Development of an E-Commerce Website for a Brick and Mortar Business

DEVRY UNIVERSITY

KELLER GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Development of an e-commerce website for a brick and mortar business

Student: Quang Tran

SI 535

Managerial Applications of Information Technology

Professor: Gulsebnem Bishop

December 8, 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Abstracts 1

I. Introduction 1

II. Understanding e-commerce 2

What is e-commerce 2

E-commerce today 3

Ecommerce: Business and Technology 4

III. Development of an e-commerce website 6

E-commerce website and online business 6

Role of internet in using and developing e-commerce website 7

Building an effective e-commerce website 7

IV. E-commerce website for a brick and mortal business 8

Advantages of e-commerce 8

Using cloud computing in e-commerce website 9

V. Conclusion 9

References 10

Development of an e-commerce website for a brick and mortal business

Abstracts

The information and communication technology evolution is aggressively affecting the business world especially e-commerce business in twenty first century. The magnitude of change in business development from a global perspective, unconstrained by time or distance berries, has reached both developed and developing nations. E-commerce currently represents 2 percent of the global business transaction but promise to dominate the business environment during the course of the twenty first century. The successful presence of e-commerce through the internet has helped create low cost and high efficiency for product and service sales through a more dynamic and interactive revenue of opportunities where the world becomes the marketplace. Through this paper we can take more understanding of what is e-commerce and how e-commerce exactly doing in global market to create successful business in the highly competitive business environment of the twenty first century as well as the role of information technology management in developing e-commerce website.

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays almost everything can be done through the use of the Internet. Paying bills and buying music or software are just a few of the many things people do online. Businesses sell goods or services and use the Internet for advertisement purposes as well. In this era of online technological abundance it is interesting to figure out the different ways on how business entities do their business transactions online. E-commerce and related issues including internet technology, digital goods and marketing are playing an important role in the success of digital business organizations but an effective e-commerce web site is a key to build up and development a brick and mortal business for many companies as well as help companies reach the global market more efficiently.

UNDERSTANDING E-COMMERCE

We have heard the word "e-commerce" for a long time, and this word will be able to hear more frequently in the twenty first century - the century of information technology- particularly in online business field. So, what is e-commerce? Transacting or facilitating business on the Internet is called e-commerce (Ajeet, 2010) or in others word, e-commerce is a term for any type of business, or commercial transaction that involves the transfer of information across the Internet. It covers a range of different types of businesses, from consumer based retail sites, through auction or music sites, to business exchanges trading goods and services between corporations. It is currently one of the most important aspects of the Internet to emerge.

E-commerce allows consumers to electronically exchange goods and services with no barriers of time or distance. Electronic commerce has expanded rapidly over the past five years and is predicted to continue at this rate, or even accelerate. In the near future the boundaries between "conventional" and "electronic" commerce will become increasingly blurred as more and more businesses move sections of their operations onto the Internet.

Key elements of e-commerce drawn from the needs of brick and mortal businesses and enhanced by technology (Aaron, 2010) which are online storefront - the product manager, building an order - the shopping cart, payment - the merchant gateway, and fulfillment - return of the product manager and shopping Cart. Each element plays an important role in attracting customers and compelling shoppers.

Why has e-commerce grown so rapidly? The answer lies in the unique nature of the internet and the web. "The internet and e-commerce technologies are much more rich and powerful than previous technology like radio, television, and the telephone" (Kenneth, Jane, 2010. p374). Unlike traditional commerce which market place is a physical place, such as warehouse, retail store, shopping mall, e-commerce is ubiquitous, meaning that is it available for customers access and buy things anytime and anywhere, all requirements are a technology device such as laptop, tablet, or smart phone within an internet connection. With e-commerce, customers will be able to save the time to visit a physical place to transact business. They can shop from their desktops, mobile devices, at home, at work, or even from their car.

In 2009, e-commerce revenues were flat. However, in 2010, the number of online buyers increased by 6 percent to 133 million, and the average annual purchase is up 5 percent to $1,139. Amazon's sales grew by 28 percent in the year (Kenneth, Jane, 2010. p374). About 83 million Americans now access the Internet using a smartphone such as iPhone, Droid, or Blackberry. Mobile e-commerce has begun a rapid grow based on apps, ring tones downloaded entertainment, and location based services. On an average