E-Commerce Fundamentals

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E-Commerce Fundamentals

• Small Business Information Systems
• BUS 494
• Professor Barry Floyd

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Questions

• Internet purchases
• What have you bought over the internet?
• If nothing, what would you buy?
• If something, why did you use the internet?
• What wont you buy over the internet? Why?

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Agenda

• Business to Consumer Building a site
• Creating a web site at Cal Poly
• See assignment

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E-Commerce in a nutshell
http//ecommerce.internet.com/how /build/article/0
,,10362_867521,00.html
1Find a Domain Name2Build The Site3Find a
Host4Accept Payments5Secure The Site6Promote
The Site7Maintain The Site8Keep
Customers9Globalize The Site10Stay Educated
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Find a domain name

• Choose one no one else has
• Makes sense for your business
• Purchase from various folks
• http//www.godaddy.com

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Build the site

• Web designers
• Storefront builders
• Auction Builder
• For example, look at
• http//www.bizhosting.com/

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Find a host

• Find someone reliable
• Low cost
• Good support
• Check out
• http//webhost.thelist.com/

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Accept payments

• Credit card
• Merchant Account
• 3rd party processor
• Paypal
• http//www.paypal.com

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Secure the site

• Allows folks to know who you are and to provide
  encryption of data transfers between client and
  server

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Promote the site

• Make certain that customers can find you!
• Need to show up on search engines
• http//www.1stsearchranking.com/index.htm?1427
• http//www.marketingapprentice.com/marketing/index
  .htm
• Align with other partners
• Place ads on their pages

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Maintain the site

• Track whos using it
• See what pages are being viewed and for how long
• http//www.thecounter.com/

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Keep customers

• Assess who your customers are
• Determine what information you can collect about
  them
• Use the information to assist them use your site
• Dont lose customers ..
• http//ecommerce.internet.com/how/customers/articl
  e/0,,10363_3066271,00.html

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Globalize the site

• Language
• Culture

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Stay educated

• What are the trends?
• Demographics of users?
• What will customers buy?

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Other Types

• B2C Business to consumer
• B2B Business to business
• C2B Consumer to business
• C2C Consumer to consumer

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Kinds of e-tailers

• Store, catalog and web site
• Catalog and web site
• Web site

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Keys to success in Business to Consumer E-Commerce

• Commodity-like its work best
• Digital products best of all
• Attracting and retaining customers
• Remember the importance of merchandising
• You must execute well
• Watch the competition

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Summary

• Take time to know your customer
• Understand role of technology and how it adds
  value to your customers purchasing decision/use.
• Understand the steps in Business Web Site creation

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Hands On

• Creating a web site at Cal Poly