UNIT-01: E-BUSINESS

E-Business – It refers to the conduct of business processes over the internet. In other words, it is the
administration of business process via the internet which includes the buying and selling of goods and
services along with providing technical or customer support on the internet.

Internet – It is the network of networks as it links various computers. It refers to the network
connection which links and transports information within various client computers and web servers.

Features of E-Business
 Global reach – Worldwide
 Universal standards
 Reduces paper work – Paperless transactions
 Easy accessibility – 24/7
 Facilitates interaction – Reviews, Chat rooms, etc.
 Reduces cost – Setting up, maintenance, etc.
 Easy to advertise
 Personalization – Easy changes to the webpages
 Customization – As per business requirements
 Social technology – Uses internet and computer technology
 Large mass communication – Use of internet and telecom services

Advantages of E-Business
 Physical store not required
 Low operating cost – No physical store
 Reduces errors
 Access to remote areas
 Facilitates comparison – Between products
 Time saving – No standing in queues
 Flexibility
 Adaption to changing laws
 Easy to audit
 Market for resale

Disadvantages of E-Business
 Absence of technological infrastructure – Electricity, computers, etc.
 Lack of security
 Network problem – Poor internet infrastructure
 Difficult to integrate
 High initial cost
 Lack of feel of products
 Under research stage
 Difficult to rural masses
 No demonstration
 Regular up-gradation

E-Commerce – Also known as electronic commerce, it is the buying and selling of goods and services,
or the transmitting of funds or data over an electronic network like the internet.
Electronic Fund Transfer – EFT is a modern innovation in the banking sector where funds or amounts
are transferred from one bank account to another bank account with the help of the internet without
the physical movement of cash from one place to another.

Electronic Data Interchange – EDI is the electronic interchange of business information using a
standardized format; a process which allows one company to send information to another company
electronically rather than with the use of paper.

Types of E-Commerce
1. B2B - Business to Business (B2B) refers to transactions taking place between two businesses.
It is a model where the products and services are sold to the business by another business.
2. B2C - Business to Consumer (B2C) refers to the transactions conducted directly between a
company and consumers who are the end-users of its products or services.
3. C2B – Consumer to Business (C2B) is a unique E-Business model in which consumers create
value and demand for a company’s products and services in exchange for flexible payments
or free or reduced prices for the company’s products and services.
4. C2C - Consumer to Consumer (C2C) refers to sale of products from one customer to another
customer. It is a model where the goods once sold are resold by the customer to another
customer.
5. B2G – Business to Government (B2G) refers to the model where the business sells its products
to the government agencies. In simple words all the transactions between the business and
government is referred to under this model
6. G2B – Government to Business (G2B) refers to the electronic exchange of any information
between a business and the government, usually using the internet so that there is
cooperation and efficient communication between them.
7. P2P – Peer to Peer (P2P) refers to the model where employees in the same organization
interact with each other without affecting the main server. It is a process of sharing computer
files and programs without interacting with main servers.

Web/Online Auctions - Online Auction involves the selling and buying of goods by offering them up
for bids and consequently selling them to the highest bidder on the internet.

Types of Web Auctions

1. English auction – This is the most common auction type round the globe. In this type of
auction, a reserve price is fixed for the goods and the customers offer larger and larger bid.
Finally, the product is sold to the highest bidder.
2. Dutch auction – In this type of bidding, the auctioneer declares a high price for the product or
service and subsequently, it is lowered depending on whether the participants are willing to
pay the predetermined amount.
3. First Price Sealed Bid - In this type of bidding, all the bidders simultaneously submit their
bidding amount knowing the bidding amount of his or her competitor. The one who bids the
highest amount gets the product or service.
4. Vickrey auction - It is exactly similar to First Price Sealed Bid auction, except that the highest
bidder pays the second highest amount and not the highest bid. This is the bidding system
used by eBay.
5. Reverse auction – It is a type of auction in which the roles of buyer and seller are reversed. It
is a type of auction in which sellers bid for the prices at which they are willing to sell their
goods and services.
6. Shill bidding – It refers to when the seller of an item has a third party bid on their item solely
with the intent of driving the price up and not for the purpose of buying the product.
Advantages of Web/Online Auctions
 Global reach
 Large masses
 Explore new areas
 Price based on demand and supply
 Easy to conduct market survey
 Quick and ready information

Virtual Communities – A virtual community is a social network of individuals who interact through
specific social media potentially crossing geographical and political boundaries in order to pursue
mutual interest or goals. It is a community of people sharing common interests, opinions, feelings over
the internet or other collaborative networks.

Types of Virtual Communities

 Internet message boards – An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site
where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat
rooms as the messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporarily
archived.
 Online chat rooms – They are designated areas or forums on the World Wide Web that allows
users to communicate with each other through instant messaging.
 Virtual World - It is a computer-based online community environment that is designed and
shared by individuals so that they can interact in a custom-built, simulated world. Users
interact with each other in this simulated world using text-based, two-dimensional or three-
dimensional graphical models called avatars.
 Social Network Services – It (SNS) is a web application that people use to build social networks
or social relations with other people who share similar personal or career interests, activities,
backgrounds or real-life connections.

Advantages
 Worldwide exposure
 Sharing of knowledge
 Builds relationship
 Can form groups for specific purpose
 Facilitates personal and business information
 Advertisement opportunities

Disadvantages
 Dangerous
 Scope for corrections not available
 Difficult to choose reliable sources
 Posted information can be viewed easily

Web Portals - A web portal is a specially designed website that often serves as the single point of
access for information. It can also be considered a library of personalized and categorized content. A
web portal helps in search navigation, personalization, notification and information integration, etc.

Characteristics
 Displays information
 Facilitates adding and deleting information
 Some domains may be restricted
 May offer additional services
  Multiple applications and database
 Fingertip information

Types of Web Portals

 Vertical – These are web portals which focus only on one specific industry, domain or vertical.
Vertical portals provide tools, information, articles, research and statistics on the specific
industry or vertical. Ex: contructionplus.com
 Horizontal – These are web portals which focus on a wide array of interests and topics. They
focus on general audience and try to present something for everybody. Ex: Yahoo!, MSN, etc.
 Corporate – A corporate portal (sometimes called an enterprise portal) provides personalized
access to an appropriate range of information about a particular company.
 Knowledge – They increase the effectiveness of knowledge workers by providing easy access
to information that is necessary or helpful to them in one or more specific roles.
 Market space – These portals exist to support the B2B and B2C models, software support for
E-Commerce transactions and ability to find and access rich information about the products
on sale also, the ability to participate in discussion groups with other vendors and/or buyers.
Ex: eBay
 Search - Search portals aggregate the results from several search engines into one page. Here
the main focus is on search. Ex: Google, Bing, etc.

E-Business Revenue Models

Revenue consists of the total amount of money received by the company for the goods sold or the
services rendered during a certain time period. Revenue models are a part of business models as
businesses generate revenues from various sources like online advertising, subscription, affiliation,
etc.

The 5 major E-Business Revenue models are:

 Advertising RM – It is a revenue model where fees are generated from advertisers in exchange
for advertisements. The advertising revenue model is based on contacts making it one of the
indirect sources of revenue. Ex: Google AdSense, AdWords, etc.
 Subscription RM – – It is a revenue model where users are charged a periodic (daily, monthly
or annual) fee to subscribe to a service. Many sites combine free content with premium
membership, i.e. subscriber or member-only content. Ex: AOL.
 Transaction Fee RM – A company receives commissions based on volume for enabling or
executing transactions. The revenue is generated through transaction fees by the customer
paying a fee for a transaction to the operator of a platform. Ex: eBay, Amazon, etc.
 Sales RM – Wholesalers and retailers of goods and services sell their products online. The main
benefits for the customer are the convenience, time savings, fast information etc. The prices
are often more competitive. Ex: Amazon
 Affiliate RM – The affiliate program is an online distribution solution which is based on the
principle of commission. Merchants advertise and sell their products and services through
links to partner-websites. It is a pay-for-performance model: Commissions are only paid for
actual revenue or measurable success. Ex: Amazon. Flipkart, etc.
 UNIT-02: SECURITY FOR E-BUSINESS

Importance of Security E-Business

 Customer privacy
 Protection to information
 Protect electronic transfers
 Secure overload of networks

Steps in E-Business Securities

 Install antivirus
 Develop culture
 Install firewall
 Protect from harmful e-mails
 Minimize spam
 Data backup
 System to secure password
 Software up to date
 Online banking secure
 Develop and maintain security policy

Implementation of E-Commerce Security

 Analyze security specifications
 Policy for security
 Develop security infrastructure
 Implement infrastructure
 Testing security
 Requirement validation

Attacks on Computer Systems

1. Data Diddling – It involves the unauthorized modifications of the data stored in a computer
system.
2. Trojan horse – It is a block of computer code buried within an authorized program that
performs unauthorized acts like stealing financial credentials from the host’s computer
system.
3. Salami Slicing – This technique works on the assumption that if small quantities of money are
shaved from a lot of balances that are not closely checked, and these shavings are combined
in a central account which would swell to a larger amount over time.
4. Super Zap Programs – They are programs that can bypass regular system controls if a
malfunction or a system error exists in a computer system.
5. Trapdoor Routines – These are routines used in program development to all the devs access
various parts of a computer system to see if the program is functioning as intended. They are
usually removed before put into general use. Failing to remove trapdoors, makes the system
vulnerable to data stealing and manipulation.
6. Logic Bombs – It is a routine that causes a part of the computer system to become inoperative
or to malfunction as soon as the routine is executed.

Cloud Computing – It is the delivery of computing services like servers, storage, databases,
networking, software, analytics, etc. over the Internet (the cloud). Companies offering these
computing services are called cloud providers and typically charge for cloud computing services. Ex:
Azure, AWS, etc.
Encryption – In computing, encryption is the method by which plain text or any other type of data is
converted from a readable form to an encoded version that can only be decoded by another entity if
they have access to a decryption key.

The process of Encryption - Unencrypted data, often referred to as plaintext, is encrypted using an
encryption algorithm and an encryption key. This process generates ciphertext that can only be viewed
in its original form if decrypted with the correct key. Decryption is simply the inverse of encryption,
following the same steps but reversing the order in which the keys are applied.

Types of Encryption
 Symmetric - Symmetric-key ciphers, also referred to as "secret key," use a single key,
sometimes referred to as a shared secret because the system doing the encryption must share
it with any entity it intends to be able to decrypt the encrypted data. The most widely used
symmetric-key cipher is the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), which was designed to
protect government classified information.
 Asymmetric - Asymmetric cryptography, also known as public key cryptography, uses two
different but mathematically linked keys, one public and one private. The public key can be
shared with everyone, whereas the private key must be kept secret. The RSA encryption
algorithm is the most widely used public key algorithm, partly because both the public and
the private keys can encrypt a message; the opposite key from the one used to encrypt a
message is used to decrypt it.

Decryption – It is the process of converting encrypted text or data back into its original form, so that
it can be understood.

Digital Signatures –
Transfer of HF, Decodes the
Hash Function Message Runs the msg
Plain Text (PT) MsgD and the msg with a
(HF) Digest (MsgD) through the HF
Encrypted PT Private Key

Firewall – It is a network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network
traffic based on predetermined security rules.

Features of Firewalls
 Hardware or software device
 It is a filter
 Control websites
 Control over people using network
 Protects from intruders and hackers
 Block traffic
 Automatic alarms
 Graphical user interface (GUI)

Virtual Private Network (VPN) – It is a secured network that uses the internet as its main backbone
network, but relies on firewalls and other security features of its internet and intranet connections
and those of participating organizations.

Cookies - Cookies are small files which are stored on a user's computer. They are designed to hold a
modest amount of data specific to a particular client and website, and can be accessed either by the
web server or the client computer.
Types of Cookies
1. Session cookie – A session cookie for a website only exists whilst the user is reading or
navigating the website. When the user closes their web browser these cookies are usually
removed.
2. Persistent cookie – A persistent cookie for a website exists on a user’s computer until a future
date. For example the cookie expiry date could be set as 1 year, and each time a website is
accessed over this period the website could access the cookie.
3. Http cookie – An Http cookie can only be used via HTTP or HTTPS, and therefore cannot be
accessed by JavaScript.
4. Secure cookie – A secure cookie can only be used via HTTPS. This ensures the cookie data is
encrypted, reducing the expose to cookie theft via eavesdropping.
5. Third-party cookie – First-party cookies are cookies set with the same domain (or its
subdomain) as your browser's address bar. Third-party cookies are cookies set with domains
different from the one shown on the address bar.

Client computer – It is a computer that is connected to a network that is not a server or a router.
These computers are connected to a network of other computers.

E-Commerce Communication Channels

 Live chat
 E-Mail
 Phone support
 Product description
 Advertisements
 Blogs
 Paid search
 Market place
 M-Marketing

Web server – As a hardware it refers to a server such as personal computers which facilitates the
storage of data available on the web pages. The requirements depend on the traffic and the number
users of the website.

Web server – As a software it refers to the servers that facilitate access to the various websites. It
manages location and communication of all the requests and communications through the web server
hardware. Ex: Apache, Microsoft Internet Information Services.

Types of Web Server encryption

 Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) – It is a protocol developed by Netscape for transmitting private
documents via the Internet. SSL uses a cryptographic system that uses two keys to encrypt
data − a public key known to everyone and a private or secret key known only to the recipient
of the message.
 Transport Layer Security (TLS) – It is a protocol that provides privacy and data integrity
between two communicating applications. TLS is composed of two layers: the TLS Record
Protocol and the TLS Handshake Protocol. The Record Protocol provides connection security,
while the Handshake Protocol allows the server and client to authenticate each other and to
negotiate encryption algorithms and cryptographic keys before any data is exchanged.
 UNIT-03: E-PAYMENTS

Characteristics of E-Payment
 Simple
 Secured
 Reliable
 Trust
 Convertible
 Efficient
 Authorization
 Scalability
 Interoperate ability

Types of E-Payment Systems

1. Electronic Fund Transfer – EFT is a modern innovation in the banking sector where funds or
amounts are transferred from one bank account to another bank account with the help of the
internet without the physical movement of cash from one place to another.
2. Value Exchange System – These systems work like check clearing systems, although they
transfer assets other than claims on demand deposits. Accounts used for value exchange
include balances in an individual’s margin account held with stock brokers, mutual funds, and
other financial institutions.
3. Credit Card System – These systems initially used sales receipts signed at the point of
purchase. After verifying the identity of the individual, the merchant would accept the credit
card receipt for the exchange of goods and services. The receipts would then be forwarded to
the institution that issued the card. The issuing institution would then add the amount of sale
to the individual’s balance and send the credit card user a bill.
4. GIRO Transfer System – Under this system, an individual instructs a financial institution to
make a payment to another individual who banks with another financial institution. The
originating institution then transfers the funds and payment information telling which account
should be credited to the receiving institution.
5. Point of Sale Payment System – They are complicated payment systems and involve two
stages:
 Firstly, the customer must prove that he is authorized to transfer funds from the
named account. This is facilitated by a PIN or a secret code at the POS.
 Secondly, the merchant must verify that sufficient funds are available to forego with
the transfer. This is done by contacting the credit or debit card authorization center
that has a record of the customer’s account.
6. Bill Payments by Telephone – This can be done efficiently through Automated Clearing Houses
(ACH) using telephones.

Modern Payment Systems

 PC Banking
 ATM
 Debit Cards
 Credit Cards
 Smart Cards – They are portable devices that contain some non-volatile memory and a
microprocessor. They contain some encrypted key that is compared to a secret key contained
in the user’s processor.
 E-Cheques - They are used to make electronic payments between two parties through an
intermediary. Here, the e-checks are generated and exchanged online.
 E-Cash - Digital Cash (also known as E-Currency, E-Money, and E-Cash) refers to a system in
which a person can securely pay for goods or services electronically without necessarily
involving a bank to mediate the transaction.
 E-Wallets – It refers to an electronic device that allows an individual to store money
electronically and make electronic commerce transactions.
 Agile Wallets – They are active or quick software programs used to facilitate online purchase
transactions.
 UNIT-04: E-BUSINESS MARKETING TECHNIQUES

E-Marketing – It is a process of planning and executing the conception, distribution, promotion, and
pricing of products and services in a computerized, networked environment, such as the Internet and
the World Wide Web, to facilitate exchanges and satisfy customer demands.

Cookies - Cookies are small files which are stored on a user's computer. They are designed to hold a
modest amount of data specific to a particular client and website, and can be accessed either by the
web server or the client computer.

Types of Cookies
1. Session cookie – A session cookie for a website only exists whilst the user is reading or
navigating the website. When the user closes their web browser these cookies are usually
removed.
2. Persistent cookie – A persistent cookie for a website exists on a user’s computer until a future
date. For example the cookie expiry date could be set as 1 year, and each time a website is
accessed over this period the website could access the cookie.
3. Zombie cookie – A zombie cookie is an HTTP cookie that returns to life automatically after
being deleted by the user.
4. Secure cookie – A secure cookie can only be used via HTTPS. This ensures the cookie data is
encrypted, reducing the expose to cookie theft via eavesdropping.
5. Http only cookie – An Http only cookie can only be used via HTTP or HTTPS, and therefore
cannot be accessed by JavaScript.
6. Same site cookie – It is also known as a First-party cookie. It is a cookie set with the same
domain (or its subdomain) as your browser's address bar.
7. Third-party cookie – Third-party cookies are cookies set with domains different from the one
shown on the address bar.
8. Super cookie - A super cookie is a type of browser cookie that is designed to be permanently
stored on a user's computer. Super cookies are generally more difficult for users to detect and
remove from their devices because they cannot be deleted in the same fashion as regular
cookies.

Features of Cookies
 It is a text file
 Store small data
 Accessible by the client computer
 Accessible by the web server
 Data contains customer preferences

Shopping carts - In online marketing, a shopping cart is a piece of E-Commerce software on a web
server that allows the visitors of a website to select items for eventual purchase. In other words, they
are software programs that keep a record of the choices made by a client during an online buying
session.

Limitations of shopping carts

 Lack of trust
 Unclear payment gateways
 Security concerns
 Transaction fulfillment – Unclear or questionable
 No integration – Between online and offline stores
Steps involved in a shopping cart
1. The customer will sit in front of the computers which has internet connectivity and logs on
to the shopping cart software.
2. The software displays the different options available in the various products selected by the
customer.
3. The customer can access the products and choose the product of his choice.
4. The prices of various products will be displayed for the convenience of the customer.
5. The calculation of the amount to be paid by the customer will also be displayed on the
screen.
6. The amount shown will include the amount charged for shipping of the goods, insurance,
cost of product and other allied charges in shipment of goods.
7. The customer after selecting all the products will disclose his credit card information.
8. The details of credit card will be transmitted through secured connection on the website.
9. The mail will be sent to the merchant banker for arrangement of payment.
10. The amount will be debited from the credit card account of the customer.
11. The purchase order will be generated and will be sent to the seller.
12. After receipt of the purchase order, goods will be ready for shipment.
13. After the confirmation of the payment, the goods will be sent to the customer.
14. The goods will be received by the customer as per the orders made by them.

Database – A database is a collection of information that is organized so that it can be easily

accessed, managed and updated. Data is organized into rows, columns and tables, and it is indexed
to make it easier to find relevant information.

Database Management System (DBMS) – It is a software package designed to define, manipulate,

retrieve and manage data in a database. Ex: MySQL, dBase, Oracle, etc.

Features of DBMS
 Minimum redundancy
 Minimum duplication
 Isolation of data and application
 Saves storage space
 Large database maintenance
 High security
 Consistency

Structured Query Language (SQL) – It is a standard high level fourth generation language that is
designed to provide the users of Relational Database Systems (RDBMS) an easy and powerful way to
enter, manipulate and retrieve data from the database.

Types of SQL statements

1. Data Definition Language (DDL)
 CREATE
 ALTER – Edit existing data
 DROP – Remove objects from the database
2. Data Manipulation language (DML)
 SELECT – Display rows from tables
 UPDATE – Alter rows
 INSERT – Add new records
 DELETE - Remove records
 3. Data Control Language (DCL)
 GRANT – Grant access
 REVOKE – Revoke access
 COMMIT – Permanent
 ROLLBACK – Nullify or undo

Data Mining – It is the process of sorting through large data sets to identify patterns and establish
relationships to solve problems through data analysis. Data mining tools allow enterprises to predict
future trends.

Data warehousing – It is the electronic storage of a large amount of information by a business. Data
warehousing is a vital component of business intelligence that employs analytical techniques on
business data.

E-marketing strategies
1. Micromarketing – It is a marketing strategy in which advertising efforts are focused on a small
group of highly targeted consumers. Micromarketing requires a company to narrowly define
an audience by a specific characteristic, such as ZIP code or job title, and tailor campaigns for
that particular segment.
2. Target Marketing – It involves breaking a market into segments and then concentrating
marketing efforts on one or a more key segments consisting of the customers whose needs
and desires most closely match your product or service offerings.
3. Permission marketing – It is an approach to selling goods and services in which a prospect
explicitly agrees in advance to receive marketing information. Opt-in e-mail, where Internet
users sign up in advance for information about certain product categories, is a good example
of permission marketing.
4. Product or Service bundling – Bundling is a classic market strategy where two or more
complementary products and/or services are offered as a package at a discounted price.
5. One-to-one marketing – It is a strategy that relies on getting to know the individual choices
made by a customer, and then tailoring marketing outreach to each customer differently
based on those choices.
6. Affiliate marketing – An affiliate is a business you want to partner with in order to gain benefit
for your own business. It is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business
rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate's own
marketing efforts.
7. Viral marketing – It is a marketing technique that uses pre-existing social networking services
and other technologies to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other
marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes.