BEGUM ROKEYA UNIVERSITY, RANGPUR

ASSIGNMENT ON E-COMMERCE

SUBMITTED BY SUBMITTED TO

Group Number: 7
Group Members:
1. Md. Abu Bakkar Siddik (ID:1306017)
2. Mridula Mahzabun (ID:1306021) PRODIP KUMAR SARKAR
3. S M Shahriar Sharif Rahat (ID:1306022) Assistant Professor
4. Md Ruman Hossain (ID:1306022) Department of Computer Science &
5. Md. Manjara Hasin Al Pitom (ID:1306034) Engineering
6. Saroar Mahmud (ID:1209060) Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur.

Session: 2013-2014
4th Year 2nd Semester
Department of Computer Science &
Engineering
Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Date of Submission: 6th November, 2020

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E-Commerce Definition 02
Internet History and E-Commerce Development 02
Business-to-Business E-Commerce 04
Business-to-Consumer E-Commerce 04
E-Commerce Stages and Processes 04
E-Commerce Challenges 06
E-Commerce Opportunities 08
Online and Offline Market Research 08
Data Collection 10
Domain Names 12
Advertising Options 12
EMail Marketing 13
Search Engines 14
Website Monitoring 15
Incentives 16
Electronic Payment Issues 16
E-Cash Issues 19
Credit Card Issues 20
Merchant Accounts 21
Online Payment Services 21
Transaction Processing 22
Taxation Issues 24
Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce) 25
Customer Service Issues 26
EMail Support 27
Telephone Support 27
Live Help Services 28
Customer Discussion Forums 29
Value-Added Options 30
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E-Commerce Definition
E-Commerce or Electronic Commerce means buying and selling of goods, products,
or services over the internet. E-commerce is also known as electronic commerce or
internet commerce. These services are provided online over the internet network.
Transaction of money, funds, and data are also considered as E-commerce.

Although orders can be made electronically, delivering of goods and services or

payments should not be made in the electronic field. E-commerce transactions can
occur between businesses, households, individuals, governments and public or
private establishments. Online stores like Amazon, Flipkart, Shopify, Ebay are
examples of E-commerce websites.

Electronic trade allows consumers purchasing faster, shopping 24/7, reaching more
goods and services without borders and buying with no physical movements. E-
commerce also provides selling faster, reaching to more customers, having less
administrative costs, trading with no physical presence, starting and managing a firm
easily in terms of businesses.

Disadvantages of e-commerce are starting a business by anyone who has good or

bad, unqualified products, being cheated by consumers and security problems.
Majority of countries try to make e-commerce more reliable and solve these
problems with necessary legal regulations.

E-commerce business transactions can be done in four ways:

1. Business to Business (B2B)
2. Business to Customer (B2C)
3. Customer to Customer (C2C)
4. Customer to Business (C2B)

Internet History and E-Commerce Development

The history of ecommerce begins with the first ever online sale: on August 11, 1994
a man sold a CD by the band Sting to his friend through his website NetMarket, an
American retail platform. This is the first example of a consumer purchasing a
product from a business through the World Wide Web—or “ecommerce” as we
commonly know it today.

Since then, ecommerce has evolved to make products easier to discover and
purchase through online retailers and marketplaces. Independent freelancers, small
businesses, and large corporations have all benefited from ecommerce, which
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enables them to sell their goods and services at a scale that was not possible with
traditional offline retail.

A brief timeline for the development of e-commerce:

● 1971 or 1972: The ARPANET is used to arrange a cannabis sale between

students at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, later described as "the seminal act of
e-commerce" .
● 1972: Mohamed M. Atalla files a patent for a secure transaction system over
telecommunications networks; a precursor to Internet-based e-commerce.
● 1979: Michael Aldrich demonstrates the first online shopping system.
● 1981: Thomson Holidays UK is the first business-to-business (B2B) online
shopping system to be installed.
● 1984: Gateshead SIS/Tesco is first B2C online shopping system
● 1984: In April 1984, CompuServe launched the Electronic Mall in the US and
Canada. the first comprehensive electronic commerce service.
● 1989: In May 1989, Sequoia Data Corp. Introduced Compumarket, the first
internet based system for e-commerce. Sellers and buyers could post items
for sale and buyers could search the database and make purchases with a
credit card.
● 1990: Tim Berners-Lee writes the first web browser, WorldWideWeb, using a
NeXT computer.
● 1994: Netscape releases the Navigator browser in October under the code
name Mozilla. Netscape 1.0 was introduced in late 1994 with SSL encryption
that made transactions secure.
● 1995: Amazon.com is launched by Jeff Bezos.
● 1995: eBay is founded by computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as
AuctionWeb. It is the first online auction site supporting person-to-person
transactions.
● 1998: Electronic postal stamps can be purchased and downloaded for printing
from the Web.[
● 1999: Alibaba Group is established in China. ATG Stores launches to sell
decorative items for the home online.
● 1999: Global e-commerce reaches $150 billion
● 2000: The dot-com bust.
● 2001: eBay has the largest user base of any e-commerce site.
● 2001: Alibaba.com achieved profitability in December 2001.
● 2002: eBay acquires PayPal for $1.5 billion.
● 2004: DHgate.com, China's first online B2B transaction platform, is
established.
● 2014: US e-commerce and Online Retail sales projected to reach $294 billion,
an increase of 12 percent over 2013 and 9% of all retail sales. Alibaba Group
has the largest Initial public offering ever, worth $25 billion.
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● 2015: Amazon.com accounts for more than half of all e-commerce growth,
● 2017: Retail e-commerce sales across the world reached $2.304 trillion, which
was a 24.8 percent increase than previous year.
● 2017: Global e-commerce transactions generate $29.267 trillion, including
$25.516 trillion for business-to-business (B2B) transactions and $3.851 trillion
for business-to-consumer (B2C) sales.

Global retail ecommerce sales are projected to reach $27 trillion by 2020.

Business-to-Business E-Commerce
Business to business (or B2B) are, as the name suggests, businesses that sell to
other businesses. These are companies that might manufacture something, are a
wholesaler, or provide services and products within a given industry. ROOM is a
great example of a B2B ecommerce business.

Business-to-Consumer E-Commerce
The bulk of online shops we interact with are business to consumer (B2C). Whether
it’s Amazon, Zappos, or Target, whenever we hit that checkout button, we’ve
completed a transaction on a B2C website. Items or services on a B2C website are
sold straight from businesses to the general public, without any third parties getting
involved.

The Stages and Processes of E-commerce

Breaking into the world of eCommerce isn't anywhere near as difficult as it used to
be. Before you needed to make a large initial investment, hire developers to make
your website, and much more. It's much better today: anyone can start an
eCommerce business as long as they have a computer (or mobile device) and the
will to learn and work hard.

An online business is still a business. You need to manage your business and when
selling online that means managing your online store, products and content. You
have to connect to other systems and channels to promote your products, organise
shipping and to take payments for your products. It is not that difficult but for a new
starter it can be a challenge.
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Step 1: Figure out what you’re going to sell

Your choice of products to sell should be based on a few factors. You may already
know what you want to sell — perhaps you make crafts at home, or maybe you want
to use a print-on-demand service to start a line of T-shirts. Or, maybe you have a
longstanding interest in a particular industry and you want to start selling products of
that type. It's important to have a sincere passion for the industry in which you do
business, as this makes your job easier and lends authenticity to your brand.
No matter what, your first step is to identify your niche. What market do you want to
serve, and what are the benefits of your products to that market?

Step 2: Determine your ecommerce business model

Several types of e-commerce business models exist, but the 2 main categories are
business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C). Knowing the
difference — and knowing where your ecommerce business falls — is important.

Step 3: Give your business a name

The first and foremost requirement is to give your business an identity in terms of a
name. The name is something your audience will recognize your business with.
Thus, choosing a good name is imperative.Once you select a name, make sure you
register it.

Step 4: Create a domain name and a website – Register as a seller

Once you are registered, either create your own website using a hosting platform or
register as a seller. There are two different possibilities you might want to opt. That
is:
● Register as a seller on popular websites like Amazon, and eBay OR
start your own e-commerce business by buying space at popular sites such
as Shopify, BigCommerce, etc.
● The other possibility that arises when you want to set your own e-
commerce store is to build a website using web hosting platforms and register
your domain.

For example, buy a domain for the e-commerce platform through WordPress and
install plugins that help you set up your business and sell online. The complexity
level increases when you opt for platforms to open up your own store. However, the
primary benefit here is that you have your own store where you can sell unlike being
just a seller on other e-commerce platforms. You actually tend to build your own
brand here. The most complicated method is to create a new website altogether to
start a business. However, if you plan to do business on a massive scale, it is the
optimum choice to make.
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Step 5: Upload Products:

Once you’ve chosen where you want to sell and have a space to upload your stock,
you may now start uploading high-quality images of your products.Give them a name
and mention their price.If you are into selling various categories of products, make
sure to categorize them. This makes the website look neater and easy to use for the
customer. Give the products a suitable description that is easy to understand and
explains each and every feature of the product.

Step 6: Use SEO

In order to get your website or listed products to rank on top of the Google search
results, it is essential to have relevant keywords in the content. For example, if a
person is looking out for a juicer, and you have it as one of your products, then make
sure your product title has the word juicer. This will help the search engines identify
that you have the same thing that the buyer is looking for and will list your products
on the top. Similarly, make sure that the description along with being informative and
easy to read, is also SEO optimized.

Step 7: Choose your shipping method

The next and most important thing is to choose a shipping strategy. Make sure you
connect with only famous shipping companies who can make sure that they will
deliver your product timely without any damage.

E-Commerce Challenges
E-commerce has grown at an incredible rate since its birth, and so has the
challenges to make the best use of it. The challenges that an e-commerce company
may face are discussed here:
1. An absence of online identity verification: When a visitor goes to an e-
commerce website and signs up, the portal is unaware of the customer, bar
the information they entered. Whether the customer information is genuine or
not remains questionable. Cash-On-Delivery (COD) purchases using an
invalid or fake phone numbers or addresses can lead to huge revenue losses.
2. Delivering an omnichannel customer experience: In today's world,
customers can reach out through any number of touch-points. They may visit
your website, contact your agent, leave a message on your social media
page, shop from your store or contact you through a live chat or a messaging
platform.
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3. Competitor Analysis: In a competitive environment, others will offer the

same products and services as you. Unless you have a strategy to
differentiate yourself, it is difficult to survive.
4. Stuck in at the old-school way of approach to selling: The reason many e-
commerce companies find online selling so difficult is that they are, ironically,
stuck in the past. Most of them lack the necessary insight into customer
behavior and buying patterns, data which can help them thrive in the current
e-commerce environment.
5. Shopping cart abandonment: Shopping cart abandonment is a huge issue.
Even e-commerce giants are not immune to this problem. For instance, when
brick and mortar heavyweight Nordstrom started an e-commerce portal, they
witnessed big losses from abandoned carts. The tedious and bug-filled
checkout process was causing customers to flee in their droves.
6. Maintaining customer loyalty: Even with the best-designed website out
there, without customer trust and loyalty, the business is bound to struggle.
Creating new customers and then maintaining them requires a massive effort.
One of the reasons e-commerce companies in particular face a challenge in
building customer trust and loyalty is the seller and buyer don’t know each
other. Nor can they see each other. Thus, the customer is robbed of the
senses they would normally rely on in face to face transactions.
7. The headache of product return and refund: A survey by comScore and
UPS, showed 63% of American consumers check the return policy before
making a purchase and 48% would shop more with retailers offering hassle-
free returns. e-consumers are clearly conscious of return and refund policies.
When a product is returned, whether due to a dissatisfied customer or
damaged product, the business suffers a heavy loss in shipment and
reputation. Logistic and shipping costs have always been problematic to e-
commerce sellers delivering their product for free.
8. The struggle of competing on price and shipping: Online merchants
frequently compete on price. Plenty of sellers list the same products on their
sites, but the prices may be different. They are vying to increase their market
share by selling the product. Price competition particularly affects small e-
commerce businesses, as mid-sized and large competitors can often offer
products for less. Combine this with free shipping, and smaller companies
simply can’t afford to compete on price.
9. Competing against retailers and manufacturers: Many online stores bulk
buy products wholesale from manufacturers or distributors, selling them with
retail online. This is the basic business model for online stores. Unfortunately,
due in part to e-commerce's low barrier to entry, product manufacturers and
retailers start selling directly to consumers. The same company that sells your
products may also be your competitor.
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10. A problem of data security: Security issues can lead to nightmare

scenarios. Fraudsters post spam and attack the web host server, infecting the
websites with viruses. They can potentially gain access to confidential data
about your customer’s phone numbers, card details, etc.

E-Commerce Opportunities
A recent analysis of the ecommerce space by Shopify identified several trends that
will likely help to shape the future of online sales. Some of the most significant
ecommerce trends shaping its future include:

● Multi-Channel Ecommerce: Mobile customers are expected to account for

$319 billion in sales by 2020, and “multi-channel” sales, providing customers
the ability to easily purchase goods through an array of avenues, will become
ever-more important in the years ahead; going forward, successful online
merchants will need to have an infrastructure that manages and maintains
multi-channel retailing to help offset the inherent challenges of ecommerce
sales.
● E-commerce automation: As technology continues to evolve, so too do the
operational needs of online merchants.Ensuring that a business’ website is
fully up-to-date with the latest technology, requiring minimal human
involvement on a daily basis, will be vital to continued success for ecommerce
companies.
● Growing Popularity of Mobile E-commerce: Mobile search offers huge
opportunities for ecommerce merchants.
● Opportunities in International E-commerce: Establishing local
partnerships, familiarizing oneself with regional laws and customs, and
ensuring strong, effective marketing will all be key elements to consider as
ecommerce companies consider expanding internationally.
● Extended use of AI: AI is making a splash in ecommerce now too, as its
technologies really help to stand out from the crowd in the competitive online
retail world.

Online and Offline Market Research

Online Market Research: Online research is a research method that involves the
collection of information from the internet. With the advent of the internet, the
traditional pen-and-paper research techniques have taken a backseat and made
room for online research. Online survey research is much more impactful than the
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traditional means, considering the ease of access and cost savings they come with.
The response rates received for online research are much higher than the others as
the respondents are assured that their identity will be protected.

These are 4 main types of online research:

● Customer satisfaction research: Earlier, this type of research used to be

conducted over phone calls but nowadays, the customers are accustomed
to getting a mail asking them to give their feedback on their recent
experience with an organization. For instance, if you own a newly opened
restaurant, you’d want to know the customer satisfaction. You can either
have a survey ready for them to fill out after their meal or you can send it out
after taking their email address or you can also use the offline app to
conduct the survey.
● New product research: The launch of a new product can be unnerving.
Understanding whether a new product will be a success with the target
audience is much needed. New product research can be carried out by
testing the product with a group of selected guinea pigs and collecting
feedback almost immediately. It can be highly effective when it comes to
conducting research for a new outlet of a mall (read: Walmart!) or launch of
a car variant or introducing new credit card options.
● Understand brand loyalty: There are many small and big businesses who
survive merely on brand loyalty. It’s surely a big deal but every organization
needs to work on it to either maintain or improve it. Conduct an online
research to know what attracts a customer to a particular brand or the points
that are currently keeping them from being loyal to your brand.
● Employee engagement and Employee satisfaction research:
Understanding what employees think about working with your organization is
a key to success. The mood and morale of the employees must be tracked
on a regular basis so that they effectively contribute towards the growth of
the company. Surveys should be sent to improve employee engagement
and to also strive to maintain employee satisfaction.

Offline Market Research: While the Internet offers a wide variety of places to
conduct market research, the kind of data you get can be somewhat limited. Online
market research is no substitute for face-to-face contact with your customers.
Additionally, not all segments of the population spend a great deal of time online.
You might need to reach them offline.

Offline market research methods have been around for a long time and they use
strategies that are proven to yield results. Here are a few of the best methods for
gathering data about your market offline.
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● In-Person Surveys: Surveys are still the most effective when done in person.
In-person surveys can be done in any public area that gets a lot of traffic.
Many businesses prefer shopping malls since people are there to look at
products and already have shopping on their minds. In-person surveys have a
high response rate that can be as much as 90%. An advantage of this method
is that you can show people products and they can physically try them out
before giving you a response. In-person surveys require quite a bit of human
resources, but they’re much more effective than other easier methods such as
telephone or mail surveys.

● Focus Groups: Focus groups are small groups of people who meet to
informally discuss your products. A group can be anywhere from five to ten
people. As the moderator, you lead the discussion using scripted questions
and topics related to your business. Aside from discussion, you may also ask
them to do role-playing exercises or other projective techniques. A focus
group meeting usually lasts a couple of hours and there may also be a few
follow-up meetings.The data you get from focus groups is more in-depth and
personal, but it’s also more subjective. You’ll come away with words, images,
feelings, and impressions, not hard statistical data.

● Observations: Sometimes it’s best to observe shoppers in their natural

habitat. When you conduct surveys or focus groups, you put people on the
spot. There’s the risk they may tell you what they think you want to hear.
Observation shows you their real behavior. Some researchers observe
shoppers and then attempt to conduct follow-up interviews. There are some
research companies who even use hidden cameras to record shoppers and
gather information about numbers and patterns of behavior.

● Live Events: Live events mix entertainment and market research. The idea is
to get the participants as engaged in the event as possible. Live events are
often used in a new type of market research called ‘engagement marketing,’
which mixes live elements, face-to-face contact, and online activities to help
consumers feel actively engaged with your brand.

Offline and Online Market Research: Both offline and online market research
methods have their advantages, but the best strategy is to use both. They’ll reveal
different data to you about your target market. While online market research gives
you the chance to gather information quickly and cheaply, offline research gives you
more access to primary sources of information and yields more in-depth results. It’s
best not to rely on only one if you want to minimize your risk and maximize your
chances for success.
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Data Collection
In today’s world, retailers are seeking frequent streams of live data to provide a
relevant snapshot of their consumers’ changing demands. This enables them to
make more timely decisions that translate into better results for the long term.

Kickstarting Your Data Collection Operation – Start Small and Expand as Needed
Online data collection is basically the only data source that can be as dynamic as
you need it to be. It may seem like a big operation to invest in, but in reality, it does
not need to be. One fact is clear – data collection is no longer just a
recommendation;it is now a necessity –one that every online business must closely
monitor. But how can you start?

First, remember that it’s never too early to start collecting data. The key is to focus
on clearly defining your data requirements. Make sure to define the exact data you
need to succeed and follow that data path closely.

Second, start small and manually and then gradually expand. You are basing your
most critical consumer decisions on these streams of data, and it’s vital that you get
it right.
Look for the data that can help you make the fastest and most impactful decisions
first. You want your consumers to feel like you are addressing their every need now,
and data is the only way to reach that goal. Starting manually will help you work out
any early issues and will make your overall data collection operation that much more
precise.
Only once you’ve reached those critical channels, you should expand.

Finally, turn to automated data collection solutions to scale up. Data collection
probably isn’t the core function that you want your teams and employees across your
business to concentrate on. Data should support your core technology or business
across the board. So, turn to cost-effective solutions, like automated data collection
services, which are both timely and accurate.

Predicting the future with pinpoint precision is a task that will probably remain a
massive challenge to all businesses. It will also require businesses to rely on
external data resources. Data can get you the live market view you need even in the
most dynamically changing realities. Tapping into the right kind of competitive
intelligence for your business can go as deep as following your consumers’
interactions with your brand and your competitors’ brands as well as anticipating
their next moves or demands.
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In unpredictable times such as the ones we’re living through, you need a go-to
advisor or resource that will always provide you with the most business-critical
information that no other advisor can access. Look no further than online data, which
provides the exact information you can’t afford to miss.

Domain Names
Domain naming is important to your overall branding. The domain name will be your
business address. Hence, it is imperative that you choose the domain name with
utmost care.

Many people think it is important to have keywords in a domain. Keywords in the

domain name are usually important, but it usually can be done while keeping the
domain name short, memorable, and free of hyphens.

Using keywords in your domain name gives you a strong competitive advantage over
your competitors. Having your keywords in your domain name can increase click
through rates on search engine listings and paid ads as well as make it easier to use
your keywords to get keyword rich descriptive inbound links.

Avoid buying long and confusing domain names. May people separate the words in
their domain names using dashes or hyphen. In the past the domain name itself was
a significant ranking factor but now with advanced search engines, it is not a
significant factor anymore.

Keep two to three words in your domain name − it will be more memorable. Some of the
most memorable websites do a great job of branding by creating their own words. Examples
include eBay, Yahoo!, Expedia, Slashdot, Fark, Wikipedia, Google.

Advertising Options
It can be difficult to know the best way to advertise for your e-commerce website,
with there being such a huge range of options available to you. No one has an
infinite budget, so whatever the size of your business, you need to choose your
methods carefully.

Let’s take a look at a few of the advertising methods that can work for any e-
commerce business:
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1. Online Advertising: It is placing crisp, simple, and tempting Ads on the

websites to attract the viewers’ attention and develop viewers’ interest in the
product or service.

2. Mobile Advertising: It is creating awareness about the business and

promoting it on smartphones that people carry with them inseparably.

3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): It is the activity of optimizing web pages

or complete websites in order to make them search engine friendly, thus
getting a higher position in the search results. It contributes to overall rankings
of the keywords through influencing factors such as appropriate titles, meta
descriptions, website speed, links, etc.

4. Social Media Marketing: It includes creating profiles of your brand on social

media platforms such as Google Plus, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook,
Instagram etc. It assures that you remain connected to the existing or
potential customers, build awareness about the products and services, create
interest in and desire to buy your product, and interact with the customers on
their own terms and convenience.

5. Email Marketing: You can interact with the customers to answer their queries
using automatic responders and enhance the customer experience with your
website. You can offer the options such as signing-in to subscribe to your
newsletter. You can make the emails catchy and crisp, so that they don’t
make recipients annoyed. Also, you can use selected best words in the
subject line to boost the open rate.

6. Content Marketing: It includes creation and sharing of media and publishing

the content in order to acquire and retain customers.

7. Blogs: Blogs are web pages created by an individual or a group of

individuals. They are updated on a regular basis. You can write blogs for
business promotion.

8. Banners: Banners are long strips of cloth with a slogan or design. They are
carried for demonstration, procession, or hung in a public place. There are
internet banners in parallel to tangible banners for advertising.

9. Internet Forums: They are nothing but message boards of online discussion
websites, where people post messages and engage into conversation.
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EMail Marketing
Many ecommerce entrepreneurs are making a big mistake by ignoring the power of
email marketing.

Different Categories of Emails: There are many types of emails that are relevant at
different points in your customer’s life cycle. For example a brand new person on
your site might only be interested in learning about what you are selling and we will
call that person a lead (or a prospect). Eventually a percentage of those prospects
will turn into a customer and some of those customers will end up dormant, this is
the life cycle of your customers. Here are different categories of emails:
● Lead Capture Emails (for Prospects)
● Lead Capture Welcome Series Emails
● Order Confirmation and Shipping Emails
● New Customer Welcome Series Emails
● Abandoned Cart Emails
● Win Back Emails
● Promotional Emails
● Segmentation Emails

If you don’t already have these emails set up and customized for your business, it’s
important you start making plans to create emails for each of these categories.

Search Engines
Search engines want to do their jobs as best as possible by referring users to
websites and content that is most relevant to what the user is looking for. This is
determined by the site content, how fast your site loads, how often your site is linked
to from other credible online resources, and user experience, including design,
navigation and bounce rate.

Search Engine Optimization: It is the process of getting traffic from the free,
organic, editorial, or natural search results on the search engines. Simply put, it’s the
name given to the activity that attempts to improve search engine rankings. In many
respects, it's simply quality control for websites.
SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search,
video search, and news search engines. Employing a sound SEO strategy will help
you position your website properly to be found at the most critical points in the
buying process or when people need your site.
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Search Engine Crawlers: The leading search engines, such as Google, Bing and
Yahoo!, use crawlers to find the pages for their algorithmic search results. Pages
that are linked from other search engine indexed pages do not need to be submitted
because they are found automatically.
Search engine crawlers may look at a number of different factors when crawling a
site. Not every page is indexed by the search engines. Distance of pages from the
root directory of a site may also be a factor in whether or not pages get crawled.

Website Monitoring
Website monitoring is the process of checking web page or web application
availability, performance and functionality. It allows you to be sure that your online
products are always available and your potential customers don’t suffer unexpected
downtimes.

Importance of website monitoring: According to “European Ecommerce Page

Speed and Web Performance Report”: around the world, the speed with which
websites and web applications perform is emerging as a critical business issue.
While this awareness lags in some parts of the world more than others, what is
certain is that internet users are very aware of the issue of poor website
performance, regardless of their location. If page load time will be more than 3
seconds 6-39 % of users will leave your page.

According to ““Need for Speed,” 1&1 Internet. 2011” of 1500 internet customers:
Users who experience even a two-second slowdown from the speed they’ve come to
expect are unsatisfied with performance and simply do less on page. Here are some
numbers from the report:
● 78% of web page users felt negativity because of slower or unavailable web
pages.
● 42% of men and 35% of women have decided not to use a company again as
a result of experiencing a slow webpage.
● 44% of customers say that slow online transactions make them unsure about
the success of the transaction

Internal and External Monitoring: There are many methods to monitor your
website performance. They are divided into two main categories: internal and
external monitoring.

External Monitoring: External monitoring allows you to monitor all your web
resource parameters. First of all, define what criteria you need to monitor:
● Web page availability or uptime rate (Uptime Monitoring)
● Average Web page load time (Full Page Monitoring)
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● Web page functionality (Synthetic Transaction Monitoring)

● Web page stress resistance (Web Stress Tester)
● Real User Monitoring (quantity of users)
● API monitoring (JMeter)

Internal Monitoring: Internal monitoring can be used in your local network when a
resource which should be monitored is not available from the global network. For
Internal or server-device monitoring all you need to do is download and install
Monitis Smart Agent for Linux or Windows, then add Server/Device monitors from
your Monitis dashboard.
What Can You Monitor?
Everything which is possible to monitor externally plus your local devices
performance like local network, server CPU, memory and drive utilization, bandwidth
consumed by your network interfaces, different system processes, status of services
running on your server or your system events.

Incentives
Incentives for engaging in e-commerce: The key to e-commerce success is to
optimize several key factors, The incentives for engaging in e-commerce are listed
as follows:
● Selection and Value: Attractive product selections, competitive prices,
satisfaction guarantees, and customer support after the sale.
● Performance and Service: Fast, easy navigation, shopping, and purchasing,
and prompt shipping and delivery.
● Look and Feel: Attractive web storefront, website shopping areas, multimedia
product catalog pages, and shopping features.
● Advertising and Incentives: Targeted web-page advertising and e-mail
promotions, discounts and special offers, including advertising at affiliate
sites.
● Personal Attention: Personal web pages, personalized product
recommendations, web advertising, and e-mail notices, and interactive
support for all customers.
● Community Relationships: Virtual communities of customers, suppliers,
company representatives, and others via newsgroups, chat rooms, and links
to related sites.
● Security and Reliability: Security of customer information and website
transactions, trustworthy product information, and reliable order fulfilment.
 17

Electronic Payment Issues

There are different types of Electronic Payment Systems. They are:
● Automated clearing house
● Wire transfers
● Item processing
● Remote deposit capture
● FedLine Access Solutions
● Automated Teller Machines
● Card Services (ATM, credit, debit, prepaid)
● Mobile payments

Risk of E-Payments: There are several risks of e-payments according to various

perspectives..

1. From Customer's Perspective:

● Stolen Payment credentials and passwords.
● Dishonest merchants for financial service providers.
● Disputes over quality of services and products.
● Fraud: Electronic payment systems are prone to fraud. The payment is
done usually after keying in a password and sometimes answering
security questions. There is no way of verifying the true identity of the
maker of the transaction. As long as the password and security
questions are correct, the system assumes the right person. If this
information falls into the possession of fraudsters, then they can
defraud the money.
● Impulse Buying: Electronic payment systems encourage impulse
buying, especially online and customers are likely to make a decision
to purchase an item they find on sale online,because it will cost just a
click to buy it through credit card. Impulse buying leads to disorganized
budgets and is one of the disadvantages of electronic payment
systems.

2. From Merchant's Perspective:

● Forget payment.
● Insufficient funds in customers' accounts.
● Slow Financial service providers.

3. From Financial Service Providers Perspective:

● Stolen customer or service credentials.
 18

● Tax Evasion: Businesses are required by law to provide records of their

financial transactions to the government so that their tax compliance
can be verified. Electronic payment however can frustrate the efforts of
tax collection. Unless a business discloses the various electronic
payments it has made or received over the tax period, the government
may not know the truth, which could cause tax evasion.
● Payment Conflict: Payment conflicts often arise because the payments
are not done manually but by an automated system that can cause
errors. This is especially common when payment is done on a regular
basis to many recipients. If you do not check your pay slip at the end of
every pay period, for instance, then you might end up with a conflict
due to these technical glitches, or anomalies.

Measures to reduce e-payment risks:

1. Achieve and maintain PCI Compliance: The Payment Card Industry’s Data
Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of standards and requirements to help
ensure that all online merchants and their customers are protected from fraud
and data breaches. Achieving and maintaining your compliance via the PCI
Compliance Guide is a critical first step to protecting your eCommerce
business. In fact, failing to maintain compliance could result in hefty fines and
could ultimately result in loss of services from reputable eCommerce vendors.

2. Recognize signs of suspicious activity:

● Unusually large orders or high-priced orders
● Expedited shipping on large quantities or high-priced orders
● Expedited shipping when billing and shipping addresses differ
● Orders where the purchaser asks to pick up the order at your location
● Fake phone numbers (e.g. 555-987-6543)
● Suspect email addresses (e.g. 1234XYZ@gmail.com, or addresses
that seem like randomly generated combinations of numbers and
letters)
● Inconsistent address information (e.g. zip code doesn’t match state or
city)

3. SET: Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) was a communications protocol

standard for securing credit card transactions over insecure networks,
specifically, the Internet.
It was supported initially by Mastercard, Visa, Microsoft, Netscape, and
others.
With SET, a user is given an electronic wallet (digital certificate) and a
transaction is conducted and verified using a combination of digital certificates
 19

and digital signatures among the purchaser, a merchant, and the purchaser's
bank in a way that ensures privacy and confidentiality.
SET makes use of Netscape's Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), Microsoft's
Secure Transaction Technology (STT), and Terisa System's Secure Hypertext
Transfer Protocol (S-HTTP). SET uses some but not all aspects of a public
key infrastructure (PKI).

4. AVS: Address Verification System is an automated fraud prevention method

used to reduce the risk for merchants selling in the “card-not-present” – e. g.
online or telephone purchase – environment. AVS checks the billing address
listed in the transaction against any other address registered with the issuing
bank. Merchants should request both billing and shipping addresses of the
consumer so an AVS check can be conducted before a transaction is
processed.
5. CVV: Card Verification Value is the three-digit security code printed on the
back of the credit or debit card (in the case of American Express, four digits
on the card front). It is not stored in the magnetic strip or embossed on the
card, so it can’t be as easily retrieved by thieves unless the card is in their
possession. Visa calls it a CVV2, MasterCard calls it a CVC2, and American
Express calls it CID.

6. Geolocation by IP Address: This can help to identify the consumer’s precise

location or determine the distance between the billing address of the person
who is paying for the product and actual location of the person who is placing
the online order. Thus, it acts as an additional verification measure or
authentication for transactions that have a significant distance discrepancy.
Geolocation technology provides information that assistance online business
owners conclude which transactions to look deeply into and which to clear.
This leads to an even balance between the risks of losses due to fraudulent
activity and the risk of preventing legitimate customers from completing their
purchases.

E-Cash Issues
Electronic Cash: Credit cards today dominate the online payment systems, but
electronic cash is the way of the future. Electronic cash (also called e-cash or digital
cash) is any value storage and exchange system created by a private (non-
governmental) entity that does not use paper documents or coins and that can serve
as a substitute for government-issued physical currency. Since e-cash is issued by
many private companies, we need common standards for all e-cash issuers so that
they are accepted by each other. Until now those common standards were not met.
 20

Every issuer has its own standards and e-cash is not universally accepted compared
to government-issued physical currency.

Concerns about electronic payment methods include privacy and security,

independence, portability, and convenience. Privacy and security issues are
probably the most important issues. E-cash has its unique security problems. E-cash
must have two important characteristics in common with physical currency. It must
be spent only once and it must be anonymous.

E-cash is independent and portable. E-cash is independent, if it is not related to any

network or storage device. It is portable, if it can be freely transferable between any
two parties. Credit and debit cards are not portable. In a credit card transaction, the
credit card recipient must have an account established with a bank unlike the case in
e-cash.

The most important characteristic of cash is convenience. If e-cash requires special

hardware or software, it will not be convenient for people to use.

Advantages and Disadvantages of E-Cash

Transferring e-cash on the internet costs less than processing credit card
transactions because conventional money exchange systems require banks, bank
branches, clerks, automated teller machines, and an electronic transaction system to
manage, transfer, and dispense cash. Operating this conventional money exchange
system is expensive.

E-cash transfers occur on an existing infrastructure, the internet, and existing

computer systems with no additional costs. With e-cash transferring money to the
next door or to the other side of the world costs the same, while distance and cost
are proportional when we move physical cash and checks.

E-cash does not require authorization of payments, unlike credit card transactions.
E-cash does have disadvantages just like real cash, money laundering, it is not
traceable. Also it can be forged.

For e-cash to be successful, a standard must be developed for e-cash disbursement

and acceptance.

There are two types of electronic cash schemes:

On-line: validity of the transaction is checked while it is occurring. The coin is sent
back to the bank or similar authority during the transaction to verify the authenticity of
the coin and that it was not spent before. The advantage is that the bank can check
and prevent illegal operations as they are happening unlike the case in off-line
systems.
 21

Off-line: validity of the transaction is checked after the transaction has occurred. The
merchant or bank can conduct a series of calculations to reveal the customer’s
identity when a security breach has occurred.

In general off-line schemes are more efficient than on-line ones. The two
fundamental issues with any off-line electronic cash scheme have been the detection
of double spending and provision of anonymity. Cut-and-Choose technology was
one of the first techniques that were introduced to address the issue of double
spending in an off-line scheme. However, it is not very efficient. Subsequently, other
techniques had been proposed to achieve both problems without the Cut-and-
Choose method.

Credit Card Issues

Advantages of using credit cards: There are many advantages when using a
credit card as a method for purchasing goods. It does not necessarily mean that you
do not have funds to cover those purchases. The use of a credit card, instead of
cash or personal funds, offers the following advantages:
● Building credit history.
● A quick source of funds in an “absolute” emergency
● No accrued interest if bill is paid on time and in full each month
● Zero liability as consumers is not responsible for fraudulent charges
when reported promptly.
● Consumer protection ($50.00) if fraudulent charges are reported
promptly in case the card is stolen or lost.

Disadvantages of using credit cards: Along with the advantages listed above, the
use of credit cards can also have several disadvantages:
● Established credit-worthiness needed before getting a credit card
● Encouraging impulsive and unnecessary “wanted” purchases
● High-interest rates if not paid in full by the due date
● Annual fees for some credit cards – can become expensive over the
years
● Fee charged for late payments
● Negative effect on credit history and credit score in case of improper
usage.
 22

Merchant Accounts
A merchant account is a type of bank account that allows sellers, especially in the
ecommerce space, to electronically accept credit and debit card transactions from
customers, with the aid of a payment gateway. You should note that a merchant
account isn’t the typical bank account, as it’s the basic assumption that poses a lack
of certainty.

If you’re an e-commerce business owner, it’s important to use a cashless payment

framework that is trusted by customers and has high-security standards. So you’ll
need to set up a merchant account to process payments from online shoppers.

Online Payment Services

An e-payment system is a way of making transactions or paying for goods and
services through an electronic medium, without the use of checks or cash. It’s also
called an electronic payment system or online payment system.

The electronic payment system has grown increasingly over the last decades due to
the growing spread of internet-based banking and shopping. As the world advances
more with technology development, we can see the rise of electronic payment
systems and payment processing devices.

Electronic Payment Methods: One of the most popular payment forms online are
credit and debit cards. Besides them, there are also alternative payment methods,
such as bank transfers, electronic wallets, smart cards or bitcoin wallet (bitcoin is the
most popular cryptocurrency).

E-payment methods could be classified into two areas, credit payment system and
cash payment system.

1. Credit Payment System

● Credit Card: A form of the e-payment system which requires the use of
the card issued by a financial institute to the cardholder for making
payments online or through an electronic device, without the use of
cash. One of the most popular e-payment methods are credit and debit
cards.
● E-wallet: A form of prepaid account that stores user’s financial data,
like debit and credit card information to make an online transaction
easier.
● Smart card: A plastic card with a microprocessor that can be loaded
with funds to make transactions; also known as a chip card.
 23

2. Cash Payment System

● Direct debit: A financial transaction in which the account holder
instructs the bank to collect a specific amount of money from his
account electronically to pay for goods or services.
● E-check: A digital version of an old paper check. It’s an electronic
transfer of money from a bank account, usually checking account,
without the use of the paper check.
● E-cash: is a form of an electronic payment system, where a certain
amount of money is stored on a client’s device and made accessible
for online transactions.
● Stored-value card: A card with a certain amount of money that can be
used to perform the transaction in the issuer store. A typical example of
stored-value cards are gift cards.

Transaction Processing
Online transaction processing (OLTP) is information systems that facilitate and
manage transaction-oriented applications, typically for data entry and retrieval
transaction processing. So online transactions are done with the help of the internet.
It can’t take place without a proper internet connection.

Online transactions occur when a process of buying and selling takes place through
the internet. When a consumer purchases a product or a service online, he/she pays
for it through an online transaction.

Stages of Online Transaction: There are three stages of Online Transactions

● Pre-purchase/Sale: In this stage, the product or service is advertised
online with some details for the customers.
● Purchase/Sale: When a customer likes a particular product or service,
he/she buys it and makes the payment online
● Delivery Stage: This is the final stage where the goods bought are
delivered to the consumer.

Steps Involved in Online Transaction: The following are the steps involved in
Online Transaction:

1. Registration
● The consumer has to register online on the particular website to buy a
particular good or service.
● The customer’s email id, name, address, and other details are saved
and are safe with the website.
 24

● For security reasons, the buyer’s ‘Account’ and his ‘Shopping Cart’ is
password protected.

2. Placing an Order
● When a customer likes a product or a service, he/she puts the product
in the ‘shopping cart’.
● The shopping cart gives a record of all the items selected by the buyer
to be purchased, the
number of units or quantity desired to be bought per item selected and
the price for each
item.
● The buyer then proceeds to the payment option after selecting all the
products.

3. Payment
The buyer then has to select the payment option, there are various payment
options. These payment pages are secured with very high-level encryptions
so that the personal financial information that you enter (bank/card details)
stay completely secure.

Some ways in which you can make this payment are:

● Cash On Delivery: The Cash on Delivery option lets the buyer pay
when he/she receives the product. Here, the payment is made at the
doorstep. The customer can pay in cash, or by debit or credit card.
● Cheque: In this type of payment, the buyer sends a cheque to the
seller and the seller sends the product after the realization of the
cheque.
● Net Banking Transfer: Here, the payment is transferred from the
buyer’s account to the seller’s account electronically i.e. through the
internet. After the payment is received by the seller, the seller
dispatches the goods to the buyer.
● Credit or Debit Card: The buyer has to send his debit card or credit
card details to the seller, and a particular amount will be deducted from
his/her account.
● Digital Cash/E-cash: Digital Cash is a form of electronic currency that
exists only in cyberspace and has no real physical properties. Here the
money in the buyer's bank account is converted into a code that is
saved on a microchip, a smart card or on the hard drive of his
computer. When he makes a purchase, he needs to mention that
particular code to the website and thereafter the transaction is duly
processed.
 25

Taxation Issues
Taxation of e-commerce is an important issue for countries, businesses and
consumers who want to be a party of e-commerce. The issues such as tax loss and
tax evasion are crucial in terms of countries. Difficulties like uncertainty and double
taxation make parties of e-commerce reluctant and affect development of e-
commerce negatively.

The taxation policies of countries based on territory and jurisdiction has begun to fail
after improving e-commerce. Concepts like permanent establishment, sale points,
product and income classification that are used in the taxation process have
remained inadequate. Whereas determining location of seller and consumer at
transaction on the internet is difficult, tax revenue loss has existed. Electronic
commerce allows businesses to get their revenue without any physical presence.
Because of these implications of e-commerce, tax administrations reach hardly any
information about taxes that should be collected and thereby tax loss exists.

There should be conventional taxation principles applied to e-commerce and

collaboration between different countries. Fair and neutral taxation should be
generated for conventional commerce and e-commerce. An efficient taxation system
should be provided to reduce compliance costs to businesses, administrative costs.
Tax rules should be clear and certain. Taxpayers should know how and in which
situations they are taxed. Effectiveness and fairness
should be ensured in the taxation process. Tax systems should be flexible adapting
to technological and commercial development. Taxation place for consumer tax
should be where the consumption happens. Otherwise, double taxation and non-
taxation problems may occur.

Another problem for taxation of e-commerce arises from being made by a permanent
establishment that is not required. To apply tax and to identify one who has taxation
power, it is necessary to point out physical presence and permanent establishment.

According to OECD(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), a

website is not a permanent establishment and if a business purchase or hire server
and activities on server are not only being made a preparatory or auxiliary.
It is also another problem to be subjected to different rates and policies of tax on
goods and services in the field of taxation on e-commerce among countries or
states. Both EU and USA, taxation is made on final sales to type and value of goods.
While this tax is collected by the EU as value added tax, it is collected by localities
and states in the USA as consumption and use taxes. Each state, county and
 26

municipality in the USA have their own tax policies and tax rates. It becomes a
problem for taxation.

Taxation problems of e-commerce have importance for governments, businesses

and consumers. Making purchase and sale over the internet without any borders
brings with taxation problems. The difficulties in determining which country or state
have taxation power, applying varied tax policies and tax rates, double taxation risk
are some of the taxation problems. To block undesirable facts like tax loss and tax
evasion, countries haven’t found any certain solution yet. Corporations for solving
problems also fail.

Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce)

Mobile commerce or simply M-Commerce means engaging users in a buy or sell
process via a mobile device. For instance, when someone buys an Android app or
an iPhone app, that person is engaged in m-commerce. There are a number of
content assets that can be bought and sold via a mobile device such as games,
applications, ringtones, subscriptions etc.

How does M-Commerce Work?

Let’s look at some of the points that you need to remember as a business, while engaging in
m-commerce −
● Decide Where to Sell: Before you sell your products or services via m-commerce,
you need to decide what type of outlets or stores suit your business best. Let us
suppose you have created ringtones − you can sell them either at specific third-party
outlets or to independent aggregators who charge you a commission for the service.
You can also sell your ringtones on mobile stores or app stores such as
Android marketplace or App store (Apple). These stores are frequently visited
by many buyers and hence ideal for making sales easily and efficiently.
Finally, you can also sell via your own mobile store by creating a mobile
website specifically for sales or as by setting-up an m-commerce page on
your main website.
● Set up Mobile Billing: Once you have decided where to sell, the next step is
to set up your merchant account. For instance, you can use third-party
services such as PayPal. This is ideal for small businesses or also large
companies. A third-party application makes it really easy for you as well as
your customers to make the payments, but then they do charge commission
on the transaction.
 27

You can also set-up your own billing and payment gateway, but make sure
that you make it really easy for users. Mobile users do not use keyboards or a
mouse so make sure that the design of your m-commerce site is intuitive, with
easy navigation tools and the right display sizes. Basically, make your m-
commerce site optimized for Smartphone users.
● Benefits of M-Commerce: The major benefit of engaging in m-commerce is
the sheer size of potential sales. The probability of your potential customers
owning a Smartphone is very high, so you can safely assume that you will get
much more positive response from mobile devices than your website. M-
commerce is recommended for every business irrespective of its type, scale,
and size.

Customer Service Issues

Ecommerce customer service refers to the services you provide to online shoppers.
If visitors have questions or need help making a purchase, these features help them
navigate your site and achieve their goals. Ecommerce customer service allows reps
to meet customers where they are to make the process of support simple and
efficient.

The approach to ecommerce service differs slightly from brick-and-mortar settings.

Since reps can only call or chat, you need to anticipate roadblocks that users will
experience during the buying process.

That requires you to consistently obtain customer feedback and analyze it for
common user pain points. Once you understand these variables, you can install
proactive and self-service features that guide visitors through the customer journey.
Customer service metrics that are followed by companies depend on the tool used
for customer service.

Most popular metrics include:

● first response time,
● Average response time,
● total handle time,
● customer satisfaction score (CSAT)
 28

EMail Support
Email Support is an asynchronous communication channel (where the customer and
the teammate do not both need to be present at the same time to engage in a
conversation) to resolve ad hoc customer questions, challenges and concerns
relating to a product or service.
Email Support is one of the most frequently utilized and is considered a mission-
critical service offering. Many view it as more convenient than phone support,
although not as timely. One of the major benefits of Email Support is the ongoing
thread of communication, so the same teammate is not required to answer multiple
email communications. This provides optimal agency efficiency.

Telephone Support
Some customers don't have the patience to go through online support options.
Customers speak directly to customer support representatives over the phone. For
inbound calls, an IVR (Integrated Voice Response) can be programmed to route
captured calls in a variety of ways with the potential goal of quickest resolution of a
customer’s request/problem.
Phone Support is often used for order taking, pre-sales queries, upselling and cross-
selling, troubleshooting etc.
Outbound calls are calls made to customers from the call center to give or take
information.

Live Help Services

As the Internet has matured, online shoppers are expecting more from online
merchants. They want instant answers to their questions; they want their online
transactions backed by customer support; they want a positive shopping experience.
Having Provide Support live chat feature on your website allows you to fill these
needs. Online customer support chat is the e-commerce tool that enables you to
make friendly, personable contact with each and every visitor that comes to your
retail website. Provide Support software can make your website visitors feel as
though they are visiting a brick and mortar retail store. They can be greeted when
they enter; products that suit their needs can be shown to them. If they need
 29

assistance, their questions can be answered online in real time. Promotions and
discounts can be offered to them while they are browsing. Such real-time interaction
provides a high quality shopping experience. Customers will remember their positive
experience and keep coming back. Having live help support on your website projects
the image that your company is service oriented. The Live Support button itself on
your website will foster confidence in uncertain, first-time customers. The button
shows that a live person will be available to help if they have customer service
issues. Behind-the-scenes tools make Provide Support live help service useful for
marketing professionals. The operator console gives information about site visitors,
such as the referring page. This information can be used to gauge the effectiveness
of cost-per-click and search engine advertising campaigns. No more money will be
wasted on ineffective keywords and poorly placed advertisements. Provide Support
Live chat is a serious sales and customer support tool that will help you turn your
website visitors into clients.

1. Key Advantages of Using Provide Support in E-Commerce

a. Increased Sales: Real-time website visitor interaction adds a live sales
person to your static retail website.
b. Cost Effectiveness: Live customer support will decrease your toll-free
phone bill.
c. Marketing Tool: Information from website monitoring helps with the
improvement of marketing strategies.
d. Fast and Efficient Communication: Provide Support facilitates
operator-to-operator chats for additional sales assistance.

2. Prevent Shopping Cart Abandonment: Many sales are lost at the point of
ordering. Potential customers become hesitant about providing personal
information during the purchasing process, leading them to abandon their
shopping cart. Using Live Assistance, you can assure completion of the sale
by walking them through the process.

3. Increase Conversion Rates: Market research has shown that conversion

rates are higher for customers that are able to interact via live chat while
visiting a website. Visitors are much more likely to click a live help button and
request assistance than look up a phone number and call. Internet technology
has raised customer expectations. They want answers right away, and if
they're online via a single line modem connection, they're not likely to take the
trouble to disconnect and call.
 30

4. Improve Communication: The operator-to-operator chat invitation feature

Provide Support allows for private company-wide communication. Operators
can chat with each other, invite other operators to assist in answering a
customer's question, or transfer a chat to other operators. This background
communication is transparent to your customers; all they know is that they are
getting great service.

Customer Discussion Forums

On top of having a great social media presence, this is a great forum that will enable
you to create a good foundation for your ecommerce concepts. You’ll get solid
information on how to build exposure for your products on a social, local, and
worldwide level. The chats are very interactive and stay updated to the latest topics.
Also, you’ll find good people to give the right feedback on suggestions for your
products or anything else you require. Here you can freely promote yourself and find
out what things work and what doesn’t. Go to some of the topics like “What is the
best ecommerce site for online selling” or “Is it Worth Advertising on Bing Ads and
Google Adwords?” Everyone on the page will give an honest opinion on how you
should move a certain way to help create more sales.

Value-Added Options
Many customers require some form of added-value or specialised support service for
their product in the warehouse, and Spatial Global's experienced personnel are
highly proficient in this field.

Ecommerce Value Added Services include:

● Customer collections
● Intake of containerised or break bulk goods
● Sorting at intake or despatch
● Physical alterations/deferred completion
● Product rework and reprocessing
● Kitting and ratio-packing
● Picking and packing
 31

● Shrink Wrapping and palletisation

● Carton and pallet storage – short and long term
● Data management
● Inventory management/computerised stock control
● Customs warehousing
● Returns management/reverse logistics
● Labelling, re-labelling and tagging
● Customer-specific labelling – barcode, alphanumeric and graphical