E-Commerce
What is E-commerce?
Electronic commerce (e-commerce)
– A business transaction that occurs over a
computer network.
– Sometimes called e-business.
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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
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E-commerce
Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
– Sale of products or services from a business to the
general public.
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E-commerce
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)
– Individuals using the Internet to sell products to other
individuals.
– Online auction,
such as eBay
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E-commerce
Business-to-Business (B2B)
– Sale and exchange of products and services between
businesses.
– Many businesses engage in both B2B and B2C.
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Advantages of E-commerce
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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E-commerce Limitations
 Privacy
 Security
 Comfort Factor
 Technology Driven
– Cannot reach users that do not have access to computers and
Internet.
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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.
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E-commerce Security
 Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
– Security protocol that encrypts all communications sent between your
computer and the Web server.
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E-commerce Security
 Secure HTTP (S-HTTP)
– An alternative to the popularly used security protocol SSL.
– Not the same as HTTPS.
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Fun Thought…
People are more violently opposed to fur than
leather because it’s safer to harass rich women
than motorcycle gangs.
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