INFO3435eCommerce

Outline

1. Introduction to eCommerce
DanielleThornhill
03/09/2015

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DiscussiononCourseworkGroupProjects
CaseStudy
CaseStudyDiscussionQuestions
Groupquestions
Groupquestions:answersanddiscussions
ReviewChapterQuestions

CourseworkGroupProject
DesignECommercewebsite
Identifyacompanyyoubelievewouldbenefitfromanimprovedecommerce
Fromanexistinglocalwebsitethathasnoecommerce

CaseStudy:ThePirateBay

Groupsconsistof35persons
Projectstructureavailableonthewebsite
ProjectReportform

http://www2.sta.uwi.edu/~anikov/INFO3435/project.htm

1.

DoyouthinkThePirateBaycancontinuetosurvive
inaglobalInternetworld?Whyorwhynot?

ThePirateBaymaybedifficulttoshutdowncompletely,butitis
doubtfulthatitcanmaintaincontinuous,reliableserviceinthenextfew
yearssimplybecausesomanyWesterngovernmentsarepursuingits
foundersandfollowers.IftheUnitedStatespasseslegislationsuchas
theIPProtectAct,Internetserviceprovidersandsearchengineswillnot
helpuserslinktoThePirateBay.Atsomepointitsbusinessmodel
(advertisingrevenue)willfail.

2. WhyislegislationlikeProtectIPopposedbyGoogle
andcivillibertiesgroups?
BothGoogleandcivillibertiesgroupsrejectanymoveby
governmentstocensortheresultsofsearchesorpreventusersfrom
gainingaccesstoanyinformationtheywant.InthecaseofGoogle,
thereisarevenueconsiderationaswellifmillionsofcopyright
infringersuseGoogle,thenGooglemakesmorerevenuebyexposing
themtoads.

3. Doyouthinkitispossibletoreliablyidentify
dedicatedinfringingWebsites?Whatcriteriawould
youuse?

4.Whydoescloudcomputingthreatenpiratesites?

Thisdependsonthephrasingofthelegislation.Thekeyappearstobe
nootherpurpose,thatis,theprosecutorwouldhavetoshowthatthe
Websitehasnopurposeotherthantoenableinfringingactivities.This
couldbeestablishedempiricallybydoingasampleoftheWebsites
searchesanddatabaseactivity,andidentifyingtheresultsofthesource
(stolenversuslegitimatecontent).SiteslikeThePirateBaythatpublicly
proclaimtheyarededicatedtoinfringingcopyrightsasapolitical
statementwouldnothaveastrongdefence.

Convenience:Noneedtodownload
Instantaccesstocontent
NoP2Psoftwaretodownloadandinstall
Littleriskofvirusesandmalware
Nodownloadsmeansnostoragerequirements

Groupexercise(34persons):
SearchtheWebforanexampleofeachofthefive
majortypesofecommerce

ChapterQuestions

BusinesstoConsumer(B2C)
BusinesstoBusiness(B2B)
ConsumertoConsumer(C2C)
PeertoPeer(P2P)EnablesInternetuserstosharefilesandcomputer
resources
Mobilecommerce(Mcommerce)
DescribeeachWebsiteandexplainwhy(featuresofthecompany)itfits
intooneofthefivetypesofecommerce.

1. Whatisecommerce?Howdoesitdifferfrome
business?Wheredoesitintersectwithebusiness?

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2.

Whatisinformationasymmetry?

Ecommerce,inthepopularsense,canbedefinedas:TheuseoftheInternet
andtheWebtoconductbusinesstransactions.
Amoretechnicaldefinitionwouldbe:Ecommerceinvolvesdigitallyenabled
commercialtransactionsbetweenandamongorganizationsandindividuals.

Informationasymmetryreferstoanydisparityinrelevantmarket
informationamongthepartiesinvolvedinatransaction.Itgenerally
appliestoinformationaboutprice,cost,andhiddenfees.

Ecommercediffersfromebusinessinthatnocommercialtransaction,an
exchangeofvalueacrossorganizationalorindividualboundaries,takesplacein
ebusiness.
Ebusinessisthedigitalenablementoftransactionsandprocesseswithinafirm
andthereforedoesnotincludeanyexchangeinvalue.
Ecommerceandebusinessintersectatthebusinessfirmboundaryatthepoint
whereinternalbusinesssystemslinkupwithsuppliers.Forinstance,ebusiness
turnsintoecommercewhenanexchangeofvalueoccursacrossfirm
boundaries.
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3. Whataresomeoftheuniquefeaturesofe
commercetechnology?

4. Whatisamarketspace?

Ubiquity: Itisavailablejustabouteverywhereandatalltimes.
Globalreach:Thepotentialmarketsizeisroughlyequaltothesizeoftheonlinepopulationof
theworld.
Universalstandards:ThetechnicalstandardsoftheInternetandthereforeofconductinge
commerce,aresharedbyallofthenationsintheworld.
Richness: Informationthatiscomplexandcontentrichcanbedeliveredwithoutsacrificing
reach.

Amarketspace isamarketplacethatisextendedbeyondtraditional
boundariesbecauseitisremovedfromtherestrictionsofgeography
andtime.Theubiquityofecommercetechnologiesliberatesthe
marketfromtheselimitations.

Interactivity:Ecommercetechnologiesallowtwowaycommunicationbetweenthemerchant
andtheconsumer.
Informationdensity:Thetotalamountandqualityofinformationavailabletoallmarket
participantsisvastlyincreasedandischeapertodeliver.
Personalization/Customization:Ecommercetechnologiesenablemerchantstotargettheir
marketingmessagestoapersonsname,interests,andpastpurchases.Theyallowamerchant
tochangetheproductorservicetosuitthepurchasingbehaviourandpreferencesofa
consumer.
Socialtechnology:Usercontentgenerationandsocialnetworktechnologies
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6. Whatarethemajorlimitationsonthegrowthofe
commerce?Whichispotentiallythetoughestto
overcome?

5. Compareonlineandtraditionaltransactionsin
termsofrichness.
Traditionaltransactionscanprovidemorerichnessintermsofface
tofaceserviceincludingvisualandauralcues.
However,traditionaltransactionsarelimitedintermsofhowmany
peoplecanbereachedatasingletime.Onlinetransactions,which
canbeglobalinreach,canprovidecontentthatisbothcomplexand
rich,overcomingthetraditionaltradeoffbetweenreachand
richness.

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Priceofpersonalcomputers.
Theneedformanypeopletolearncomplicatedoperatingsystems,at
leastincomparisontoothertechnologiessuchasthetelevisionorthe
telephone.Peoplemustalsolearnasetoffairlysophisticatedskills
(whencomparedtoradioortelevision)tomakeeffectiveuseofthe
Internetandecommercecapabilities.
Anotherlimitationistheunlikelihoodthatthedigitalshopping
experiencewilleverreplacethesocialandculturalexperiencethat
manyseekfromthetraditionalshoppingenvironment.
Finally,persistentglobalincomeinequalitywillexcludemostofthe
worldspopulation.Newinterfacessupportedbynewhardware
technology,especiallyintheformofmobilecomputingplatforms
(smartphones),hasdrasticallyreducedlimitationsonfuturegrowthofe
commerce.AsInternetaccesstechnologiesbecomecheapertopurchase
andeasiertouse,ecommerceshouldexperiencesignificantlongterm
growth.
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Questions?

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