1. Explain the type of website
An electronic commerce website is the buying and selling of items or services electronically. There are four different types of e-commerce. There is business to business, business to consumer, consumer to business, and consumer to consumer. Business to business is services done electronically from one business to another business. Business to consumer is selling items or services electronically from a business to the public.
Consumer to business is the consumer selling a project and companies can place their bids on it. The consumer then chooses a company based on their bids. And consumer to consumer is where people can buy or sell their items.
Consumer to business is the consumer selling a project and companies can place their bids on it. The consumer then chooses a company based on their bids. And consumer to consumer is where people can buy or sell their items.
2. Purpose of the site
The purpose of the site is to make the buying and selling of items online an easy and quick process.
3. What is the advantage of this type of site?
The advantages of an electronic commerce website is that it's cheaper and faster to get your business started. The internet never closes, so money can be generated around the clock. You can sell to customers in all states and countries. You can easily cater to a customer's shopping habits based on what they buy and what they spend. This makes it more enticing for the customer to want to buy from your online store again.
The amount of employees needed to run your business is much less compared to what is needed to run a regular store. Advertising popular items with photos that include attractive colors, encourages customers to buy that product. Customers feel at ease shopping from home, they don't have to deal with waiting in long lines or having to interact with other people if they don't want to. Your business can grow well on its own by just creating interesting videos and blogs. And they can easily make a profit from these videos and blogs by including advertisements in them.
Large orders are processed quickly compared to shopping in store, where the lines can take you longer to make your purchase.
4. What is the disadvantages of this type of site?
The disadvantages of an electronic commerce website is that you can't test out any of the products before you purchase them. There is a lot of competition, which can make it harder to make a profit. The waiting times for shipping can be a hassle, it can sometimes take as long as week to receive an ordered item. People still prefer going to the physical store for their shopping experience.
The privacy on most websites is terrible because your identity is not protected. Many people fear identity theft because it is still on the rise. They have to give out a lot of personal information just to make an online purchase, which puts them at a huge risk. There can also be technical issues such as a high volume of orders that a computer can't handle. This causes the website to run slow, which can lead customers to shop some where else.
The cost of keeping up with technology gets to be very expensive. Since anyone can view your website, other companies can benefit from this. They can take your information to improve on the quality of their website for their own personal gain. Customers become unsatisfied when a product image that they see online does not match the item that they bought. And there is an issue with figuring out taxes because they can vary from state to state.
The privacy on most websites is terrible because your identity is not protected. Many people fear identity theft because it is still on the rise. They have to give out a lot of personal information just to make an online purchase, which puts them at a huge risk. There can also be technical issues such as a high volume of orders that a computer can't handle. This causes the website to run slow, which can lead customers to shop some where else.
The cost of keeping up with technology gets to be very expensive. Since anyone can view your website, other companies can benefit from this. They can take your information to improve on the quality of their website for their own personal gain. Customers become unsatisfied when a product image that they see online does not match the item that they bought. And there is an issue with figuring out taxes because they can vary from state to state.
5. What is needed to set-up the site?
In order to set-up an electric commerce site, you will need to create a business name and a domain name for your website. You have to get a safe SSL certificate, a domain name is needed before you can buy this. You need to select a business structure and register your business. There are four different types of business structures. There is sole proprietor, partnership, LLC, and corporation.
It is very important to choose wisely on your business structure because this will affect your taxes. You will need to choose a hosting package. Also, it is important that the host maintains the website by keeping it running smoothly. You will lose business if your site is offline. It is not a good idea to ever share your hosting because you can't control the security of it.
You have to select the correct e-commerce platform. This has to be done early on because it can become very costly and takes a lot of time to do. You will need to get the correct software. You will need to open up a separate bank account that is for your business, which is called an internet merchant account.
Next you have to select a payment service provider. Your business has to meet with compliances such as meeting deadlines to file permits and annual reports. You have to keep up with marketing digitally. It is very important that before your business goes live, that you have sufficient inventory in stock. You need to check what licenses or permits are needed for you to get approved.
This can be done by contacting your city, county, and state to verify what you need before you can get started.
It is very important to choose wisely on your business structure because this will affect your taxes. You will need to choose a hosting package. Also, it is important that the host maintains the website by keeping it running smoothly. You will lose business if your site is offline. It is not a good idea to ever share your hosting because you can't control the security of it.
You have to select the correct e-commerce platform. This has to be done early on because it can become very costly and takes a lot of time to do. You will need to get the correct software. You will need to open up a separate bank account that is for your business, which is called an internet merchant account.
Next you have to select a payment service provider. Your business has to meet with compliances such as meeting deadlines to file permits and annual reports. You have to keep up with marketing digitally. It is very important that before your business goes live, that you have sufficient inventory in stock. You need to check what licenses or permits are needed for you to get approved.
This can be done by contacting your city, county, and state to verify what you need before you can get started.
6. What would the pages include for this site?
The pages for an Electronic commerce website would include:
- A home page
- A page to return your items
- A page to find store locations
- A profile page with your account and payment settings
- A page for the different categories
- A page for login and sign up
- A page to contact for questions and help
- A page for product information
- A search field box and a list of search results
- A page for adding items to the cart and what items are available in your cart for purchase
- A page for shipping prices and shipment tracking
- And a page for each of the steps necessary in order to complete your purchase.
These steps would be to login or checkout as a guest, provide your shipping information, your payment information for the transaction, a review of all of the checkout information you just entered, and a confirmation page.
7. What type of maintenance is involved and needed for this website?
The type of maintenance that is involved and needed for an electronic commerce website is to be done monthly and annually. On a monthly basis, you need make sure that your prices are up to date. Check for any changes of products that have been added or removed. Make sure that your product descriptions are accurate and that product numbers haven't changed. Make sure that the checkout is working properly by making a test run.
Make a list of forms to be tested to make sure that they are working. And it is very important to check for links that may be broken. This can lower your search engine rankings. For annual maintenance, copyright dates must be updated. Contacts and contact information should be kept up to date.
Policies have to be up to date and accurate. All services that you offer need to be up to date as well. These tasks can be very time consuming so a lot of time needs to be set aside to complete this.
Make a list of forms to be tested to make sure that they are working. And it is very important to check for links that may be broken. This can lower your search engine rankings. For annual maintenance, copyright dates must be updated. Contacts and contact information should be kept up to date.
Policies have to be up to date and accurate. All services that you offer need to be up to date as well. These tasks can be very time consuming so a lot of time needs to be set aside to complete this.
8. What software is needed to develop this site?
The software that is needed to develop an electronic commerce website is shopping cart software, on- Premise ,Saas (Software as a service),off-the-shelf software, and bespoke solutions. The software makes shopping online an easy process. It basically does most of the work for you, such as calculating what tax will be and printing out labels. On-Premise is used onsite by developers, this option can be a more flexible option. Saas is cheaper and takes less time.
For off-the-shelf software, you have to be more skilled in technical experience to get the program up and running. Bespoke software is more expensive compared to off-the-shelf software.
For off-the-shelf software, you have to be more skilled in technical experience to get the program up and running. Bespoke software is more expensive compared to off-the-shelf software.
9. What coding methods will be used?
The coding methods that will be used for an electronic commerce website is Java, PHP, JavaScript, Python, Objective C, Ruby, C++, and C#. Anyone of these coding methods can be used based upon your needs for your website.
10. What type of customer/client/individual/company uses this site and why?
The type of customer/client/individual/company that uses an electronic commerce website is:
Anyone that wants the ease and convenience of buy or selling online electronically without the hassle of having to shop inside a regular retail store.
11. Give examples of this type of site (Images) and Company names
Some of the companies that use electronic commerce are Ebay, Amazon, Etsy, Best Buy,Kohl's,JC-Penney,Wal-Mart,Target, Lane Bryant,Lowe's,Disney,Nike,Sears, Apple, and Sam's Club.
12. What makes this a static website or a Dynamic website and why?
An electronic commerce website is a Dynamic website because it is a large website. The process of doing maintenance and updating content is an easier process when compared with a static website.
13. What type of hosting, server and other technologies are needed to launch this site?
The type of hosting, server and other technologies that are needed to launch an electronic commerce website are a web server, server software, a database system, networking, ports, and domain names.
References
25 Must-Have Pages for Your E-commerce Website
What is Ecommerce?
What is E-Commerce?
20 Ecommerce Advantages and Disadvantages You Need to Know
The Top Advantages of eCommerce: Why You Should Sell Online
Disadvantages of Ecommerce
Limitations or Disadvantages of Electronic Commerce
How To Set Up An Ecommerce Site in 8 Steps
Your 10 Point Checklist to Starting an Ecommerce Business
10 Maintenance Tips for a Healthy E-Commerce Website
Top 8 programming Languages to build a E-commerce website
Dynamic Website Definition
What Technologies Are Needed to Build An E-Commerce Website?
