Transcript E-Commerce - FacStaff Home Page for CBU

E-Commerce
Dan Brandon
ITM Department
Christian Brothers University
Internet
• It took the telephone 40 years to reach 50
million users
• It took radio 38 years to reach 50 million
users
• It took cable TV 10 years to reach 50
million users
• It only took the Internet 5 years to reach 50
million users !!!
Startling Projections
[IDC]
• When President Clinton took office there were
only 50 Web sites
• Over 70,000 new sites are being added every hour
• The number of Web users worldwide will grow
form 50 million in 1998 to 300 million in 2001 1998 prediction
• There are about 150 million internet users today
(1999) , predicted to go to over 2000 million by
2002 (including about 90 million in the U.S) www.emarketer.com
Editorial from Leading Baghdad Newspaper
• The Internet is one of the American means
to enter every house in the world. They
want to become the only source for
controlling human beings in the new
electronic village. It’s the end of
civilizations, cultures, interests, and ethics.
– Saddam, et. al.
Common Internet Questions/Issues
• What is the Internet ? Where is the Internet ?
• Traditional business asks:
– Can we stop it ? How we get in on it ?
• Governments ask:
– How can we regulate it ?
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Content/morality ?
Stock speculation & cap values ?
Competition with existing channels ?
Deterioration of traditional “brick & mortar” ?
Security/Safety
– How can we tax it ?
No Way Will I Do Business Like That !
• Touching - Feudal environment, tribes,
clans, small towns
• Seeing - Business in cities/regionally
(agents & salespersons)
• Hearing - National/International (catalog
ordering, telemarketting)
• ??? - Internet (can’t touch, can’t see, can’t
even hear; no “salesperson” nor “agent”
Internet Environment
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Worldwide Exposure
24 Hours a Day
7 Days a Week
Nearly equal exposure for both large and
small players
• Small entry cost
• Lower transaction cost
• More favorable taxing structure
• The decision for most businesses in the near future
will not be one of either “bricks” or “clicks”
• But will be a decision about where along that
spectrum from “all bricks” to “all clicks” should
they be positioned
• And how well they can integrate the two ends of
the spectrum both externally with their customers
and internally with they salespersons and/or agents
1995 - ???? Very Rapid Changes in
Both Technology & Business
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Come gather 'round people wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone,
For the times, they are a chang-in'
Bob Dylan
Metcalf’s Law
• Business value increases exponentially with
number of users
• New strategies
– Build market base first, then work on
profits
– Ally with competitors as well as suppliers
– Opportunity seeking versus “problem
solving”
– Embrace chaos
Market Caps (1999)
Success on the Internet is the same
as Business Success in General
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Having a good idea(s)
Preparing a plan
Research and education
Working hard
Getting help when you need it
Believing in yourself
“ontrepreneurs” online entrepreneurs
Steps Towards E-nabling Your Business
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I. Identifying Customer Needs and Business Goals
II. Completing your E-Commerce Business Plan
III. Resource Identification
IV. Designing your Website and Building Content
V. Selecting a Hosting Service
VI. Setting up Systems to Handle Sales
VII. Marketing and Promoting your Site
VIII. Security Issues
IX. Legal Issues
I. Identifying Customer Needs and
Business Goals
• A. First see what’s “out there”
• B. Study products/services that are related to what
your offerings are (or will be)
• C. Find “what’s missing”, and see how that relates
to what you (may) have
• D. Clarify your goals
• E. Determine exactly what you will offer via the
internet
• F. Select and reserve a URL
A. First see what’s “out there”
• Become familiar with the Internet culture:
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The special style and language of the web
Ways of searching for information
Ways of presenting information
Ways of linking to further information
Ways of doing business
The kinds of customers who do business on the
web
– The ways business attract customers
What sells well and easily on the Web
• Unique, one of a kind, hard to locate items
– ILS in Memphis
• Items sold at a discount or auctions
– Ebay
• Items that are easier to buy on line
– Amazon
• Try a search for your product or service via Yahoo
(www.yahoo.com) or About.com(www.about.com)
Future Shopping
• In the future, more “stuff” will be easier to buy
and “try” online
• Sophisticated 3-D graphics and artificial
intelligence will bring this about
• Everyone will have a 3-D model of themselves
stored either on their computer, with merchants, or
with modeling services; your 3-D model will try
on clothes for you and let you see what you look
like
• Try: www.makeoverstudio.com (females only ?)
B. Study products/services that are related to
what your offerings are (or will be)
• What companies are offering the same or
similar services and how are they doing it
• What companies are offering alternative
products or services (and how)
• What companies are offering
complimentary products or services
• You may have to offer your products or
services via the web just to remain a player
in your industry
C. Find “what’s missing”, and see how
that relates to what you (may) have
• Quality/Price/Service aspects
– Quantity discounts
– Seasonal sales
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Customization of product/service (or “hand made”)
Regional specialties
More interesting/fun website
Better integration of internet offerings with your “brick
and mortar” offerings
• Better customer service
• More “free stuff”
Service Offerings Also
• Trade Services (local markets)
• Professional Services (Consultants, Attorneys,
Physicians, etc.)
– Reach clients around the world
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Agency Services
Information and listing services
Let customers know of your specialty areas
Keep in touch with clients & “customer service”
Advertising sites
– www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Consulting
D. Clarify your goals
Goal
Web Site Orientation
Get Known
Express Corporate/Individual
Personality
Corporate Information
Meet Others
Invitations, Forums, E-Mail
Display Offerings
Brochures, Catalogs, Photos, Specs
Online Revenue
Sales and Advertising
Have Fun
Indirect Revenue
• Banner and other types of advertising for
other companies
• Linking to other services (geocities (yahoo),
amazon, etc.)
• Promote others products (affiliate or
associate programs)
E. Determine exactly what you will
offer via the internet
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F. Select and Reserve a URL
• URL (Universal Resource Locator) domain name, web address
• Come up with clever, easy to remember,
and descriptive abbreviation or short title
for your offering or company
• Check to see if it is reserved (not just in
uses !)
• Register it - rs.internic.net (or thru hosting
service)
II. E-Commerce Business Plan
• A. Fully identify yourself
• B. Identify your potential customers
• C. Itemize all the ways you will reach these
customers (marketing)
• D. Determine you economics (investments, costs,
pricing, volumes, cash flow)
• E. Determine your fulfillment methodology
• F. Determine your customer service methodology
A. Fully identify yourself
• Know your strengths and weaknesses SWOT (strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, threats) analysis
• Know where you want to go with your
business; your future scope
– Broader/Narrower customer base
– Broader/Narrower product base
– Increase volume and/or increase margin
B. Identify your potential customers
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“Surfing”
Searching
Newsgroups
Purchase email list
Focus groups
Surveys
Searching the WWW
• Offline
– Printed Directories (Topic or Name)
• Online
– Titles or Document Text
– Keyword or Content
– Most search sites are free (paid by
advertising shown at the site)
Searching the WWW On-line
General
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HotBot (www.hotbot.com)
AltaVista (altavista.digital.com)
Excite (www.excite.com)
Infoseek (www.infoseek.com)
Lycos (www.lycos.com)
Northern Light (www.nlsearch.com)
Yahoo (www.yahoo.com)
WebCrawler (www.webcrawler.com)
PlanetSearch (www.planetsearch.com)
Microsoft (www.msn.com)
Other Search Engines
• Ask Jeeves [www.ask.com] - natural langauage queries
• Bugnet [www.bugnet.com] - tracking down software
bugs
• CompareNet [www.comapre.net] - comparison shopping
• CompanySleuth [www.companysleuth.com] - info about
companies
• Goto [www.goto.com] - search for commercial sites
• KnowX [www.knowx.com] - search public records
• WebMarket [www.webmarket.com] - product catalogs
Meta (Multiple) Search Products
[*Home Office Computing 1998 Rating]
• WebCompass (www.quarterdeck.com)
– 4*
• Agentware (www.agentware.com)
– 3*
• SubjectSearchSpider (www.pkware.com)
– 3.5*
• WebSeeker (www.bluesquirrel.com)
– 2.5*
• ZurfRider (www.zurf.com)
– 3*
• Dogpile (www.dogpile.com]
Search Utilities
• You can add special searching software to
your PC to automate searches, schedule
searches for off hours, save copies of pages
on disk, etc.
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www.promptsoftware.com [SuperSleuth]
www.webforia.com [Webforia]
www.enfish.com [Enfish Tracker Pro]
www.alexa.com [Alexa]
www.copernic.com [Copernic 99]
C. Itemize all the ways you will initially
reach these customers (marketing)
• Participate in electronic forums related to your
business area
• Consider purchasing e-mail or snail mailing lists
• Put up an experimental web site and offer some
free stuff (or free information such as an electronic
newsletter) to get customer contacts
• Search Engines (discussed later)
• Online advertisement
• Traditional media
D. Determine your economics
• Costs
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Traditional
Merchant Account
Web Hosting
Credit Card Clearing
Pricing
Volumes
Service level
Cash Flow
E. Determine your fulfillment
methodology
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Payment (discussed later)
Picking & Packing
Shipping
International ?
Returns and Allowances
F. Determine your customer service
methodology
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Telephone only
Internet only
E-mail only
Combinations of the above
Tracking
Customer “Involvement”
III. Resource Identification
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A. Your Internal Corporate Team
B. Financial Resources
C. Physical Resources
D. Computer Hardware
E. Internet Service Providers
F. Computer Software
G. Business Consultants
H. Technical Consultants
A. Your Internal Corporate Team
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Web Business Manager
Site Manager
Site Designer
Network Administrator
Graphics/Artist
Webmaster
Programmer
B. Financial Resources
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Cash
Lenders
Borrowers
Partners
Venture Capital
C. Physical Resources
• Traditional needs plus:
– Computer hardware space
– Picking/Packing/Shipping “staging”
– Office space for new employees/consultants
D. Computer Hardware
• Basic System (500 MHz Intel Pentium or AMD Athlon)
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Monitor (15 inch or more, at least 640 x 480, at least 60Hz)
Keyboard & Mouse
Soundcard & speakers
RAM (at least 64MB)
Hard Drive (at least 6GB)
CD-ROM (at least 16X)
Modem (56 Kbps for dial-up connection, ISDN, Cable, or DSL)
Diskette
Zip Drive (100MB or 250MB)
Surge Protector (and three wire circuit) and/or UPS
Scanner and/or Digital Camera
• Www.smalloffice.com for recommendations
• www.safeware.com - insurance
E. Internet Service Providers
• National
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AOL
EarthLink
Netcom
UUNet
• National with local presence
– Time Warner - “Road Runner”
– SC Bell
• Local
– See Memphis yellow pages
– See thelist.internet.com or www.celestin.com/pocia
Connection Speed Options
• Dial up - 56 Kbps
• ISDN - 128 Kbps (includes 2 regular telephone lines)
• Cable - up to 4 - 5 Mb per second (but shared) [Time
Warner]
• DSL - up to 1 - 8 Mb per second [Telocity]
• Satellite - up to 1.5 Mb (download) [iSky]
• For regular dial-up, consider using a new dedicated line
• Make sure calls to your chosen ISP are local calls
• Make sure your ISP supports the option you choose
without extra charges
Comunications Bandwidth Technology
[transfer Rates for a 10 Mbyte file, 2 min movie]
Speed/Type
9.6 Kbps modem
14.4 Kbps modem
28.8 Kbps modem
56 Kbps modem
128 Kbps ISDN modem
1.54 Mbps T1
4 Mbps cable modem
10 Mbps cable modem
Transfer Time
2.3 hours
1.5 hours
46 minutes
24 minutes
10 minites
52 seconds
20 seconds
8 seconds
Cable potential of 30 Mbps per channel ,Ethernet Limitation of 10 Mbps
Free ISP’s
• ISP rates generally run from $10 to $50 a
month depending upon connection speed
and services
• Free ISP’s are now available for regular
telephone access:
F. Computer Software
• Operating System - Windows 98, Windows 2000
• Browser - Netscape, Internet Explorer (need more
than one for testing), ISP Provided
• Virus Protection - Norton, McAfee, DrSolomon
• Integrated Office Suite -Microsoft Office
• E-Mail - Built into browser, Eudura
• Database Software - Access, SQLServer, Sybase,
Oracle
• FTP - WSFTP
• Fax - Symantec WinFax
• Web Page Editor - Frontpage, Dreamweavor,
HotDog
• Graphics Software - Paint Shop Pro
• Storefront Software - Online Merchant, QuickSite,
PerlShop, custom made, use ISP’s, or use a
storefront host (store.yahoo.com, www.icat.com)
• Accounting Software
Browser/Application Compatibility
• Operating System
(Windows, Mac, Unix)
• Browsers
(InternetExplorer,
Netscape, AOL, …)
• Wireless Handhelds
• Internet Appliances
G. Business Consultants
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Planning for E-Commerce
Corporate, Financial, and Tax Issues
Legal Issues
Employee Issues
Integrating e-Business with regular business
channels
• Business to Business E-Commerce
H. Technical Consultants
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E-Commerce Consultants
Web Design Consultants
Credit Card Processing Consultants
Storefront Consultants
Database Consultants
Internet Programmers
Systems and Network Design Consultants
Network Administrators
IV. Design your Website and
Building Content
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A. Organizing your Website
B. Compelling Content
C. Standing Out from the Crowd
D. KISS
E. Loading Speed
F. Personalization
G. Consistent Appearance and Behavior
H. Design Guidelines
I. Tools
A. Organizing your Website
• Just like building a house, it pays to take some
time and carefully plan your website
• On main web page have only:
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Company name
Logo
“Eye Catchers” (“New”, “Free”, “Win”, “Contest”, …)
Links to the rest of your site
“Sales Hooks” (“Discount”, “Sale”, ...
• Have you links logically arranged (like in a row):
– Near the top middle
– On either side
B. Compelling Content
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Aesthetically appealing
Imagery
Credentials, awards, etc.
Major references & testimonials
Say what you can do for your customer, and
why you are so good at it
C. Standing Out from the Crowd
• Statement of purpose
– Who are you
– Whom do you hope to reach
– How are you different from competitors
• Offer something for free - surfers today expect that
– “Giveaways” (T-shirts, pens, …)
– Sample product
– Contests
• Consider “niche” areas with higher markup instead of
volume
• Booster your international acceptance
Level Playing Field
• On the net
– All sites are relatively new
– All companies of every size, nationality, and
type are listed the same way by the search
engines
– The web pages are all basically set up the same
with html pages connected with hyperlinks
– As a result the small business can do nearly the
same things the big companies do (often better
and faster due to less administrative burden)
D. KISS (Keep it simple)
• Surfers today don’t really “read” your content in
the traditional way (linear top left to bottom right);
they are usually in a hurry and click and browse
• Point the way with headings
• Use lists
• Lead the readers on with links:
– More…
– Next…
– Details…
• “Search” capabilities
E. Loading Speed
• If your main page takes more than 10 -15 seconds
to load, then many visitors will either leave or
have an initial bad impression of your site
• A 1999 study showed an average of 14.31 seconds
(56Kbs speed); Yahoo - 4.21 secs, Go.com - 5.41
secs
• Keep all images 20k or less in size; use cropping,
and color and content reduction if necessary
• Limit Java applets on main page and use JAR files
F. Personalization
• Let your customers “know you”, your corporate
culture, your staff, etc.
• Try to develop a “one-to-one” relationship with
your customers by tuning your site to their
interests and inviting a dialogue and interaction
with both you and others with similar interest
• Invite e-mail feedback
• Have a “guestbook”; develop yourself or use:
www.guestworld.com or www.linkexchange.com
G. Consistent Appearance and
Behavior
• All your web pages should have a consistent
“look and feel”
• Choose one “wallpaper” , “tiled” image, or
or background color for all pages
• Select a consistent font (or use the browser
default) throughout
• Have a consistent linking methodology
H. Design Guidelines
• Use graphics tuned to your audience
– if you are selling skateboards, bright and neon
colors with flashy images are appropriate
– If you are selling insurance to senior citizens,
conservative colors and sophisticated fonts
would be appropriate
– Conservative : www.ups.com
– Modern: www.fedex.com
– Bold: www.hothothot.com
• Provide forward and backward navigation
buttons, as well as a “home” button on each
page
• If using images/photos for linking, provide
an alternative text link
I. Tools
• Office Suite (Word Processor, Spreadsheet,
Presentation)
– Word Internet Assistant
• Simple (Adobe PageMill, FrontPage
Express[free with win/98], Netscape
Composer[free with Netscape download])
• Advanced (Macromedia Dreamweaver,
MicroSoft FrontPage, NetObjects Fusion,
HotDog Pro)
HTML
• Hypertext Markup Language
• The notation use to “mark up” a text
document to add formatting information, to
display multimedia (images, sounds, etc.),
to build form data entry fields, and to “link”
to other locations (in the same document or
another document somewhere on the web)
Dynamic HTML
• Using a “scripting” language within the
HTML pages that are executed on the client
PC (Latest HTML Standard - 4.0)
• Common scripting languages are
Microsoft’s VBScript and the platform
independent JavaScript
• Executes on the client side to add dynamic
effects and to validate information keyed
into form fields
Active Server Pages
• A Microsoft internet technology for
programming dynamic content and database
access into web pages
• Controlled from the web server
• Web server must be Windows NT/2000 (or
have special third party software on Unix
systems)
Java Server Pages
• A Sun internet technology for programming
dynamic content and database access into
web pages
• Controlled from the web server
• Platform independent - Unix or Windows
NT/2000
Java
• A fully object oriented language that can be
used to build applications or applets
• Applets are applications that can be
downloaded with an HTML page and run
inside a browser window
• Combined with JDBC (Java Database
Connectivity), Java applets can select,
display, and manipulate information in
databases from either the client or server side
V. Selecting a Hosting Service
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A. Online hosting and design combinations
B. Combination CD and hosting service
C. Space in an existing online “I-Mall”
D. Dedicated hosting services
E. Your ISP
“Up and running in Minutes”
• Some hosting services provide a full range
of design products, some leave that up to
you
• Many claim to have your site “up and
running” very quickly. This is only true if
you are fully prepared and have completed
all the steps we have already discussed,
including having all your product data
(including images) ready.
Web Hosting
• A web hosting service is like a shopping center
landlord
• You rent space on his server, and additional
services are typically provided:
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Disk space
Virtual domain (your own URL)
TCP/IP services (ie FTP)
E-mail Accounts
File Backup Services
Other application related (discussed later)
Hosts Use Scenario
• Decide if you want a dedicated hosting service or be part
of someone else’s “mall”
• Register your URL (some services will do this for you)
• Sign up with the host
• Create your content (pages, images, catalog, etc.)
• Transfer content from you PC to host (unless you have
selected a host where the creation process is on his site
using his tools)
• Test your site
• Market your site
A. Online hosting/design
• Quick, but not very flexible; small inventory
• Yahoo!Store is one of the most popular store.yahoo.com
– $100 per month for a store that sells fewer than fifty
items a month
• www.icat.com ($50 per month for less than 50
sales per month)
• hometown.aol.com
• www.geocities.com
• www.verio.com
B. CD Based Hosting Service
• There are CD software packages you can purchase
which will allow you to make storefront web sites
using “templates” that can be customized
• These packages can build a more flexible and
capable operation than the on-line models
• You install this software on your PC and make you
web site locally. When competed and tested you
can post it to a hosting service that is compatible
with the site created by the package; some
package vendors also have hosting services.
• The storefront software will allow you to
create your website complete with catalog
of merchandise, shopping cart for item
checkout, and credit card, phone, or fax
payments
• Some are expensive $5000 to $10000
• Less expensive ones are:
– www.onlinemerchant.com (several versions)
– www.quicksite.com
C. I-Mall
• I-Mall: A collection of online businesses (typically
small businesses) that are listed in an online index
or directory maintained by one organization. Large
i-malls have multi-tier indexes and search features
• To become a merchant in an I-Mall, you set up
your site (either on your own or using utilities
provided by the mall landlord)
• Transfer your files to the mall site
• Pay start-up, monthly, and or per transaction fees
• Your business may be indexed with a hyperlink to
your location on your web hosting service, or the
i-mall may also provide the hosting service
• I-Mall’s give small business greater expose than
they may get on their own
• I-Malls:
– Downtown America (www.awa.com)
– ShopNow.com (www.internet-mall.com)
– Icat (mall.icat.com/mall)
D. Dedicated Hosting Services
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Disk space
Virtual domain (your own URL)
TCP/IP services (ie FTP)
E-mail Accounts
Server Programming (CGI, ASP, Java)
Database Support (SQLServer, Oracle, etc.)
Shopping Cart Software & Wizards
Secure Server (for credit card processing)
The last four of these services cost more typically
E. Your ISP
• May have combined ISP and Web Hosting reduced
rates (ie MindSpring’s “The Works”)
• Same features as dedicated hosting service except:
– Less services since not dedicated to the hosting
function
– Usually cannot have your own URL
– Network speed may not be as fast
– May have none or limited database support
– May have none or limited server programming
Hosting Service or ISP Concerns
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How long in business
Service level statistics available
Service level in agreement (“up time”)
Connection speed to the Internet - ISDN,
T1, T3
• All charges (disk space, page hits, file
transfers, total bits transfer fees, etc.)
• How can they help promote your site
Web Hosting for Free
• Most Web hosting service rates start at about
$20/month for unlimited access and 10MB space)
• In trade for displaying banner ads, you can get
basic free hosting services:
– www.hypermart.com
– www.homestead.com
• Others:
– dir.Yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Compa
nies/Internet/Services/Web_Services/Website_
Hosting/Free_Web_Pages/
VI. Setting up Systems to Handle
Sales
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A. Offline Sales
B. E-Mail Order Forms
C. Electronic Forms
D. Invoice Billing
E. Credit Card Processing
F. Fulfillment
G. Customer Service
H. Integration with Traditional Methods
A. Offline Sales
• You can use your web site just to describe your
company and to give product information
(customers want to know price, now!)
• Then you can provide telephone and fax numbers
for people to call in their orders
• This is like an “online catalog”, but placing
catalog orders in the traditional manner
• It might be the way you want to set up your site
initially
B. E-Mail Order Forms
• Next you can provide an e-mail link on your
web page
• When it is clicked an email form will open
and users can send you order information
(as plain text)
• A step further is to provide a simple HTML
form with an e-mail “action”
• Here the form data is sent to you as email
(note it is often hard to read the form data)
C. Electronic Forms
• Client side HTML form plus optional JavaScript
validation (or Java form)
• Server side:
– CGI program (Perl, C/C++, Java)
– Active Server Pages or Java Server Pages
– Database interface (ADO, ODBC, JDBC)
• Your service provider will typically have forms
processing software, or server extensions for
FrontPage or Dreamweaver
Catalog of Products
• Maintain data on
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Item ID number
Specifications
Options
Photos/Images
Price
• Provides online “samples” if possible
• Data Organization
– HTML link/page based (one link per product)
– File based (items as records in file)
– Database (relational) organization - search capabilities
D. Invoice Billing
• After you receive an order (via phone, fax,
email, or electronic form)
• You can simply bill the client for the goods
• In the Internet world, however, you do not
know the customer
• So you typically want to get paid up front,
or when you ship the goods (check state
laws)
E. Credit Card Processing
• Obtain Merchant Account (next slide)
• Ask your hosting service for a “secure server”
• Accept (and clear) credit card payments
– You need software to process the credit payment to the
bank (via a secure connection)
– You can purchase or ‘lease’ such software
(www.atomic-software.com)
– You can “route” the credit card transaction to a
servicing company - CyberCash
• You are responsible for credit card fraud ! Verify
differences in “bill to” and “ship to” addresses (most
software and services do this)
Merchant Accounts
• Apply thru traditional bank, online bank (such as Wells
Fargo, www.wellsfargo.com), or thru CyberCash
• List at:
dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Financ
ial_Services/Transaction_Clearing/Credit_Card_Merchant
_Services
• Pay application fee( zero to about $500)
• Banks charge a usage fee or “discount” of from 1 to 4 %,
plus a monthly fee (or minimum) of $20 to $100, and
perhaps a per transaction fee from zero to 30 cents
• For American Express or Discover, you handle directly
with those companies
CyberCash
• www.cybercash.com - “CashRegister” service
• Can place one order at a time, or use ‘shopping cart’
software (see later slide)
• Need software on server to “stage” process (ie CGI)
• CyberCash has certified “consultants”
• Will “hit” credit card immediately; need your own server
to bill after item is shipped
• Other service companies: www.verifone.com,
www.checkfree.com, www.otginc.com,
www.millicent.com (micropayments, also CyberCoin)
Non Credit Card online Payment Methods
• “Smart Cards” - Europe now, USA later
(American Express “Blue”)
• www.ibill.com - customers can bill
transactions to their telephones
• Intell-A-Check - debits from a customers
checking account
• www.chatech.com/html/about_us_contact.html micropayments form “wallet”
“Shopping-Cart” Technology
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Catalog of Products (database)
Place multiple items in ‘cart’ before buying
Electronic Forms
Credit Card Authorization & Security
Sales tax rates by state
E-mail order acknowledge
E-mail shipment acknowledge
Shipment tracking
Customer database
• Some software is free:
– www.arpanet.com/perlshop
– store.Yahoo.com
– www.onlinemerchant.com
• Many consultants have this available
• Many hosting companies provide this (for
an extra monthly fee)
F. Fulfillment
•
•
•
•
•
•
“Picking” the merchandise
Preparing the goods for shipment
Shipping the goods - “need receipted delivery”
Notifying customer goods have shipped
Resolving delivery issues
Provide for customer “tracking”
– Links to delivery carriers (FEDEX, UPS, USPS)
• Handling returns and allowances
G. Customer Service
• Site Maps
• Site Search
• Email
– Response to queries
– Notice of new items, sales, etc.
– Newsletters, discussion areas, etc.
•
•
•
•
FAQ’s
“Portal” (resource for your customers)
Storing Preferences
Data Mining
H. Integration with Traditional Methods
• Promote via traditional channels (ie agents,
salespersons, distributors) and vice-versa
• Easier said than done, since web will
eventually eliminate many traditional
channels - need incentives
• Cross advertise in traditional media (radio,
TV, print, events, etc.)
VII. Marketing and Promoting your
Site
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
A. Search Engines
B. Search Services
C. Mailing Lists
D. Cross Linking
E. Online Advertising
F. Traditional Media
G. Visitor Identification
H. Online Research
I. International Considerations
Web Site Marketing
• You have two problems when it comes to
marketing your site:
– Getting surfers to visit your site
• Search engines finding you
• Customers getting your URL from somewhere else
– Getting them to stay there once they arrive
• Compelling content
• Promotions
• Interaction
A. Search Engines
• Meta tags
– Tags in your HTML page that indicate “keywords” and
description for your site
• Registration & Application
– Directly apply for a listing (ie www.yahoo.com) - only
a % of applicants are listed
– Study “how to get listed”
(www.searchenginewatch.com)
– Follow the “How to include Your Site” or “Add URL”
link found on the home page of search engines
B. Search Registration Services
• www.clearinghouse.com
• www.about.com
• www.submit-it.com
www.netcreations.com/postmaster
• www.register-it.com
• www.freelinks.com)
C. Mailing Lists
• Start your own mailing list, and send out
newsletters; software is available to manage these
lists (www.seatlelabs.com/slmail, www.skylist.net,
www.lyris.net)
• Get involved with other mailing lists and
newsgroups that involve your product/service, or
one that is complimentary, or customers with your
identified demographics
• Use “low key” approaches; read “rules” for group
D. Cross Linking
• Find complimentary sites
• Www.linkexchange.com
• Affiliates
– www.amazon.com & other “portals”
– www.befree.com - help you set up an affiliate
program
E. Online Advertising
•
•
•
•
Hugh audience
Searchable by users
Long “air” time
Some free services:
– classifieds.yahoo.com
– www.classifieds2000.com
• Charge based
–
–
–
–
www.linkexchange.com
www.adsmart.com
www.valueclick.com
www.doubleclick.com
“Banner Ads”
• Most are not free:
– CPM - cost per 1000 visitors (1 to $50 per
month per 1000 visitors)
– CTR - click thru rate (.1 to $1 per click thru)
• See:
– www.markwelch.com/bannerad
• Banner ad creation
– Graphics program
– www.coder.com/creations/banner
Web Marketing Plans
• There are software products to help
you with this entire process:
– www.sitepromoter.com
– www.webpost96.com
– www.webposition.com
F. Traditional Media
• Put web address on all your print media
– Business cards
– Stationary
– Yellow page ads
• Press Releases
• Use traditional media (TV, radio, newsprint,
events, etc.)
• Integrate traditional and web advertising
G. Visitor Identification
• Directly ask your visitors to sign in
• Give something away for free, and ask for
visitor info to send them (or allow them to
download) free stuff
• Obtain from logs on server - only partial
info
• Use of ”cookies” in web content
H. Online Research
• Discussion lists:
– www.talkbiz.com/bizlist/index.html
• Mail list directories
– www.liszt.com
• Web “villages”
– www.ivillage.com (women)
I. International Issues
•
•
•
•
•
•
Language Issues
Cultural Issues
International Trade Issues
International Shipping
Getting Paid in Foreign Trade
International Marketing
Top Ten Internet Countries (1999)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
USA - 110.8 million
Japan - 18.2
United Kingdom - 14.0
Canada - 13.3
Germany - 12.3
Australia - 6.8
Brazil - 6.8
China 6.3
France - 5.7
South Korea - 5.7
1999: 43 % is USA
2002: 33% is USA
2005: 27% is USA
Language Issues
• Provide alternative language pages:
– Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese
– Japanese, Chinese, Russian
• Translating your content:
– Hire a translator (best results)
– Use a translation program (have a native review results !)
• www.systransoft.com
– Free sources
• babelfish.altavista.com
– Provide a link to free translation services (such as the
above)
Cultural Issues
• International salutations and conventions:
– Merriam Webster’s Guide to International business
– www.bspage.com/address.html
• Oriental “manners”
– www.gwjapan.com
• Be careful with: colors, legal terms, business
terms and documents, technical terms
• Use standard international acronyms
(‘incoterms”):
– www.schenkerusa.com/incoterms.html
International Trade Issues
• Become familiar with these issues:
– International Business Resources on The
WWW (ciber.bus.msu.edu/busres.htm)
– NASBITE, the National Association of Small
Business International Trade Educators
(www.docp.wright.edu/nasbite)
– The International Trade, Small Business, and
Intellectual property Web site
(www.entemp.ie/intetrade.htm)
• Subscribe to International Trade newsletters:
– www.newsletteraccess.com/subject/intetrade.htm
• Review/use bulletin boards:
– www.worldbusiness.net/marketplace
– www.digilead.com
– ciber.bus.msu.edu/busres/tradlead.htm
• Be careful of US export restrictions
– www.bxa.doc.gov
– www.arentfox.com/features/tradeleg/home.html
International Shipping
• Use air delivery
• Use “incoterms”
• May need “Shippers Export Declaration”
depending on value and mode of transportation
– www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/correct.way.html
• May need other documents for some countries
• Use carriers that provide these services (ie
FEDEX)
• Consider export insurance (www.exim.gov)
Getting Paid in Foreign Trade
• Ask for payment in advance in US dollars (cash,
cashiers check, International Money Order)
• Use an escrow service (www.tradesafe.com,
www.internetclearing.com, www.iescrow.com);
these can also except credit card payments for you
• Link to online conversion sites
– www.bloomberg.com/markets/currency/currcalc.cgi)
• Have interactive (Java) applets on your foreign
language pages to the calculations for the user
International Marketing
•
•
•
•
•
Consider hiring a consultant
Use US export office assistance
Foreign trading partners - swap email lists
Foreign trading cross links
International classified ads
– www.profnet.org/classifieds.htm
• Online foreign press releases
• Autoresponders (e-mail addresses that
automatically respond to request for info)
VIII. Security Issues
•
•
•
•
A. Secure transmissions
B. Your company credibility
C. Use of private/sensitive information
D. Protection of Hardware/Software
A. Secure Transmissions
• Secure methods (encryption)
– Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
– Secure Electronic Transactions Protocol (SET
– Pretty Good Privacy (PPG)
• You can obtain your own security “certificate” (to
validate you are who you say you are):
www.verisign.com
• You can encrypt your email: www.mcafee.com
• For e-Commerce transactions, choose a hosting
service that provides SSL (HTTPS)
B. Your Company Credibility
• Become a member in good standing with
the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org)
• Join their BBBOnLine program
(www.bbbonline.org)
• Display this seal on your site
• Other organizations:
– TrustE
– CPA WebTrust
C. Use of Private/Sensitive Information
• Clearly state you policy on using customer
data; if optional clearly let customer select
option
• Do not ask for more data than you need
• If you operate your own server, encrypt the
data in your database (or ask your hosing
service to do it)
• Do not use intrusion “tricks”
D. Protection of Hardware/Software
•
•
•
•
•
Uninterruptable power supply (UPS)
Physical security (door locks, alarms, …)
Use of passwords
Encrypt data files
Separate profiles (windows operating system, web
browser, service provider)
• Daily backups (to tape, zip, secure servers, …)
• Anti-virus software
• Insurance (Contents, liability, …)
IX. Legal Issues
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
A. Domain and e-mail Names as Trademarks
B. Local, State, and Federal Laws
C. Vicarious Liability for “bulletin board”
D. Trade Unions
E. Privacy and Public Rights in “cyberspace”
F. Rights of Supplies
G. Hackers and Flamers
World-wide Exposure
A. Domain and e-mail Names as Trademarks
• Internet domain names and e-mail addresses are
trademarks and should be protected
• However, the organizations that clear domain names do not
have legal authority to grant trademarks
• You must go through the same name searches and filing as
for any other trademark (both state [™ ] and federal [®])
• Any visual element of your website can also get a
trademark
• Check to make sure you do not use anyone’s else
trademark - www.nolo.com/chunkPCT/PCT29.HTML and
www.uspto.gov/tmdb/index.html
B. Local, State, and Federal Laws
• Be aware of laws that may apply to how you give
away free stuff or hold “sweepstakes”
– www.arentfox.com/features/sweepstakes
• Be aware of state laws of taxable sale items
• Be aware of state laws on fulfillment, returns, and
allowances
• Be aware of new court interpretations of internet
patents and copyrights (ie Amazon’s suit of Barnes
& Noble on the “one click”, or Priceline’s suit of
Microsoft for the “name your own price”)
C. Vicarious Liability for “bulletin board”
• US courts have ruled that companies having
internet home pages with BBS like capabilities
are liable (slander, pornography, etc.) for the
information posted just like any other publisher
• US Supreme Court has ruled that “obscenity” is
to be judged by “local standards”. However with
the WWW any receiver can be “local”. People
have been convicted in remote locations from
their “home site”. [1995 Memphis suit]
D. Trade Unions
• Individuals employed directly or indirectly
in the making of “home page” material may
come under the jurisdiction of some trade
unions (“residual payments”, and other
benefits)
• The Screen Actors Guild has claimed that
actors involved in Internet images or videos
come under their jurisdiction
E. Privacy and Public Rights in “cyberspace”
• The rules and regulations of the US privacy Act
have been determined to cover activities
conducted in “cyberspace” to insure that
individuals have their rights to privacy
• Names, photographs, or “likenesses” cannot be
used (for most people) without their written
permission
• Be careful also that content and services are not
divided by gender, race, religion, etc.
F. Rights of Supplies
• Any agreements (or the lack of) with
outside suppliers for content material should
be reviewed such as photographers,
freelancers, stock images/photos, etc.
• Agreements with software contractors (for
home page or Java code) should be
reviewed for ownership
G. Hackers and Flamers
• Be careful in marketing or commerce
agreements with customers or partners
to reserve the right to cancel service or
promotions if your content becomes
infected with a virus (or other situation
due to security breaches)
H. World-wide Exposure
• Even if companies meet all the laws of the
US (or the country of their domestication),
the creative use of materials on the Internet
has world wide exposure
• For example, some laws in Europe do not
exclude privacy rights and damages to
“public figures”
• Keep aware of US trade restrictions
• Remember that just as the WWW is a fast
and direct way to communicate the quality
and benefits of your organization’s products
and service...
• It is also a fast and direct way to get a bad
reputation...
• So be cautions in your approach to WWW
commerce !
Wrap Up !
Top 10 reasons your home page stinks !*
• 10 - Your header picture is over 50K
• 9 - You put in a 400K picture of yourself
and you appear in the lower left 20K
• 8 - We can only stomach so many pictures
of your kids and pets
• 7 - You have a link to the White House
• 6 - Blink (Yawn)
• 5 - Ticker Tape Status Bars (Javascript)
• 4 - You use construction signs on your page
• 3 - Your home page consists of a desperate
plea for a job
• 2 - You use some ???? 4-bit GIF that looks
like a film negative left out in the desert for
five years
• 1 - You’re own your own hot list !
– * Jeff Glover
10 E-Commerce Pitfalls to Avoid
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Not having a business strategy or plan
Not having a marketing/promotion plan
Pushing products or services people don’t need
Over-designing your web pages
Making too many links to other sites
Typos, boo-boos, and broken images/links
Trying to do it all yourself
Spamming (e-mail) or flaming (angry messages)
Providing slow (or no) customer service
Letting your business “sell itself”
Starting an On-Line Business for Dummies
10 Ways to Boost Your Online Business
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Get and analyze log files from your provider
Keep track of your references (directly or via provider)
Create your own artwork, images, and animations
Make money as an affiliate
Dynamic pages don’t get indexed (CGI or ASP); some search engines
do not index framed content (without the NOFRAME tags
Be careful with your customer’s information
Some domain names are not regulated (.org, .net) and new extensions
are coming (.firm, …)
Chat events can promote your business
Use FTP if you sell info, software, media, etc.
If you go x-rated, do it right
Starting an On-Line Business for Dummies
E-Commerce Sites to Explore
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
www.beaniex.com (small business example)
www.garden.com (small business example)
www.amazon.com (books,etc.)
www.priceline.com (name your price)
www.bottomdollar.com (comparison shopping)
www.ebay.com (auctions)
www.etrade.com (stock trading)
www.dell.com (computers)
www.travelocity.com (travel)
www.landsend.com (clothes)
Books
• The e-commerce Question and Answer Book - 0-81440525-8
• Cyber Rules - 0-385-49412-2
• Getting Your Business Wired - 0-8144-7007
• Futurize Your Enterprise - 0471-35763-4
• Starting an Online Business for Dummies - 0-7645-0688-9
• The Complete Idiot’s Guide to e-Commerce - 0-78972194-5
• The E-Commerce Book: Building the E-Empire - 0-12421160-7
• How to Succeed in Internet Business by Employing RealWorld Strategies - 0-9657617-6-2
Other References
• Small Business Centers
– smalloffice.com
– AllBusiness.com
– Office.com
• Web Page Design
– Creating Web Pages with HTML [0-7600-5532-7]
Introduction, [0-7600-5533-5] Comprehensive
– Creating Killer Web Sites [1-56830-433-1]
– Planning and Designing Effective Web Sites [0-76004988-2]
“Reality is for those who
can’t master the Internet”
Comedian Rodgey Dangerfield - http://www.rodney.com