The Business of Electronic Commerce

Audience

Management and high level technical staff involved in examining the opportunities and implications of E-commerce.

Prerequisites

An awareness of general terms used in data processing

Duration

1 day.

Course Objectives

The business aspects:

• To examine the business logic behind e-commerce and the current expansion patterns.
• To view some of the experiences of companies so far.
• To list the resources and typical time scales.
• To isolate the key success and risk factors. The design and implementation aspects
• To examine some of the software and hardware options available
• To look at the analysis, design and implementation phases covering aspects such as: Transaction processing, Security, Site maintenance.

Course Content

Phases
Business Plan
Development
Market Strategy
Execution

The Business of Internet Commerce
The Commerce Value
Virtual storefront v brick and mortar
Internet Business Strategy
Building Loyal Customers Through Online Customer Service
The Competition
Conflicting Goals and Requirements
Cost of Set-up
Business Models - Some Case Studies
Legal Issues
Functional Architectures
Who is doing what?
Suppliers and their product strategies
Implementation Strategies

The Technology of Internet Commerce
The Internet and the World Wide Web
Infrastructure: net connectivity, bandwidth

Building Blocks for Internet Commerce
Software: Microsoft, Mercantec, Netscape, etc.
Hardware: servers, costs, reliability

System Design
Who: In-house, outsourcing
Cost

Creating and Managing Content
Description of the goods or services offered
Return/refund policy
Customer service contact, including e-mail address or telephone number

Security Practices
Cryptography
Security: Threats to E-Commerce, Vandalism on the Internet, Privacy and Confidentiality
Payment Systems: SET
Auxiliary Systems

Transaction Processing
Credit card transactions
Server and client based transactions