ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

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E-commerce

Instructor

Collin Isabirye Robbert

Email: cisabirye@technology.ucu.ac.ug
collrbbrt@gmail.com
0772613892

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E-commerce

Reference Books
Internet technology and e-commerce by Alison
Cawsey and Rick Dewar.
Laurdon & Traver e- commerce book

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E-commerce

Course Outline

Introduction to E-commerce
Traditional Commerce and Electronic Commerce
E-commerce business models and concepts
The Internet and World Wide Web
Building an E-commerce website
Security and Encryption
Legal aspects of electronic commerce
Web Payment Systems
Web Marketing Concepts
Web Marketing Communications
Auctions, Portals, and Communities
Project Presentation

E-commerce

Lecture 1
INTRODUCTION TO E-COMMERCE

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E-commerce

Learning Objectives
Todays lesson will cover:
Definition of commerce
Elements of commerce
Definition of E-commerce
Objectives of E-commerce
E-Business
Comparison E-Commerce & E-Business
Examples of EC in Service Industry
Business Processes well-suited to particular type of
commerce
Some EC Concepts(Traditional commerce ,Pure EC, Partial EC)

VANsvalue-added networks
E-commerce

Definition of Commerce
Commerce may be defined as: The exchange or buying and
selling of commodities especially the exchange of merchandise
on a large scale between different places or communities
COMMERCE always involves exchange of goods and services
for money
Consists of:
Buyers - these are people with money who want to purchase a
good or service.
Sellers - these are the people who offer goods and services to
buyers.
Producers - these are the people who create the products and
services that sellers offer to buyers.

Elements of Commerce
You need a Product or service to sell
You need a Place from which to sell the products
You need to figure out a way to get people to come
to your place.
You need a way to accept orders.
You also need a way to accept money.
You need a way to deliver the product or service,
often known as fulfillment.
Sometimes customers do not like what they buy, so
you need a way to accept returns.
You need a customer service and technical support
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department to assist customers with products.

Definitions
E-commerce is just a new way of conducting
business

Electronic Commerce (EC) is the process

of buying, selling, or exchanging products, services, and
information via computer networks including the internet.
It may also mean Distributing, buying, selling and marketing
products and services over electronic systems

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E-commerce

 Electronic Commerce (EC) Is an area of study that is

concerned with developing methodologies and systems
that support
Creation of information sources;
Effective and efficient interactions among sellers,
consumers, intermediaries and producers;
Movement of information across global networks.
E-commerce represents the realization of digital, as
opposed to paper-based, commercial transactions,
between a business and its consumers, or between a
government and its citizens or constituent business.
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E-commerce

Objectives of e-commerce

Speeding up the transactions for business partners.

No need to cover long distances.
Development of new markets.
Trading round the clock.
Improvement of customer service.
Lower costs for product distribution.
Elimination of intermediate trade. That is to say the
middle men are eliminated from the transactions made.

In summary, Companies save time and reduce costs

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E-commerce

Electronic Business
E-business is a broader definition of EC that
includes not just the buying and selling of goods
and services, but also
Servicing customers(complaints, feedbacks)
Collaborating with business partners
Conducting electronic transactions within an
organization
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E-commerce

Comparison E-Commerce & E-Business

The line between e-commerce and e-business is

quite thin, both e-commerce and e-business
involve information exchange over the Internet
and other Computer Networks, however, ebusiness has a broader meaning than e-commerce.

E-Commerce

E-business

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E-commerce

 E-business as a term refers to a collection of business concepts

and processes that are enabled by a variety of electronic and
online solutions .
In particular these processes include
* delivering information to customers via Internet,
* implementing customer relationship management
system
* connecting together branches of a company using
corporate Intranet or other electronically distributed
methods.
Whether the company as a whole or only parts of it is
managed using electronically enabled processes, all of
these practices are referred to as e-business
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E-commerce

Examples of EC in Service Industry

Online Bill Paying - this is the ability to pay bills

online.
Examples of major existing billing presentation and
payment systems are :
- Automatic payment of mortgages; customer
authorises its bank to pay the mortgage
automatically every month
- Automatic transfer for funds to pay monthly utility
bills e.g. customers pay their water bills
automatically from their bank a/c
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E-commerce

Examples of EC in Service Industry

Cyber banking - also known as electronic banking,
home banking, online banking. This includes major
banking activities (from paying for bills to securing a
loan) conducted from home, business or even on
the road instead of going to the bank physically.
Benefits
Customer side include saving on time,
convenience
Bank Side - Expanded customer base, save on
cost of paper transactions
Services offered include savings & checking
accounts, certificates of deposit, joint accounts,
loans, payment of bills etc.
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E-commerce

Examples of EC in Service Industry

Online Job Market Internet offers a perfect environment for job seekers and
companies searching for hard-to-find employees.
Thousands of companies and government agencies advertise
available positions.
The market is used by the following parties :- Job seekers reply to employment ads
- Job offerers advertise openings on their own websites
- Recruiting firms job brokers
- Newsgroups post jobs in certain categories

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E-commerce

Advantages of Electronic Job Market

Job Seekers Ability to find information on a number of available jobs
Ability to communicate quickly with potential employers
Ability to write and post resumes quickly at low cost
Ability to search for jobs quickly
Employers
Ability to advertise to a large number of job seekers
Ability to save on cost of advertising
Ability to post job openings quickly
Lower cost of processing applications using electronic
application forms
Ability to provide equal opportunity to job seekers

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E-commerce

Business Processes well-suited to

particular type of e-commerce
Sale/purchase of books and CDs , travel service,
,insurance services
Online delivery of software
Online shipment tracking
Sale/purchase of automobiles and real estate
Roommate matching service
Online banking
Sale/purchase of impulse items for immediate use.
Etc
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E-commerce

SOME EC Concepts
Traditional commerce
all dimensions are physical
Partial EC
include a mix of digital and physical dimensions
Pure EC
all dimensions are digital
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E-commerce

Pure EC

Pure EC: all dimensions are digital

Pure online (virtual) organizations
Sell products or services only online

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E-commerce

EC Definitions & Concepts (cont.

Partial EC: a mix of digital and physical dimensions
Click-and-mortar organizations (aka Bricks-andclicks)
Do their primary business in the physical world and
also take advantage of internet.

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E-commerce

Pure Vs. Partial EC

Based on the degree of digitization of:
Product:
Can be physical or digital
Process:
Can be physical or digital
Delivery Agent
Can be physical or digital
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E-commerce

EC Definitions & Concepts (cont.)

Non-Internet EC
VANsvalue-added networks

A value-added network (VAN) is a private network

provider that is hired by a company to facilitate
electronic data interchange (EDI) or provide other
network services.
Before the arrival of the WWW, some companies
hired VANs to move data from their company to
other companies. Companies now find it more costefficient to move their data over the Internet.
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E-commerce