[2012]

Assignment no.1

AMANDEEP KAUR SAHIL SHARMA 13.2.2012

Q1:-Identify the website which offers Consumer to consumer E-commerce and also explain the process adopted by that particular site?Ans:-Delivering the "best brand experience" and engaging customers, building relationships and encouraging return visits are the hallmarks of outstanding websites, according to an evaluation by Accenture's Marketing Sciences group that published its first-ever list of the top business-to-consumer websites. Of more than 260 B2C sites that the team of 30 researchers evaluated, Adidas.com, Ford.com, Google.com, Microsoft.com and Nike.com were standouts. According to the results, these sites were "successful at engaging consumers using a variety of techniques, such as providing detailed, high-quality information in interesting formats; building relationships through interactive exchanges; and encouraging return visits by current and potential customers through the use of promotions, premium services, clubs and other online innovations. Customer to Customer (C2C) markets are innovative ways to allow customers to interact with each other. While traditional markets require business to customer relationships, in which a customer goes to the business in order to purchase a product or service. In customer to customer markets the business facilitates an environment where customers can sell these goods and or services to each other. Other types of markets include business to business (B2B) and business to customer (B2C). Q2:-Why Traditional Commerce is better than E-commerce, justify the statement? Ans:-Electronic commerce is also famous as Ecommerce. To entitle the 21st century as an E-commerce planet, which is not wrong because, in this century the majority of the businesses are turned as online businesses? Ecommerce is the process of the buying and selling of products or services over the Internet. Conversion of inquiries, orders, invoices, transfer of funds, etc. happens promptly over the internet. Online ecommerce business gains their popularity more and more. In this century, Internet business is going up rapidly. Want to make your product popular over the Internet; Ecommerce is the perfect way to present it to your prospective consumers. If you are still using a traditional form of business, then the time now to shift your business to be online for getting large numbers of buyers of your products or services over the Internet. This will increase your business growth and its popularity. Whether you are in Business-to-Business (B2B) or in Business to Consumer (B2C), ecommerce is the best ways to handle both types of business forms. There is no way to build an Ecommerce Website, if you are planning to turn your current traditional business into online. So, if you want to turn your dream of developing an Ecommerce website into reality, there are two ways, use the website development platforms or framework such as ASP.net, PHP, Java, etc., or you may use open source ecommerce development resources like Yahoo Stores, Magneto Ecommerce, osCommerce, eBay Stores, Amazon Stores, etc. PHP is also an open source platform, which is free to use. Out of all the platforms and open source environment, PHP is the most

PART A

effective, low cost and efficient tool for small as well as large businesses. Ecommerce Solutions includes various types of ecommerce features like Shopping Cart Solutions, Payment Gateways Integration, and Integration of Credit Card process to customize ecommerce web applications. To cope with your ecommerce business requirements, there are various advantages of running an ecommerce websites as follow, The advertising and marketing cost of website or product promotion is very low Help to manage product and its price easily It helps to manage small as well as large business Take few minute to maintain report of each item Helps to save time for both business owner and customers You can update your customers with latest product or services using mailing facility. Q3:- Differentiate between SCM and VSAT? Ans:- Like the ERP wave a few years ago, the current drive towards e-commerce and the Internet is also making companies look at their way of doing business. One of the areas affected by this is supply chain management (SCM). Several new business models have emerged in the e-commerce space as a result of the "new economy" technologies. Several of these models and technologies have challenged the existing SCM and other business processes, while others have validated or strengthened them. As a business leader as well as a business process analyst, these business models and technologies pose a problem that has no easy answer: "Which of these business models and related technologies married with a specific SCM strategy will be optimal for my business or process?" In this paper, we look at this question more closely in order to develop a methodology to answer it. Several established and/or emerging models such in the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) categories are analyzed closely for their applicability to an industry sector or company. In other independent dimensions, we also look at the SCM issues faced by the industry today as well as how the operating environment affects such decisions. Based on the space defined by these dimensions we chart out the SCM processes affected - or in some cases defined - and describe a methodology to tackle the problem. We also touch upon a few new economy technologies that make new ecommerce models possible. Lastly we look at how the ERP systems can be affected by a combined e-commerce and SCM strategy in order to avoid conflicts in corresponding business processes.

VSAT:- Short for very small aperture terminal, an earthbound station used in satellite communications of data, voice and video signals, excluding broadcast television. A VSAT consists of two parts, a transceiver that is placed outdoors in direct line of sight to the satellite and a device that is placed indoors to interface the transceiver with the end user's communications device, such as a PC. The transceiver receives or sends a signal to a satellite transponder in the sky. The satellite sends and receives signals from a ground station computer that acts as a hub for the system. Each end user is interconnected with the hub station via the satellite, forming a star topology. The hub controls the entire operation of the network. For one end user to communicate with another, each transmission has to first go to the hub station that then retransmits it via the satellite to the other end user's VSAT. VSAT can handle up to 56 Kbps.

Q4:-Identify the security risk does Ecommerce involves? Ans:- E-Business systems naturally have greater security risks than traditional business systems, therefore it is important for e-business systems to be fully protected against these risks. A far greater number of people have access to e-businesses through the internet than would have access to a traditional business. Customers, suppliers, employees, and numerous other people use any particular e-business system daily and expect their confidential information to stay secure. Hackers are one of the great threats to the security of e-businesses. Some common security concerns for e-Businesses include keeping business and customer information private and confidential, authenticity of data, and data integrity. Some of the methods of protecting e-business security and keeping information secure include physical security measures as well as data storage, data transmission, anti-virus software, firewalls, and encryption to list a few. Key Security Concerns within E-Business Privacy and confidentiality Confidentiality is the extent to which businesses makes personal information available to other businesses and individuals. With any business, confidential information must remain secure and only be accessible to the intended recipient. However, this becomes even more difficult when dealing with e-businesses specifically. To keep such information secure means protecting any electronic records and files from unauthorized access, as well as ensuring safe transmission and data storage of such information. Tools such as encryption and firewalls manage this specific concern within e-business.

Authenticity E-business transactions pose greater challenges for establishing authenticity due to the ease with which electronic information may be altered and copied. Both parties in an ebusiness transaction want to have the assurance that the other party is who they claim to be, especially when a customer places an order and then submits a payment electronically. One common way to ensure this is to limit access to a network or trusted parties by using a virtual private network (VPN) technology. The establishment of authenticity is even greater when a combination of techniques are used, and such techniques involve checking something you know (i.e. password or PIN), something you have (i.e. credit card), or something you are (i.e. digital signatures or voice recognition methods). Many times in e-business, however, something you are is pretty strongly verified by checking the purchasers something you have (i.e. credit card) and something you know (i.e. card number). Data integrity Data integrity answers the question Can the information be changed or corrupted in any way? This leads to the assurance that the message received is identical to the message sent. A business needs to be confident that data is not changed in transit, whether deliberately or by accident. To help with data integrity, firewalls protect stored data against unauthorized access; while simply backing up data allows recovery should the data or equipment be damaged. Non-repudiation This concern deals with the existence of proof in a transaction. A business must have assurance that the receiving party or purchaser cannot deny that a transaction has occurred, and this means having sufficient evidence to prove the transaction. One way to address non-repudiation is using digital signatures. A digital signature not only ensures that a message or document has been electronically signed by the person, but since a digital signature can only be created by one person, it also ensures that this person cannot later deny that they provided their signature.[ Access control When certain electronic resources and information is limited to only a few authorized individuals, a business and its customers must have the assurance that no one else can access the systems or information. Fortunately, there are a variety of techniques to address this concern including firewalls, access privileges, user identification and authentication techniques (such as passwords and digital certificates), Virtual Private Networks (VPN), and much more. Availability This concern is specifically pertinent to a business customers as certain information must be available when customers need it. Messages must be delivered in a reliable and timely fashion, and information must be stored and retrieved as required. Because availability of service is important for all e-business websites, steps must be taken to prevent

disruption of service by events such as power outages and damage to physical infrastructure. Examples to address this include data backup, fire-suppression systems, Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) systems, virus protection, as well as making sure that there is sufficient capacity to handle the demands posed by heavy network traffic

PART-B
Q5:-If you would like to switch from Profit sector to nonprofit sector what steps are required to b taken elaborate?. Ans:- First. Lets start with you. You need to change your attitude. If you are truly driven to make a reality of this vision then start thinking in a positive, can-do manner. You cant act and feel any other way. Oh, there will be times you will be tested, mentally, spiritually, and physically, but your attitude is foremost in this quest. Second, you need to begin organizing your thoughts onto paper. Yes, a business plan is the first tangible step. And do treat this venture as if it were a for-profit venture in the sense that you must generate income to pay the bills and deliver the services. If you dont know how to develop a business plan and you dont have money, then locate the nearest Small Business Development Center or SCORE chapter. Attend some low-cost and no-cost workshops that will give you the tools to begin organizing this vision. Seek some confidential, free, one-on-one counseling. A very good site on the Internet to find a business plan outline is at the Small Business Administration. While you are online go to bplans.com for a sample nonprofit business plan. These are two excellent sources. The SBDC and SCORE can answer questions about content you may not understand. I suspect the financial projections will be the biggest challenge. They are for most people new to the process. Third, you need to begin identifying those in the community who support your vision and are willing to put in time and their meager resources to help you. In many cases, you can expect that many of those who help will want a piece of the action in the sense they may want to be on your board of directors or possibly seek employment in the agency when the funds are sufficient for the payroll. However, do not compromise on the need to hire those who are qualified to perform the work. Showing favoritism simply because the person helped you is an immediate injustice to the cause of the vision you have. Fourth, you will need to begin contacting and establishing relationships with politicians and appointed officials in your local government. Accessing government grants and other forms of public funding will absolutely require a good relationship with these people and these government agencies. When networking with them you need to pick up on their agendas. Please understand, elected politicians will not align themselves with anything that does not make them look good to the constituents (voters) or the media, and that does not fulfill their agendas. For example, I expect that nowadays anything that results in job creation will receive much attention. Job creation is a very common item on all politi-

cians agendas. However, they will want to know what will be the cost per job created. That is where your business plan becomes critical. It will be measured for the number of jobs created and the average cost to create them. Fifth, you will want to contact and network with existing nonprofit agencies that serve one or more socioeconomic purposes (jobs, health, housing, etc.) in and around your community. Every city of considerable population has them. Some are private sector nonprofits, and others are public agencies from the local to the state and federal level.

Q6:-Elaborate the role of Media convergence in E-commerce? Ans: - A new digital communications technology has emerged. An electronic superhighway is beginning to girdle the globe as voice, video and data converge, bringing in their wake a new basket of digital, multimedia and interactive communication technologies. But it is not just the technologies that concern us. It is the social change that accompanies the technologies that must be our prime concern. The new technologies are doing much more. They are changing the way we live-the way we work, relax, manage our money, trade and communicate with each other. The new technologies are changing the way we perceive people, cultures, countries and companies and our expectations of them and also our expectations of ourselves. The first remote communications method that exhibited a real-time nature was telegraphy. The telegraph allowed an instantaneous transmission of text characters to a remote receiver. Telegraphy utilized a coded translation (via the Morse code, among other ) of letters and numbers into an on/off digital representations that could be easily decoded at the remote end by a trained human operator, who listened to the clicks of a remote solenoid . Later, telegraph progressed to a constant-length code that was encoded and decoded by mechanical means. This coded representation became the basis for storage, retrieval, and transmission of text by computers. Although telegraphy provided an important means of communication for critical business and personal one-way communication, it created little change in every day life. This was the first generation of communication. The invention and proliferation of the telephone, on the other hand, did provide pervasive change in everyday interpersonal communication. Unlike written correspondence or telegraphy, two parties could now give immediate feedback by responding to statement, answering questions, providing needed information, or taking needed action. In addition, the telephone added a critical component" one could not only recognize the other person's voice, but hear the tone, urgency, and emotion that is so important to effective interpersonal communication. Subsequently, the development of wireless voice communication through two-way radio equipment provided similar benefits without the need for fixed wiring.

Q7:-What are the first things to consider when starting up an online business.

Ans:- An online business is not unlike any other offline venture; the same rules apply and the same important factors need to be kept in mind for starting your online business. Creating a business plan or a model is very essential to ensure successful online enterprise. Some of the alternatives include:

Extending an offline business online Selling products and services Selling information or advertising Creating a USP for the business Some factors to be considered before starting your online business: 1.An appropriate domain name: It is by a domain name that we are known and identified on the web. A good domain name is typically unforgettable, short and easy to spell and remember and represents the business accurately. Customers will remember it easily, spell it correctly, and type it into their web browsers whenever they need your services. 2. Easy to navigate website: For a potential customer, an online business should be easy to steer, with a good search function, attractive projecting of the image, to make is easy for them to find what they want. The design should reflect the image that is projected: professional, hip, up-scale, etc. Good offline stores also offer easy check-out, accept credit cards, and have a good return policy. 3. Choosing the right web host: hosting your website via the right host is essential. A good web host offers guarantee and can handle a lot of traffic i.e. customers, replying to questions quickly, and offering the services needed. 4. Good marketing strategies: they are needed for a successful online business, and guarantee good customer responses and visitors to the website. This can be done by advertising, promotional e-mails, paying and submitting to search engines, exchange links with other sites etc. 5.Reliable banking: online businesses' need good and prompt methods to accept credit cards and take orders.

Q8:-Identify the things to turn Browser into buyers? Ans: You have your website up and running. Youre even attracting a healthy number of visitors. Of course, there is always more to do: implement search engine optimization (SEO) to drive more traffic, expand your opt-in email list to reach more customers, increase sales, and so on. If the endless list of things to do has you feeling blue, set down that list. Its time to re-prioritize your goals. One of the key attributes of a successful online business is converting website visitors into buyers. Before spending any more time or money on attracting additional traffic, work on converting current browsers into loyal customers. Follow this three-point sales plan to encourage visitors to buy your products or services. 1. Polish your sales copy. Great sales copy is a key factor of every successful e-commerce website. Effective sales copy grabs the attention of visitors with interesting headlines, and uses compelling copy to hold their attention. Pique the interest of readers, but dont let readers slip away once youve hooked them. Persuade browsers to become buyers by following this process:

Identify with their problems and establish your credibility

Engage readers and provide a solution

Tell readers how they will benefit from your product or service 2. Share customer testimonials.

Customer testimonials are valuable resources that should not be overlooked. What is more reassuring than a personal recommendation from another customer? Testimonials turn even the most skeptical visitors into buyers. Testimonials show potential customers that your products or services do work, and that others will gain benefits from using the products. Testimonials should be used in a variety of places to provide the best results; a few good locations include: your home page, product listings, sales copy, and on a page devoted to customers testimonials.

3. Make buying easy

This sale-point may seem like a no-brainer, but it is not. The number of sales lost from a poor checkout process is staggering. Some statistics claim that as much as 50% of web sales are lost due to confusing checkout systems or customers not being able to find what they want when a store does carry the product. Easy navigation systems are a must for e-commerce websites. A best practice for website navigation is simply to use the most common method: a left-hand bar and a search feature on the top right of the browser window. Customers are able to easily find what they are looking for when they can navigate without thinking about it. The best navigation systems are those that the customer doesnt notice they just use them, which is a crucial reason to keep navigation consistent throughout the site.