Unit 5 - ECommerce - Part 1

DCM - Unit 5 ECommerce

E Commerce Platforms 

1) Desktop Browser-Based Platforms

2) Email Platforms

3) Feed-based & Application Programming Interface (API) Platforms

4) Video-marketing Platforms

5) Mobile Platforms

Desktop Browser Based Platform 

The most common and usually referred to as online storefronts.

Businesses will promote their offering and customers will be able to search and evaluate the offerings to make their purchases online.  

Multiple Select

Desktop Browser Based Platform

This is the most common platform for ecommerce as it is

• usually always available,

• easiest to manage

• not accessible through mobile devices

Multiple Select

Desktop Browser Based Platform

Hosted ecommerce platforms include

• a set of pre-made templates and themes for storefront design

• deploying search engine marketing

• making the website more visible

• making the website more invisible

Email Platforms

Prospective customers are targeted through their email with content provided by the seller.

Communication is direct with the customer and content is more targeted. 

Multiple Choice

Email Platforms

Allows companys to communicate directly with the customer.

• True

• False

Feed-based and API Data Interchange Platforms

These platforms are able to push notifications and content to their users through applications such as News, Twitter and Facebook.

Multiple Select

API stands for application programming interface. This is a concept in software technology that essentially refers to how multiple applications can

• interact with

• obtain data from one another

Video-marketing Platforms 

Streamed video are often delivered through such platforms as YouTube, Vimeo and other dedicated platforms over the internet.

Some social media platforms enable video marketing such as Facebook and Instagram Stories.

Mobile Platforms

Mobile applications or browsers that integrate into their mobile operating system such as Android and iPhone Operating System (IOS).

A specific application provides content and improved experience through the dedicated mobile application. 

Advantages of E-Commerce

1) 24/7 Availability

2) Reach

3) Decreased Transaction Cost

4) Ease of Conducting Business

5) Comparison in Prices

24/7 Availability

Business and customers are able to transact every day of the year, 24 hours a day.

Users are able to visit the website, search and track their orders beyond traditional business hours.

Reach

It is the ability to reach more customers.

With e-commerce, websites are not limited by geography.

Multiple Choice

Reach

Businesses are also able to reach potential customers who are not English language-based

• With the use of online translators

• With the use of online calculators

• With the use of online maps

Decreased Transaction Cost

firm incurs little operational costs by cutting out the many unnecessary costs such as store rent and visual display

Multiple Select

Decreased Transaction Cost

Service quality is enhanced by:

• delivery and returns

• tracking of customer’s preferences

• shorter processes for repeat orders.

Ease of Conducting Business

In e-commerce, a firm does not need to have a traditional physical shop.

Multiple Select

Ease of Conduction Business. Buyers

• a) have to go to a physical store to buy the goods

• b) can easily choose goods from various categories without moving around physically

• c) also easily select variations

• d) sellers are able to recommend complementary products to their selected items

Disadvantages

of E-commerce

1) Privacy and Security

2) Lack of Quality Guarantee

3)Possibility of Tried and Tested Product

4) Dependency on the Website

5) Severe Competition

Multiple Select

Privacy and Security

Many consumers are still wary about giving out personal information — especially credit and debit cards — to online sources.

Security is an issue with e-commerce because of

• online fraud

• armed robbery

Lack of Quality Guarantee

There is no guarantee for product quality.

Orders may be damaged during delivery. Colours, size or freshness variations do happen, and the item may look different online to what one actually receives.

Possibility of Tried and Tested Product

major disadvantages of e-commerce portal is that a customer is unable to try to test the product to his/her own satisfaction.

Multiple Select

Possibility of Tried and Tested Product

E-commerce allows users that buys and sell goods

• without geographic limitations

• but in this method, firms have no contacts and relationships with other persons

• but still create and keep their social contacts.

Dependency on the Website

site can face technology hiccups.

Customers tend to lose faith very easily and shift their loyalties to other portals that they find convenient.

Multiple Select

Dependency on the Website

The technical infrastructure of an ecommerce website is

• needs huge investment

• needs to be upgraded periodically

• to stay with changing times

• to stay with old times

Multiple Select

Severe Competition

What happens when there are unimaginable portals for a single product?

• firms to drop their prices

• allowing discounts, incentives and other allowances on their products

• quality of the products suffers

• consumers lose out

Considerations When Selecting E-commerce Platforms

1) Cost

2) Payment Integration

3) Technical Support

4) Features / Ease of Integration or Setup

5) Security 

Cost

Determine the budget of building the ecommerce website

careful evaluation of everything the platform has to offer

Multiple Select

Cost

Firms should ___________ services and find the most ______________ one.

• compare , appropriate

• ignore, cheapest

Multiple Select

Payment Integration

Selecting the precise payment gateway solution for a firm’s ecommerce is an important aspect.

• True

• False

Multiple Select

Payment Integration

A secure network should be its priority when considering any payment gateway.

The necessary certificate needed is

• PCI compliance

• CIP compliance

PCI stands for

Payment Card Industry

Multiple Select

Technical Support

The last thing a firm would want is to go through all the effort of selecting the right e-commerce platform, only to have problems with the servers.

A poor web hosting platform can have a ______________ on a firm’s search rankings

• negative impact

• positive impact

Researching the different hosting options upfront is also key because switching hosting companies isn’t an easy feat.

In some cases, the firm will need the help of a developer to back up the entire site and help to move it over to a new host, which can take a considerable amount of time and effort.

Multiple Select

Features / Ease of Integration or Setup

Different platforms will have different features available. Some platforms offer in addition to the basic ecommerce functions, built-in marketing tools like

• newsletters

• abandoned cart emails

• reward programs

Features / Ease of Integration or Setup

An e-commerce platform should also have the capabilities to substitute any built-in features with App integrations, like Mailchimp or Shipstation.

While the built-in features may be excellent, using apps that are easy to use can be essential to a growing business.

Features / Ease of Integration or Setup

Other considerations must include:

Business Process:

What Merchandising, Marketing, and Customer Service features is the firm planning on including (offers, promotions, ad spots, recommendations, co-browsing, returns, etc.) and how is it planning on managing the ongoing review and approval process of the ongoing business processes?

Features / Ease of Integration or Setup

Other considerations must include:

Migration: If migrating from an existing system,

a) what data needs to be transitioned,

b) what format is it in,

c) how clean is the data,

d) what is the cutover strategy, and

e) what is the strategy regarding URL redirects, search optimisation and content migration?

Security

E-commerce platforms are usually picked for their:

a) storefront-building convenience,

b) range of designs, and

c) functionality,

Multiple Select

Firms need to look for proven e-commerce solutions that provide:

• a) encrypted payment gateways,

• b) SSL certificates, and

• c) solid authentication protocols for sellers and buyers.

Secure Sockets Layer

An SSL certificate is a type of digital certificate that provides authentication for a website and enables an encrypted connection