Assignment No.

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A) E-commerce:
E-commerce is the activity of buying or selling of products on online services or over
the Internet. Electronic commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic
funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction
processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data
collection systems.
Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web for at least one part of the
transaction's life cycle although it may also use other technologies such as e-mail. Typical e-
commerce transactions include the purchase of online books (such as Amazon) and music
purchases (music download in the form of digital distribution such as iTunes Store), and to a less
extent, customized/personalized online liquor store inventory services. There are three areas of e-
commerce: online retailing, electric markets, and online auctions. E-commerce is supported
by electronic business.
E-commerce businesses may also employ some or all of the followings:
 Online shopping for retail sales direct to consumers via Web sites and mobile apps,
and conversational commerce via live chat, Chabot’s, and voice assistants[3]
 Providing or participating in online marketplaces, which process third-party business-to-
consumer or consumer-to-consumer sales
 Business-to-business buying and selling;
 Gathering and using demographic data through web contacts and social media
 Business-to-business (B2B) electronic data interchange
 Marketing to prospective and established customers by e-mail or fax (for example,
with newsletters)
 Engaging in retail for launching new products and services
 Online financial exchanges for currency exchanges or trading purposes.
B) 10 Point Checklist to Starting an Ecommerce Business:
I. Start with Your Business Name
The first thing to do (after you decide what you want to sell, of course) is choose a fabulous,
memorable business name that no one else is using. You can conduct a corporate name search to
make sure it’s not already in use. Once you’ve chosen the name, register it. (If you form an LLC or
corporation, this will happen automatically in the state where you file your paperwork.)
II. Secure Your Domain Name and Website
Ideally, you’ll get your business name as your domain name, but if it’s not available, choose
a URL that’s easy to say and spell, and relates to your business. So if your business is Karen’s Craft
Creations and KarensCraftCreations.com isn’t available, try something similar like
CraftsbyKaren.com.
The design of your ecommerce site may be the biggest business expense you have. But you
want to ensure that it’s not only visually appealing, but also functional. There are out-of-the-box
ecommerce solutions like Shopify to begin with, but you may require something more custom-made
if your needs are more than basic.
III. Select the Best Business Structure and Register Your Business
You’ve got several options when it comes to your business structure:
 Sole Proprietor
 Partnership (if you have a business partner)
 LLC
 Corporation
If you don’t choose a business structure like a corporation or LLC, you’ll automatically be
considered a sole proprietor (or partnership) by the IRS. However, operating as a sole proprietor,
your personal assets are at risk. If your company is ever sued, the court can seize your personal

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assets if your business doesn’t have enough to cover its debts. Both the corporation and LLC
separate you and your assets from the business, and provide other tax benefits. You can register
on your own by filling out the appropriate business structure paperwork from the IRS yourself, or
you can hire a business filing company to do it for you. A lawyer is another option, but that’s often
overkill for the average small business owner’s needs.
IV. Get Your Employer Identification Number
You’ll need an Employer Identification Number (EIN) to open a business bank account and
file your business taxes next April. Your EIN is a bit like your business’ social security number: it’s
a unique number that identifies your business and helps you file important paperwork. Every
business needs one, whether you’ll have employees or not.
V. Apply for Business Licenses and Permits
Operating an ecommerce business does not exclude you from needing certain business
licenses and permits. Check with your city, county, and state to see what sorts of sales tax licenses
or home business licenses you need, and get those approved before you start operating.
VI. Find the Right Vendors
You’ll have a lot of competition selling products online, so it’s in your best interest to find the
best quality and best prices for the products you sell or materials you use to create your products.
Shop around until you find a vendor you want to do business with long-term.
VII. Start Marketing Early
Even if you’re not up and running, it’s a good idea to set up social media profiles and writing
content for your blog now so that you’re not starting from scratch Day 1. You can set up your website
with a “coming soon” page where people who are interested can sign up to get updates, using a tool
like Launch Rock.
VIII. Get More Productive with the Right Software
Technology can make so much of your work easier, so before you start your ecommerce
business, play around with customer relationship management, accounting, project management,
and email marketing software that you can integrate into what you’re doing once you launch.
IX. Stock Your Inventory
Whether you’ve got a warehouse full of products somewhere or your inventory lives in your
garage, make sure you’ve got enough to launch. It can be tricky, not knowing how much you’ll need,
but in general, it’s better to have too much inventory than not enough. Pay attention to how your
sales increase so you can be smart with future orders.
X. Make Sure Your Business Stays Compliant
Once you launch your ecommerce business, things are going to move at the speed of light.
Don’t overlook filing your annual report, if you incorporated or filed an LLC, nor those annual fees
for business permits. If you need to, put these deadlines on your calendar so you stay on top of
them.
C) Creative Ideas for E-commerce:
I. REI: Expert Advice
Content Idea: Native How-To Content
Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) is one of the most popular camping and outdoor sports
retailers in North America. No, its lifestyle blog isn't the difference-maker for them -- it's how the
business natively builds this content into the shopping experience.
The company sorts its products by type of outing, and includes expert advice on each product
as a resource in the dropdown menu so you're learning as you buy. Browsing climbing shoes?
There's how-to content linked to the bottom right for you to learn which shoes you need and even
how to use your carabineers once you hit the mountain.

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 II. Target: Finds
Content Idea: User-Made Instagram Posts
The power of social is real, and Target knows it. That's why they have their Finds page, with
information about the most popular items their customers have posted to their Instagram Story. At
a glance, buyers can see what others are in love with at the moment, and that "Insta" proof goes a
long way toward prompting a conversion.
III. The GoPro Channel.
Content Idea: User-Made Video Content
Like Target, GroPro has a huge following of self-motivated content creators too. But while
Target's customers take to Instagram to show off their purchases, GoPro's fans are uploading some
of the coolest action videos on YouTube -- all from the perspective of GoPro's famous Hero camera.
The company engages its users to collaborate and even republish their video content to the
GoPro YouTube channel -- as well as GoPro.com. When your customers shoot video for you, using
your product, it'd be foolish not to turn it into an ecommerce content strategy.
IV. Burberry: Acoustic Series
Content Idea: Musical Influencers
Music is the universal language. Kudos to Burberry for speaking to all through
their Acoustic series. Not only do they entertain and delight page visitors with the sweet sounds of
popular musicians, but they also get a lot more credibility for their brand. After all, every artist who
agreed to perform for the acoustic series was pretty much saying "Burberry's cool in my book." And
that's hard to ignore.
V. Best Buy: Buying Guides
Content Idea: Product Tutorials
You can't think about tech-based ecommerce without thinking about Best Buy. This consumer
electronics giant nurtures its website visitors through "Buying Guides," allowing users to start with a
tech tutorial before entering the product's purchase page. The company educates users gradually
with calls to action (CTAs) carefully placed throughout each web guide.
VI. Lane Bryant: Video Models
Content Idea: Video Product Demos
Most consumers' pet peeve would be receiving a product and finding out it just doesn't look
the same in real life. Video is a great way to show buyers what they're really getting. Lane Bryant
has put video to work within product descriptions, showing what the clothes look like while in motion.
Its information buyers need before they make a final decision.
VII. Woot.com: Product Descriptions
Content Idea: Entertaining Product Copy
Using a bit of creativity with something as simple as your product descriptions can really add
some excitement to an otherwise run-of-the-mill ecommerce site. Woot.com is well known for their
silly product descriptions from some of the most creative copywriters in the business. Even the
smallest injection of humor can bring visitors back every day with hopes of seeing something new
and different.
D) Doing E-commerce as an entrepreneurial company:
Design and Navigation
Good websites begin with a good design that's simple to use. The graphic design and content
on the homepage should grab the consumer's attention, and the interior pages should be easy to
navigate. Information must be easily found and should be expressed in the "language" of the
customer, rather than the company's internal lingo.
Here are 10 simple tips to consider when deciding on how the site will look and how
customers will navigate through it:

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  Immediately tell visitors on the site what the company does.
 Get users to the information they want in two clicks.
 Consider including headers and links that give the store's name, and show a "tree" branching
from the homepage to the current page. Visitors should know where they are within the
website at all times.
 Allow visitors to find answers to questions easily.
 Incorporate sufficiently large fonts and images, as well as audio descriptions where
appropriate, so that content is accessible to users with disabilities.
 Pay special attention to the quality of information, and ensure that the text is written well and
spelled correctly.
 Use buzzwords sparingly.
 Include a link to the homepage on every page so that in one click, users can be led there.
 Develop visuals that are useful, not flashy and distracting. Useful visuals include illustrations
or photos of products, graphics that separate categories of products, or maps with directions.
 Determine which technologies are appropriate and which are overkill. For example,
developing a Flash landing page may be a nice design feature.
I. Marketing Your Site
When it comes to conducting business on the internet, setting up a website is just the first
step. The greatest website in the world does you no good if no one visits it. And attracting visitors is
getting tougher by the day. With literally thousands of new websites created every day, the
competition is tough. Here are some ideas for getting visitors to your site:
II. Promote your website in all your marketing materials.
Put your website address on your business cards, brochures, letterhead, product packaging,
promotional items, in your ads and anywhere else you can think of.
III. Get listed with the major search engines.
Google, InfoSeek, Excite, AltaVista, Yahoo!, HotBot and Lycos are the most popular search
engines. Visit their sites for instructions on getting your site's address, or URL, listed with them. That
way, when online users do a search for "tennis rackets," your sporting goods shop's web address
will come up.
IV. Enroll in free link exchange programs.
These programs will display your company's banner on other sites if you make space for
third-party banners on yours. Just as with search engines, there are many link exchange programs.
Search online to find them.
V. Set up links to related sites.
A "link" allows visitors to your site to click on a website address and instantly link to another
company's site. Send e-mails to sites related to yours and ask if they'd be interested in establishing
mutual links. For example, a florist could put up a link to a local bridal shop's site and vice versa.
VI. Hit 'em hard.
Put all your company's key information, including your e-mail address and toll-free number,
on the first screen. That way, potential customers will not have to wait until all your information loads
to get an idea what your company is all about.
VII. Make connections.
If possible, hyperlink your e-mail address; this means visitors can simply click to open a blank
e-mail message and send you a note.
VIII. Have fun.
People who surf the internet are looking for fun. You don't have to be wild and wacky (unless
you want to). Just make sure you offer original content presented in an entertaining way.
IX. Add value.
Offering something useful customers can do ads tremendous value to your site. For example,
customers can track their own packages at FedEx's site or concoct a recipe for a new drink at the

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Stolichnaya vodka site. You don't have to get quite that elaborate, but offering users the ability to
download forms, play games or create something useful or fun will keep them coming back.
X. Stage a contest.
Nothing's more compelling than giving something away for free. Have all contestants fill out
a registration form so you can find out who is coming to your site.
Content is king on the internet. It's essential to have your site packed with a supply of product
information, industry news, how-to tips or whatever other information your customers are interested
in. More important, that information must also be kept constantly updated. Make sure the web
designer you use is either willing to update your site for you or can show you how to do it yourself.
After a web surfer has visited your site more than a few times and found the same information as
the previous visit, odds are good he or she won't come back again.
E) Customer Tracking Software Helps You Stop Relying on Memory
Yes, that young lady in customer service has a great memory, but it’s not nearly as good as
the memory in a customer tracking software program. If you want to grow your business and add
more customers, you need customer tracking software.
It was easy to keep up with customer information by memory when there were only a dozen
or so, but as your business has grown, your memory abilities really haven’t. A customer tracking
software never forgets the information about clients that you enter. With almost unlimited memory,
you can add whatever information to a customer’s record that you like. This can make your
customers feel more like a part of a team.
For instance, if you have a customer whose daughter is getting married in June, then you can
make a note to ask them how it went during their first phone call in July in your customer tracking
software. This goes a long way towards building positive relationships and building sales.
Instant Access to Customer Status
With customer tracking, you can organize your customer information by the customer’s
current status. This customer tracking software perk can help your sales and marketing department
connect with customers and prospective customers who are ripe for a phone call.
You can note the customer’s level of interest in certain products or services with customer
tracking software so that they sales staff instantly knows where the customer’s interests are and
don’t need to ask.
Emails in One Location
If you aren’t using customer tracking software, then you probably have all of your customer
emails in one folder but not in the customer’s folders. It’s possible that you have some emails on
your laptop, some on your desktop and some on your phone. With customer tracking software, you
can have all of the customer’s email in a single location and connected to that customer’s
information.
Secure Your Information
If you have a sales team that makes notes about customers on notepads or in notebooks, it’s
entirely possible that the information will go missing. Customer tracking ensures that your customer
information is secure. If the customer tracking software offers a cloud backup, then even an issue
with the computer doesn’t mean that your information is at risk.
Keeping customer information secure is also important to the customer. You don’t want one
of your sales staff losing a notebook with sensitive customer information written inside of it.
Customer tracking software secures all of your client information in one central place.
F) Major Benefits of E-Commerce Business:
Today, e-Commerce has revolutionized the way companies are doing business. Now,
consumers can purchase almost anything online 24*7 a day and get an ultimate shopping
experience. Before you opt for an e-Commerce business, have a look on its comprehensive benefits
that you can enjoy

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 I. Convenience & Easiness
For many people in the world, e-Commerce becomes one of the preferred ways of shopping
as they enjoy their online because of its easiness and convenience. They are allowed to buy
products or services from their home at any time of day or night.
II. Offer Product Datasheets
Consumers can also get description and details from an online product catalog. For your
customers, it is very much important to get information about the product no matter whether the time
of day and day of the week. Through information, your customers and prospects are making decision
to purchase your products or not.
III. Attract New Customers with Search Engine Visibility
As we all know that physical retail is run by branding and relationships. But, online retail is
also driving by traffic that comes from search engines. For customers, it is not very so common to
follow a link in the search engine results and land up on an ecommerce website that they never
heard of.
IV. Comprise Warranty Information
No matter whether you are looking to choose including warranty information with product
descriptions and datasheets or providing it from within an ecommerce shopping cart, you need to
make sure that customers must be aware of important terms and conditions that are associated with
their purchase.
V. Decreasing cost of inventory Management
With e-commerce business, the suppliers can decrease the cost of managing their inventory
of goods that they can automate the inventory management using web-based management system.
Indirectly, they can save their operational costs.
VI. Keep Eye on Consumers’ Buying Habit
The best thing is e-commerce retailers can easily keep a constant eye on consumers’ buying
habits and interests to tailors their offer suit to consumers’ requirements. By satisfying their needs
constantly, you can improve your ongoing relationship with them and build long-lasting relationships.
VII. Competence
For effective business transactions, e-commerce is an efficient and competence method.
Setting-up cost is extremely low as compare to expanding your business with more brick and mortar
locations. Very few licenses and permits are required to start-up an online business than physical
store. You can save your lots of money by using fewer employees to perform operations like billing
customers, managing inventory and more.
VIII. Allow Happy Customers to Sell Your Products
With lots of customers’ reviews and product ratings, you can easily increase your sells as
new customers find that your products are good and effective. Make sure that you mention your
clients’ testimonials, reviews and product ratings as such things can help your new customers to
purchase your products.
IX. Selling Products across the World
If you are running a physical store, it will be limited by the geographical area that you can
service, but with an e-Commerce website, you can sell your products and services across the world.
The entire world is your playground, where you can sell your complete range of products without
any geographical limits. Moreover, the remaining limitation of geography has dissolved by
commerce that is also known as mobile commerce.

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