SAIT WBDV

Web Developer Fast Track - Winter 2021

Introduction to E-commerce

Relevant Resources

Buying and selling products or services online Web

  • Email
  • Mobile applications
  • Products include physical or digital products, or services
  • Can involve complex chain of inventory control, warehouses, shipping, receiving, couriers, etc.
  • Or can be as simple as online payment and download of digital files.

E-commerce vs E-business

  • Ecommerce is the sales subset of Ebusiness
  • Ebusiness covers all aspects of using electronic systems to conduct business
  • Purchasing Receiving Shipping
  • Order processing Customer service Accounting
  • more

Brick and Mortar Businesses

  • Existing business starting online sales
  • Has physical locations, infrastructure, customer, and supplier relationships

Questions to Ask

  • Will it improve customer support, or get good publicity? Will it bring more customers or sales?
  • Does the site support business goals or hurt them?

Online Entrepreneur

  • New venture, strictly online
  • Doesn’t need store-front locations and most infrastructure
  • What is needed depends on type of product/service

Questions to Ask

  • How can we differentiate from competitors?
  • How should we handle orders, payments, returns, warranties, service, support?
  • Will suppliers be up to the job?
  • Is product easy/economical to deliver?
  • How will we build it? What size site? What will it cost?

Advantages of Ecommerce

  • Market research indicates that it is needed Customers want it!
  • Makes businesses more efficient, profitable, etc. Makes the customer experience better
  • Helps to provide information/support to customers Products and services can reach a wider audience

Disadvantages of Ecommerce

  • Not all business plans support it
  • Products can be too difficult or expensive to ship globally Customers may prefer physical interaction with the product when shopping
  • Not useful for businesses that are locally focused
  • Need the staff, resources, and knowledge to do Ecommerce properly
  • Not useful for a customer demographic that isn’t online

Site Essentials

You can’t just open an online store and expect customers to flock to it. You must have:

  • Products and services that customers need and want a solid delivery infrastructure
  • Order tracking
  • Customer service
  • Customer loyalty rewards
  • Relationship management
  • Support (files, technical help, information, etc.)

Ecommerce Models

  • There are 8 basic ecommerce models.
  • Many websites combine several models.
  • Each of the 8 basic models has unique characteristics that distinguish it from the other models.

Brochureware Site

  • a marketing site that electronically aids in the buying and selling process
  • Sometimes provides additional information to support customers
  • online documentation software downloads FAQ
  • Generates revenue indirectly by creating awareness of the business’ products and services
  • Transactions occur offline.

Online Store

  • A website where customers can buy products or services. Customers browse an online catalog
  • You can add products to an online shopping cart
  • Checkout process
    • Payment processing
    • Inventory update
    • Shipping notification
    • Capture customer information

Subscription Site

  • Targets a specific niche market that places a value on expert information, service, or a digital product delivered in a timely manner.
    • Technical newsletters
    • Access to research information
    • Graphics
    • Music
    • Computer game downloads, etc. Removing ads
  • Selling for a monthly fee, an annual subscription, or a small per transation fee
  • An account login is important

Advertising Site

  • Content-heavy site that gets revenue from banners, sponsorships, ads, and other advertising methods.
  • Traffic to the site is the measure of its value.
  • Very few sites can be supported entirely through advertising dollars.
  • Google and Facebook use an advertising model

Online Store Ecosystem

  • Etsy, for example.
  • Simple and easy way to sell products/services online, especially when you’re starting out
  • Offers turnkey solutions for store creation, payment processing, and site management.
  • The platform handles the marketing and all the technical requirements

Business-to-Business

  • Built to serve other businesses
  • Selling directly to other businesses (wholesale operations) Integrating systems with vendors/suppliers for automated ordering

Auction Sites

  • Person offers an item for sale and potential buyers bid on the item.
  • Bidder willing to pay the highest price for the item wins.
  • Can create your own auction site or use another to build a business
  • If you use an established auction site, they provide the site infrastructure, reputation tracking, notifications, etc.

Blogging

  • Provides a news/editorial service to draw in customers
  • May be integrated with other models as a “value added” service
  • May have advertising revenue
  • Could have a Patreon (or similar) component

Implementing Your Website

Ecommerce Details

  • We’ve already covered designing websites, but lets talk about features needed for ecommerce
    • Domain Name
    • Digital Certificates
    • Merchant Account

Domain Name

  • Catchy easy-to-remember name that makes people remember your business
  • Make sure it’s actually available
  • Register your domain

Domain Name Registry

  • Governed by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
  • Registration conducted by registrars for an annual fee (1 to 10 years at a time)
  • For business use, choose a .com domain but also register the other top-level domains
    • Prevents competitors or disreputable parties from hijacking your company name

Digital Certificates

  • aka SSL certificates
  • Key to providing customer transaction security
  • Obtain a digital certificate from a “Certificate Authority”

SSL

  • Secure Socket Layer
  • Standardizes the way web browsers and web servers communicate with each other using encrypted data
  • Digital certificate is used to authenticate the server and initiate the encryption process
  • You can get certificates through your web hosting or obtain one directly through a certification authority
  • Must be installed on your server
  • Options include Verisign (paid) and Let’s Encrypt (free)

Merchant Account

  • Allows you to process a credit card
  • A business account at a financial institution that functions as a clearing account for credit card transactions.
  • Transfers money to business bank account
  • May involve physical credit-card readers (Point-of-Sale – POS) and/or online payment gateway

Online Merchant Account

Requires:

  • Application for account
  • Proof of the establishment of your company
  • Setup fee
  • Transaction fees (depends on volume)
  • Monthly and possibly annual fees

Paypal offers some services that avoid the need for a merchant account as they are accepting the CC payment (however, you need a PayPal Business account instead)

Issues to watch for:

  • Authorization fees Transaction fees Monthly fees
  • Annual fees
  • Equipment rental fees
  • Chargeback or Bill Backs
    • Customer cancels credit card transaction
    • Customer claims goods or service not provided
    • Merchant account provider takes money back from vendor
    • Six months in U.S., 3 months in Canada