E-Commerce. Objectives By the end of this unit, students should be able to: Define e-commerce and...

Management information systems

E-Commerce

Lempogo Forgor © 2009

ObjectivesBy the end of this unit, students should be able to:

Define e-commerce and m-commerce

State and explain the challenges of e-commerce and m-commerce in Ghana

Discuss the relevant e-commerce success factors

Describe the most popular electronic payment systems available today

Overview

E-commerce

Categories of E-commerce

M-Commerce

E-commerce Applications

Electronic Payment Systems

© Lempogo Forgor


What is e-commerce?

E-Commerce is short for electronic commerce and refers to the field of marketing, buying, selling, distributing and servicing different products and/or services over the internet or any network.

Notice that, E-commerce is not only about buying and selling online.


Categories of e-commerceSome of the most popular e-commerce

categories include:

Business-to-Business e-commerce – B2B

Business-to-Customer e-Commerce –B2C

Customer-to-customer e-commerce – C2C


Business-to-Business e-commerce – B2BBusiness-to-Business e-Commerce involves

both electronic business marketplaces and direct market links between businesses.

For example,

many companies offer secure Internet or extranet e-commerce catalog websites for their business customers and suppliers.

Some B2B e-commerce portals provide auction and exchange marketplaces for businesses.


Business-to-Customer e-commerce – B2CIn Business-to-Customer e-Commerce, businesses

develop attractive electronic marketplaces to sell products and services to consumers.

For example: Many companies offer e-commerce websites that

provide: virtual storefronts and multimedia catalogs, interactive order processing, secure electronic payment systems,online customer support.


Customer-to-Customer e-Commerce– C2C

Customer-to-Customer e-Commerce involves customers selling directly with/to other customers.

The huge success of online auctions like eBay, where consumers can buy and sell with each other in an auction process at an auction website, makes this e-commerce model an important e-commerce business strategy.


What is M-Commerce?Mobile commerce (m-commerce)

relies on the use of wireless devices, such as personal digital assistants, cell phones, and smart phones, to place orders and conduct business.

M-Commerce is the process of buying and selling through phones and other handheld devices.


M-CommerceBecause m-commerce devices usually have a

single user, they are ideal for accessing personal information and receiving targeted messages for a particular consumer.

Through m-commerce, companies can reach individual consumers to establish one-to-one marketing relationships and permit communication to occur whenever it is convenient (in short, any time and anywhere)


Limitations of Wireless DevicesSome limitations of wireless devices

include:

Small screen size, Limited input capabilities, Less processing speed Low bandwidth


Wireless Application protocol - WAPThe wireless application protocol (WAP), is a

standard set of specifications for Internet applications that run on handheld, wireless devices.

WAP is a key technology underlying m-commerce.

To address the limitations of mobile devices

the industry has undertaken a standardization effort for their Internet communications-WAP


E-commerce Applications

E-commerce is being applied to the:

Retail and wholesale industries

Manufacturing industries

Marketing industries

Investment and finance industries

Auction industries.


Electronic Payment SystemsElectronic payment systems are a key

component of the e-commerce infrastructure.

In an e-Commerce transaction actual payments are made in a variety of ways, including:

electronic cash; electronic wallets; credit, charge, debit, and smart cards.


Electronic Cash

Electronic cash is an amount of money that is computerized, stored, and used as cash for e-commerce transactions.

e.g. PayPal

A consumer must open an account with a bank to obtain electronic cash.


Electronic CashWhenever the consumer wants to withdraw

electronic cash to make a purchase, he or she accesses the bank via the Internet and presents proof of identity.

After the bank verifies the consumer's identity, it issues the consumer the requested amount of electronic cash and deducts the same amount from the consumer's account.

The electronic cash is stored in the consumer's electronic wallet on his or her computer's hard drive, or on a smart card.


Electronic WalletsAn electronic wallet holds credit card

information, electronic cash, owner identification, and address information.

It provides this information at an e-commerce site's checkout counter.

When consumers click on items to purchase, they can then click on their electronic wallet to order the item, thus making online shopping much faster and easier.


credit C ardA credit card, such as Visa or

MasterCard, has a preset spending limit based on the user's credit limit.

Each month the user can pay off a portion of the amount owed or the entire credit card balance.

Interest is charged on the unpaid amount.


Charge CardA charge card, such as American

Express, carries no preset spending limit

The entire amount charged to the card is due at the end of the billing period

Charge cards do not involve lines of credit and do not accumulate interest charges.


Debit cardsDebit cards look like credit cards or automated teller

machine (ATM) cards, but they operate like cash or a personal check.

While a credit card is a way to "buy now, pay later," a debit card is a way to "buy now, pay now."

Debit cards allow you to spend only what is in your bank account.

It is a quick transaction between the merchant and your personal bank account.

When you use a debit card, your money is quickly deducted from your checking or savings account.


Credit, charge, and debit cardsCredit, charge, and debit cards currently

store limited information about you on a magnetic stripe.

This information is read each time the card is swiped to make a purchase.

The risk of bogus credit card transactions has slowed the growth of e-commerce by exposing merchants to substantial losses and making online shoppers nervous.


The smart cardThe smart card is a credit card-sized device

with an embedded microchip to provide electronic memory and processing capability.

Smart cards can be used for a variety of purposes, including storing a user's financial facts, health insurance data, credit card numbers, and network identification codes and passwords.

They can also store monetary values for spending.


The smart card – cont.Smart cards are better protected from misuse than

conventional credit, charge, and debit cards because the smart card information is encrypted.

Conventional credit, charge, and debit cards clearly show your account number on the face of the card.

The card number, along with a forged signature, is all that a thief needs to purchase items and charge them against your card.

A smart card makes credit theft practically impossible because a key to unlock the encrypted information is required, and there is no external number that a thief can identify and no physical signature a thief can forge.


E-commerce versus M-commerceInvolves Mode of

connectionMode of payment

E-

Commerce

Buying and

selling over

the internet

through PCs

Can be

wireless or

wired

Credit card,

PayPal, etc.

M-

Commerce

Buying and

selling

through

phones and

other

handheld

devices

Mainly

wireless

Through a

mobile

telephone

(reduction of

mobile credit).


Which is more suitable for the Ghanaian business environment?

With the Ghanaian business environment, M-Commerce will be much suitable.

This is because most people own mobile phones and can easily be persuaded to do business online.

Apart from the fact that credit cards originating from Ghana are “Black-Listed” on the international markets, Most Ghanaian don’t use credit card and don’t feel secured on the internet due to “sakawa”.

E-Commerce. Objectives By the end of this unit, students should be able to: Define e-commerce and...

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