The Malaysian
MAY 2012
o THE HISTORY OF ECOMMERCE: How Did
It All Begin? – page 2
o E-DAGANG: Kelebihan
dan Kelemahan – page 16
Your Editor:
o
Nazura Ngah (GA01300)
o
Nur Afiza Naharuddin (GA01315)
o
Suhada Affni Sulaiman (GA01402)
May 2012
B
y definition, ecommerce or
electronic commerce, is the
buying and selling of products
or services via the Internet. For many
Americans, ecommerce is something
we participate in on a daily basis, like
online bill payment or purchasing
from an e-tailer.
Nowadays the thought
without
ecommerce
seems unfathomable,
complicated and an
inconvenience to many.
It wasn’t until only a
few decades ago that
the idea of ecommerce
had even appeared.
of
living
Ecommerce was introduced 40 years
ago and, to this day, continues to grow
with new technologies, innovations,
and thousands of businesses entering
the online market each year. The
convenience,
safety,
and
user
experience of ecommerce has improved
exponentially since its inception in the
1970’s. This article will address some
of the key players and
milestones
of
ecommerce.
recipient’s
order
processing system. EDI
allowed the transfer of
data
seamlessly
without any human
 Ecommerce
Timeline
1960-1982
Paving the way for electric commerce
was the development of the Electronic
Data Interchange (EDI). EDI replaced
traditional mailing and faxing of
documents with a digital transfer of
data from one computer to another.
Trading partners could transfer
orders, invoices and other business
transactions using a data format that
met the ANSI ASC X12, the
predominant set of standards in North
America.
Once an order is sent, it is then
examined by a VAN (Value-Added
Network) and finally directed to the
2
intervention.
Michael Aldrich, an English inventor,
innovator and entrepreneur is credited
with developing the predecessor to
online shopping. The idea came about
during a stroll with his wife and
Labrador when Aldrich lamented
about their weekly supermarket
shopping
expedition.
This
conversation sparked an idea to hook
a television to their supermarket to
deliver the groceries. Immediately
after the discussion Aldrich quickly
planned and implemented his idea.
The Malaysian e-commerce
May 2012
In 1979 Aldrich connected a television
set to a transaction processing
computer with a telephone line and
created
what
he
coined,
“teleshopping,” meaning shopping at a
distance.
1982-1990
It was apparent
from the beginning
that B2B online
shopping would be
commercially
lucrative but B2C
would
not
be
successful until the
later
widespread
use of PC’s and the
World Wide Web,
also known as, the Internet. In 1982,
France launched the precursor to the
Internet called, Minitel.
The online service used a Videotex
terminal machine that was accessed
through telephone lines. The Minitel
was free to telephone subscribers and
connected millions of users to a
computing network.
By 1999, over 9 million Minitel
terminals had been distributed and
were connecting approximately 25
million users in this interconnected
network of machines. The Minitel
system peaked in 1991 and slowly met
its demise after the success of the
Internet 3 years later. Eventually, in
2011, France Telecom announced its
shutdown of the Minitel service
system. Sadly, it had not become what
it had hoped to be, the Internet.
3
90’s To Present
In 1990 Tim Berners Lee, along with
his friend Robert Cailliau, published a
proposal to build a “Hypertext project”
called,
“WorldWideWeb.”
The
inspiration for this project was
modeled after the Dynatex SGML
reader licensed by CERN.
That same year, Lee, using
a NeXTcomputer created
the first web server and
wrote
the
first
web
browser.
Shortly
thereafter, he went on to
debut the web on Aug. 6,
1991
as
a
publicly
available service on the
Internet. When Berner’s
Lee decided he would take on the task
of marrying hypertext to the Internet,
in doing that, the process led to him
developing URL, HTML and HTTP.
When
the
National
Science
Foundation lifted its restrictions on
commercial use of the NET in 1991,
the Internet and online shopping saw
remarkable growth. In September
1995, the NSF began charging a fee
for
registering
domain
names. 120,000 registered domain
names were present at that time and
within 3 years that number grew to
beyond 2 million. By this time, NSF’s
role in the Internet came to an end
and a lot of the oversight shifted to the
commercial sector.
The 1992 book, Future Shop: How
Technologies Will Change The Way
We Shop And What We Buy, provided
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May 2012
insight and predictions on the future
of consumerism. An overview of the
book explains:
For hundreds of years the marketplace
has been growing more complex and
more confusing for consumers to
navigate. Published in 1992, long
before the Internet became a
household word. Future Shop argued
that new information technologies,
combined with innovative public
policies,
could
help
consumers
overcome that confusion. A prescient
manifesto of the coming revolution in
e-commerce, Future Shop’s vision of
consumer
empowerment
still
resonates today.
From the beginning, there were many
hesitations and concerns with online
shopping but the development of a
security protocol - the Secure Socket
Layers (SSL) - encryption certificate
by Netscape in 1994 provided a safe
means to transmit data over the
Internet. Web browsers were able to
check and identify whether a site had
an authenticated SSL certificate and
based on that, could determine
whether or not a site could be trusted.
Now, SSL encryption protocol is a
vital part of web security and version
3.0 has become the standard for most
web servers today.
4
 Online
Megastores
Ecommerce
The mid-nineties to 2000’s saw major
advancements in the commercial use
of the Internet. The largest online
retailer in the world Amazon,
launched in 1995 as an online
bookstore.
Brick-and-mortar
bookstores were limited to about
200,000 titles and Amazon, being an
online only store, without physical
limitations
was
able
to
offer
exponentially more products to the
shopper.
Currently, Amazon offers not only
books
but
DVDs,
CDs,
MP3
downloads, computer software, video
games, electronics, apparel, furniture,
food, and toys. A unique characteristic
of Amazon’s website is the user review
feature that includes a rating scale to
rate a product. Customer reviews are
now considered the most effective
social media tactic for driving
sales.
The
company
attracts
approximately 65 million customers to
its U.S. website per month and earned
revenue of 34.204 billion in 2010. In
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May 2012
2001, Amazon.com launched its first
mobile commerce site.
Another major success story of the dot
com bubble was Ebay, an online
auction
site
that
debuted
in
1995. Other retailers like Zappos and
Victoria Secret followed suit with
online shopping sites; Zappos being a
web only operation.
Also in 1995, was the inception of
Yahoo followed by Google in 1998, two
leading search engines in the US.
These successful web directories began
their own ecommerce subsidiaries
with Google Shopping and Yahoo!
Auction, in following years.
Global ecommerce company, PayPal,
began its services in 1998 and
currently operates in 190 markets.
The
company is
an acquired
bank
that
performs
payment
processing
for
online
vendors,
auction
sites,
and
other commercial users. They allow
their customers to send, receive and
hold funds in 24 currencies worldwide.
Currently, PayPal manages more than
232 million accounts, more than 100
million of them active.
As more and more people began doing
business online, a need for secure
5
communication
and
transactions
became apparent. In 2004, the
Payment Card Industry Security
Standards Council (PCI) was formed
to ensure businesses were meeting
compliance with various security
requirements.
The organization was created for the
development, enhancement, storage,
dissemination and implementation of
security standards for account data
protection.
The growing use of the Internet, tablet
devices, and smart phones coupled
with larger consumer confidence will
see that ecommerce will continue to
evolve and expand.
With
social
media
growing
exponentially in recent years, the
conversation between businesses and
consumers has become more engaging,
making it easier for transactional
exchanges to happen online. Internet
retailers continue to strive to create
better content and a realistic shopping
experience with technologies like
augmented reality.
With mobile commerce gaining speed,
more users are purchasing from the
palm of their hand. The market for
mobile payments is expected to
quadruple by 2014, reaching $630
billion in value. Total sales in
ecommerce have grown from $27.6
billion in 2000 to $143.4 billion in
2009 and are expected to continue its
growth for the foreseeable future.
The Malaysian e-commerce
May 2012
et us now look at the
fundamental
strategic
requirements an organization
needs to consider if it wants to ensure
that an e-commerce or online security
project will be a success. Technology
components of good online security,
such as encrypted email,
secure SSL websites, and
intranets/extranets
all
have a role to play in
protecting valuable data,
but for security to be
effective it must be
designed as a whole and
applied
consistently
across an organization
and its IT infrastructure.
There
is
a
subtle
difference in the design
of a software system and that of a
security system. While designing
softwares, the functional correctness
of applications is the prime concern. In
fact, in software systems, the designer
aims at ensuring that for reasonable
input, the user gets reasonable output.
This can be traced from the system
specification. But in the case of
security systems, the designer has to
ensure that the system properties are
preserved in the face of attack. Thus
the system outputs should not be
completely
disastrous
for
unreasonable inputs. In security
systems, there definitely can be active
interference from the adversary and
6
the system should be hardened to
withstand that. Moreover, in security
systems, more functionality implies
more complex system and more
security holes in the system.
The steps to design security of a
system is to
model
the
system,
identify the
security
properties to
be
preserved,
model
the
adversary,
and
then
ensure that
the security
properties
are preserved under attacks.
Detail modelling of the system and
identification of the required security
properties are possible. But it almost
impossible to accurately model the
adversaries and vulnerabilities of the
system
exploited
by
those
adveransaries. The result is that there
nothing called “absolute security”.
Thus to the designer, system security
means: under given assumptions
about the system, no attack of a given
form will destroy specified properties.
Thus system security in general and ecommerce security in particular is
The Malaysian e-commerce
May 2012
conceived of a process rather than a
one-time developed product.
Security
engineering
cycle
life
It is important to note that
the e-commerce security
need of an enterprise is
dynamic rather than static
and
depends
on
the
operational dynamics, shift
or addition to business goals,
technological advancement etc.
Thereby, the process of designing and
deploying an information security
infrastructure is a continuous process
of analysis, design, monitoring, and
adaptation to changing needs. Often,
the change in needs is frequent in the
organizations.
Security requirements
7
During this phase, the security needs
of
an
enterprise are
identified.
These
needs
are governed
by
the
necessity
to
protect
the
following
security
attributes:
 Authentication: This is the
ability to say that an electronic
communication (whether via
email or web) does genuinely
come from who it purports
to.Without face-to-face contact,
passing oneself off as someone
else is not difficult on the
internet. Forging the “From:”
field in an email header is a
trivial matter, and far more
sophisticated
attacks
are
standard fare for hackers.
In online commerce the best
defence against being misled by
an imposter is provided by
unforgeable digital certificates
from a trusted authority (such
as VeriSign). Although anyone
can generate digital certificates
for themselves, a trusted
authority demands real-world
proof of identity and checks its
validity before issuing a digital
certificate. Only certificates
from trusted authorities will be
automatically recognized and
trusted by the major web
The Malaysian e-commerce
May 2012
browser and
software.
email
client
Authentication can be provided
in some situations by physical
tokens (such as a drivers
license),
by
a
piece
of
information known only to the
person involved (eg. a PIN), or
by a physical property of a
person (fingerprints or retina
scans). Strong authentication
requires at least two or more of
these. A digital certificate
provides
strong
authentication as
it is a unique
token
(the
certificate itself)
and requires a
password
(something known
only to the owner)
for its usage.
 Privacy: In online commerce,
privacy is the ability to ensure
that information is accessed and
changed only by authorized
parties.
Typically
this
is
achieved
via
encryption.
Sensitive data (such as credit
card details, health records,
sales figures etc.) are encrypted
before being transmitted across
the open internet – via email or
the web. Data which has been
protected with strong 128-bit
encryption may be intercepted
by hackers, but cannot be
decrypted by them within a
short time.
8
Again, digital certificates are
used here to encrypt email or
establish a secure HTTPS
connection with a web-server.
For extra security, data can also
be stored long-term in an
encrypted format.
 Authorization:
Authorization
allows a person or computer
system to determine if someone
has the authority to request or
approve
an
action
or
information. In the physical 128
A
Sengupta,
C
Mazumdar and M S
Barik
world,
authentication
is
usually achieved by
forms
requiring
signatures, or locks
where only authorized
individuals hold the
keys.
Authorization
is tied with
authentication. If a system can
securely verify that a request
for information (such as a web
page) or a service (such as a
purchase requisition) has come
from a known individual, the
system can then check against
its internal rules to see if that
person
has
sufficient
authority for the request to
proceed.
 Integrity:
Integrity
of
information means ensuring
that a communication received
has not been altered or
tampered with. Traditionally,
The Malaysian e-commerce
May 2012
this problem has been dealt
with by having tight control
over access to paper documents
and
requiring
authorized
officers to initial all changes
made – a system with obvious
drawbacks and limitations. If
someone is receiving sensitive
information online, he not only
wants to ensure that it is
coming from who he expects it
to (authentication), but also
that it hasn’t been intercepted
by a hacker while in transit and
its contents
altered.
One solution
is afforded by
using digital
certificates to
digitally
“sign”
messages. A
travelling employee can send
production orders with integrity
to the central office by using
their digital certificate to sign
their email. The signature
includes a hash of the original
message – a brief numerical
representation of the message
content.
 Non-repudiation:
Nonrepudiation is the ability to
guarantee that once someone
has requested a service or
approved an action, they cannot
turn around and say “I didn’t do
that!”. Non-repudiation allows
one to legally prove that a
person has sent a specific email
9
or made a purchase approval
from a website.
Traditionally non-repudiation
has been achieved by having
parties sign contracts and then
have the contracts notarized by
trusted third parties. Sending
documents involved the use of
registered mail, and postmarks
and signatures to date-stamp
and record the process of
transmission and acceptance. In
the realm of e-commerce,
nonrepudiation is
achieved by using
digital
signatures.
Digital
signatures which
have been issued
by
a
trusted
authority
(such
as VeriSign) cannot be forged
and their validity can be
checked with any major email
or web browser software. A
digital
signature
is
only
installed
in
the
personal
computer of its owner, who is
usually required to provide a
password to make use of the
digital signature to encrypt or
digitally
sign
their
communications. If a company
receives a purchase order via
email which has been digitally
signed, it has the same legal
assurances as on receipt of a
physical signed contract.
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May 2012
Security policy
i.
The first step in securing an ecommerce venture is to formulate
written security policies (website 1)
which clearly define the requirements
for each component of the system
(human, e-Commerce security – A life
cycle approach 129 technological,
legal) and how they interact. An
organization’s security policy defines
its position on the protection of its
physical and IT assets. It identifies
the physical and intellectual property
assets that are most valuable for the
continued success of the company, and
specifies how they should be protected.
The security policy may cover issues
like:
a) What service types (e.g., web,
FTP, SMTP) users may have
access to
b) What classes of information
exist within the organization
and which should be encrypted
before being transmitted
c) What client data does the
organization hold. Howsensitive
is it? Howis it to be protected?
d) What class of employees may
have remote access to the
corporate network
e) Roles and responsibilities of
managers and employees in
implementing
the
security
policy
f) How security breaches are to be
responded to the security policy
should also consider physical
aspects of network security. For
example:
10
ii.
iii.
Who has access to the
corporate server?
Is it
in a
locked
environment or kept in
an open office?
What is the procedure for
determining who should
be given access?
The security policy regulates the
activities of employees just as much as
it defines how IT infrastructure will be
configured. The policy should include
details on how it is to be enforced and
how individual responsibilities are
determined.
For it to be effective, the policy needs
regular testing and review to judge the
security measures. The review process
needs to take into account any
changes in technology or business
practices which may have an influence
upon security.
Lastly, the policy itself needs to be
regarded as a living document which
will be updated at set intervals to
reflect the evolving ways in which the
business, customers and technology
interact.
Security infrastructure
The security infrastructure (website 1)
is the implementation of the security
policy. The security infrastructure is
the technology which is chosen to
secure the e-business and the rules by
which it operates. Some examples of
this include:
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May 2012
a) enforcing password aging
and expiration
b) enforcing the complexity
of passwords
c) blocking
prohibited
outbound
connections
from the firewall
d) requiring
digital
certificates
to
authenticate
remote
access connections to an
organization’s network
e) requiring
badges
for
physical
access
to
building
f) requiring all physical
access to servers to be
recorded in a written log
Finally, it must be enforced. The
penalties for breaches of the security
policy must be made clear to all
employees and partners and must be
enforced if policy requirements are
broken or ignored.
Again, the security infrastructure
entails managing the behavior of both
IT and human resources. It should be
regularly policed:
a) Who checks written logs?
b) How often are firewall
reports checked?
11
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May 2012
erniagaan eletronik berlaku melalui talian eletronik yang melibatkan
urusan berkait dengan pengiklanan, pesanan penjualan dan semua aktiviti
pembelian dan penjualan termasuk juga penghantaran bagi perkhidmatan
atau produk yang memungkinkan dihantar melalui media eletronik saperti
gambar, perisian dan khidmat nasihat. Organisasi perniagaan memerlukan polisi
dan strategi dalam memasuki bidang urusniaga ini bagi menakluki pelanggan,
sementara pelanggan pula mempunyai banyak pilihan untuk membuat keputusan
dalam mendapatkan barangan dan perkhidmatan.
Sementara
juga harus
pihak kerajaan
menyokong dan
menyediakan
kemudahan
serta
mengadakan
polisi
dan
strateginya
tersendiri
yang
mana
boleh
melindungi
kedua-dua
pihak, peniaga
dan pembeli. Daripada isu, persekitaran dan perkembangan e-dagang
menampakkan bahawa ianya akan berkembang dan dianggarkan akan
menjadi satu trend dan diterima oleh masyarakat di dunia termasuk di Malaysia.
Dengan itu semua pihak yang terlibat harus bersedia untuk menghadapi ledakan
e-dagang dalam masa terdekat. Penerimaaan pada peringkat permulaan mungkin
agak lembab dan kurang sambutan mengenai berpunca kepercayaan dari segi
keselamatan, sukar untuk berubah dengan tabiat pembelian cara tradisional,
masih merasa kepuasan urusniaga tawar menawar dan juga masih ramai yang
bersikap “buta dan takut komputer”.
Keadaan ini sama juga semasa autoteller machine (ATM) mula diperkenalkan
yang kurang mendapat sambutan dan hanya digunakan oleh gulongan “elite”
sahaja ketika itu kini penggunaannya begitu meluas sekali. Perkara yang sama
juga
dijangka
akan
berlaku
ke
atas
e-dagang.
Perkembangan yang pesat dalam bidang teknologi maklumat terutama dalam
perkembangan internet telah membawa kepada penggunaan menyeluruh
eletronik(e) dalam bidang urusan harian saperti e-niaga, e-kerajaan dan termasuk
12
The Malaysian e-commerce
May 2012
juga e-dagang. Komponen penting dalam perniagaan secara e-dagang ialah e-mail
dan dalam internet laman web.
Pengaruh e-dagang itu sendiri mula berkembang kepada perniagaaan atau
perkhidmatan dengan pesatnya. Diantara perkhidmatan dan barangan yang
mempengaruhi peniagaan secara e-dagang ialah ubatan, pakaian, hadiah harijadi,
tempah tiket, muzik, laman web, buku termasuk dan juga gambar lucah.
Menurut Wong Fan Nay Pengarah Eksekutif
PDX Infoworld Scln Bhd's :
“E-commerce is still in its infancy in Malaysia. This has to do with the state of
regulatory framework, Government incentives, consumer education and
awarenessin Malaysia.”
Di Malaysia, mengikut kajian yang dibuat menunjukkan bahawa terdapat
peningkatan dalam urusniaga melalui e-dagang di mana terdapat peningkatan
yang mendadak dari tahun 1998 yang hanya berjumlah RM 76 juta kepada RM 361
juta pada tahun 1999, jangkaan yang dibuat pada tahun 2000 dianggarkan akan
meningkat kepada RM1.14juta. (Berita Harian, 21 Julai,2000).
Gaya hidup perbelanjaan menggunakan kad kredit telah lama mendapat tempat di
Malaysia. Keadaan ini adalah bersesuaian dan menjadi faktor penyokong kepada
jualan secara e-dagang dari segi kaedah pembayaran.
Perlindungan juga diberi oleh Akta Teknologi Maklumat (1999) kepada syarikatsyarikat yang menjalani perniagaan melalui elektronik dan juga pengguna.
Perkembangan mengenai dengan infrastuktur telah diberi perhatian oleh kerajaan
melalui projek Koridor Raya Multimedia. Keadaan ini dapat menyokong
perkembangan teknologi maklumat termasuk e-dagang.
Beberapa polisi dan strategi yang boleh diambil oleh Kerajaan dan peniaga bagi
perniagaan e-dagang di Malaysia dengan lebih berkesan. Namun begitu beberapa
isu atau perkara perlu diberi perhatian semasa merancang dan polisi dan strategi
bagi e-dagang di Malaysia terutama berkait dengan adat resam, agama,
kebudayaan kerana ianya terdiri masyarakat majmuk.
Malaysia yang terdiri daripada masyarakat majmuk terdiri daripada berbilang
bangsa dan agama akan menjadikan kelainan dalam merencanakan polisi dan
strategi bagi e-dagang. Polis dan strategi perlu dimainkan oleh kedua-dua belah
pihak iaitu pihak swasta dan juga kerajaan.
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The Malaysian e-commerce
May 2012
 Pihak Kerajaan
Pihak kerajaan perlu memberi sokongan berkaitan dengan aspek
perundangan yang tidak membebankan, mudah dan konsisten. Peraturan
hendaklah telus serta melindungi hak, harta dan mengawal penipuan.
 Membanyakkan insentif kepada pihak swasta membangunkan
perniagaan e-dagang.
 Kerajaan tidak akan membuat penghalang kepada perkembangan edagang dengan mengadakan sekatan-sekatan.
 Meminda dan mengubal undang-undang e-dagang dari masa ke
semasa bagi menyesuaikan dengan keadaan semasa demi untuk
memperkembangkan urusniaga e-dagang.
 Melaksanakan dasar tiada tarif atau cukai dikenakan bagi cukai
jualan ke atas urusniaga e-dagang.
 Mengalakan self regulated industry kepada sektor swasta
 Mengadakan infrastuktur telekomunikasi secara menyeluruh untuk
dipergunakan dalam urusniaga.
 Menerap kecekapan ilmu IT kepada masyarakat bagi memboleh dan
mempercepatkan mereka berkebolehan untuk menggunakan alatan
teknologi
maklumat
seterusnya
membolehkan
mereka
berurusan dalam perniagaan eletronik.

 Pihak Swasta
 Mengadakan sistem pembayaran eletronik yang lebih fleksibel dan
menjamin keselamatan pembayaran oleh pembeli.
 Menjamin bahawa hakmilik dan data peribadi pelanggan dijamin
selamat guna untuk memberi keselesaan kepada pelanggan.
 Menjamin keselamatan dan pengguna tidak mengalami kerugian dan
mempunyai kemudahan membuat aduan.
 Mengadakan kemudahan untuk pelanggan berintaksi dengan
menggunakan konsep mesra pelanggan.
 Pihak swasta sebelum membuat perancangan polisi dan strategi
dibuat perlu melihat suasana persekitaran dan polisi yang disediakan
oleh kerajaan supaya tidak bercanggah dan bertentangan dengan
dasar kerajaan.
 Mengadakan kaedah yang menjamin bagi pelanggan mendapatkan
semula wang mereka jika ianya tidak memenuhi spesifikasi yang
ditetapkan.
 Menwujudkan banyak tempat perkhidmatan kepada pengguna
samada ada untuk membuat pesanan atau aduan.
14
The Malaysian e-commerce
May 2012
Kejayaan e-dagang memerlukan
gabungan perkongsian diantara
swasta dan sektor awam. Dalam
kaitan ini sektor awam perlu
menjadi
peneraju
dengan
mengelakan
kekeliruan,
pertentangan
di
antara
beberapa agensi kerajaan serta
berhati-hati
supaya
tidak
timbul pertelingahan daripada
sudut kewibaan (authority).
Kepesatan
dalam
meningkatkan
infrastruktur
komunikasi
dalam
bidang
teknologi
maklumat
akan
mempengaruhi
kelajuan
penerapan
e-dagang
bagi
sesebuah negara.
Malaysia
sudah pun menuju ke arah itu
dengan
projek
Lebuhraya
Multimedia.
Dengan
itu
dijangka urusniaga melalui edagang akan menjadi satu
budaya
urusniaga
yang
menggalakan dalam masa yang
terdekat.
Perdagangan e-dagang mempunyai
peluang yang sangat besar di
dalam kegiatan atau urusan
perniagaan di Malaysia. Disamping
itu juga memperkenalkan cara dan
gaya baru dalam urusniaga. Oleh
yang demikian peniaga harus
bersedia dan merangka polisi dan
strategi bagi memasuki pasaran
baru dengan e-dagang.
Perdagangan
edagang mempunyai peluang yang
sangat besar di dalam kegiatan atau
urusan perniagaan di Malaysia.
Disamping itu juga memperkenalkan
cara dan gaya baru dalam urusniaga.
15
Oleh yang demikian peniaga harus
bersedia dan merangka polisi dan
strategi bagi memasuki pasaran baru
dengan e-dagang.
The Malaysian e-commerce
May 2012
ana-mana pengguna biasa yang ada komputer peribadinya tersendiri, ada
telefon dan modem, ada akaun dengan mana-mana pemberi khidmat Internet
(Internet Service Provider atau ISP), boleh berurusan dengan mana-mana
''pedagang'' yang telah mengiklankan barangannya atau perkhidmatannya
menerusi
internet.
perniagaan menerusi talian tidak akan
terhalang oleh aspek geografi. Produk
yang dipasarkan menerusi talian boleh
dicapai oleh pengguna dari serata
dunia.Dengan
itu
membolehkan
pelanggan membeli belah 24 jam dari
mana-mana
lokasi.
pakar-pakar pemasaran sebagai satu
sektor perniagaan dan pemasaran yang
tidak boleh diabaikan lagi dan menjadi
satu alternatif wajib untuk apa jua jenis
perniagaan yang ingin pergi ke
peringkat antarabangsa.
Antara kelebihan lain ialah menyediakan
pelanggan
dengan
lebih
pilihan,
menyediakan barangan produk yang
lebih
murah
dengan
membuat
perbandingan,
penghantaran
lebih
cepat, maklumat terperinci, lelong,
interaksi dengan pelanggan lain dan
sebagainya. Contoh kelebihan Pasaran
Perdagangan
Elektronik
kepada
individu:
Salah satu kebaikan dan keuntungan
daripada menggunakan kaedah edagang ini ialah perangkaian dan
integrasi di antara semua syarikatsyarikat yang berhubung baik sebagai
pembeli, penjual ataupun penyedia
perkhidmatan yang berkenaan. Dengan
cara ini pertukaran maklumat dan
transaksi perniagaan dapat dijalankan
daam sekelip mata yang dahulunya
mungkin dibelenggu oleh karenah
mengisian borang-borang kertas dan
birokrasi.
Membolehkan
pengguna
mencari,
membeli, menginsurankan, membuat
penghantaran tanpa perlu pergi ke
pengedar (dealer) & boleh lakukan
carian di Yahoo! Untuk senarai
pembekal
kereta.
Pengguna boleh mencari, membuat
pesanan dan membuat pembayaran
melalui web dengan menggunakan cek
atau kad kredit. Diskaun sehingga 30%.
Secara idealnya semua ini dapat
dijalankan dengan efisyen oleh semua
pihak yang terlibat dalam rangkaian edagang itu dan tidak dibelenggu oleh
isu-isu ketidakserasian (incompatibility)
atau piawaian (standard) teknologi dan
telekomunikasi yang tidak serupa. Ini
telah ditawarkan oleh teknologi Internet
yang
menggunakan
protokol
telekomunikasinya
yang
dipanggil
TCP/IP yang telah diterima pakai
sebagai
satu
piawaian
yang
membolehkan
sebarang
pelantar
(platform) komputer dapat saling
E-dagang semakin meluas digunakan di
kalangan masyarakat Internet terutama
di negara-negara barat mulai pada
pertengahan tahun 1990an. Malah edagang sekarang ini diakui oleh
syarikat-syarikat
antarabangsa
dan
The Malaysian e-commerce
16
May 2012
berhubung dan bertukar maklumat
dengan mudah. Pengguna Web juga
dapat berinteraksi dengan dunia Web
dengan
mudah
dengan
hanya
menggunakan sebuah perisian pelayar
Web (Web browser) seperti Netscape
Navigator, Internet Explorer dan lain-lain
lagi.
Penggunaan e-dagang oleh sesebuah
syarikat itu juga dapat membantu
mengintegrasikan semua bahagian
dalaman
syarikat
tersebut
dengan
sesebuah transaksi
perniagaan itu untuk
meningkatkan kualiti
perkhidmatan
kepada pelanggan.
Sebagai contohnya
apabila
pelanggan
membuat tempahan
pembelian menerusi
e-dagang, tempahan
tersebut
boleh
dengan serta merta
dihantar
kepada
beberapa bahagian
dalaman
yang
berkenaan seperti bahagian penjualan,
bahagian
logistik
dan
bahagian
pembuatan.
Dengan
ini,
pengkoordinasian
dalaman
untuk
memenuhi pesanan tersebut akan
menjadi lebih efisien.
E-dagang sebenarnya terdiri daripada
beberapa komponen yang mempunyai
ciri-ciri dan fungsinya yang tersendiri
sebagai contohnya Pertukaran Data
Elektronik
atau
Electronic
Data
Interchange (EDI), Internet, pensijilan
digital, tandatangan digital, wang digital,
Electronic Funds Transfer , Electronic
17
Catalogs, Intranets, Kod Bar dan lainlain lagi.
Jika halangan utama bagi seseorang
usahawan menjalankan perniagaan di
bandar (untuk peluang pasaran yang
lebih luas) ialah kadar sewa bangunan
yang tinggi, maka dengan E-Dagang
masalah itu tidak wujud lagi. Dengan
menempatkan perniagaan di sebuah
pelayan web utama, mereka telah
menempatkan diri secara global. Ini
kerana teknologi web membolehkan ia
diakses
dari
mana-mana
tempat
sekalipun. Apa
yang
menarik
lagi
ialah
kosnya secara
relatif
adalah
amat
kecil.
Contohnya
untuk
menempatkan
perniagaan
produk/perkhidmatan di pelayan web
Yahoo Geocities atau Fortunecity, dua
buah pelayan web yang mempunyai
komuniti berjuta-juta pengguna Internet
anda hanya perlu membayar lebih
kurang RM100-150 sebulan. Potensi
pasaran usahawan ialah kesemua
komuniti Yahoo Geocities/Fortunecity
khususnya dan pengguna Internet
amnya. Selain itu usahawan turut
ditawarkan khidmat penyelenggaraan
perniagaan
maya
mereka.
Bagi E-dagang Internet,
diharapkan
ialah
The Malaysian e-commerce
apa yang
kecepatan
May 2012
penghantaran
dan
penerimaan
barangan (atau perkhidmatan), terdapat
maklumat produk yang lebih terkini dan
rapi, terdapat kemudahan membuat
pesanan on-line, peningkatan usaha
pemasaran massa, dan penyingkiran
orang tengah. Andainya semua ini
wujud atau dapat diwujudkan, matlamat
mutakhir ialah harga barangan (atau
perkhidmatan) itu akan menjadi lebih
murah
dan
kompetitif.
Dengan E-dagang sesebuah syarikat
atau individu boleh melakukan transaksi
jual dan beli dari dan di mana sahaja di
dunia ini. Pra syarat terpenting untuk
menjalankan
perniagaan
dalam
suasana yang menggunakan teknologi
E-Dagang
ini
ialah
pemilikan
kelengkapan IT yang sesuai dan
prasarana
telekomunikasi
yang
membolehkan
anda
mengkases
Internet. Dengan itu, lebih ramai individu
bekerja di rumah; kurang perjalanan
untuk membeli belah, mengurangkan
kesesakan
trafik,
mengurangkan
pencemaran udara, harga barangan
lebih
murah.
Isu Polisi Undang-Undang Awam dan
Kebebasan Peribadi (Public Policy
Legal and Privacy Issues) Di dalam
rangka kerja Kalakota dan Whinston,
berbagai lapisan infrastruktur adalah
disokong oleh dua tiang, iaitu tiang
‘polisi awam’ dan tiang ‘piawai teknikal’.
Polisi Awam berkaitan dengan etika,
sosial dan rangka kerja undang-undang
yang mana peniagaan dijalankan.
Memandangkan organisasi menjalankan
perniagaan elektronik dilakukan secara
maya, maka sukar untuk melaksanakan
polisi. Contoh: Perjudian atas talian sah
kepada sesuatu negara tetapi tidak sah
18
kepada negara lain, namun polisi sukar
dibuat kerana perniagaan seperti ini
berlaku
secara
maya.
E-Dagang
melibatkan
transaksi
perniagaan
menerusi
rangkaian
telekomunikasi
iaitu
Internet.
Penerimaan para pengguna terhadap
teknologi E-Dagang ini masih di tahap
yang
rendah.
Pelanggan
tidak
berhubungan secara langsung dengan
peniaga. Sehubungan dengan itu,
perniagaan yang melibatkan atas talian
ini sudah tentu mengundang faktor
ketidakpercayaan di kalangan para
pelanggan untuk berurusan melalui
kaedah
ini.
Apabila
pengguna
memasukkan maklumat peribadi dan
kad kredit, mereka berkemungkinan
besar terdedah kepada penggunaan
yang tidak beretika dan penyebaran
maklumat kepada pihak yang tidak
sepatutnya.
Walaupun pengguna hanya melakukan
‘window shopping’ tanpa membeli
sebarang produk, kemungkinan datadata mengenai aktiviti mereka dikumpul
secara automatik dan disalahgunakan
atau disebarkan tanpa pengetahuan
mereka (Ohlson, 1999). Dengan ini
menimbulkan persoalan dan tanda
tanya di kalangan pengguna, sejauh
manakah tahap keselamatan terhadap
maklumat yang diberi agar tidak berlaku
penyelewengan dan eksploitasi oleh
mana-mana pihak. Kurangnya elemen
trust di kalangan pengguna telah
menjadi
penghalang
utama
terhadap perkembangan E-Dagang.
Kebanyakan pengguna tidak percaya
untuk berurusan di atas talian. Hampir
95% pengguna yang menolak untuk
memasukkan
maklumat
peribadi
The Malaysian e-commerce
May 2012
mereka ke dalam laman web. 63%
daripada pengguna ini menyatakan
yang mereka tidak percaya terhadap
proses pengumpulan maklumat terbabit
(Hoffman
et
al
1999).
Faktor kejayaan kritikal bagi aplikasi edagang adalah bergantung kepada
kepercayaan pengguna. Kewujudan
teknologi Internet telah dijangkakan
membawa perubahan yang agak besar
dalam sektor perniagaan dan sektor
kewangan.
maklumat yang dipaparkan boleh
disalahgunakan. Ini kerana, maklumatmaklumat yang terkandung di dalam
laman web boleh diubahsuai tanpa
meninggalkan
sebarang
kesan.
Terdapat juga syarikat yang tidak selalu
mengemaskini laman mereka. Ini akan
memberi kesan terhadap transaksi
seperti harga, deskripsi dan status
produk.
Walaubagaimanapun,
peningkatan
penggunaan Internet oleh pengguna
tidak membawa kepada peningkatan
terhadap penggunaan aplikasi yang
melibatkan e-dagang (Rosencrance,
2002). Ini jelas menunjukkan bahawa
pengguna masih belum bersedia untuk
menggunakan Internet sebagai medium
untuk urusan jual beli kerana di dorong
oleh rasa ketidakpercayaan terhadap
syarikat atas talian (online vendors).
Urusniaga menerusi skrin komputer
menjadi salah satu faktor penghalang
terhadap pembinaan trust. Pelanggan
tidak dapat berinteraksi secara langsung
dengan peniaga sebenar. Di dalam
Internet, tugas peniaga diganti dengan
kolum
FAQ
(Frequently
Asked
Question). Satu cara untuk mewujudkan
interaksi yang lebih berkesan di antara
pelanggan dan peniaga adalah dengan
mewujudkan
agen
yang
boleh
membantu pelanggan. (Egger, 2003)
Memandangkan kebanyakan individu
mampu membina laman sendiri dan
mendaftar nama domain, jadi agak
sukar untuk membezakan laman yang
sah
dan
penipuan.
Kadangkala,
19
The Malaysian e-commerce