. • Many businesses engage in both B2B and B2C.

8. Advantages of E-commerce • Global market 24/7 • Businesses have access to 500 million people with Internet access • Customers can conduct price comparisons easily • Feedback can be immediate • Changing information can be available quickly • FAQ (frequently asked questions) pages can provide easy access to customer support • Ability to gather customer information, analyze it, and react • New and traditional approaches to generating revenue • Manufacturers can buy and sell directly, avoiding the cost of the middleman • Distribution costs for information reduced or eliminated • Options to create a paperless environment

9. What is an electronic storefront? • A Web site where an e-retailer displays its products. • A shopping cart allows a customer to collect and purchase products. • Also called an online catalog.

10. Making Money • There are many different ways to generate money online. • Sale of products and/or services • Subscriptions • Advertising • Banners • Pop-ups • Web Searches • Paid listings • Paid inclusion

11. Electronic Payment Systems • Electronic Cash (e-cash or digital cash) • Provides a private and secure method of transferring funds. • Privacy is maintained because it hides account information from the vendor. • Convenient alternative to credit cards. • Electronic wallets (e-wallets) is software that stores billing and shipping information. • Can transfer billing and shipping information to participating Web sites at checkout time. • Examples: Microsoft’s Passport & eWalletXpress • PayPal • Best known e-cash provider

12. E-commerce Limitations • Privacy • Security • Comfort Factor • Technology Driven • Cannot reach users that do not have access to computers and Internet.

13. E-commerce Security • Digital Certificates • A type of electronic business card that is attached to Internet transaction data. • Verifies the sender of the data and Web site. • Provided by Certificate Authorities • VeriSign & eTrust • Encryption • Uses high-level mathematical functions and computer algorithms to encode data and make it unreadable to snoopers. • Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a secure link between you and the Web server that ensures all data transmitted is encrypted. • URLs that begin with https:// are using SSL.

14. E-commerce Security • Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) • Security protocol that encrypts all communications sent between your computer and the Web server.

15. E-commerce Security • Secure HTTP (S-HTTP) • An alternative to the popularly used security protocol SSL. • Not the same as HTTPS.

16. Fun Thought… People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it’s safer to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs.