Non-technical Report

E-Commerce

Today the internet has became a daily part of our lifes. We will bound to use the internet everyday may it be for communication, getting the latest news or information searching, the internet has became so important that some of us cant live without it. With this wide acceptance of the internet businesses are also moving online in order to explore new areas in expanding their businesses.

By using E-Commerce large organization are able to better control their businesses which are distributed throughout the world. This helps them to have a better control over their management system as they are able to link all their businesses to one central location. E-Commerce also helps them to overcome geographical boundaries ans help them to cover a wider areas compared to the past.

E-Commerce not only brings advantage to organizations but it also helps their customer in reducing the time they required to do a purchase. For example Tesco in UK, they provide services where their customer are able to purchase their groceries online and the request will be sent directly to their home.

Now with a growing usage of mobile users, E-Commerce is also evolving to M-Commerce. M-Commerce are able to bring much more advantage when compared to E-Commerce, M-Commerce are available anywhere as long as the user has his mobile devices with him. Even though M-Commerce is still in its introduction stage, the high acceptance of user using mobile devices and the technological advances in M-Commerce is showing that there are many potential to be discovered.

Technical Report

Security

The main concern of E-Commerce ever since its introduction intill now its still security. Every transaction in E-Commerce contains sensitive information, it may be information on the company’s secret (example the companies supplier list) or personal information on its customer (example credit card number). In order to protect these data there are few technology that are able to help so that these information are not able to be leak out to the public or hacker.

The easiest way to prevent any unauthorized personal retrieving data from the server would be firewall. It blocks out any request from the IP addresses which is not configured for them to allow. Other then accepting request from IP filtering another method would be packet- filtering. This works by filtering certain request so that the request in retrieving the data is limited.

To further secure the data application –proxy level, this application –proxy level acts as a second level of defense where it limits the request which are from the internet into the companies private network this can be done by a server called the bastion gateway. It limits the type of request which can be made from the internet to the private network. This helps to prevent any leak of sensitive data to other people.

Other then firewalls when companies are engaging B2B they are also able to use VPN (Virtual Private Network). It serves as a private network by using the internet from one point to another. Data traveling thru here are encrypted using ssl which eliminates the fear of a third party eavesdropping.

What causes E-Commerce to fail

Like any new business strategy, implementing e-commerce also has its risk and there are a number of things that could go wrong, for example:

• Poorly designed web site
  Website which poorly design may cause user to be lost in their website and may cause them to eventually stop going there
  

• Misunderstanding customer needs
  Some organization may concentrate more on developing the website and neglect their customers. A website which does not work for them will cause them to move on to other website where the internet is just a click away.
  

• Insufficient trained staff
  No matter how good the website is if there are insufficient staff there will be no one there to maintain the website
  

• Focusing on the technology rather than the content
  Some developer try to implement Flash, Java, Shockwave and others which may increase the load time of the customer when browsing the website. It may cause a problem to customer who is connection using dail-up connection.

Reference:
http://europa.eu.int/ISPO/ecommerce/drecommerce/answers/000079.html

Top 10 Tips For E-Commerce Website Design

1. Think about design
   Design can be so much more. Make sure all aspects of design matches your customers expectations, not just how it looks.


2. Use the best technology
   Make full use of the technology to help customers browsing experience and not adding trouble to them.


3. Plan your marketing
   There is more than one way to promote your site and a lot of common sense advice on things you may have missed.


4. Plan your SEO and marketing carefully
   Search Engine Optimization if of course very important, but it has to tie-in to other aspects of your business.


5. Design the copy you use
   The text you use on your web site will impact on the sales you make.


6. Anti-tips, what not to do
   It can be easier to learn from others' mistakes than make your own.


7. Take usability very seriously
   usability of your E-Commerce site is very important.


8. Be accessible to all
   Being accessible to all is both a legal requirement and the right thing to do.


9. Think about your business and legalities
   When working with some design or technology companies, you would be forgiven for imagining that it's all about the technology.


10. Pay attention to who is giving you advice
    It is better to read for other's advice as different company requires diffrent tips.

Reference:

http://www.othermedia.com/articles/the-top-10-top-10-tips-tips-for-ecommerce-web-site-design,154,TA.html

Advantage and Disadventage of E-cash

• Advantages
  With more and more banks introducing online banking for their customer to make their daily transactions e-cash helps to make these transaction more efficient and less costly. Usage of e-cash does not require any special authorization which means anyone can just use it for their own convenience.
  
  
• Disadvantage
  With the increasing cases of fraud on the internet it poses a great disadvantage to the growth e-cash. These cases are very hard to be solved as the usage of the e-cash is anonymous. This makes it very hard to find out who is using the e-cash and the personal that has obtained the e-cash could not be apprehended.
  

Reference:

http://www.win.tue.nl/~berry/papers/cosic.ps.gz

What makes e-cash secure

The security that is used in e-cash is cryptographic algorithms where is a key to create a tamper proof e-cash which can be traces back to where it is being issued. The usage of the e-cash is anonymous which means the e-cash could not be traced back to find out who sent it.

Each of the e-cash is embedded with a serial number and the number will not be used again. E-cash also has threat prosecution where it’s the main security in order to prevent double spending. This is made possible due to the complicated two-part lock which provides the e-cash with anonymous security and informs when someone is attempting to double the spent cash.

Reference:

http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/dts/pm/practical/ecash.htm
https://www.bs-card-service.com/en/card-acceptance/debitkarten/electronic-cash-debitkarte.html

E-Cash as a Payment Method

Before the user is able to use e-cash the user first have to create an account with the provider first. Once the provider has verified the identity of the user they will provide the user with a digital certificate which serves as a proof of identity to that user.

Once the user is identified using the digital certificate the bank will issue an e-currency to the customer according to the amount that is required by the user and the amount is then deducted from the users account. The user then can use the e-cash to make payment to merchant who are verified to prevent fraud and forgery.

Once the goods or service are received by the buyer the merchant then can present the e-cash to the issuing bank to deposit it into the merchant’s account.

Reference:

http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/dts/pm/practical/ecash.htm

Advantages of M-Commerce

There are many advantages which M-Commerce can provide which could not be found in E-Commerce:

1. Ubiquity
   User are able to access any m-commerce application in real time.


2. Accessibility
   User are able to access m-commerce application anywhere and at anytime.


3. Security
   Depending on the users mobile device. Some device offers certain level of inherent security.


4. Localization
   Network provider are able to localize their user by using positioning systems such as GPS, GSM or UMTS and offer them location-dependent services such as travel, emergency calls, hotels, restaurants and amenities.


5. Convenience
   It is very convenience to bring a mobile device anywhere due to the size and weight if the device.


6. Personalization
   As mobile devices are not shared between users so it is possible to adjust the mobile devices to the users need and wish.

Reference:

http://www.isg.rhul.ac.uk/~scarlet/documents/Secure%20m-commerce%20ECEJ.pdf

Limitation of M-Commerce

Despite the fact that the use of M-Commerce is growing rapidly there are still limitation that causes limited use of M-Commerce:

1. Bandwidth
   The limited bandwidth that can be support by mobile devices currently is very small which causes web developers to reduce the usage of rich data.


2. Screens Size
   The screen size of a mobile device is very limited. This also limits the viewing capacity of the user.


3. Less Powerful Processors
   Due to the slow processing speed web developer would have to use server side scripting which will bring more load to the servers.


4. Cost of Wireless Connection
   As wireless connection of a mobile device to the internet is still a relatively new technology the cost of using such connection is also expensive as the technology is still under heavy development

Reference:

http://www.witiger.com/ecommerce/mcommerceintro.htm

Trends in Mobile Commerce

Mobile devices have become so popular that many businesses are beginning to use m-commerce as a more efficient method of reaching the demands of their customers. These trend are shown in Asia and in Europe. North America is also beginning to take advantage of m-commerce.

Financial institutions are exploring the use of M-Commerce to broaden their business by allowing their customers to not only access account information, e.g. bank balances, stock quotes and financial advice, from anywhere, but also the possibility to make transactions, e.g. purchasing stocks, remitting money, via mobile devices. This service is often referred to as Mobile Banking. The stock market services offered via mobile devices have also become more popular and are known as Mobile Brokerage, as they allow the subscriber to react to market developments in a timely fashion and irrespective of their physical location.

News information is also becoming more popular with subscriptions to daily headlines from anywhere in the world being transmitted to mobile devices. Sports and entertainment are areas that have also grown with the demand for mobile related services. Shopping and reservation services are now more accessible when using mobile devices. Corporations are now using m-commerce to expand everything from services to marketing and advertisement. Although there are currently very few regulations on the use and abuses of mobile commerce, this will change in the next few years. With the increased use of m-commerce comes increased security. Cell phone companies are now spending more money to protect their customers and their information from online intrusions and hackers.

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Commerce

M-Commerce

M-commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services through a mobile device. It is also known as the next-generation e-commerce, m-commerce enables users to access the Internet without needing to find a place to plug in. The emerging technology behind m-commerce, which is based on the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP).

In order to exploit the m-commerce market potential, handset manufacturers such as Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, and Qualcomm are working with carriers such as AT&T Wireless and Sprint to develop WAP-enabled smart phones, the industry's answer to the Swiss Army Knife, and ways to reach them. Using Bluetooth technology, smart phones offer fax, e-mail, and phone capabilities all in one, paving the way for m-commerce to be accepted by an increasingly mobile workforce.

As connection for wireless devices becomes faster, more secure, and scalable, there is wide speculation that m-commerce will surpass wireline e-commerce as the method of choice for digital commerce transactions. The industries which may be affected by m-commerce includes:

1. Financial services
   This includes mobile banking as well as brokerage.


2. Telecommunications
   Payment of bills and account details can be conducted via the same mobile device.
   


3. Information services
   Financial news, sports figures and traffic updates can be viewed using mobile devices.

Reference:

http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid40_gci214590,00.html

Advantage and Disadvantage of Stored Value Card

• Advantages
  The main advantage of Stored value card would be the security that has been implemented in that card. Other then the security the user may also budget their spending as the card has a fixed amount of credit that is loaded on to it.
  
  
• Disadvantage
  By having a fix amount of credit in the card may be inconvenience for some situation. For example when there is an emergency and the user will need to use card immediately and that amount is more then the amount of credit that they have on the card, this may bring inconvenience to them. It may be a hassle for the cardholder because that will have to replenish the credit in the card every time the credit is exhausted.
  

Reference:

http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/EC/ChipIntro.html
http://web.mit.edu/ecom/Spring1997/gr12/4ADVECOM.HTM
http://web.mit.edu/ecom/Spring1997/gr12/4ADVECOM.HTM

Security of Stored Value Card

The security that is used in store value card is a multilayer integrated chip security circuitry which is used to control the access to the funds. This security is much more securing then the magnetic-stripe which is used in credit card or debit cards.

By using this security the information of the user will be harder to be retrieve from if the card is stolen compared to a credit card where a magnetic-stripe reader is only needed to gather the information that is in the card. Store value card also uses an encrypted key to authenticate the user whenever a transaction is made.

Reference:

http://www.txwesleyan.edu/~jvortega/security/smartcard_security.html

What is Stored value card

A stored value card is a card that have pre-loaded amount of money that can be used to pay off purchased goods or services up to the amount that the card is pre-loaded with. They are very similar to a debit card except that they do need to open any account with the card provider.

The usage of this card is also anonymous. The value that is stored in the card can be accessed by reading the magnetic bar that is embedded to the card or by radio-frequency identification or by entering the code number which is printed on the card.

Once the stored value in the card is exhausted the card then can be discarded. Some card may have the function for the user to replenish the value in the card.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stored_value_card

Advantage and Disadventage of Credit Card

• Advantages
  The main strength of a credit card would be that it is accepted world wide. The cardholder can use its card anywhere in the world as long as the merchant that they are purchasing the goods or services from accepts the card. Credit card also keeps an accurate record on every transaction that has been made by the cardholder during the month. Using the card online also lets the cardholder to be able to verify the payment over the web in real time. It also allows customer to make large purchases and make payment in monthly installments.
  
  
• Disadvantage
  By using a credit card the card holder may overspend if they are not able to keep track on the amount that they have spent. If the card is lost the card holder will have to pay in order to get a new card. Credit card also imposes high interest rates for any outstanding balance that the card holder may have.
  

Reference:

http://www.themint.org/owing/advantages.php

Security Measures of a Credit Card

The credit card has a low security system and enables countless opportunities for fraud. This opportunity has created a huge black market for stolen card numbers where they are used quickly before the stolen number gets reported. Despite the fact that the card issuing company’s effort to improve the security of the card for online purchasing using the credit card.

The problem lies with the merchant who has a poor implementation of security when dealing with the card number of their client. For an example if the merchant has implement encryption to hide the card number such as SSL the card number will be sent to someone to process the card details manually at the card terminal. When this happens the card number became readable to humans this is a security risk. It may lead to the card number to be leaked and be misused by others.

However now many card issuing company are offering system such as ClearCommence where the encrypted card detail of the user is captured directly from the merchant’s website and send directly to the payment processor. This greatly decreases the chance of the card number being leak out to the public.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_card

Credit card as a payment method

The following are the steps of a normal credit card transaction:

1. Merchant calculates the amount of purchase and asks buyer for payment
2. Buyer presents merchant with a credit card.
3. Merchant runs credit card through the point of sale unit. The amount of the sale is either hand-entered or transmitted by the cash register.
4. Merchant transmits the credit card data and sales amount with a request for authorization of the sale to their acquiring bank.
   • Point of sale units are usually set to request authorization at the time of sale, and then actually capture the sales draft at a later time.
5. The acquiring bank that processes the transaction, routes the authorization request to the card-issuing bank. The credit card number identifies type of card, issuing bank, and the cardholder's account.
6. If the cardholder has enough credit in their account to cover the sale, the issuing bank authorizes the transaction and generates an authorization code. This code is sent back to the acquiring bank.
   • The issuing bank puts a hold on the cardholder's account for the amount of the sale. Note that the cardholder's account has not been actually charged yet.
7. The acquiring bank processing the transaction, and then sends the approval or denial code to the merchant's point of sale unit. Each point of sale device has a separate terminal ID for credit card processors to be able to route data back to that particular unit.
8. A sale draft, or slip, is printed out by the point of sale unit or cash register. The merchant asks the buyer to sign the sale draft, which obligates them to reimburse the card-issuing bank for the amount of the sale.
9. At a later time, probably that night when the store is closing up, the merchant reviews all the authorizations stored in the point of sale unit against the signed sales drafts. When all the credit card authorizations have been verified to match the actual sales drafts, the merchant will capture, or transmit, the data on each authorized credit card transaction to the acquiring bank for deposit. This is in lieu of depositing the actual signed paper drafts the with the bank.
10. The acquiring bank performs what is called an interchange for each sales draft, with the appropriate card-issuing bank. The card-issuing bank transfers the amount of the sales draft, minus an interchange fee to the acquiring bank [Baughn, 88] .
11. The acquiring bank then deposits the amount of the all the sales drafts submitted by the merchant, less a discount fee, into the merchant's bank account.

Source : http://www.virtualschool.edu/mon/ElectronicProperty/klamond/Overvw.htm

Reference:

http://www.virtualschool.edu/mon/ElectronicProperty/klamond/Overvw.htm

Barriers and Constraints

There are three constrain in E-Commerce :

1. Lack of knowledge and understanding
   The lack of knowledge and understanding about how E-Commerce works and how it will actually bring benefits to the company which results in a lack of trust and confidence in e-commerce as a solution.
   


2. Fear of change
   Like the old English cliché "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". This is also what many organization is thinking why implement E-Commerce when the business is doing well. By implementing E-Commerce may add more risk without a clear potential reward.
   


3. Lack of capital and/or resources
   Some organization may not have the sufficient budget to implement E-Commerce.
   

Reference:

http://europa.eu.int/ISPO/ecommerce/drecommerce/answers/000245.html

Advantages of E-commerce

The main advantages of E-Commerce are increase in sales and cost reduction using electronic media. The advantage is divided into three categories which is:

• Advantages to Organizations
  With the increase usage of the internet world wide, businesses organizations are able to send messages worldwide, explore new markets and opportunities. This helps the organization to overcome geographical limitation. By using the internet to perform their businesses they can offer a wider range of choices and higher levels of customer information and details for individuals to search and compare.
  
  Other then helping the organization to gain wider market it also helps the organization to reduce the cost of creating, processing, distributing, storing and retrieving information.
  
  Trading hours can also be extended by using E-Commerce. Now with E-Commerce organization can operate 24 hours a day 7 days a week

• Advantages to Consumers
  The consumers also gain advantage from E-Commerce in the buying process, product research, evaluation and execution.E-commerce provides customers with a platform to search product information through global markets with a wider range of choices, which makes comparison and evaluation easier and more efficient. With the ubiquity in accessing the Internet, consumers are able to search for shops or perform other transactions anytime in almost location. Cheaper goods and services is one of the benefits for consumers who purchase online. Furthermore, delivery time and costs can be saved by buyers when they purchase digital goods and services.

• Advantages to Society
  E-Commerce helps individuals to and do their purchasing at home rather than by traveling around. will result in less traffic and air pollution. For people in countries, many service and products are now available which were unavailable in the past; opportunities and higher education services are more achievable for students. Non-profit organizations, including government services, also benefit from E-commerce by the online payment system which supports the payment of tax refunds and pensions quickly and securely. Public services such as health care, education, and public social service also benefit from E-commerce.

Reference:

http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/E-commerce_-_Overview_-_Advantages

Disadvantage of E-Commerce

There are still many disadvantage of E-Commerce where by this area is still in its introduction stage. Some of the disadvantage are as below:

• Security
  The biggest disadvantage in E-Commerce would be the issue security. The risk of having someone getting a hold of your personal and financial information even with encription being implemented on the data. If someone were to obtain your credit card number they will be able to purchace items using it.
  

• Technological support
  As E-Commerce is still in its maturing stage there are still very little technology which is build to support it. Without these technological support E-Commerce still has its potential hiden

Reference:

http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/E-commerce_-_Overview_-_Disadvantages
http://www.iit.edu/~peacjen/cs485/ecommerce3.htm

Limitations of E-Commerce

Despite the fact that E-Commerce brings allot of benefits it also has its own limitations which can be classified into technological and non-technological.

1. Technological limitations:
• Lack of universal for standard, security and reliability.
• Lack of bandwidth to suppoer E-Commerce especially for m-commerce.
• Software development for E-Commerce is still maturing.
• Existing applications and database brings difficulty to integrate Internet with EC software.
• Implementing E-Commerce require special servers to support it which may increase cost.
2. Non-technological limitations:


• There are still many legal issues to be resolve.
  
• Products are not able to be tested first.
• People lack in trust when trading with strangers.
• FRAUD cases are increasing.

Reference:

Turban, Efraim, Leidner, Dorothy, McLean, Ephraim & Wetherbe, James. (2006). Information technology for management: Transforming organizations in the digital economy

Benefits of eCommerce

By implementing E-Commerce the company can gain allot of benefits from it below are some of the benefits that they can gain from implementing E-Commerce:

• Reduce Production Cost
  All paper-based will be replace by electronic system where it will reduce their cost during production.

• Better Information System
  By converting the processes electronically it will speed up the transaction as data can be sent out as soon as they are ready.

• Better Management System within organization
  Using a central database system the organization can easily organize the data that is collected from different department in one place rather then having to ask for the data every time the data is needed.

• Better Management System across different organizations
  Data exchanges between suppliers and other organization would be more hassle free.

• Better Business Strategy
  E-Commerce can help the company to reach out for more customers when compared to their physical stores.

• Globalization
  E-Commerce is needed for the company to go for globalization.

Reference:

http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/E-commerce_-_Overview_-_E-Commerce_Benefits

Types of E-Commerce

There are many types of E-Commerce currently but it can be broken into four main categories:

• B2B (Business-to-Business)
  Companies doing business with each other such as manufacturers selling to distributors and wholesalers selling to retailers.
  
  
• B2C (Business-to-Consumer)
  Businesses selling to the general public typically through catalogs utilizing shopping cart software.
  
  
• C2B (Consumer-to-Business)
  A consumer posts his project with a set budget online and within hours companies review the consumer's requirements and bid on the project. The consumer reviews the bids and selects the company that will complete the project.
  
  
• C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer)
  There are many sites offering free classifieds, auctions, and forums where individuals can buy and sell thanks to online payment systems like PayPal where people can send and receive money online with ease.
  
  

Companies using internal networks to offer their employees products and services online (not necessarily online on the Web) are categorized as B2E (Business-to-Employee) E-Commerce.

G2G (Government-to-Government), G2E (Government-to-Employee), G2B (Government-to-Business), B2G (Business-to-Government), G2C (Government-to-Citizen), C2G (Citizen-to-Government) are other forms of E-Commerce that involve transactions with the government which ranges from procurement to filing taxes to business registrations to renewing licenses.

Reference:

http://www.digitsmith.com/ecommerce-definition.html

E-Commerce

The topic that i have chosen to do research on would be E-Commerce.

The reason why i have chosen this topic would be that E-Commerce is still very new to many companies and E-Commerce can help them to reach more customer then their physical stores can. By implementing E-Commerce they would also build up their server so that they can implement this function to their business.