E-Commerce

Dan Brandon

ITM Department

Christian Brothers University

Internet• It took the telephone 40 years to reach 50

million users

• It took radio 38 years to reach 50 million users

• It took cable TV 10 years to reach 50 million users

• It only took the Internet 5 years to reach 50 million users !!!

Startling Projections [IDC]

• When President Clinton took office there were only 50 Web sites

• Over 70,000 new sites are being added every hour

• The number of Web users worldwide will grow form 50 million in 1998 to 300 million in 2001 - 1998 prediction

• There are about 150 million internet users today (1999) , predicted to go to over 2000 million by 2002 (including about 90 million in the U.S) - www.emarketer.com

Editorial from Leading Baghdad Newspaper

• The Internet is one of the American means to enter every house in the world. They want to become the only source for controlling human beings in the new electronic village. It’s the end of civilizations, cultures, interests, and ethics.– Saddam, et. al.

Common Internet Questions/Issues

• What is the Internet ? Where is the Internet ?• Traditional business asks:

– Can we stop it ? How we get in on it ?• Governments ask:

– How can we regulate it ?• Content/morality ?

• Stock speculation & cap values ?

• Competition with existing channels ?

• Deterioration of traditional “brick & mortar” ?

• Security/Safety

– How can we tax it ?

No Way Will I Do Business Like That !

• Touching - Feudal environment, tribes, clans, small towns

• Seeing - Business in cities/regionally (agents & salespersons)

• Hearing - National/International (catalog ordering, telemarketting)

• ??? - Internet (can’t touch, can’t see, can’t even hear; no “salesperson” nor “agent”

Internet Environment

• Worldwide Exposure

• 24 Hours a Day

• 7 Days a Week

• Nearly equal exposure for both large and small players

• Small entry cost

• Lower transaction cost

• More favorable taxing structure

• The decision for most businesses in the near future will not be one of either “bricks” or “clicks”

• But will be a decision about where along that spectrum from “all bricks” to “all clicks” should they be positioned

• And how well they can integrate the two ends of the spectrum both externally with their customers and internally with they salespersons and/or agents

1995 - ???? Very Rapid Changes in Both Technology & Business

• Come gather 'round people wherever you roam

• And admit that the waters around you have grown

• And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone

• If your time to you is worth savin'

• Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone,

• For the times, they are a chang-in'

Bob Dylan

Metcalf’s Law

• Business value increases exponentially with number of users

• New strategies

– Build market base first, then work on profits

– Ally with competitors as well as suppliers

– Opportunity seeking versus “problem solving”

– Embrace chaos

Market Caps (1999)

Success on the Internet is the same as Business Success in General

• Having a good idea(s)

• Preparing a plan

• Research and education

• Working hard

• Getting help when you need it

• Believing in yourself“ontrepreneurs” - online entrepreneurs

Steps Towards E-nabling Your Business

• I. Identifying Customer Needs and Business Goals

• II. Completing your E-Commerce Business Plan

• III. Resource Identification

• IV. Designing your Website and Building Content

• V. Selecting a Hosting Service

• VI. Setting up Systems to Handle Sales

• VII. Marketing and Promoting your Site

• VIII. Security Issues

• IX. Legal Issues

I. Identifying Customer Needs and Business Goals

• A. First see what’s “out there”• B. Study products/services that are related to what

your offerings are (or will be)• C. Find “what’s missing”, and see how that relates

to what you (may) have• D. Clarify your goals• E. Determine exactly what you will offer via the

internet• F. Select and reserve a URL

A. First see what’s “out there”

• Become familiar with the Internet culture:– The special style and language of the web– Ways of searching for information– Ways of presenting information– Ways of linking to further information– Ways of doing business– The kinds of customers who do business on the

web– The ways business attract customers

What sells well and easily on the Web

• Unique, one of a kind, hard to locate items– ILS in Memphis

• Items sold at a discount or auctions– Ebay

• Items that are easier to buy on line– Amazon

• Try a search for your product or service via Yahoo (www.yahoo.com) or About.com(www.about.com)

Future Shopping

• In the future, more “stuff” will be easier to buy and “try” online

• Sophisticated 3-D graphics and artificial intelligence will bring this about

• Everyone will have a 3-D model of themselves stored either on their computer, with merchants, or with modeling services; your 3-D model will try on clothes for you and let you see what you look like

• Try: www.makeoverstudio.com (females only ?)

B. Study products/services that are related to what your offerings are (or will be)

• What companies are offering the same or similar services and how are they doing it

• What companies are offering alternative products or services (and how)

• What companies are offering complimentary products or services

• You may have to offer your products or services via the web just to remain a player in your industry

C. Find “what’s missing”, and see how that relates to what you (may) have

• Quality/Price/Service aspects– Quantity discounts

– Seasonal sales

• Customization of product/service (or “hand made”)

• Regional specialties

• More interesting/fun website

• Better integration of internet offerings with your “brick and mortar” offerings

• Better customer service

• More “free stuff”

Service Offerings Also

• Trade Services (local markets)• Professional Services (Consultants, Attorneys, Physicians,

etc.)– Reach clients around the world

• Agency Services• Information and listing services• Let customers know of your specialty areas• Keep in touch with clients & “customer service”• Advertising sites

– www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Consulting

D. Clarify your goals

Goal Web Site Orientation

Have Fun Express Corporate/IndividualPersonality

Get Known Corporate Information

Meet Others Invitations, Forums, E-Mail

Display Offerings Brochures, Catalogs, Photos, Specs

Online Revenue Sales and Advertising

Indirect Revenue

• Banner and other types of advertising for other companies

• Linking to other services (geocities (yahoo), amazon, etc.)

• Promote others products (affiliate or associate programs)

E. Determine exactly what you will offer via the internet

•?

F. Select and Reserve a URL

• URL (Universal Resource Locator) - domain name, web address

• Come up with clever, easy to remember, and descriptive abbreviation or short title for your offering or company

• Check to see if it is reserved (not just in uses !)• Register it - rs.internic.net (or thru hosting

service)

II. E-Commerce Business Plan

• A. Fully identify yourself• B. Identify your potential customers• C. Itemize all the ways you will reach these

customers (marketing)• D. Determine you economics (investments, costs,

pricing, volumes, cash flow)• E. Determine your fulfillment methodology• F. Determine your customer service methodology

A. Fully identify yourself

• Know your strengths and weaknesses - SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis

• Know where you want to go with your business; your future scope– Broader/Narrower customer base– Broader/Narrower product base– Increase volume and/or increase margin

B. Identify your potential customers

• “Surfing”

• Searching

• Newsgroups

• Purchase email list

• Focus groups

• Surveys

Searching the WWW

• Offline– Printed Directories (Topic or Name)

• Online– Titles or Document Text– Keyword or Content– Most search sites are free (paid by

advertising shown at the site)

Searching the WWW On-line General

• HotBot (www.hotbot.com)• AltaVista (altavista.digital.com)• Excite (www.excite.com)• Infoseek (www.infoseek.com)• Lycos (www.lycos.com)• Northern Light (www.nlsearch.com)• Yahoo (www.yahoo.com)• WebCrawler (www.webcrawler.com)• PlanetSearch (www.planetsearch.com)• Microsoft (www.msn.com)

Other Search Engines

• Ask Jeeves [www.ask.com] - natural langauage queries

• Bugnet [www.bugnet.com] - tracking down software bugs

• CompareNet [www.comapre.net] - comparison shopping

• CompanySleuth [www.companysleuth.com] - info about companies

• Goto [www.goto.com] - search for commercial sites

• KnowX [www.knowx.com] - search public records

• WebMarket [www.webmarket.com] - product catalogs

Meta (Multiple) Search Products[*Home Office Computing 1998 Rating]

• WebCompass (www.quarterdeck.com)– 4*

• Agentware (www.agentware.com)– 3*

• SubjectSearchSpider (www.pkware.com)– 3.5*

• WebSeeker (www.bluesquirrel.com)– 2.5*

• ZurfRider (www.zurf.com)– 3*

• Dogpile (www.dogpile.com]

Search Utilities

• You can add special searching software to your PC to automate searches, schedule searches for off hours, save copies of pages on disk, etc.– www.promptsoftware.com [SuperSleuth]– www.webforia.com [Webforia]– www.enfish.com [Enfish Tracker Pro]– www.alexa.com [Alexa]– www.copernic.com [Copernic 99]

C. Itemize all the ways you will initially reach these customers (marketing)

• Participate in electronic forums related to your business area

• Consider purchasing e-mail or snail mailing lists• Put up an experimental web site and offer some free

stuff (or free information such as an electronic newsletter) to get customer contacts

• Search Engines (discussed later)• Online advertisement• Traditional media

D. Determine your economics

• Costs– Traditional– Merchant Account– Web Hosting– Credit Card Clearing

• Pricing

• Volumes

• Service level

• Cash Flow

E. Determine your fulfillment methodology

• Payment (discussed later)

• Picking & Packing

• Shipping

• International ?

• Returns and Allowances

F. Determine your customer service methodology

• Telephone only

• Internet only

• E-mail only

• Combinations of the above

• Tracking

• Customer “Involvement”

III. Resource Identification

• A. Your Internal Corporate Team• B. Financial Resources• C. Physical Resources• D. Computer Hardware• E. Internet Service Providers• F. Computer Software• G. Business Consultants• H. Technical Consultants

A. Your Internal Corporate Team

• Web Business Manager

• Site Manager

• Site Designer

• Network Administrator

• Graphics/Artist

• Webmaster

• Programmer

B. Financial Resources

• Cash

• Lenders

• Borrowers

• Partners

• Venture Capital

C. Physical Resources

• Traditional needs plus:– Computer hardware space– Picking/Packing/Shipping “staging”– Office space for new employees/consultants

D. Computer Hardware

• Basic System (500 MHz Intel Pentium or AMD Athlon)– Monitor (15 inch or more, at least 640 x 480, at least 60Hz)– Keyboard & Mouse– Soundcard & speakers– RAM (at least 64MB)– Hard Drive (at least 6GB)– CD-ROM (at least 16X)– Modem (56 Kbps for dial-up connection, ISDN, Cable, or DSL)– Diskette– Zip Drive (100MB or 250MB)– Surge Protector (and three wire circuit) and/or UPS– Scanner and/or Digital Camera

• Www.smalloffice.com for recommendations

• www.safeware.com - insurance

E. Internet Service Providers

• National– AOL– EarthLink– Netcom– UUNet

• National with local presence– Time Warner - “Road Runner”– SC Bell

• Local– See Memphis yellow pages– See thelist.internet.com or www.celestin.com/pocia

Connection Speed Options

• Dial up - 56 Kbps

• ISDN - 128 Kbps (includes 2 regular telephone lines)

• Cable - up to 4 - 5 Mb per second (but shared) [Time Warner]

• DSL - up to 1 - 8 Mb per second [Telocity]

• Satellite - up to 1.5 Mb (download) [iSky]

• For regular dial-up, consider using a new dedicated line

• Make sure calls to your chosen ISP are local calls

• Make sure your ISP supports the option you choose without extra charges

Comunications Bandwidth Technology[transfer Rates for a 10 Mbyte file, 2 min movie]

Speed/Type Transfer Time9.6 Kbps modem 2.3 hours

14.4 Kbps modem 1.5 hours28.8 Kbps modem 46 minutes56 Kbps modem 24 minutes

128 Kbps ISDN modem 10 minites1.54 Mbps T1 52 seconds

4 Mbps cable modem 20 seconds10 Mbps cable modem 8 seconds

Cable potential of 30 Mbps per channel ,Ethernet Limitation of 10 Mbps

Free ISP’s

• ISP rates generally run from $10 to $50 a month depending upon connection speed and services

• Free ISP’s are now available for regular telephone access:

F. Computer Software

• Operating System - Windows 98, Windows 2000• Browser - Netscape, Internet Explorer (need more

than one for testing), ISP Provided• Virus Protection - Norton, McAfee, DrSolomon• Integrated Office Suite -Microsoft Office• E-Mail - Built into browser, Eudura• Database Software - Access, SQLServer, Sybase,

Oracle

• FTP - WSFTP• Fax - Symantec WinFax• Web Page Editor - Frontpage, Dreamweavor,

HotDog• Graphics Software - Paint Shop Pro• Storefront Software - Online Merchant, QuickSite,

PerlShop, custom made, use ISP’s, or use a storefront host (store.yahoo.com, www.icat.com)

• Accounting Software

Browser/Application Compatibility

• Operating System (Windows, Mac, Unix)

• Browsers (InternetExplorer, Netscape, AOL, …)

• Wireless Handhelds

• Internet Appliances

G. Business Consultants

• Planning for E-Commerce

• Corporate, Financial, and Tax Issues

• Legal Issues

• Employee Issues

• Integrating e-Business with regular business channels

• Business to Business E-Commerce

H. Technical Consultants

• E-Commerce Consultants• Web Design Consultants• Credit Card Processing Consultants• Storefront Consultants• Database Consultants• Internet Programmers• Systems and Network Design Consultants• Network Administrators

IV. Design your Website and Building Content

• A. Organizing your Website• B. Compelling Content• C. Standing Out from the Crowd• D. KISS• E. Loading Speed• F. Personalization• G. Consistent Appearance and Behavior• H. Design Guidelines• I. Tools

A. Organizing your Website

• Just like building a house, it pays to take some time and carefully plan your website

• On main web page have only:– Company name– Logo– “Eye Catchers” (“New”, “Free”, “Win”, “Contest”, …)– Links to the rest of your site– “Sales Hooks” (“Discount”, “Sale”, ...

• Have you links logically arranged (like in a row):– Near the top middle– On either side

CompanyProfile

Products orServices

ContactInfo

Home Page

Refer-ences

CustomerService

Product1

ProductN

How toOrder

Speak toRep

Checkon Order

About us ...

B. Compelling Content

• Aesthetically appealing

• Imagery

• Credentials, awards, etc.

• Major references & testimonials

• Say what you can do for your customer, and why you are so good at it

C. Standing Out from the Crowd

• Statement of purpose– Who are you

– Whom do you hope to reach

– How are you different from competitors

• Offer something for free - surfers today expect that– “Giveaways” (T-shirts, pens, …)

– Sample product

– Contests

• Consider “niche” areas with higher markup instead of volume

• Booster your international acceptance

Level Playing Field

• On the net– All sites are relatively new– All companies of every size, nationality, and type

are listed the same way by the search engines– The web pages are all basically set up the same

with html pages connected with hyperlinks– As a result the small business can do nearly the

same things the big companies do (often better and faster due to less administrative burden)

D. KISS (Keep it simple)

• Surfers today don’t really “read” your content in the traditional way (linear top left to bottom right); they are usually in a hurry and click and browse

• Point the way with headings• Use lists• Lead the readers on with links:

– More…

– Next…

– Details…

• “Search” capabilities

E. Loading Speed

• If your main page takes more than 10 -15 seconds to load, then many visitors will either leave or have an initial bad impression of your site

• A 1999 study showed an average of 14.31 seconds (56Kbs speed); Yahoo - 4.21 secs, Go.com - 5.41 secs

• Keep all images 20k or less in size; use cropping, and color and content reduction if necessary

• Limit Java applets on main page and use JAR files

F. Personalization

• Let your customers “know you”, your corporate culture, your staff, etc.

• Try to develop a “one-to-one” relationship with your customers by tuning your site to their interests and inviting a dialogue and interaction with both you and others with similar interest

• Invite e-mail feedback• Have a “guestbook”; develop yourself or use:

www.guestworld.com or www.linkexchange.com

G. Consistent Appearance and Behavior

• All your web pages should have a consistent “look and feel”

• Choose one “wallpaper” , “tiled” image, or or background color for all pages

• Select a consistent font (or use the browser default) throughout

• Have a consistent linking methodology

H. Design Guidelines

• Use graphics tuned to your audience– if you are selling skateboards, bright and neon

colors with flashy images are appropriate– If you are selling insurance to senior citizens,

conservative colors and sophisticated fonts would be appropriate

– Conservative : www.ups.com– Modern: www.fedex.com– Bold: www.hothothot.com

• Provide forward and backward navigation buttons, as well as a “home” button on each page

• If using images/photos for linking, provide an alternative text link

I. Tools

• Office Suite (Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Presentation)– Word Internet Assistant

• Simple (Adobe PageMill, FrontPage Express[free with win/98], Netscape Composer[free with Netscape download])

• Advanced (Macromedia Dreamweaver, MicroSoft FrontPage, NetObjects Fusion, HotDog Pro)

HTML

• Hypertext Markup Language

• The notation use to “mark up” a text document to add formatting information, to display multimedia (images, sounds, etc.), to build form data entry fields, and to “link” to other locations (in the same document or another document somewhere on the web)

Dynamic HTML

• Using a “scripting” language within the HTML pages that are executed on the client PC (Latest HTML Standard - 4.0)

• Common scripting languages are Microsoft’s VBScript and the platform independent JavaScript

• Executes on the client side to add dynamic effects and to validate information keyed into form fields

Active Server Pages

• A Microsoft internet technology for programming dynamic content and database access into web pages

• Controlled from the web server

• Web server must be Windows NT/2000 (or have special third party software on Unix systems)

Java Server Pages

• A Sun internet technology for programming dynamic content and database access into web pages

• Controlled from the web server

• Platform independent - Unix or Windows NT/2000

Java

• A fully object oriented language that can be used to build applications or applets

• Applets are applications that can be downloaded with an HTML page and run inside a browser window

• Combined with JDBC (Java Database Connectivity), Java applets can select, display, and manipulate information in databases from either the client or server side

V. Selecting a Hosting Service

• A. Online hosting and design combinations

• B. Combination CD and hosting service

• C. Space in an existing online “I-Mall”

• D. Dedicated hosting services

• E. Your ISP

“Up and running in Minutes”

• Some hosting services provide a full range of design products, some leave that up to you

• Many claim to have your site “up and running” very quickly. This is only true if you are fully prepared and have completed all the steps we have already discussed, including having all your product data (including images) ready.

Web Hosting

• A web hosting service is like a shopping center landlord

• You rent space on his server, and additional services are typically provided:– Disk space– Virtual domain (your own URL)– TCP/IP services (ie FTP)– E-mail Accounts– File Backup Services– Other application related (discussed later)

Hosts Use Scenario

• Decide if you want a dedicated hosting service or be part of someone else’s “mall”

• Register your URL (some services will do this for you)

• Sign up with the host

• Create your content (pages, images, catalog, etc.)

• Transfer content from you PC to host (unless you have selected a host where the creation process is on his site using his tools)

• Test your site

• Market your site

A. Online hosting/design

• Quick, but not very flexible; small inventory

• Yahoo!Store is one of the most popular - store.yahoo.com– $100 per month for a store that sells fewer than fifty items a

month

• www.icat.com ($50 per month for less than 50 sales per month)

• hometown.aol.com

• www.geocities.com

• www.verio.com

B. CD Based Hosting Service

• There are CD software packages you can purchase which will allow you to make storefront web sites using “templates” that can be customized

• These packages can build a more flexible and capable operation than the on-line models

• You install this software on your PC and make you web site locally. When competed and tested you can post it to a hosting service that is compatible with the site created by the package; some package vendors also have hosting services.

• The storefront software will allow you to create your website complete with catalog of merchandise, shopping cart for item checkout, and credit card, phone, or fax payments

• Some are expensive $5000 to $10000

• Less expensive ones are:– www.onlinemerchant.com (several versions)– www.quicksite.com

C. I-Mall

• I-Mall: A collection of online businesses (typically small businesses) that are listed in an online index or directory maintained by one organization. Large i-malls have multi-tier indexes and search features

• To become a merchant in an I-Mall, you set up your site (either on your own or using utilities provided by the mall landlord)

• Transfer your files to the mall site

• Pay start-up, monthly, and or per transaction fees

• Your business may be indexed with a hyperlink to your location on your web hosting service, or the i-mall may also provide the hosting service

• I-Mall’s give small business greater expose than they may get on their own

• I-Malls:– Downtown America (www.awa.com)– ShopNow.com (www.internet-mall.com)– Icat (mall.icat.com/mall)

D. Dedicated Hosting Services

• Disk space• Virtual domain (your own URL)• TCP/IP services (ie FTP)• E-mail Accounts• Server Programming (CGI, ASP, Java)• Database Support (SQLServer, Oracle, etc.)• Shopping Cart Software & Wizards• Secure Server (for credit card processing)• The last four of these services cost more typically

E. Your ISP

• May have combined ISP and Web Hosting reduced rates (ie MindSpring’s “The Works”)

• Same features as dedicated hosting service except:– Less services since not dedicated to the hosting

function

– Usually cannot have your own URL

– Network speed may not be as fast

– May have none or limited database support

– May have none or limited server programming

Hosting Service or ISP Concerns

• How long in business

• Service level statistics available

• Service level in agreement (“up time”)

• Connection speed to the Internet - ISDN, T1, T3

• All charges (disk space, page hits, file transfers, total bits transfer fees, etc.)

• How can they help promote your site

Web Hosting for Free

• Most Web hosting service rates start at about $20/month for unlimited access and 10MB space)

• In trade for displaying banner ads, you can get basic free hosting services:

– www.hypermart.com

– www.homestead.com

• Others:

– dir.Yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Internet/Services/Web_Services/Website_Hosting/Free_Web_Pages/

VI. Setting up Systems to Handle Sales

• A. Offline Sales• B. E-Mail Order Forms• C. Electronic Forms• D. Invoice Billing• E. Credit Card Processing• F. Fulfillment• G. Customer Service• H. Integration with Traditional Methods

A. Offline Sales

• You can use your web site just to describe your company and to give product information (customers want to know price, now!)

• Then you can provide telephone and fax numbers for people to call in their orders

• This is like an “online catalog”, but placing catalog orders in the traditional manner

• It might be the way you want to set up your site initially

B. E-Mail Order Forms

• Next you can provide an e-mail link on your web page

• When it is clicked an email form will open and users can send you order information (as plain text)

• A step further is to provide a simple HTML form with an e-mail “action”

• Here the form data is sent to you as email (note it is often hard to read the form data)

C. Electronic Forms

• Client side HTML form plus optional JavaScript validation (or Java form)

• Server side:– CGI program (Perl, C/C++, Java)

– Active Server Pages or Java Server Pages

– Database interface (ADO, ODBC, JDBC)

• Your service provider will typically have forms processing software, or server extensions for FrontPage or Dreamweaver

Catalog of Products

• Maintain data on– Item ID number– Specifications– Options– Photos/Images– Price

• Provides online “samples” if possible• Data Organization

– HTML link/page based (one link per product)– File based (items as records in file)– Database (relational) organization - search capabilities

D. Invoice Billing

• After you receive an order (via phone, fax, email, or electronic form)

• You can simply bill the client for the goods

• In the Internet world, however, you do not know the customer

• So you typically want to get paid up front, or when you ship the goods (check state laws)

E. Credit Card Processing

• Obtain Merchant Account (next slide)• Ask your hosting service for a “secure server”• Accept (and clear) credit card payments

– You need software to process the credit payment to the bank (via a secure connection)

– You can purchase or ‘lease’ such software (www.atomic-software.com)

– You can “route” the credit card transaction to a servicing company - CyberCash

• You are responsible for credit card fraud ! Verify differences in “bill to” and “ship to” addresses (most software and services do this)

Merchant Accounts

• Apply thru traditional bank, online bank (such as Wells Fargo, www.wellsfargo.com), or thru CyberCash

• List at: dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Financial_Services/Transaction_Clearing/Credit_Card_Merchant_Services

• Pay application fee( zero to about $500)• Banks charge a usage fee or “discount” of from 1 to 4 %, plus a

monthly fee (or minimum) of $20 to $100, and perhaps a per transaction fee from zero to 30 cents

• For American Express or Discover, you handle directly with those companies

CyberCash

• www.cybercash.com - “CashRegister” service

• Can place one order at a time, or use ‘shopping cart’ software (see later slide)

• Need software on server to “stage” process (ie CGI)

• CyberCash has certified “consultants”

• Will “hit” credit card immediately; need your own server to bill after item is shipped

• Other service companies: www.verifone.com, www.checkfree.com, www.otginc.com, www.millicent.com (micropayments, also CyberCoin)

Non Credit Card online Payment Methods

• “Smart Cards” - Europe now, USA later (American Express “Blue”)

• www.ibill.com - customers can bill transactions to their telephones

• Intell-A-Check - debits from a customers checking account

• www.cha-tech.com/html/about_us_contact.html - micropayments form “wallet”

“Shopping-Cart” Technology

• Catalog of Products (database)• Place multiple items in ‘cart’ before buying• Electronic Forms• Credit Card Authorization & Security• Sales tax rates by state• E-mail order acknowledge• E-mail shipment acknowledge• Shipment tracking• Customer database

• Some software is free:– www.arpanet.com/perlshop– store.Yahoo.com– www.onlinemerchant.com

• Many consultants have this available

• Many hosting companies provide this (for an extra monthly fee)

F. Fulfillment

• “Picking” the merchandise

• Preparing the goods for shipment

• Shipping the goods - “need receipted delivery”

• Notifying customer goods have shipped

• Resolving delivery issues

• Provide for customer “tracking”– Links to delivery carriers (FEDEX, UPS, USPS)

• Handling returns and allowances

G. Customer Service

• Site Maps• Site Search• Email

– Response to queries

– Notice of new items, sales, etc.

– Newsletters, discussion areas, etc.

• FAQ’s• “Portal” (resource for your customers)• Storing Preferences• Data Mining

H. Integration with Traditional Methods

• Promote via traditional channels (ie agents, salespersons, distributors) and vice-versa

• Easier said than done, since web will eventually eliminate many traditional channels - need incentives

• Cross advertise in traditional media (radio, TV, print, events, etc.)

VII. Marketing and Promoting your Site

• A. Search Engines• B. Search Services• C. Mailing Lists• D. Cross Linking• E. Online Advertising• F. Traditional Media• G. Visitor Identification• H. Online Research• I. International Considerations

Web Site Marketing

• You have two problems when it comes to marketing your site:– Getting surfers to visit your site

• Search engines finding you

• Customers getting your URL from somewhere else

– Getting them to stay there once they arrive• Compelling content

• Promotions

• Interaction

A. Search Engines

• Meta tags– Tags in your HTML page that indicate “keywords” and

description for your site

• Registration & Application– Directly apply for a listing (ie www.yahoo.com) - only a

% of applicants are listed– Study “how to get listed” (www.searchenginewatch.com)– Follow the “How to include Your Site” or “Add URL”

link found on the home page of search engines

B. Search Registration Services

• www.clearinghouse.com

• www.about.com

• www.submit-it.com www.netcreations.com/postmaster

• www.register-it.com

• www.freelinks.com)

C. Mailing Lists

• Start your own mailing list, and send out newsletters; software is available to manage these lists (www.seatlelabs.com/slmail, www.skylist.net, www.lyris.net)

• Get involved with other mailing lists and newsgroups that involve your product/service, or one that is complimentary, or customers with your identified demographics

• Use “low key” approaches; read “rules” for group

D. Cross Linking

• Find complimentary sites

• Www.linkexchange.com

• Affiliates– www.amazon.com & other “portals”– www.befree.com - help you set up an affiliate

program

E. Online Advertising

• Hugh audience

• Searchable by users

• Long “air” time

• Some free services:– classifieds.yahoo.com

– www.classifieds2000.com

• Charge based– www.linkexchange.com

– www.adsmart.com

– www.valueclick.com

– www.doubleclick.com

“Banner Ads”

• Most are not free:– CPM - cost per 1000 visitors (1 to $50 per month per

1000 visitors)– CTR - click thru rate (.1 to $1 per click thru)

• See:– www.markwelch.com/bannerad

• Banner ad creation– Graphics program– www.coder.com/creations/banner

Web Marketing Plans

• There are software products to help you with this entire process:– www.sitepromoter.com

– www.webpost96.com

– www.webposition.com

F. Traditional Media

• Put web address on all your print media– Business cards– Stationary– Yellow page ads

• Press Releases• Use traditional media (TV, radio, newsprint,

events, etc.)• Integrate traditional and web advertising

G. Visitor Identification

• Directly ask your visitors to sign in

• Give something away for free, and ask for visitor info to send them (or allow them to download) free stuff

• Obtain from logs on server - only partial info

• Use of ”cookies” in web content

H. Online Research

• Discussion lists:– www.talkbiz.com/bizlist/index.html

• Mail list directories– www.liszt.com

• Web “villages”– www.ivillage.com (women)

I. International Issues

• Language Issues

• Cultural Issues

• International Trade Issues

• International Shipping

• Getting Paid in Foreign Trade

• International Marketing

Top Ten Internet Countries (1999)

• USA - 110.8 million

• Japan - 18.2

• United Kingdom - 14.0

• Canada - 13.3

• Germany - 12.3

• Australia - 6.8

• Brazil - 6.8

• China 6.3

• France - 5.7

• South Korea - 5.7

1999: 43 % is USA2002: 33% is USA2005: 27% is USA

Language Issues

• Provide alternative language pages:– Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese

– Japanese, Chinese, Russian

• Translating your content:– Hire a translator (best results)

– Use a translation program (have a native review results !)• www.systransoft.com

– Free sources• babelfish.altavista.com

– Provide a link to free translation services (such as the above)

Cultural Issues

• International salutations and conventions:– Merriam Webster’s Guide to International business

– www.bspage.com/address.html

• Oriental “manners”– www.gwjapan.com

• Be careful with: colors, legal terms, business terms and documents, technical terms

• Use standard international acronyms (‘incoterms”):– www.schenkerusa.com/incoterms.html

International Trade Issues

• Become familiar with these issues:– International Business Resources on The

WWW (ciber.bus.msu.edu/busres.htm)– NASBITE, the National Association of Small

Business International Trade Educators (www.docp.wright.edu/nasbite)

– The International Trade, Small Business, and Intellectual property Web site (www.entemp.ie/intetrade.htm)

• Subscribe to International Trade newsletters:– www.newsletteraccess.com/subject/intetrade.htm

• Review/use bulletin boards:– www.worldbusiness.net/marketplace– www.digilead.com– ciber.bus.msu.edu/busres/tradlead.htm

• Be careful of US export restrictions– www.bxa.doc.gov– www.arentfox.com/features/tradeleg/home.html

International Shipping

• Use air delivery• Use “incoterms”• May need “Shippers Export Declaration” depending

on value and mode of transportation– www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/correct.way.html

• May need other documents for some countries• Use carriers that provide these services (ie FEDEX)• Consider export insurance (www.exim.gov)

Getting Paid in Foreign Trade

• Ask for payment in advance in US dollars (cash, cashiers check, International Money Order)

• Use an escrow service (www.tradesafe.com, www.internetclearing.com, www.iescrow.com); these can also except credit card payments for you

• Link to online conversion sites– www.bloomberg.com/markets/currency/currcalc.cgi)

• Have interactive (Java) applets on your foreign language pages to the calculations for the user

International Marketing

• Consider hiring a consultant

• Use US export office assistance

• Foreign trading partners - swap email lists

• Foreign trading cross links

• International classified ads– www.profnet.org/classifieds.htm

• Online foreign press releases

• Autoresponders (e-mail addresses that automatically respond to request for info)

VIII. Security Issues

• A. Secure transmissions

• B. Your company credibility

• C. Use of private/sensitive information

• D. Protection of Hardware/Software

A. Secure Transmissions

• Secure methods (encryption)– Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)– Secure Electronic Transactions Protocol (SET– Pretty Good Privacy (PPG)

• You can obtain your own security “certificate” (to validate you are who you say you are): www.verisign.com

• You can encrypt your email: www.mcafee.com• For e-Commerce transactions, choose a hosting service

that provides SSL (HTTPS)

B. Your Company Credibility

• Become a member in good standing with the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org)

• Join their BBBOnLine program (www.bbbonline.org)

• Display this seal on your site

• Other organizations:– TrustE– CPA WebTrust

C. Use of Private/Sensitive Information

• Clearly state you policy on using customer data; if optional clearly let customer select option

• Do not ask for more data than you need

• If you operate your own server, encrypt the data in your database (or ask your hosing service to do it)

• Do not use intrusion “tricks”

D. Protection of Hardware/Software

• Uninterruptable power supply (UPS)• Physical security (door locks, alarms, …)• Use of passwords• Encrypt data files• Separate profiles (windows operating system, web

browser, service provider)• Daily backups (to tape, zip, secure servers, …)• Anti-virus software• Insurance (Contents, liability, …)

IX. Legal Issues

• A. Domain and e-mail Names as Trademarks• B. Local, State, and Federal Laws• C. Vicarious Liability for “bulletin board”• D. Trade Unions• E. Privacy and Public Rights in “cyberspace”• F. Rights of Supplies• G. Hackers and Flamers• World-wide Exposure

A. Domain and e-mail Names as Trademarks

• Internet domain names and e-mail addresses are trademarks and should be protected

• However, the organizations that clear domain names do not have legal authority to grant trademarks

• You must go through the same name searches and filing as for any other trademark (both state [™ ] and federal [®])

• Any visual element of your website can also get a trademark• Check to make sure you do not use anyone’s else trademark -

www.nolo.com/chunkPCT/PCT29.HTML and www.uspto.gov/tmdb/index.html

B. Local, State, and Federal Laws

• Be aware of laws that may apply to how you give away free stuff or hold “sweepstakes”– www.arentfox.com/features/sweepstakes

• Be aware of state laws of taxable sale items• Be aware of state laws on fulfillment, returns, and

allowances• Be aware of new court interpretations of internet

patents and copyrights (ie Amazon’s suit of Barnes & Noble on the “one click”, or Priceline’s suit of Microsoft for the “name your own price”)

C. Vicarious Liability for “bulletin board”

• US courts have ruled that companies having internet home pages with BBS like capabilities are liable (slander, pornography, etc.) for the information posted just like any other publisher

• US Supreme Court has ruled that “obscenity” is to be judged by “local standards”. However with the WWW any receiver can be “local”. People have been convicted in remote locations from their “home site”. [1995 Memphis suit]

D. Trade Unions

• Individuals employed directly or indirectly in the making of “home page” material may come under the jurisdiction of some trade unions (“residual payments”, and other benefits)

• The Screen Actors Guild has claimed that actors involved in Internet images or videos come under their jurisdiction

E. Privacy and Public Rights in “cyberspace”

• The rules and regulations of the US privacy Act have been determined to cover activities conducted in “cyberspace” to insure that individuals have their rights to privacy

• Names, photographs, or “likenesses” cannot be used (for most people) without their written permission

• Be careful also that content and services are not divided by gender, race, religion, etc.

F. Rights of Supplies

• Any agreements (or the lack of) with outside suppliers for content material should be reviewed such as photographers, freelancers, stock images/photos, etc.

• Agreements with software contractors (for home page or Java code) should be reviewed for ownership

G. Hackers and Flamers

• Be careful in marketing or commerce agreements with customers or partners to reserve the right to cancel service or promotions if your content becomes infected with a virus (or other situation due to security breaches)

H. World-wide Exposure

• Even if companies meet all the laws of the US (or the country of their domestication), the creative use of materials on the Internet has world wide exposure

• For example, some laws in Europe do not exclude privacy rights and damages to “public figures”

• Keep aware of US trade restrictions

• Remember that just as the WWW is a fast and direct way to communicate the quality and benefits of your organization’s products and service...

• It is also a fast and direct way to get a bad reputation...

• So be cautions in your approach to WWW commerce !

Wrap Up !

Top 10 reasons your home page stinks !*

• 10 - Your header picture is over 50K

• 9 - You put in a 400K picture of yourself and you appear in the lower left 20K

• 8 - We can only stomach so many pictures of your kids and pets

• 7 - You have a link to the White House

• 6 - Blink (Yawn)

• 5 - Ticker Tape Status Bars (Javascript)

• 4 - You use construction signs on your page

• 3 - Your home page consists of a desperate plea for a job

• 2 - You use some ???? 4-bit GIF that looks like a film negative left out in the desert for five years

• 1 - You’re own your own hot list !– * Jeff Glover

10 E-Commerce Pitfalls to Avoid

• Not having a business strategy or plan

• Not having a marketing/promotion plan

• Pushing products or services people don’t need

• Over-designing your web pages

• Making too many links to other sites

• Typos, boo-boos, and broken images/links

• Trying to do it all yourself

• Spamming (e-mail) or flaming (angry messages)

• Providing slow (or no) customer service

• Letting your business “sell itself”

Starting an On-Line Business for Dummies

10 Ways to Boost Your Online Business

• Get and analyze log files from your provider• Keep track of your references (directly or via provider)• Create your own artwork, images, and animations• Make money as an affiliate• Dynamic pages don’t get indexed (CGI or ASP); some search engines

do not index framed content (without the NOFRAME tags

• Be careful with your customer’s information• Some domain names are not regulated (.org, .net) and new extensions

are coming (.firm, …)• Chat events can promote your business

• Use FTP if you sell info, software, media, etc.• If you go x-rated, do it right

Starting an On-Line Business for Dummies

E-Commerce Sites to Explore

• www.beaniex.com (small business example)

• www.garden.com (small business example)

• www.amazon.com (books,etc.)

• www.priceline.com (name your price)

• www.bottomdollar.com (comparison shopping)

• www.ebay.com (auctions)

• www.etrade.com (stock trading)

• www.dell.com (computers)

• www.travelocity.com (travel)

• www.landsend.com (clothes)

Books• The e-commerce Question and Answer Book - 0-8144-0525-8• Cyber Rules - 0-385-49412-2• Getting Your Business Wired - 0-8144-7007• Futurize Your Enterprise - 0471-35763-4• Starting an Online Business for Dummies - 0-7645-0688-9• The Complete Idiot’s Guide to e-Commerce - 0-7897-2194-5• The E-Commerce Book: Building the E-Empire - 0-12-

421160-7• How to Succeed in Internet Business by Employing Real-

World Strategies - 0-9657617-6-2

Other References

• Small Business Centers– smalloffice.com– AllBusiness.com– Office.com

• Web Page Design– Creating Web Pages with HTML [0-7600-5532-7]

Introduction, [0-7600-5533-5] Comprehensive– Creating Killer Web Sites [1-56830-433-1]– Planning and Designing Effective Web Sites [0-7600-

4988-2]

“Reality is for those who can’t master the Internet”

Comedian Rodgey Dangerfield - http://www.rodney.com