An e-commerce strategy and architecture - Essay Example

?E-commerce Systems & Strategy AN E-COMMERCE STRATEGY AND ARCHITECTURE Table of Contents Background Information/Case Study This case study is based on fictitious scenario, in which we suppose Secure-Car is a traditional physical store which deals in Vehicle Ignition Interlock Devices for the protection of the vehicle security. Here, it is necessary to know what a vehicle ignition device is and how it works. Basically, “an ignition interlock system is a small device about the size of a cell phone. It works by measuring the amount of alcohol in an individual’s system. If the device registers over the set limit, the car will not start. If the driver’s breath test is below the pre-set limit, the car will start, however, there are required re-tests that must be performed during the course of the drive. This prevents a driver from having someone else start the car, or having a drink once the car starts” (Ignition Interlock, 2012). The Secure-Car Business deals in such systems along with other accessories which can help secure our vehicles from illegal intrusion. Up till now, this firm has been running its business using tradition business management structure. For instance, it has a store where people come to shop. They shop for the desired product and pay instantly. The firm has adopted a paper based approach to keep the record of its products and services. In this IT based era where people want to shop by remaining at their homes, Secure-Car has been using a traditional business approach. Once the manager/owner of the firm was using the Internet to locate information on a specific device, he was shocked to see the support of the Internet for delivering the required information in a few seconds. Manager/owner of the firm decided to implement an e-commerce platform for their business. The basic purpose of implementing this e-commerce business is to promote their business and let the other people shop by sitting at their homes. This e-commerce web site will allow the customers to place an order online by filling an online form. In this scenario, the order details will be received by the Secure-Car firm and they will deliver the product to their customer. Though, it is a proposed scenario and for the actual implementation of this idea, the manager/owner of the firm must be familiar with the terms associated with e-commerce. 2- Introduction to E-commerce Concepts A lot of the ways business organizations and individuals perform their daily tasks and continue to exist in the twenty-first century are measured with the huge web of electronic networks that is normally acknowledged as the Internet (Turban, Leidner, McLean, & Wetherbe, 2005). In addition, the across-the-board existence of the Internet for performing transactions between sellers and buyers is the fundamental motive behind the development of electronic commerce or simply (e-commerce). According to (Laudon & Laudon, 1999, p. 25; Stair & Reynolds, 2003, p. 19), “electronic commerce is the process of selling and purchasing services and goods and products is carried out electronically by means of computerized business transactions over the Internet, networks, and other digital technologies”. In addition, e-commerce also encompasses the operations behind those business transactions, such as business marketing advertising, offering customer support, and processing payment. Additionally, by replacing old and rigid paper-based and manual techniques with electronic processes, and with advanced information flows in up to date and active manners, e-commerce does not only offer the business organizations a capability to accelerate the process of ordering, delivery, and payment for products, services and goods but also minimizes the operating and inventory expenditures of the organizations (Laudon & Laudon, 1999, p. 25). Moreover, the World Wide Web (WWW) has turned into a common platform for performing e-commerce, building and implementing latest tools and technologies for the organizations to communicate with each other and their customers. In simple words, e-commerce means carrying out business activities using the Internet (Norton, 2001, p. 371). 3- Analysis of New Type of E-commerce Before we discuss the development process for a new type of e-commerce business, we should be familiar with the types of e-commerce. It will help us better determine the basic needs and requirements for our proposed business structure. In this scenario, the application of new business idea needs to determine the existing e-commerce trends and markets for the better business promotion and performance. Without a doubt, with the passage of time, e-commerce is turning into a most powerful tool for the business management. However, there are different trends in e-commerce for instance business-to-consumer (B2C) is a latest e-commerce trend which enables companies to communicate with their potential customers. In fact, this is a well-organized marketing platform for a lot of business organizations because it is the only aspect they need to improve in order to promote their business. Thus, this innovative platform enables business organizations to attract numerous people to their e-commerce web sites. Another latest e-commerce trend is known as business-to-business (B2B), which helps business organizations communicate or collaborate with other organizations tin an attempt to set up supply chain links or attract new trading associates towards their business. In fact, it is surely a very useful way of communicating and working with other firms because well-established business organizations definitely take advantage of a wide variety of tools and technologies for their business associates for delivering a variety of necessary resources (Turban et al., 2005; Anton, 2011; Epstein, 2004). In addition, there is another modern up-and-coming trend in e-commerce that is acknowledged as business-to-administration (B2A). Basically, this trend of e-commerce enables business organizations to work with other businesses and industries through the public sector groups encompassing a wide variety of business operations, tax returns, patent registration and other significant transactions and deals with the certified authority of that specific area where business firms are located or registered. Moreover, it does not offer the opportunity to establish links between private sectors and the public to enhance relationship but as well offers an easy way to conduct important deals that are done between the two sectors (Turban et al., 2005; Anton, 2011; Epstein, 2004). 4- Examples of other E-Commerce Businesses To better understand the concept of e-commerce we can use an example of Amazon.com. It is one of the most flourishing and famous e-commerce stories around. In this scenario, when an internet user places an order at Amazon.com or even just visits this web site, this firm marks and displays a wide variety of online and e-mail advertisements to people interests. Another major benefit of e-commerce that Amazon Business has gained is its capability to connect with its associates. Moreover, like other businesses Amazon.com can quickly and completely integrate its communications with its associate retailers for instance Toys ‘R Us, Office Depot, Target, and others (Ray, 2004). Below some businesses are just a few examples of businesses making use of e-commerce for increasing their sales and promoting their businesses: Another useful example of an e-commerce business is Godiva Chocolatier (http://www.godiva.com/welcome.aspx). This organization created a very gainful and attractive web site that allows its customers to purchase and shop for chocolates. According to Kim Land, director of Godiva Direct, “this web site allowed them to generate a lot of revenue.” For instance, in only two years, their online sales had reached by more than 70 percent each year (Stair & Reynolds, 2003, pp. 17-18). There is another similar example of ALTA Energy (http://www.altaenergy.in/index.html), “which has a strategic alliance with XinTong, a R&D and Technology provider in which the two companies intend to work together to deliver affordable Alternative Energy solutions for global clients”1. This firm also created an e-commerce platform to assist its partners and other companies buy oil, gas, and wholesale power using the Internet (Stair & Reynolds, 2003, pp. 17-18).  5- New E-commerce Idea Now we are going towards the actual implementation of an e-commerce business for the Secure-Car firm, which runs its business through a traditional physical business store that deals in Vehicle Ignition Interlock Devices for ensuring the protection of the vehicle. This business offers such systems which can secure our vehicles from illegal intrusion. In the above sections we have discussed different e-commerce related concepts. After a detailed analysis of different businesses running over the Web we can propose a new e-commerce platform. We propose the implementation of an e-commerce web site to sell and promote the Vehicle Ignition Interlock Device. This device is based on a new and innovative technology that will be available on our website. We will use our e-commerce system to provide an overview of the devices and capability to pay and buy online. 6- E-commerce website Name A domain name is a sequence of characters that we type in the browser's address bar in order to access a specific website, for example, www.about.com or www.google.com (WPMU DEV, 2012; Gil, 2012). In the same way, for the SecureCar Business we will establish an URL that will allow our customers to access our web site. In this scenario, a proposed domain name is SECCAR.com. Here, I have used SEC for security.. 7- Corporate Goals The development of an e-commerce platform is aimed at improving the overall business standing, market value and offering a competitive edge. They believe that the implementation of this modern technology will potentially improve the business performance along with the overall working capability. Moreover, the new e-commerce platform will revolutionize the traditional business practice of Secure-Car business. In this scenario business has established some prime objectives such as: Expanding the business access to the international markets Improving the business reputation Gaining a better competitive edge Gaining access to the extensive customer market Improving overall business productivity Having better and automated business dealings Offering customer support at 24x7 basis 8- Target Market Our new Vehicle Ignition Interlock Device based technology is aimed at offering more enhanced security for personal vehicles. For this purpose, the target market for our e-commerce business covers the whole nation in the first phase. It is an admitted fact that the number of car thefts is always increasing in the US. According to a report of a private bureau an automobile is stolen in every 26 seconds in the US, and the majority of these thefts occur in Texas. Actually, Western states like that Texas have seen an augment in auto theft cases in current years. According to data from the National Insurance Crime Bureau “40% of all the auto thefts (450,000 yearly) take place in or around ports and border areas”. In addition, according to the FBI, more than 300,000 vehicles are sold abroad illegitimately from the United States every year (Law Office of Robert I. Kahn, 2012; Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, 2010). According to the FBI's average assessment of $6,505 for each stolen vehicle, the 794,616 vehicles were stolen throughout the year 2009 that caused property damages and losses of approximately $5.2 billion. In addition, according to the FBI reports, at present, in every 40 seconds a motor vehicle is stolen in the US. According to these statistics there is a dire need for implementing strict security measures (Law Office of Robert I. Kahn, 2012; Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, 2010). In this scenario there is need for managing the security of vehicles in a much better way. In light of these facts, Secure-Car Business is aimed at targeting the US market for selling its devices. And after that this business can be expanded throughout the world. 9- Target Customer This new Vehicle Ignition Interlock Device based technology is designed to offer security and privacy regarding car ignition. In this scenario our intended technology will offer a capability for all kinds of users to secure their cars. In this scenario, we are basically aimed at targeting the customers who own personal vehicles and who park their cars in public areas. In addition, we also aim to target the people having a family car and they want to stop their younger children from driving cars. This new system will offer a capability to stop and restrict the driver to have illegal intrusion to the vehicle. We also aim to target those car owners who own multiple car drivers at the same time. For example, it can be used by a car taxi company that wants to restrict the specific drivers to drive the car. In this scenario our system will also offer them a capability to manage and handle the security of cars. We will also target the car manufacturing companies that desire to offer a very sophisticated security management system for their clients. In this scenario we will offer our technology to those companies for installing this new security system into their vehicles. 10- Ecommerce Website’s Functionalities This section outlines a wide variety of functionalities that will be offered by the e-commerce platform. This e-commerce web site of the Secure-Car Business will have following main functionalities: 10.1- E-commerce Business Model An e-commerce model is a way of generating revenue over the Internet. Different businesses use different models to generate revenue over the Internet (Burke, 2008; Trombly, 2000). This e-commerce platform will be based on two e-commerce models at the same time (these models have been discussed in the above sections). In this scenario, we will use the B2B and B2C e-commerce business models. Further explanation of these models is given below: 10.1.1- B2B We have discussed this model above; actually this model will be used for our ecommerce business platform. In the scenario of this business model we will sell and offer special packages of technology devices to big car manufacturing and selling corporations. This method will offer us an opportunity to generate more revenue by offering direct business products to other business. 10.1.2- B2C The proposed e-commerce platform will also use Business to Consumer (B2C) model to offer Vehicle Ignition Interlock Devices for direct sale to the customers. This model will allow us to sell our products directly to customers. It will help our business generate more revenue. 10.2- Website Support Our proposed idea of Secure-Car e-ecommerce website will offer an excellent support for posting business ads, which will promote our business. On this website we will place car ads on the basis of cars’ models. Hence, a person who is looking for a particular model can simply open that particular page. In addition, we will place the car ads on the basis of their prices or range. In other words, we will place promotional ads on the basis of their price (ranging from high to low), so that a customer could simply pick the appropriate category according to their desire. We will also place the ads in year of manifesting order. For instance, a person who wants to buy an old model can simply go to that particular page of the website. 11- Existing Sites In order to search for the similar websites, I have conducted a detailed research over the Internet, but I could not find a single e-commerce web site offering such kind of security system. However, I found some web sites selling simple security alarms which are not so useful. I also found some websites offering security solutions however, their security can be easily compromised. I have presented below a link of a website which sells security alarm systems online however, they are not effective for the security of cars. http://www.vegastronics.com/catalog/200/1/Car_Security.html?PHPSESSID=jtoeovah22b9fd6n39fad6qp83 Finally, while conducting research I came to know that our proposed e-commerce solution is unique so it can attract a large number of people all through the nation. In addition, this product is also exclusive since it offers a lot of benefits to the car owners. 12- Competitive Advantage Our new SECCAR Vehicle Ignition Interlock Device based technology is aimed at reducing the ratio of car theft. For the security cars we need to make sure that they are accessed by legal person, and our technology is very competent to offer this capability. In this scenario our technology is very useful for better dealing with security of vehicles. This is a unique technology in the market that is able to offer a large number of facilities and functionalities for better management of the security of vehicles. This technology is also able to manage the security in case of multi people access to cars, so we are offering a technology that is unique in the market. Hence, we expect this technology will be able to capture the maximum share in the marketplace. 13- Developing E-commerce Website This section discusses the aspects and issues which are related to e-commerce system development. This website will cover following development areas and aspects: 13.1- Development Methodology A software application is developed on the basis of the requirements given by the customer. In this scenario, a software development methodology works as a road map. It guides the software development team all through the software development process. It helps project teams build schedule and plan for a specific product (Hughes & Cotterell, 2005). This section discusses software development methodology that will be used to develop this e-commerce web site. Normally, the software prototyping is the best option for this kind of projects. In fact, the majority of system analysts nowadays makes use of prototypes throughout system development. In this scenario, a prototype is a functioning model of the planned system. In addition, the prototyping allows the system development team to develop and build a functional system quickly and reasonably for end users to evaluate. Additionally, the prototype accepted and approved by the customer can be used as a model to build an ultimate system (Sommerville, 2004; Pressman, 2001). Moreover, the prototype can be a functioning adaptation of software or an element of the software; however it is intended to be no more than a foundational model. Once the design has been accepted and finalized, the prototype can be changed to a stylish developed system. In addition, the process of creating an initial design, making use of it, refining it and trying again has been approved an iterative process of system development. In fact, the prototyping is more iterative than the traditional life cycle, and it dynamically encourages system design changes (Sommerville, 2004; Pressman, 2001). The image given below outlines the process of prototyping: Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Yes Step 4 Figure 1: Prototyping Process 13.2- Functional requirement This system will have following functional requirements: Effective stock control and management. Fast order processing. A centralized storage of data from different customers dealing at SecCar e-commerce business website. Better order processing. Presenting order status information. Handling customer complaints. Overall business transaction management Business online payment management Business orders recording Automated digital record keeping 13.3- Non-Functional Requirement 13.3.1- Hardware requirements: For the development of SecCar e-commerce website we need the following equipments: Stand alone PC with 40 GB hard disk space and 256MB RAM. Internet Facility. External Hard Drive for backup. Pentium 4 Processor or higher. 13.3.2- Software requirements: We will require following tools and software to develop this system: ASP.NET SQL Server. Photoshop for processing Images. Word process for reporting. Windows operating system. CASE tools for system design. 13.3.3- Performance Requirements This section elaborates how SecCar e-commerce website will work and respond to any user request. The following are the performance parameters for SecCar e-commerce website: Simple interface. Adaptability. Usability. Efficiency. Security. Ease of Accessibility. Less short term memory load. 14- Selection of the Web Programming Tool For the development of this e-commerce website we will need to use a programming language. For this purpose we have selected ASP.NET. This innovative programming tool is based on high class features and services, which offer an excellent support for the development of such systems. In addition, the programming in ASP.NET is simple as well as the code written in this programming language can be combined with HTML. Additionally, the ASP.NET significantly reduces the amount of code necessary to construct large size software applications (i.e. e-commerce system of Secure-Car). Moreover, the ASP.NET makes development easier and simpler to maintain and update with a “server side”, “event driven” programming model. In fact, the source code written in ASP.Net runs on the server. As well, ASP.NET offers an excellent support for the web based system deployment. Additionally, the ASP.NET is useful in authenticating information entered by the user without entering a single line of code. Furthermore, the web sites developed through ASP.NET execute quickly to offer its user a much better response (Sebesta, 2008). 15- Database Technology Selected Normally, an e-commerce system requires a database connected behind web pages to store data and information entered by the people. Thus, for this e-commerce system we will need to develop a database. For this purpose, we have selected SQL Server 2005. In this scenario, the SQL Server 2005 is a proprietary system that has covered a large market area. There is no licensing cost MySQL associated with the SQL Server as well as it encompasses much better features than MySQL. In addition, SQL Server offers a wide variety of functionalities including improved security. Moreover, it encompasses much better database security management features than the MYSQL. From the database recovery point of view the SQL Server 2005 is much better than any other DBMS. It offers an extraordinary facility to backup and recover the business data to secure the business for any damage (Veerman, 2006; Wandschneider, 2005). Thus, the selection of the SQL Server is an accurate decision. 16- Hosting We will require the services of a hosting provider in order to launch our e-commerce web site. First of all, we will purchase a domain name (seccar.com, as discussed above) for the website. In this scenario, we will purchase an online website storage space. The website hosting company will charge annual fee for handling the online operations. There are a lot of packages offered by a lot of companies. In addition, the cost of these packages depends upon the facilities offered by the website hosting company. In this scenario, we are being offered quarterly or yearly payments regarding the hosting costs. However, we have decided to avail the yearly package for the hosting cost. 17- Main Features of Proposed E-Commerce Site I have presented below some of the important features of our proposed e-commerce website: Online business transaction management Users deals handling Accounts and payments management Enhanced product shipment. Establishment of web based interface for customer. Customer query processing. Better support to sale’s system. Effective order processing. Reducing workforce needs. Effective management of business data. Establishment of Re-ordering of products facility. Online facility regarding browsing the car security product catalogue and select products/quantities. Effective structure for order processing that handles the orders from receiving to delivery. In time stock information. Less paperwork. Fast data error handling. The process speeds up for managing inventory. Deploying the order querying system. Reduction in total inventory costs. Implementation of similar demand pattern. Accurate information. Better reporting of the overall transactions. Less data entry errors. Transaction details. Customer details. Fewer workforces needed. Better organizational quality management for business management. Account details. 18- Summary In this report I have discussed the complete process of e-commerce development for the Secure-Car Business. This report is based on the development of an e-commerce system for a fictitious scenario. In this scenario, a company ‘Secure-Car’ has been using traditional ways to manage their business processes. Suddenly, the manager of this firm realized the importance of e-commerce in modern day businesses. So they decided to implement an e-commerce system. The report starts with an overview of e-commerce. Basically, the electronic commerce is the process of selling and purchasing services and goods and products is carried out electronically by means of computerized business transactions over the Internet, networks, and other digital technologies. The World Wide Web (WWW) has turned into a common platform for performing e-commerce, building and implementing latest tools and technologies for the organizations to communicate with each other and their customers. In simple words, e-commerce means carrying out business activities using the Internet. To prove the usefulness of the-ecommerce this report has discussed some of well known examples from different sources. Amazon is a well-known business which is generating huge revenue by offering its services over the Internet. This report has also discussed various important aspects that should be considered before the development of an e-commerce system such as target market and target customer. This report has also suggested the type of e-commerce model that will be adopted for this e-commerce system. This report has also discussed the process of selection of a software development methodology. Normally, for the development of a web site we use prototyping methodology. Thos report has also outline the tools and technologies that will be used to develop this system. This report can work as a guide for the development team. 19- References Anton, 2011. Selecting New Type of E-Commerce. [Online] Available at: http://essays24.com/print/Selecting-New-Type-ECommerce/36237.html [Accessed 01 March 2012]. Burke, J.E., 2008. The E-Business Model. 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