1. By Bradley Fenney Unit 8
P2 – The impact of introducing an e-commerce system
to an organisation

2. Why E-Commerce?
 You can buy off the website at anytime you
want.
 They deliver globally
 No dangerous risks
 Good if you work nights
 24/7 sales

3. Benefits of E-commerce
Global Marketplace
•By having this they can target customers all over the world.
•It is very beneficial as you can buy items and they deliver world wide.
•People will use this instead of shops.
•Much easier as its world wide.
•People can use this globally when they want to.
•Website is always running.
•No job to small
•For instance websites such as eBay and Amazon are world wide for example
amazon.co.uk, amazon.com, amazon.fr, amazon.gr so Amazon will provide in
different languages to meet different users needs. As you can see from the
screenshot on the right it is the Amazon website in French.
P2

4. Benefits of E-commerce
24/7 Trading
•This is very handy as people do not always have
the time.
•You can shop day or night
•They deliver world wide
•Use the website at your leisure
•You can buy single items such as cat food.
P2

5. Benefits of E-commerce
Low Start -up & Running Costs
•Costs for the company will be low as where there will be an area full of shops they
will only need one warehouse
•The cost of running the website would be tremendously low.
•Owners will make more money as they only pay for the rent for the warehouse
instead of areas of shops.
•The only thing you would need to consider is keeping the website up to date.
•Security will also be required to protect stock at the warehouse.
P2

6. Benefits of E-commerce
Search Facilities
•On the website its beneficial as the product you need is very easy to find as
you would have a search bar and also links.
•You can also save your most bought items to your favourites
•It is a great advantage the search facility as if you cannot find it you can use
the search bar.
•This has a great advantage to proper shops as sometimes stores do not have
items which you need.
•Also you do not need to leave your house, you order it online and its delivered
to your door.
P2

7. Benefits of E-commerce
Fluid Pricing
•Generally this is where the price of an item/product increases/decreases in
price
•On the website E-Commerce they will automatically decrease/increase the
price of the item.
•The website is more beneficial to people as in a real shop/store staff will have
to go around re-pricing every item they have.
•Easier for people that use the website as they don’t have to do anything what
so ever.
P2

8. Weaknesses of E-commerce
Consumer Trust
•There are many issues to consumer trust for instance it
is all card payments which some people may not trust.
•You do not talk to anyone when you buy the
item/products
•Whether you can trust the company for instance is it
legitimate
•Worries about giving your personal information away to
people you don’t know.
P2

9. Weaknesses of E-commerce
Lack of Human Contact
It may scare some customers off for instance:
•They don’t talk to anyone when purchasing items
•They give away personal information to the company
•Some people may like to buy face to face
•You never know if it is a scam
•Some people may like to pay cash for their items
instead of card.
P2

10. Weaknesses of E-commerce
Product Description Problems
•Some customers may not trust the products that they
have ordered.
•Items that are advertised on the internet may not be the
actual item you want.
•The product that you have ordered could be a fake.
•They could display an item that you want and they send
the wrong one
P2

11. Weaknesses of E-commerce
Security issues
Worries that the consumers could face are:
•Giving out there personal details such as name, address
and card details.
•The company could overcharge them for items as they
have the customers card details
•Customers will not feel safe in case their information is
passed on.
•May not be satisfied paying on card, customers may to
prefer to pay in cash.
P2

12. The Technology
Browsers
Which generally allows you to view many different web pages of websites of your
choice, the user will type in what website they want to use. You can browse websites by
entering the website in the address or search bar
Browser Features:
Address bars, scroll bars, toolbars for help also icons of websites which you can click on
and the website will pop up for instance on internet explorer you can add websites to
favourites and the appear when you click on internet explorer.
Examples of different browsers:
Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome etc.
Web Authoring Software
Web pages are generally written in HTML (HyperText MarkupLanguage), if you don’t know of
this coding it is impossible for a user to create web pages. This bit of software basically allows
users to develop a website in desktop publishing format. Software will basically generate the
HTML coding for the layout of what the user has selected it to look like. The user can go back
and forth between graphical design. Also the HTML will allow you to make changes to the
webpage.
Examples:
Microsoft FrontPage, Adobe Dreamweaver and also online web authoring tools are also
available on sites such as wix.com P1

13. The Technology
Database systems
E-Commerce will have a database system in place where customers will have
the choice to create an account on the website which will store all of their
information and history of what they have bought and looked at on the website.
Also if they use the website often enough the website will display items
recommended for you. All this will be controlled by a database at the company
which will have to be secure for every user, for instance there information will be
hidden so no other users can see it.
IP addresses
Each computer is given its own unique number to make sure data reaches
its location on a network it has something called an Internet Protocol
Address IP. It is a set if four numbers each from 0 to 255, For instance
125.3.74.255 would address a specific computer on a network. When this is
entered two computers can be linked on to the same network. Ports connect
protocols and IP addresses together each computer has several ports for
data to pass through they are virtual so they cannot be seen in person.
P1

14. The Technology
Domain Names
It is vitally important that every website has a domain name so it is easy to
remember so when a user uses the computer they can easily remember the site.
Also a name that is different or odd may also stay in the mind of users. Domain
names are used in web addresses to identify particular web pages, for
instance, in the http://www.wix.com/btecictsharepoint/unit-2-computer-systems
the domain name is wix.com. They you could access all of the information above
by starting on the website such as wix.com
Multiple Domain Registration
Many companies may not have only one domain they may use quite a few
multiple domains so for instance if someone is to type in the wrong address
for the company they may be redirected to the proper website for the
company. Some people may try and use a similar name like bigger
companies to get more people viewing the website.
P1

15. The Technology
Ports & Protocols
A protocol is basically making a connection for instance both computers
have to have the same IP address to make sure the data reaches the
right location on a network. A protocol is basically like a human
handshake if they don’t meet they will not connect.
Browser & Platform Compatibility
People need to gain access to possible websites they need to be accessible on as
many browsers as possible, people will use platforms such as W3C we can then check
the compatibility with other browsers and platforms. The main features of web
browsers is you can search for pretty much anything you want, they are generally easy
to use with user friendly toolbars and saved history so you can save what you have
accessed so next time you use the web browser you can access websites from your
history.
Web designers should design to meet the lowest specification possible otherwise
potential customers may be excluded from purchasing products and so the business
can lose potential profit. W3C, in collaboration with
Adobe, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and many more. It is generally a new community-
driven site that aims to become a comprehensive and authoritative source for web
developers documentation. P1

16. Promotion
Paying to be prominent in search engine results
When consumers type there search terms, it should display most relevant
sites but it doesn’t always. Mostly search terms will look over your search
term within the web pages that they have collected. Some search engines
will generally rank sites that are mainly higher in your search results. A
general weakness to this is you do not always find the website that you are
looking for straight away
Lots of other sites will indicate whether placement is paid for, generally
your search engine will split search results as ‘’sponsored listings’’ but they
may be paid for placement. But you generally have to remember that
results can be grouped under different labels so an idea would be to look
under recommended sites or featured listings etc. generally sites are often
ranked much higher than others that are in a more prominent location than
other websites.
As you can see
why these ads?
M1

17. Promotion
Newsgroups & Forums
Newsgroups tend to be very accurate and focused, they tend to
have many discussions about folk music or postings of recipes
there is never a big discussion about anything or about other
things such as programs on windows and other stuff.
They tend to be structured and you often need some kind of
special software in order to use them.
Web Forum:
Web forums are generally where a whole host of people come
together to talk about something for instance a new
phone, people will buy the phone and comment on what they
think about it whether guiding people into buying one or not. It is
pretty much the same as newsgroups. People can also use the
web forum to leave positive comments and also negative so it
gives the person buying the product an idea on what they are
buying.
M1

18. Promotion
Banners & Pop-ups
This is basically a form of advertisement for many
different companies for instance when your on websites
such as amazon and facebook you will get
advertisements of o2 trying to entice you on buying a
phone or even opening a contract with them. It will
generally be down the side of the screen or at the top or
bottom. It is usually animation to make the user
interested and the company will receive money on a pay
per click.
Pop-ups which is also another form of advertisement for
instance when you open a website another window may
open for instance ‘’William Hill Betting’’ so the company
will try to entice you to bet online. Also lots of anti-virus
software comes with pop-up blockers, to stop users
being bombarded with pop-ups when they are using
websites.
M1

19. Promotion
Spam
Spam is basically email that isn’t aimed at customers or even
customers needs, it is generally mailed to people in bulks which
the customer will have no interest in and just delete it. Users
generally delete them before opening them to protect themselves
from viruses and will report spam to which ever email company
they are with for instance Hotmail and Gmail.
Generally these days many different companies to get hold of
your email address and then they will send you regular emails.
When they are received people will put them in the junk bin or
delete them so they don’t receive anymore hassle.
M1

20. Promotion
Ensuring An Effective User Interface
An effective interface for your website is very important and
essential to make sure when web users get to your site. they
stay there for as long as possible. When creating a site there
are several factors to avoid- broken links, difficult
navigation, they will also tend to use unclear fonts and lots of
text.
A simple and clear website will mean they will be able to
purchase products and services with ease. If they like the
website they may even come back. People will trust websites
that are clearly displayed and well laid out that people can
trust. For instance amazon that is basically a website that is
used world wide and people sell items on there and people
buy off there.
M1

21. Promotion
Establishing Customer loyalty in a virtual environment
There is lots of different methods that websites can create
customer loyalty for instance, direct emailing from the company to
customers, this will help the company keep the customers mind
on the company
The company could also set up a loyalty system for instance a
club card which the company can put points on and customers
can spend the points on the website.
Also you could treat the customers as individuals for instance like
a friend and you could recommend items to them that the look at
often and also items that they have purchased before so it saves
them from looking for the same item again.
M1

22. Promotion
Site Names
The site name of a website is very important, it generally has
to be a suitable name that is simple and really easy for users
to remember. It will have to be relevant to the website for
instance if they sell mobile phones they could name the
website www.mobilephones.co.uk.
This is easy for users to remember. If lots of people use this
site it will become popular and if they have multiple domain
names, registration will help to maximise the number of users
that can access your site.
M1

23. Promotion
Direct Marketing
Direct targeting is generally aimed at the specific user, often
users may sign up for information such as off web forums.
They may often receive updates. This means if the
customers have chosen to be a part of this and they have a
big interest in the products and they are kept up to date with
the information so are more likely to purchase the product
from the site after they have looked into the product in depth
before buying.
General weaknesses of direct marketing is that when you are
on other websites you don’t always want to be bothered by
advertisements in the corner of the screen about the web
forum your signed up to.
A strength of direct marketing is you receive lots of good
information about new products and some of the direct
marketing may interest you a lot and in the end may entice
you into buying the product.
M1

24. Security
Hacking
A hacker is basically a person that tries to find weaknesses in either a
website or a computer system, hackers may search for things in websites for
instance profits the sites has made and many more. When a person tries to
hack into a site or computer system this is illegal and the person who is
having will be breaking the computer misuse act.
Hacking Prevention
To prevent hacking on computer systems or websites it is vital that a
security system is in place for instance windows defender, Norton etc.
this will prevent people from hacking into systems and if they do the
security system will warn you and ask you to run a scan. After a scan is
run it will show up what the problem is and the security system will be
responsible to remove the problem that is occurring.
P3, M2

25. Security
Viruses
There are many different types of viruses out there that affect many different
computer systems and sites everyday for instance one type of virus is Worm. A
worm is basically a program makes copies and copies of itself, for instance from
one hard drive to the other, in time the worm will damage the computer system
and keep developing and in the end destroy the system if it is not dealt with in
time. It may come in an untrusted download.
Virus Prevention
The way to prevent computer systems from getting bad viruses is to make
sure that a security system is in place on the system and that scans are run
regularly to make sure that no viruses are trying to attack the system. Make
sure also that disk clean-up is run often so the system will delete old and
unwanted files in the system.
P3, M2

26. Security
ID Theft
Identity theft is basically a form of fraud which is basically going
online and using another persons identity, people may delve into
things for instance somebody’s card and buy things online in
somebody else’s name, this is classed as identity theft as it isn’t
you buying the item, you are using somebody else’s property.
ID Theft Protection
To prevent ID theft online when you are using websites to buy items or
even using social network sites such as facebook or MSN it is vitally
important that you use that you use large passwords which are very
difficult to guess. Also if you can prevent using your picture on sites do.
People will generally use your picture when they hack you to make sure
that it is your face the police will see when they try to solve the issue and
you will be to blame.
P3, M2

27. Security
Strong Passwords
When opening a site that you are going to buy off for instance eBay or Amazon it
is vitally important that large passwords are used to protect yourself from
hackers trying to get into your account. Also its important that you don’t use the
same email and password for each site you use for instance eBay and Amazon
as if a hacker hacks into your eBay account they will have not chance of hacking
into your amazon account as everything will be different.
If you can make sure its 8 characters long or more and it consists of
letters, numbers and symbols if possible.
Also capital and small letters.
Try and not use you name and D.O.B in your password as if people know you
well they will be able to hack into your accounts.
P3

28. Evaluate Existing E-commerce
Business Summary
Discuss: What business sells, Why they would have moved into e-commerce, Structure of website, Layout of
products, Website security, Ease of use, Delivery options
D1

29. Evaluate Existing E-commerce
Strengths
Weaknesses
Strengths- think about the benefits for this company when moving into e-commerce. Strengths of current site.
Weaknesses- think about problems that may have had to overcome. Weaknesses of current site.
D1