Building an E-Commerce Presence

Envisioning an E-Commerce Presence

The Idea:
Mission Statement: The overall purpose of the e-commerce venture.
Target Audience: Who the e-commerce presence is trying to reach.
Intended Market Space: The specific segment of the overall market the venture will
occupy.
Strategic Analysis: Evaluation of the company and its environment.
Marketing Matrix: Strategies for promoting the e-commerce presence.
Development Timeline: Schedule for building and launching the e-commerce presence.
Preliminary Budget: Estimated costs for developing and maintaining the e-commerce
presence.
Monetization:
Business Model(s): How the e-commerce presence will create value.
Revenue Model(s): How the e-commerce presence will generate income.
Target Audience Details:
Demographics, lifestyle, consumption patterns, and more.
Marketplace Characteristics:
Size, growth, demographics, and structure of the market.
Content Sources:
Where the content for the e-commerce presence will come from.
SWOT Analysis:
A structured planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities,
and Threats involved in a project or business venture.
E-Commerce Presence Map:
A visual representation of the different platforms and activities that will make up the e-
commerce presence.
Timeline and Milestones:
Specific dates and goals for the development process.
Cost Estimation:
Simple website: Up to $5,000
Small startup: $25,000 to $50,000
Large corporate website: $100,000+ to millions

SWOT Analysis
Strengths: Internal attributes that are helpful to achieving the objective.
Weaknesses: Internal attributes that are harmful to achieving the objective.
Opportunities: External conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective.
Threats: External conditions that are harmful to achieving the objective.

E-Commerce Presence Map

The E-Commerce Presence Map describes which platforms to utilize and the activity on each
platform.

Type of Presence
Website/App
Traditional
Mobile
Tablet
Social Media
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Blogs
Email
Internal lists
Purchased lists
Offline Media
Print
TV
Radio

Platform
Search
Display
Affiliates
Sponsorships
Activity
Conversation
Engagement
Sharing
Advice
Newsletters
Updates
Sales
Education
Exposure
Branding

Building an E-Commerce Site: A Systematic

Approach
Management Challenges:
1. Developing a clear understanding of business objectives.
2. Knowing how to choose the right technology to achieve those objectives.
Main Factors to Consider:
Management
Hardware architecture
Software
Design
Telecommunications
Human resources
Planning: The Systems Development Life Cycle
(SDLC)
Methodology for understanding business objectives and designing a solution.
Five Major Steps:
1. Systems analysis/planning
2. Systems design
3. Building the system
4. Testing
5. Implementation

System Analysis/Planning
Business Objectives:
List of capabilities you want your site to have.
System Functionalities:
List of information system capabilities needed to achieve business objectives.
Information Requirements:
Information elements that system must produce in order to achieve business objectives.

Systems Design: Hardware and Software Platforms

System Design Specification:
Description of main components of a system and their relationship.
Two Components of System Design:
Logical Design:
Data flow diagrams, processing functions, databases.
Physical Design:
Specifies actual physical, software components, models, etc.

Building the System

Outsourcing: Hiring vendors to provide services involved in building site.
Build vs. Outsource:
Building requires a diverse skill set, software tools, and involves both risks and benefits.

Testing the System

Testing Types:
Unit testing
System testing
Acceptance testing
(Split testing)

Implementation, Maintenance, and Optimization

 Systems break down unpredictably.
Maintenance is ongoing.
Maintenance costs can be similar to development costs.
A $40,000 e-commerce site may require $40,000 annually to upkeep.

Factors in Website Optimization

Page Delivery
Content delivery networks
Edge caching
Bandwidth
Page Generation
Server response time
Device-based accelerators
Efficient resource allocation
Resource utilization thresholds
Monitoring site performance
Page Content
Optimize HTML
Optimize images
Site architecture
Efficient page style

E-Commerce Merchant Server Software

Provides basic functionality for sales.
Online Catalog: List of products available on website.
Shopping Cart: Allows shoppers to set aside, review, edit selections, and then make a
purchase.
Credit Card Processing: Typically works in conjunction with shopping cart; verifies card and
processes credit to company's account at checkout.

Choosing Hardware
Hardware Platform: Underlying computing equipment needed for e-commerce functionality.
Objective: Enough platform capacity to meet peak demand without wasting money.
Important to understand the factors that affect speed, capacity, and scalability of a site.

E-Commerce Website Features That Annoy

Customers
Requiring users to view ads or intro pages.
Pop-up and pop-under ads and windows.
Too many clicks to get to the content.
Links that don't work.
Confusing navigation; no search function.
Requirement to register and log in before viewing content or ordering.
Slow loading pages.
Content that is out of date.
Inability to use the browser's Back button.
 No contact information available (web form only).
Music or other audio that plays automatically.
Unprofessional design elements.
Text not easily legible due to size, color, format.
Typographical errors.
No or unclear returns policy.

Factors in Successful E-Commerce Site Design

Functionality: Pages that work, load quickly, and point the customer toward product offerings.
Informational: Links that customers can easily find to discover more about the products.
Ease of Use: Simple, foolproof navigation.
Redundant Navigation: Alternative navigation to the same content.
Ease of Purchase: One or two clicks to purchase.
Multi-Browser Functionality: Site works with the most popular browsers.
Simple Graphics: Avoids distracting, obnoxious graphics and sounds.
Legible Text: Avoids backgrounds that distort text or make it illegible.

Personalization Tools
Personalization: Ability to treat people based on personal qualities and prior history with a
site.
Website personalization alters the site based on who is viewing it.
Customization: Ability to change the product to better fit the needs of the customer.
E-commerce customization focuses on generating personalized product
recommendations.
Cookies are a basic method to achieve personalization.

The Information Policy Set

Privacy Policy:
Set of public statements declaring how a site will treat customers' personal information
that is gathered by the site.
Accessibility Rules:
Set of design objectives that ensure users with disabilities can effectively access a site.

Developing a Mobile Website and Building Mobile

Applications
Types of m-commerce platforms:
Mobile website
Native app
Mobile web app