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E-Commerce and decision support systems in

logistics.

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 Types of E-Commerce
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 5- Consumer-to-business (C2B): e-commerce is between private individuals who

use the Internet to sell products or services to organizations and individuals who
seek sellers to bid on products or services.

 6- Mobile commerce (m-commerce): refers to the purchase of goods and

services through wireless technology, such as cell phones, and handheld devices,
such as Blackberries and iPhones.

 7- Peer-to-peer (P2P) technology: makes it possible for Internet users to share

files and computer resources directly without having to go through a central web
server.

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 The Scope of e-Commerce
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 Companies involved in e-commerce as either buyers or sellers depend on

Internet-based technologies and e-commerce applications and services to
achieve marketing, discovery, transaction processing, product and customer
service processes.

 Three Basic Categories

 Business-to-Consumer (B2C).
 Business-to-Business (B2B).
 Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C).

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 The Scope of e-Commerce
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 Companies involved in e-commerce as either buyers or sellers depend on

Internet-based technologies and e-commerce applications and services to
achieve marketing, discovery, transaction processing, product and customer
service processes.

 Three Basic Categories

 Business-to-Consumer (B2C).
 Business-to-Business (B2B).
 Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C).

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 The Scope of E-Commerce (con.)
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 Business to Customer (B2C):

 In this form of e- commerce, businesses must develop attractive electronic
marketplaces to entice and sell products and services to customers.

 Companies may offer:

 e-commerce websites that provide virtual storefronts & multimedia

catalogues ( E-Catalogues ).
 Interactive order processing (online order ).
 Secure electronic payment systems.
 Online customer support.

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 The Scope of E-Commerce (con.)
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 Business to Business (B2B):

 this category of electronic commerce involves both electronic business
marketplaces and direct market links between businesses.

 Companies may offer:

 Secure Internet or extranet e-commerce websites for their business
customers/suppliers.
 Electronic data interchange (EDI) via the Internet or extranets for computer-
to-computer exchange of e-commerce documents with their larger business
customers and suppliers.
 B2B e-commerce portals that provide auction and exchange markets for
businesses.

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 The Scope of E-Commerce (con.)
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 Customer to Customer (C2C):

 Successes of online auctions like e-Bay, allow consumers (and businesses) to buy and
sell with each other in an auction process at an auction website.

 Online consumer or business auctions are an important to e-commerce alternative for

B2C or B2B e-commerce.

 Electronic personal advertising of products or services to buy or sell by consumers at

electronic newspaper sites, consumer e-commerce portals, or personal websites is an
important form of C2C e-commerce.

 Electronic Commerce Technologies.

 Next slide explain an e-commerce architecture developed by Sun Microsystems.

Ahmed Gamal – Logistics Information Systems Applications - Lecture # 8

 Electronics Transactions via internet
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Ahmed Gamal – Logistics Information Systems Applications - Lecture # 8

 E-Commerce Business Models
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 The advantages of E-Commerce:

 Lower business costs.

 24/7 accessibility anywhere.

 The potential for stronger customer service.

 The ability to introduce a niche product.

 The ability to reach global markets on a more equalized basis with

larger firms.

 Making mass customization possible; and greater customer loyalty.

Ahmed Gamal – Logistics Information Systems Applications - Lecture # 8
 E-Commerce Business Models
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 The Disadvantage & Risks of E-Commerce:

 Internet problems.
 Website problems.

 Security and privacy breaches.

 Intellectual property theft.

 Legal liability.

 Product and/or service failure.

 Customer deceit.

 Customer dissatisfaction.

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 The Scope of E-Commerce (con.)
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 E - Commerce Technologies (continued)

 Trading and business partners are depend on the Internet and extranets to
exchange information and finalize secure transactions.

 Company employees are depend on a variety of Internet and intranet

resources to communicate and collaborate.
 The professionals and end users can use a variety of software tools to
develop and manage the content and operations of the websites and other
e-commerce resources.

Ahmed Gamal – Logistics Information Systems Applications - Lecture # 8

 Essential E-Commerce Processes
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 Nine keys components of an E-Commerce process

architecture :
1. Access control and security.
2. Profiling and personalizing.
3. Search management.
4. Content management (helps e-commerce firms develop, generate, deliver &
archive text & multimedia data).
5. Catalog management (may include product configuration to support customer
self-service & mass customization)
6. Payment.
7. Workflow management.
8. Event notification. (Monitor all E-Commerce process & records all relevant
events)
9. Collaboration and training. (Supports the collaboration arrangements ).

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 Essential E-Commerce Processes (con.)
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Ahmed Gamal – Logistics Information Systems Applications - Lecture # 8

 Essential E-Commerce Processes (con.)
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 Access control and security

 Processes MUST establish mutual trust and secure access.
 Authenticating users.
 Authorizing access.
 Enforcing security features.
 Must protect the resources of e-commerce sites from threats.
 Hackers.
 Theft of passwords or credit card numbers.
 System failures.

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 Essential E-Commerce Processes (con.)
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 Profiling and personalizing

 One-to-one marketing strategy.
 Personalized view of the website.
 Based on Personal data, and website behavior and choices.
 Used to help authenticate your identity for account management and payment
purposes.
 Search management
 Helps customers to find the specific product or service they want.
 SW may include a search engine components or a company may acquire a
customized e-commerce search engine.

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 Essential E-Commerce Processes (con.)
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 Content and catalog management

 Content management software helps companies develop, generate, deliver,
update, and archive text data and multimedia information.

 Frequently takes the form of multimedia catalogs of product information.

 Works with profiling tools to personalize the content of the website.

 May be expanded to include product configuration processes that support mass

customization of a company’s products.

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 Workflow management
 Workflow software engine
 Predefined sets of business rules.
 Roles of stakeholders.
 Authorization requirements and routing alternatives.
 Databases used.
 Sequence of tasks.
 Workflow systems ensure that..
 Proper transactions, decisions,
& work activities are performed.
 Correct data and documents are routed to the right employees, customers, suppliers, and
other business stakeholders.

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 Essential E-Commerce Processes (con.)
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 Event notification
 Most applications are event driven.
 New customer’s first visit.
 Payment and delivery processes.
 Customer relationship & supply chain management activities.
 Notifies those concerned when an event occurs that might affect their status
in a transaction.
 Collaboration and training
 Supports the collaboration arrangements & trading services needed by
customers, suppliers, & other stakeholders.
 May be provided by Internet-based trading services.

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 Electronic Payment (E-Payment) Processes.
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 Processes are complex.

 Securityissues.
 Wide variety of debit and credit alternatives.

 Wide variety of financial institutions and intermediaries.

 Web payment processes.

 Credit cards.
 E-Purchase orders.

 Electronic shopping cart.

 An example of a secure electronic payment system with many

payment alternatives is illustrated on next slide:

Ahmed Gamal – Logistics Information Systems Applications - Lecture # 8

 Web Payment Processes
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Ahmed Gamal – Logistics Information Systems Applications - Lecture # 8

 Electronic Payment (E-Payment) Processes (con.)
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 Electronic funds transfer (EFT)

 Uses a variety of IT to capture and process money and credit
transfers between banks and businesses and their customers.
 ATMs and Pay-by-phone.
 Web-based.
 PayPal & Bill Point (cash transfers).
 Check Free and Pay Trust (automatic bill paying services).
 Electronic bill payment.
 Point-of-sale terminals linked to bank EFT systems.

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 Electronic Payment Processes - Secure Electronic Payments
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 Secure electronic payments :

 When you make an online purchase on the Internet, your credit
card info is vulnerable to interception by network sniffers.
 SW that easily recognizes credit card number formats.
 Several basic security measures are being used to solve this
security problem, They include:
 Encrypt data passing between customer and seller.
 Encrypt the data passing between the customer and the company
authorizing the credit card transaction.

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 Electronic Payment Processes - Secure Electronic Payments
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Secure Socket Layer (SSL):

Automatically encrypts data passing between your web
browser and a seller’s server.
 Digital Wallet:
You add security software add-on modules to your web
browser. This enables your browser to encrypt your credit
card data in such a way that only the bank that authorizes
credit card transactions for the merchant can see it.
 Secure Electronic Transaction standard (SET):
software encrypts a digital envelope of digital certificates
specifying the payment details for each transaction.
 SET
is expected to become the dominant standard for secure electronic
payments on the Internet.

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 Conclusion in Conclusion
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 Using technology well is proving to be one of the most prominent drivers of

business success.
 E-business consists of several major components, one of which is e-commerce.
 Every Internet business is either pure-play (an Internet presence only) or brick-
and-click (having both a physical and an online presence).
 The seven major types of e-commerce are B2B, B2C, C2C, B2G, C2B, m-commerce,
and P2P.
 An e-commerce business model is the method that a business uses to generate
revenue online.
 Some models are very simple; others are more complicated.
 New business models are being introduced all the time.
 E-commerce will continue to grab more market share, and the line between online
and offline commerce will become less defined.

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