E-commerce Kenneth C. LaudonCarol Guercio Traver

business. technology. society.Third Edition

Chapter 4Building an E-commerce Web Site

Building an E-commerce Site: A Systematic ApproachTwo most important management challenges in building a successful e-commerce site are:Developing a clear understanding of business objectivesKnowing how to choose the right technology to achieve those objectives

Pieces of the Site-Building PuzzleMain areas where you will need to make decisions in building a site include:Human resources and organizational capabilitiescreating a team that has the skill set to build and manage a successful siteHardwareSoftwareTelecommunicationsSite design

The Systems Development Life CycleSystems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a methodology for understanding the business objectives of a system and designing an appropriate solutionFive major steps in the SDLC are:Systems analysis/planningSystems designBuilding the systemTestingImplementation

Web Site Systems Development Life CycleFigure 4.2, Page 195

System Analysis/Planning: Identifying Business Objectives, System Functionality, and Information RequirementsBusiness objectives: a list of capabilities you want your site to haveSystem functionalities: a list of the types of information system capabilities you will need to achieve your business objectivesInformation requirements: the information elements that the system must produce in order to achieve the business objectives

Systems Analysis: Business Objectives, System Functionality, and Information Requirements for a Typical E-commerce SiteTable 4.1, Page 196

Systems Design: Hardware and Software PlatformsIn the System Design step, a description of the main components of a system and their relationship to one another is developedSystem design can be broken down into two parts:Logical designData Flow Diagrams (DFDs)http://www.smartdraw.com/tutorials/software/dfd/tutorial_01.htmPhysical design

A Logical Design for a Simple Web SiteFigure 4.3 (a), Page 198

A Physical Design for a Simple Web SiteFigure 4.3 (b), Page 198

Building and Hosting the System: In-House versus OutsourcingOutsourcing: hiring an outside vendor to provide services involved in building or hosting the site The build your own versus outsourcing decision:Build your own requires team with diverse skill set; choice of software tools; both risks and possible benefitsHost your own versus outsourcing decision:Hosting: hosting company is responsible for ensuring site is accessible 24/7, for monthly feeCo-location: firm purchases or leases a Web server (with control over its operation), but server is located in at vendors physical facility

Choices in Building and HostingFigure 4.4, Page 201

Tools for Building e-Commerce SitesBuilding from scratch HTML, Dreamweaver, FrontPage, SQL DatabaseUsing packaged site building toolsMicrosoft Commerce Software http://www.microsoft.com/commerceserver/default.mspxUse pre-built templateshttp://www.templatemonster.com/http://networksolutionsretail.com/samplesites/DIFMgallery/

Testing, Implementation, and MaintenanceTesting: Includes unit testing, system testing, and acceptance testingImplementation and maintenance: Maintenance is ongoing Benchmarking: process by which site is compared to those of competitors in terms of response speed, quality of layout, and design

Factors in Web Site OptimizationFigure 4.7, Page 205

Simple versus Multi-tiered Web Site ArchitectureSystem architecture: refers to the arrangement of software, machinery, and tasks in an information system needed to achieve a specific functionalityTwo-tier architecture: Web server responds to requests for Web pages and a database server provides backend data storageMulti-tier architecture: Web server is linked to a middle-tier layer that typically includes a series of application servers that perform specific tasks, as well as to a backend layer of existing corporate systems

Two-Tier E-commerce ArchitectureFigure 4.9(a), Page 207

Multi-tier E-commerce ArchitectureFigure 4.9(b), Page 207

Web Server SoftwareAll e-commerce sites require basic Web server software to answer HTTP requests from customersApache is the leading Web server software; works only with UNIX operating systems (No longer true!!!!)Microsofts Internet Information Server (IIS) is the second major Web server software

Basic Functionality Provided by Web ServersTable 4.3, Page 209

Site Management ToolsAll Web servers contain basic site management tools that verify that links on pages are still valid and also identify orphan filesAdditional site management software and services such as those provided by Webtrends can be purchased (See your textbook for a display of the Webtrends screens) http://www.webtrends.com/Products/OtherProducts/WebPosition.aspx

Dynamic Page Generation ToolsDynamic page generation: contents of Web page are stored as objects in a database rather than being hard-coded in HTML, and are fetched when needed from databaseTools include CGI (Common Gateway Interface), ASP (Active Server Pages), JSP (Java Server Pages), PHP, etc.

Application ServersWeb application servers: software programs that provide specific business functionality required of a Web siteAre an example of middleware softwareA number of different types available, providing a variety of functionality

Application Servers and Their FunctionsTable 4.4, Page 212

E-commerce Merchant Server Software FunctionalityProvides the basic functionality needed for online sales, including:Online catalogShopping cartCredit card processingExamples: Yahoo Stores (basic), Microsofts Commerce Server 2002 (midrange), Broadvision (high-end)http://www.broadvision.com/bvsn/bvcom/demand/home.do

Merchant Server Software Packages (E-commerce Suites)Offer integrated environment that provides functionality and capabilities needed to develop sophisticated, customer-centric siteKey factors to consider in choosing include:FunctionalitySupport for different business modelsBusiness process modeling toolsVisual site management tools and reportingPerformance and scalabilityConnectivity to existing business systemsCompliance with standardsGlobal and multicultural capabilityLocal sales tax and shipping rules

Choosing the Hardware for an E-commerce SiteHardware platform: refers to all the underlying computing equipment that the system uses to achieve e-commerce functionalityObjective to have enough platform capacity to meet peak demand but not so much that you are wasting moneyImportant to understand the different factors that affect speed, capacity, and scalability of a site

Right-Sizing Your Hardware Platform: The Demand SideDemand that customers put on a site is the most important factor affecting the speed of a siteFactors involved in demand include:Number of simultaneous users in peak periodsNature of customer requests (user profile)Type of content (dynamic versus static Web pages)Required securityNumber of items in inventoryNumber of page requestsSpeed of legacy applications

Factors in Right-sizing an E-commerce PlatformTable 4.6, Page 217

Degradation in Performance as Number of Users IncreasesFigure 4.12 (a), Page 218

Degradation in Performance as Number of Users IncreasesFigure 4.12 (a), Page 218

The Relationship of Bandwidth to HitsFigure 4.14, Page 221SOURCE: IBM, 2003.

Right-Sizing Your Hardware Platform: The Supply SideScalability: refers to the ability of a site to increase in size as demand warrantsWays to scale hardware:Vertically: increase the processing power of individual componentsHorizontally: employ multiple computers to share the workload

Vertical and Horizontal Scaling TechniquesTable 4.8, Page 222

Improving the Processing Architecture of Your SiteTable 4.9, Page 224

Web Site Design: Basic Business ConsiderationsTo achieve basic business functionality of a Web site, need to be aware of design guidelines and software tools that can build active content and functionalityPoorly designed Web sites drive customers away

E-commerce Web Site Features that Annoy CustomersFigure 4.17, Page 225SOURCE: Based on data from Hostway Corporations survey, Consumers Pet Peeves about Commercial Web Sites, Hostway Corporation, 2005.

The Eight Most Important Factors in Successful E-commerce Site DesignTable 4.10, Page 226

Personalization ToolsPersonalization: Ability to treat people based on their personal qualities and prior history with your siteCustomization: Ability to change the product to better fit the needs of the customerCookies the primary method for achieving personalization and customization

The Information Policy SetPrivacy policy: Set of public statements declaring how site will treat customers personal information that is gathered by siteAccessibility rules: Set of design objectives that ensure disabled users can affectively access site

Unit testing testing the sites program modules one at a time

System testing testing the site as a whole

Acceptance testing requires the firms key personnel and managers using the system in test mode.

Annual system maintenance cost will roughly parallel the development cost for smaller systems while there will be some economy of scale on larger systems. (If a system cost $40,000 to develop, count on the maintenance cost being $40,000 per year)Why is cost high? E-com sites change often data, links, hardware breakdowns. Page design and content efficient styles can reduce reponse times by 2 5 seconds. Reduce unnecessary HTML comments and white space, use more efficient graphics (JPEG vs. GIF), avoid unnecessary links to other pages in site.

Page generation speed can be enhanced by segregating computer servers to perform dedicated functions (ie., media servers, database servers, application logic) and using devices from vendors to speed up servers

Page delivery can be speeded up by using Akamai or by increasing local bandwidthWhen you choose a web server software, you will be choosing an operating system for your sites computersApache comes installed on most IBM computers and can be downloaded free. It is very stable and there are a lot of utility software programs written for Apache. Your staff will have to understand UNIX (or PC variant, Linux)

IIS is based on the Windows operating system and is compatible with many Microsoft utility programs.

Client side processing Java Script client side, VBScript,

Server side processing PHP, ASP, ColdFusion, PerlBasic Packages: Bizland, Yahoo Stores

Midrange Packages: Microsofts Commerce Server 2002

High-end: Broadvision, One-to-One Commerce, Interworlds Commerce Exchange 6.0Vertical Scaling: upgrade servers from single processor to multiple processorsDisadv entire site becomes dependent on a small number of very powerful computers

Horizontal scaling: adding multiple single-processor servers to your site and balancing the load among the servers (i.e., some handle HTML, some database applications)Disadv: Added server management complexity