Electronic Commerce

Starting an Online Business, Website Evaluation and Usability Testing

Md. Rakibul Hoque
University of Dhaka

Starting a New Online Business

Creating a New Company Adding an Online Project

or

Step 1: Identify a consumer or business need in the marketplace Step 2: Investigate the opportunity Step 3: Determine the business owners ability to meet the need

Electronic Commerce

Starting a New Online Business

Online Business Planning

Business plan A written document that identifies a companys goals and outlines how the company intends to achieve the goals and at what cost. Business case A document that is used to justify the investment of internal, organizational resources in a specific application or project.
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Starting a New Online Business

Initial Funding of a New Online Business

Angel investor A wealthy individual who contributes personal funds and possibly expertise at the earliest stage of business development Incubator A company, university, or nonprofit organization that supports businesses in their initial stages of development

Electronic Commerce

Starting a New Online Business

Secondary Business

Funding

New

Online

Venture capital (VC) Money invested in a business by an individual or a group of individuals (venture capitalists) in exchange for equity in the business Additional Funding: A Large Partner The IPO
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Roadmap to Becoming an E-Business

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Classification of Web Sites

Informational Web site A Web site that does little more than provide information about the business and its products and services Interactive Web site A Web site that provides opportunities for the customers and the business to communicate and share information
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Classification of Web Sites

Attractors Web site features that attract and interact with visitors in the target stakeholder group Transactional Web site A Web site that sells products and services Collaborative Web site A site that allows business partners to collaborate
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E-commerce and your website

E-commerce simply means selling over the Internet goods, services, information, whatever. Such businesses began in 1995 and generate more than 150 billion sales in the USA in 2010. Yes, that's $150,000,000,000 in the USA alone.

E-commerce and your website

How do you get your share of the action? Easy. You create a website that promotes your products Obtain an Internet address Hire space on a web-hosting company Upload your pages Add a payment system Use various promotion services to get your site noticed.

Building or Acquiring a Web Site

Building a Web Site

Step 1Select a Web host Step 2Register a domain name Step 3Create and manage content Step 4Design the Web site Step 5Construct the Web site and test Step 6Market and promote the Web site

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Building or Acquiring a Website

You'll be familiar with websites collections of HMTL pages grouped around some URL like http://www.companyname.com. Websites can be very ambitious, with stunning graphics, animation, sound, database search systems, customer recognition and a good many other features. But they don't need to be. Many successful e-commerce sites are half a dozen pages extolling the virtues of the product. More can be less, and 'wow' sites will only hinder customers getting to your products, and make promotion more difficult.

Building or Acquiring a Web Site

Quality Assurance Quality assurance is about making sure the Web site design is properly tested before it is launched and ensuring that it continues to perform up to expectations after launch. A lesson most Web designers can learn from total quality management (TQM) principles is to design the site for easy maintenance.

Building or Acquiring a Web Site

Who Builds the Web Site?

Do It Yourself Internal Web site development The process of building and/or maintaining the Web site with company staff Outsource External Web site development When the business hires another firm to build and/or maintain the Web site

Building or Acquiring a Web Site

Hybrid

Partnering Web site development When a mixture of internal and external development is used to build and/or maintain a Web site

Building or Acquiring a Web Site

Site navigation Aids that help visitors find the information they need quickly and easily
A Generic Navigation Bar

A Simple Hierarchical Web Site Structure

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A Web Page Layout Grid

Building or Acquiring a Web Site

Web site construction The initial content creation, design, programming, and installation phases of a Web sites development Web site maintenance The on-going process of keeping the Web site open for business, managing content, fixing problems, and making incremental additions to the site

Building or Acquiring a Web Site

Creating Content:
Content is usually created by the sites owners and developers

Buying Content:
Content that is acquired from outside sources should be supplemental content, not primary content

Finding an URL or Internet Domain

The URL (uniform resource locator) is your address or domain on the Internet. You'll want something that identifies your company and possibly your line of business. How do you get a domain? You visit an online company offering domain for sale. As you are a commercial concern, you'll go for a dot-com, dot-net or possibly a dot-bd domain. You'll try possible names in the search box provided until you find a suitable one available.

Finding an URL or Internet Domain

Suppose your company is Navana Distribution Ltd. You find that navana.com has been taken, and so has distribution.com, both a long time ago. But navana-distribution .com is still free, and you therefore take that domain for a few dollars a year. An online credit card facility accepts your order, and an email a few minutes later confirms the purchase. Just as soon as ownership is recorded by the relevant authorities, usually within a couple of days, the domain is yours to go on with to the next stage.

Finding an URL or Internet Domain

The Domain Name System is a hierarchical system with a root domain, toplevel domains, second-level domains, and host computers at the third level.

Finding an URL or Internet Domain

Registering a Domain Name

Domain name A name-based address that identifies an Internet-connected server Domain name registrar A business that assists prospective Web site owners with finding and registering the domain name of their choice

Analysis of an Internet Address

Hosting Your Site

You are halfway there. You have the site built, and a domain name to host it under. Now you have to upload the site to a webhosting company that will display it on the Internet, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Thousands of such web-hosting companies exist, and there are now web hosting directories that enable you to select by cost, platform type, facilities, etc. all of which are explained by on-site notes.

Hosting Your Site

You make your choice of hosting company, click through to their site, pay their hosting fee, and can then upload your site to that company's server. The hosting company will explain how. It's very simple, but you'll need a cheap or free piece of software called an FTP program. You can obtain this from any software supplier and use it to maintain your site thereafter. Once uploaded, your site goes 'live'. You're on the Internet.

Hosting Your Site

Of course if your site has been built by a web design company, then they'll upload it for you. And if you've built your site online, then all you need to do is e-mail the hosting company that you're ready to start trading. A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their own website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own or lease for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center.

Hosting Your Site

ISP hosting service A hosting service that provides an independent, stand-alone Web site for small and medium-sized businesses. Web hosting service A dedicated Web site hosting company that offers a wide range of hosting services and functionality to businesses of all sizes
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Hosting Your Site

Self-hosting When a business acquires the hardware, software, staff, and dedicated telecommunications services necessary to set up and manage its own Web site.

Web Server
A web server provides information and services to web surfers. So, when someone access www.navanadistribution.com he/she is accessing a web server from their computer.

Web Server
When you choose a web server you must consider the following things:

Competitive prices (but not too competitive: you get what you pay for). Good reputation: look for awards and genuine testimonials. 7/24 email and telephone support. SSL (Secure Socket Layer) to provide security for payment transactions. Adequate security measures.

Web Server

Appropriate operating system (NT/Windows 2000, Linux, Unix). Direct feed of website data into accounting and inventory databases. Adequate disk space, with opportunity to add more. Sufficient bandwidth, with affordable increases. Online help: tutorial, manuals, control panel. Regular site backup, preferably daily.

Promoting Your Site

With hundreds of new ecommerce sites appearing every day on the Internet, it's getting mighty crowded out there. How is your site going to be noticed? By:

Getting out a press release Featuring in business directories, in online and off-line versions. Submitting to the search engine. Using the pay-per-click search engines, which charge a few cents to a few dollars for each visitor that clicks through to your site with a particular search phrase.

Promoting Your Site

Signing up other sites as affiliates, paying them a commission on the sales they achieve for you. Using search engine adds. Persuading other sites to link to yours, possibly through a reciprocal link directory. Providing free and helpful information on your site. Advertising off-line in newspapers and specialist magazines.

Designing a Killer Web Site

Be easy to find. Give customers what they want. Establish hyperlinks with other businesses, preferably those selling complementary products. Include an e-mail option, an address, and a telephone number in your site. Short, memorable, easy to spell site name Indicate business

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Designing a Killer Web Site

Give shoppers the ability to track their orders online. Offer Web shoppers a special all their own. Follow a simple design.

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Designing a Killer Web Site

Assure customers that their online transactions are secure. Follow up every online transaction with an order-confirmation e-mail. Keep your site updated. Consider hiring a professional to design your site.

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Web Site Design Tips

Avoid clutter Avoid huge graphics Include a menu bar at top of page Include navigation buttons Incorporate meaningful content into the site

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Web Site Design Tips

Include an FAQ section Include privacy and return policies Avoid fancy typefaces and small fonts Watch for typos and misspelled words

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Web Site Design Tips

Avoid small fonts on busy backgrounds Use contrasting colors for text and graphics Be careful with frames Test the site on different browsers and different size monitors

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Web Site Design Tips

Collect information from visitors, but dont put them through a tedious registration process Include a search function and company contact information Avoid automated music Make sure the page looks appealing Remember: Simpler is better

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Major Components of an EC Suite

Color and Its psychological Effects

A site visitor has formed a first impression of your site within the first 8 seconds of clicking on. Appropriate design involves matching the demographics and content of expected visitors to appropriate colors, shapes and typefaces. Color expresses your sites values, goals and personality. Before using color, ask yourself this question: What is the goal of the website? Entertain? Inform? Sell?

Color and Its psychological Effects

In deciding on color for a web site, the first thing a web designer should consider is whether the colors will strain the visitors eyes. For example, yellow means caution, but pure yellow will strain your eyes, because it is the first color your eye will fix on.

Site Evaluation Criteria

Color Shape: A circle represents connection, community, wholeness, and safety. A Rectangle represents order, logic and security. A Triangle represents energy, power, balance, law, and silence. Type: Type should be appropriate and used carefully. Times New Roman, Arial. Content

Site Evaluation Criteria

Services Primary Focus Ancillaries Site Classification Professionalism Speed

Site Evaluation Criteria

Consistency Personalization Security Scalability

Site Usability

Usability is a measure of the effectiveness users have with their web site visits. A poorly designed web site that uses the latest technology will not be as successful as a site that has better design and less technology. The theory behind usability on the web site is to make the site as effective, efficient and troublefree as possible.

Steps of Site Usability

Visit the site Search for a product or service Learn product information Purchase the product or service

Usability Checklist

Is the site efficient? Is the site supportive? Is the site consistent and reliable? Decide on a writing style and stick to it. Give visitors what theyre looking for. Identify your business.

Usability Checklist

Keep the big picture in mind. Make the site easy to navigate. Focus on contents before graphics. Make your text scanable. Be careful about flashy marketing language. Encourage visitor feedback. Test, test and test again.