MGT 3225: E-Business
Lecture 4:
Building an E-commerce Presence
Md. Mahbubul Alam, PhD
Intended Learning Outcome
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Identify the key technology concepts behind the Internet.
Discuss the impact of the mobile platform and cloud computing.
Understand how the Web works.
Describe how Internet and Web features & services support e-commerce.
Building an E-commerce Site: A Systematic Approach
• Most important management challenges:
• Developing a clear understanding of business objectives
 Identification of target audience
 Characteristics of market space
 Strategic analysis
 Revenue model
 Types and sources of contents
 Conduct a SWOT analysis
• Knowing how to choose the right technology to achieve those objectives
Pieces of the Site-Building Puzzle
• Main areas where you will need to make decisions:
• Human resources and organizational capabilities
• Creating team with skill set needed to build and manage a successful site
o Hardware
o Software
o Telecommunications
o Site design
The Systems Development Life Cycle
• Methodology for understanding business objectives of a system and
designing an appropriate solution.
• Five major steps:
1.
Systems analysis/planning
2.
Systems design
3.
Building the system
4.
Testing
5.
Implementation
Web Site Systems Development Life Cycle
System Analysis/Planning
• Business objectives:
• List of capabilities you want your site to have
• System functionalities:
• List of information system capabilities needed to achieve business objectives
• Information requirements:
• Information elements that system must produce in order to achieve business
objectives
Systems Design: Hardware and Software Platforms
• System design specification:
o Description of main components of a system and their relationship to one
another.
• Two components of system design:
1.
Logical design
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Describe the data flow diagrams, processing functions, databases,
security and emergency back-up procedure.
2.
Physical design
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Translates the logical design into the physical components.
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Specifies the model of server to be purchased, the software to be used,
the size of the telecommunication link , the way the system will backed
up and protected from outsiders & so on.
Logical Design for a Simple Web Site
Physical Design for a Simple Web Site
Build/Host Your Own versus Outsourcing
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Outsourcing:
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Build: Own Vs. Outsourcing:
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hiring vendors to provide services involved in building site
Build your own requires team with diverse skill set; choice of software tools; both risks
and possible benefits
Use pre-built template, e.g., Yahoo Merchant Solutions, Amazon Stores, eBay
WordPress: a blogging tool with a sophisticated content management system (CMS).
CMS: A database software program specifically designed to manage structured and
unstructured data and objects in a Web site environment.
Risks: Shopping carts, credit card authentication, inventory and order processing.
Host: Own Vs. Outsourcing
 Hosting: hosting company responsible for ensuring site is accessible 24/7, for monthly
fee, e.g., Amazon EC2, Bluehost, GSI Commerce, Verizon/Terremark, etc.
 Co-location: firm purchases or leases Web server (with control over its operation), but
server is located at vendor’s facility.
Choices in Building and Hosting
Building Own E-Commerce Site: Tools
i.
Build from scratch
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Use Packaged site-building tools
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iii.
HTML
Dreamweaver
Expression
CGI Scripts
SQL Database
Commerce Server 10 (commerce-Sever.net)
IBM WebSphere
Use prebuilt templates
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Google Sites
Yahoo Merchant Solutions/Yahoo Small Business
Amazon Webstore
WordPress
Testing, Implementation, and Maintenance
• Testing
• Unit testing, testing the site’s program modules one at a time.
• System testing, testing the site at a whole, in a way the typical use will use
the site.
• Acceptance testing, verifies that the business objectives of the system as
originally conceived are in fact working.
• Implementation and maintenance:
• Maintenance is ongoing
• Maintenance costs: parallel to development costs
• Benchmarking, a process in which the site is compared with those of
competitors in terms of response speed, quality of layout and design.
Factors in Web Site Optimization
How to optimize?
• Page design and content:
 Reducing unnecessary HTML comments & white spaces
 Using more efficient graphics
 Avoiding unnecessary links to other pages in the site.
• Page Generation:
 Segregating computer servers to perform dedicated functions
 Using various devices from vendors to speed up servers.
• Page delivery
 Using edge-caching services such as Akamai
 Using specialized content delivery networks such as RealNetworks, or
 Increasing local bandwidth.
Web Site Budgets
• From $5,000 to millions of dollars/year
• Components of budget:
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System maintenance
System development
Content design & development
Hardware
Telecommunications
Software
Simple Vs. Multi-tiered Web Site Architecture
• System architecture
 Arrangement of software, machinery, and tasks in an information system needed to
achieve a specific functionality.
• Two-tier
 Web server and database server.
 A web server responds to requests for Web pages
 A database server provides backend data storage
• Multi-tier
 Web application servers
 The web server is linked to a middle-tier layer that typically includes a series of
application servers that perform specific tasks as well as a backend layer of existing
corporate systems.
Simple versus Multi-tiered Web Site Architecture (cont’d)
Web Server Software
• Why is needed?
 Answer requests from customers for HTML and XML pages.
• Software:
 Apache
o Leading Web server software (52% of market)
o Works only with UNIX, Linux Oss
o Unix, is the original programming language of the Internet & Web
o Linux, is a derivative of Unix designed for the personal computer.
o Apache is free & can be downloaded from many sites
 Microsoft’s Internet Information Server (IIS)
o Second major Web server software (20% of market)
o Windows-based, compatible with a wide selection of Microsoft utility and
support programs.
Site Management Tools
• Basic tools
 Included in all Web servers
 Verify that links on pages are still valid
 Identify orphan files
 Quickly report on potential problems and errors that users may encounter.
 In case of failure users encounter a message “404 Error: Page Does Not Exist”.
• Third-party software and services for advanced site management
 Monitor customer purchases, marketing campaign effectiveness, etc.
 e.g., WebTrends Analytics 9, Google Analytics
Dynamic Page Generation Tools
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Dynamic page generation:
 Contents of Web page stored as objects in database and fetched when needed.
 Pages are dynamic, content is changing minute by minute.
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Common tools:
 CGI (Common Gateway Interface), ASP (Active Server Pages) , JSP (Java Server
Pages)
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Advantages
 Lowers menu costs (costs incurred by merchants for changing product descriptions
& prices)
 Permits easy online market segmentation (ability to sell the same product to
different markets).
 Enables cost-free price discrimination (ability to sell the same product to different
customers at different prices).
 Enables Web content management (used to create and manage web content).
 Allows user interaction
Application Servers
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Software programs that provide specific business functionality required for a
Web site.
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Basic idea of application servers is to isolate the business applications from the
details of displaying Web pages to users on the front end and the details of
connecting to databases on the back end.
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Application servers are a kind of middleware software that provides the glue
connecting traditional corporate systems to the customer as well as all the
functionality needed to conduct e-commerce.
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At past, a number of software firms developed specific separate programs for
each function.
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Single-function applications increasingly being replaced by integrated software
tools that combine all functionality needed for e-commerce site.
E-commerce Merchant Server Software
• Provides basic functionality for online sales
 Online catalog
o List of products available on Web site
 Shopping cart
o Allows shoppers to set aside, review, edit selections, and then make
purchase
 Credit card processing
o Typically works in conjunction with shopping cart
o Verifies card and puts through credit to company’s account at checkout
Merchant Server Software Packages
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e.g., e-commerce server suite
Offers an integrated environment that provides most or all of the functionality
and capabilities needed to develop a sophisticated, customer-centric site.
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Key factors in selecting a package or e-commerce suite
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Functionality
Support for different business models
Business process modeling tools
Visual site management and reporting
Performance and scalability
Connectivity to existing business systems
Compliance with standards
Global and multicultural capability
Local sales tax and shipping rules
Building Your Own E-commerce Site
• Options for small firms
 Hosted e-commerce sites, e.g., Yahoo’s Merchant Solutions
o Site building tools
o E-commerce templates
 Open-source merchant server software
o Enables you to build truly custom site
o Requires programmer with expertise, time
Open Source Software Options
Choosing the Hardware for an E-commerce Site
• Hardware platform:
 Underlying computing equipment that system uses to achieve e-commerce
functionality
• Objective:
 Enough platform capacity to meet peak demand without wasting money
• Important to understand the different factors that affect speed,
capacity, and scalability of a site.
Right-Sizing Your Hardware Platform: The
Demand Side
• Demand is the most important factor affecting speed of site
• Factors in overall demand:
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Number of simultaneous users in peak periods
Nature of customer requests (user profile)
Type of content (dynamic versus static Web pages)
Required security
Number of items in inventory
Number of page requests
Speed of legacy applications
Degradation in Performance as
Number of Users Increases—Resource Utilization
Degradation in Performance as Number of Users
Increases—Number of Connections
Right-Sizing Your Hardware Platform: The Supply Side
• Scalability:
 Ability of site to increase in size as demand warrants
• Ways to scale hardware:
 Vertically
o Increase processing power of individual components
 Horizontally
o Employ multiple computers to share workload
 Improve processing architecture
Scaling Techniques
Vertically Scaling a System
Horizontally Scaling a System
Other E-Commerce Site Tools
• Web site design: Basic business considerations
 Enabling customers to find and buy what they need
• Tools for Web site optimization
 Search engine placement
o Keywords, page titles
o Identify market niches, localize site
o Expertise
o Links
o Search engine ads
E-commerce
Web Site
Features
that Annoy
Customers
Web Site Optimization: Tools & Techniques
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Optimization: how to attract lots of people.
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Tools and Techniques:
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Metatags, titles, page contents: use appropriate and attractive keywords (e.g.,
“Vintage cars” instead “antique cars” or “restored cars”).
ii. Identify market niches: target specific market (e.g., “Victorian jewelry”, “1950s
jewelry”).
iii. Offer expertise: white papers, industry analyses, FAQ pages.
iv. Get linked up: encourage other sites to link to your site, add blog, listing in Yahoo
directory.
v. Buy ads
vi. Local e-commerce: target local people initially. Use keywords that connote your
location (city, town, region). e.g., “Vermont cheese” or “San Francisco blues music”.
Tools for Interactivity and Active Content
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CGI (Common Gateway Interface), a set of standards for communication between a browser
and a program running on a server that allows for interaction between the user and the
server.
ASP (Active Server Pages), a software development tool that enables programmers using
Microsoft’s IIS package to build dynamic pages.
Java, JSP, and JavaScript:
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Java: create interactivity & active content on the client computer
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JSP: dynamically generate Web pages in response to user requests
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JavaScript: control the objects on an HTML page & handle interactions with the browser
ActiveX and VBScript: invented by Microsoft, ActiveX competes with Java, VBScript competes
with JavaScript.
Coldfusion, an integrated server-wide environment for developing interactive Web
applications.
Web 2.0 design elements: Widgets, Mashups.
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Widget a small, prebuilt chunk of code that executes automatically in your HTML Web page; capable
of performing a wide variety of tasks.
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Mashups data pulling functionality. Pull data from one program and include in another program.
e.g., Google Map mashups.
Personalization Tools
• Personalization
 Ability to treat people based on personal qualities and prior history with
site
• Customization
 Ability to change the product to better fit the needs of the customer
• Tools to achieve:
 Cookies
The Information Policy Set
• Privacy policy
– Set of public statements declaring how site will treat customers’ personal
information that is gathered by site
• Accessibility rules
– Set of design objectives that ensure disabled users can affectively access
site
Building a Mobile Web Presence
Assignment: Introduction to HTML5
• What is HTML5? Discuss the main features of HTML5.
• What are the relative advantages of using HTML5 compare to its
predecessors?
• What are the opportunities to develop cross-platform mobile applications
by using HTML5?