BUILDING AN E-

COMMERCE WEB SITE

BUILDING AN E-COMMERCE SITE:
A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH
 Most important management challenges:
 Developing a clear understanding of business
objectives
 Knowing how to choose the right technology to
achieve those objectives

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Classification of websites by level
of functionality
 An informational website:
Provide information about the business and its products and
services. The major purpose is to have a presence on the Web.
 An interactive website:
Provides opportunities for the customers and the business to
communicate and share information. An interactive site will
contain all the information about products and services that an
informational site does, but it also delivers informational
features intended to encourage interaction between the business
and customers or among customers, such as an e-newsletter,
product demonstrations, blogs, and customer discussion forums.

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 A transactional website
Sells products and services. These websites typically include
information and interactivity features but also have sell-side
features, such as a shopping cart, a product catalog, a customer-
personalized account, a shipping calculator, and the ability to
accept credit cards to complete the sale.
 A collaborative website
A site that allows business partners to collaborate (i.e., it
includes many supportive tools.
 A social-oriented website
A site that provides users online tools for communication and
sharing information on common interests. It empowers
consumers to utilize their productive and leisure time around
the converged media experience, within a social context of
participation. Social-oriented websites like Facebook have
quickly emerged as one of the most powerful marketing
channels
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Steps in Building a Website

1. Select a web host

2. Register a domain name
3. Create and manage content
4. Design the website
5. Construct the website and test
6. Market and promote the site

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1. Select a Web host.
 One of the first decisions that an online business will
face is where to locate the website on the Internet. The
website may be included in a virtual shopping mall,
such as ourvirtualmall.com, or hosted in a collection of
independent storefronts, as at Yahoo! However, many
medium-size and large businesses build stand-alone
web- sites either with an independent hosting service
or through self-hosting arrangements.

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Web Hosting Options
 Store builder Service
A store builder service (also called a design-and-host service)
provides Web hosting as well as storage space, templates, and other
services to help small businesses build a website quickly and
inexpensively. Storebuilder services are the prime choice of small and
some- times medium-size businesses. Example Yahoo
 The advantage of a store builder service is that it is a quick, easy, and
inexpensive way to build a website.
 The disadvantages
lack of a strong online identity,
limited functionality (e.g., accepting credit cards may not be possible),
dependence on the service for proper management of connectivity to
the site,
lack of differentiation (the website tends to look like other sites
because everyone is using the same set of templates).

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Web Hosting Options
 A Dedicated Hosting Service
This is a dedicated website hosting company that offers
a wide range of hosting services and functionality to
businesses of all sizes. They offer more and better
services than a storebuilder service because website
hosting is their core business.
Almost all Web hosting companies have internal Web
design departments to ensure the cooperation
between the designer and the host. May also provide
functionality such as database integration, shipping
and tax calculators, sufficient bandwidth to support
multimedia files, shopping carts, site search engines,
and comprehensive site statistics.
Example Microsoft
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Web Hosting Options
 ISP Hosting Combined with Web Designer
Provides an independent, stand-alone website for small and medium-
sized businesses. The ISP will probably provide additional hosting
services (e.g., more storage space, simple site statistics, credit card
gateway software) at the same or a slightly higher cost than the
storebuilder services.
 The major difference between a storebuilder and an ISP hosting service
is that with the ISP service, the time-consuming and expensive task of
designing and constructing the website becomes the responsibility of
the EC business.
 It offers the business increased flexibility as to what it can do with the
site, so the site can be distinctive and stand out from the competition.
Sites hosted by an ISP also will have a branded domain name. However,
one disadvantage of using an ISP is that most providers have limited
functionality
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Web Hosting Options
 self-hosting,
With self-hosting, the business acquires the hardware,
software, staff, and dedicated telecommunications services
necessary to set up and manage its own website. Self-
hosting is beneficial when a business has special
requirements, such as maximum data security, protection
of intellectual property, or, when the business intends to
have a large and complex site.
 Self-hosting is costly and time consuming (the speed of
construction). These costs must be weighed against the
benefits of better control over site performance and
increased flexibility in site design, improvement, and
functionalities.

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2. Register a domain name.
 A domain name is a name-based address that identifies
an Internet connected server. Usually it refers to the
portion of the address to the left of .com and .org, etc.
It acts as the business online address and provides an
opportunity to create an identity for business. It is
important for marketing and branding considerations.
A good domain name should:
 Relevant to the content of the site
 Simple and easy to remember
 Not too long (keep it short)

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3. Create and manage content.
 The website also needs content—the text, catalog,
images, sound, and video that deliver the information
that site visitors need and expect. Content can come
from a variety of sources, but getting the right content
in place, making it easy for viewers to find, delivering
it effectively, and managing content so it remains
accurate and up-to-date are crucial to the success of
the online business.
 Content management The process of adding,
revising, and removing content from a website to keep
content fresh, accurate, compelling, and credible.

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 Some content needs to be kept up-to-the-minute (e.g., news,
stock prices, weather). This is referred to as dynamic Web
content, while other content is updated infrequently (static
Web content). Dynamic content is what attracts new and
returning customers (“eyeballs”) and makes them stay longer
(“stickiness”). Therefore, dynamic content contributes to
customer loyalty.

 For each type of content, companies may use a different

approach for content creation and delivery.
 Content may be in the public domain, or it may be proprietary in
nature (e.g., information about the company and its employees
and services).

 The sites that offer content may be general-purpose public

portals, such as Yahoo! or Google, or they may be specialized
portals designed to appeal to a specific audience, such as
ski.com.

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Content should include more than information about
the product itself (the primary content). A website
also should include secondary content that offers
marketing opportunities, such as the following:
 cross-selling: Offering similar or complementary
products and services to increase sales.
 up-selling: Offering an upgraded version of the product
in order to boost sales and profit.
 Promotion: A coupon, rebate, discount, or special
service is secondary content that can increase sales or
improve customer service.
 Comments: Reviews, testimonials, expert advice, or
further explanation about the product can be offered
after introducing the product

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4. Design the website
 The goal of any website is to deliver quality content to its
intended audience and to do so with an elegant design.
With the website’s content in hand, the website owner’s
next task is website design, which includes information
architecture, navigation design, use of colors and graphics,
and maximizing site performance.
 Successful website design is about meeting customer
expectations. Design starts with identifying customer
needs, expectations, and problems. Then a site is designed
to meet those needs and expectations or to solve the
customers’ problems

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Guidelines for a successful website:
1. Build it for users (useful for the user, not necessarily the
company).
2. Make it useful (e.g., usability test).
3. Make information easy to find.
4. Accommodate all users, including those with disabilities.
5. Build a comprehensive, responsive, and effective site.
6. Measure the site against the best of its peer group.
7. Build trust; be up front about security, privacy, and
marketing policies.
8. Assign ownership to users, but work as a team with the
technical people.
9. Set priorities; do the most beneficial stuff first.
10. Watch for new developments and encourage innovation.

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 Website Design Criteria
 Navigation: Is it easy for visitors to find their way around
the site?
 Consistency: Are design elements, especially look and feel,
 consistent across all pages?
 Response time : How long does it take for the page to
appear?
 Appearance :Is the site aesthetically pleasing? Are the
colors pleasant to the eye? Does the site’s look and feel
express the company’s desired image? Is the site easy to
read, easy to navigate, and easy to understand?
 Quality assurance : Do the site’s calculators, navigation
links, visitor registration processes, search tools, etc., work
properly?

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 Availability : Are all dead links fixed promptly? Is the site
available for full service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?
 Interactivity: Does the site encourage the visitor to play an
active role in learning about the business’s products or
services? Are all appropriate contact details available on the
website so that visitors can submit feedback and ask
questions?
 Content: How much multimedia? How timely and relevant
is the content? Is it easy to read? Informative?
 Usability : How easy is it to use the site? How easy is it to
learn the site?
 Security: Is customer information protected? Does the
customer feel safe in actions such as submitting credit card
information?

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5. Construct the website and test.
 Businesses must decide whether to design and
construct the website internally, contract it out to a
Web design firm, or some combination of both. When
the business owners are satisfied with the website, it is
transferred to the website host. This involves
managerial considerations such as control, speed, and
desired organizational competencies
 At this point, the website is open for business, but it
requires final testing to ensure that all the links
work and that the processes function as expected
(e.g., acceptance of credit cards).

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6. Market and promote the
website
 At this stage, the business promotes the location, or
URL, of the website widely on products, business
cards, letters, and promotional materials. A business
can use any of the advertising strategies eg the use of
banner exchanges, e-mail, chat rooms, viral marketing,
or other methods. Another key strategy for attracting
customers is increased visibility via search engine
optimization (getting the website to the top of the
search engine listings).


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Internal website promotion
 Internal website promotion begins by including content that establishes
the site as a useful site for customers so that they remember the site
and return and make a purchase. To do this, the website should
become not only a place to buy something, but also an indispensable
resource with compelling content, useful links to other websites, and
features that will make customers want to return.
 Site promotion continues with a marketing plan that includes the URL
on every product, business card, letterhead, package, and e-mail
message that leaves the business. A signature file is a simple text
message that an e-mail program adds automatically to outgoing
messages. A typical signature file includes the person’s name, title,
contact details, and name and URL of the business.
 Promotions can be based on Web analytics. Web analytics is the
measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of Internet data for
the purposes of understanding and optimizing Web usage. Web
analytics vendors include IBM, Oracle, Microsoft,
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Managerial issues
 What does it take to create a successful online business
 How do we attract visitors to the website?
 How do we turn visitors into buyers?
 What are important factors for successful Web management
 How can Web sites be made more accessible?
 Should all Web sites be required by law to provide “equivalent
alternatives” for visual and sound content?
 How would you decide which website hosting option an online
business should use? List and briefly explain factors to consider in your
decision.
 What is a mirror site? Why would a company use a mirror site?
 How are domain names controlled in order to avoid duplication?


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 How would you decide which website hosting option
an online business should use? List and briefly explain
factors to consider in your decision
 2. What is a mirror site? Why would a company use a
mirror site?
 5. How are domain names controlled in order to avoid
duplication?


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