Wednesday 2 May 2012

Meeting the criteria: A Guide

P1 describe the technologies required for e-commerce 

See the presentation I have supplied for this which lists the main areas you need to write about - remember this means equipment as well as software.

P2 explain the impact of introducing an e-commerce system to an organisation

Your actual assignment was about a small clock company in London called Cuckoo who were thinking about setting up a website to sell items on-line. List the main impact of this potential development, likely to be under some the following headings:
  • global marketplace, 
  • 24/7 trading,
  • relatively low start-up and running costs, 
  • competitive edge, 
  • search facilities, 
  • gathering customer information,
  • alternative income sources, 
  • pricing opportunities eg differences, fluid pricing: 

P3 explain the potential risks to an organisation of committing to an e-commerce system

List and write about some of the potential problems that might concern the Cuckoo people - remember they're a small, quite old-fashioned business and might be displaying quite a different image on-line.
  • consumer trust, 
  • lack of human contact, 
  • delivery issues,
  • international legislation, 
  • product description problems, 
  • security issues: 

P4 review the regulations governing e-commerce

You need to mention the following and, in particular, the Trading Standards could usefully be explained more. There are good resources on-line, including a clear chart of who needs to satisfy which requirements, depending on their type of business. A brief summary of each or set of regulations and some examples of what Cuckoo (or another business) might get in trouble for would be a good way to cover this.
  • Data Protection Act 1998, 
  • Computer Misuse Act 1990, 
  • Consumer Credit Act 1974, 
  • Trading Standards, 
  • Freedom of Information Act 2000, 
  • copyright legislation, 
  • E-commerce Regulations

P5 examine the social implications of e-commerce on society

You'll find lots of debate about this on various websites - just make sure the site you're quoting from is reasonably authoritative! here are some of the aspects you might talk about:
  • changing customer perspective eg providing added value, providing service, ease and security; 
  • economic and social impact due to speed of changes; bricks and clicks (integrating high street and on-line presence); 
  • benefits for customers eg remote shopping, access to goods and services for the housebound, anytime access, internet discounts; 
  • drawbacks eg payment security, assessing quality/fit without actual product, reliance on delivery services; impact on employment; social divide: 
  • changing customer perspective eg providing added value, providing service, ease and security; economic and social impact due to speed of changes; bricks and clicks (integrating high street and online presence); 

P6 plan an e-commerce strategy.

This is all about how you would go about planning a site for an actual business - the important steps that are required and key actions that could make a difference.
  • Promotion: effective use of search engines eg use meta tags, ‘spiders’, paying for prominence in search result listing; newsgroups and forums; banners and pop-ups; spam; site name; direct marketing; ensuring
  • an effective user interface; establishing customer loyalty in a virtual environment: 

M1 recommend methods to promote an e-commerce system 

Your coverage of 'promotion' in P6 may well meet this criteria too if you have looked in more depth and provided examples

M2 discuss how security issues in e-commerce can be overcome

In P3 you will have indicated possible risks. Now you should look at these from a more general point of view (not just for Cuckoo) and advise, for a range of risks, what action should be taken to minimise their impact on both the business itself and customers.

M3 design an interface for an e-commerce business.

This is all about creating suitable sample pages for a web site where customers can purchase products, make enquiries, sign up for news etc. You should ensure that both the key features of a web page as well as the important components of an e-commerce site are included in your designs.

It is not necessary to have a 'working' page and it need not be produced using web design software. Naturally to view a sample actual page would be valuable but the important aspect of M3 is your description of / annotations for the design.

Remember that you will need to specify provision for viewing the products, purchasing them, asking questions, clear links to terms and conditions, delivery costs and options, special offers, etc., as well as the usual web page design features (theme, corporate ID, images, file sizes, links, compliance with legislation etc)

D1 evaluate the use of e-commerce in a ‘brick and click’ organisation

This requires study of an actual business. You will be describing the business (generally: product, staff, location, type) and how their on-line presence complements (if it does) their business (profits, customer perception, keeping up or leading competition) and also drawbacks or problems that they have experienced or are concerned about.

The extent to which they comply with regulations should also be examined.

D2 compare different payment systems used by e-commerce systems

For this, you really just need to do what it says on the tin. Choose from a range of payment systems and compare them,. It is essential that your comments are supported by evidence, articles, reviews, actual use etc.

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