E-Commerce Infrastructure

1. Introduction

2. Need for an Intelligent Website

3. Technology Infrastructure Required

4. Basic Web Languages for Web Designing

5. Corporate Strategic Infrastructure Required

6. Miscellaneous Website Design Tips

 

1. Introduction

In the previous unit, you read about the requirements of e-commerce and the

significance and components of I-Way. The fact remains that for any e-commerce

to be successfull, the website should be very user-friendly and attractive.

Therefore, web design is very important for company status and e-marketing

because a website works as a representative of its respective company. An

attractive website motivates the consumer to explore it further. One should keep

the following points in mind when assessing a website:

• A website should be easily accessible to a consumer and its structure

should not be difficult. It should be customer-oriented.

• It should be up to date on company’s policies, schemes and offers

about new products.

• The content of a website should be made attractive with the use of

text, pictures, animation, sound, video, etc.

• It should be designed in a manner that it can be downloaded quickly

because a consumer will not wait if a website is slow.

• The website should provide detailed and complete information
regarding its products and services; else, the consumer will not
understand the product’s value.

• Ideally, a good website explains how and what its organization offers
by pointing out how it differs from its competitors, and how it can
make a difference to the customer’s life.

• Since a vast amount of information is displayed on a website, the
website should be coherent. The customer should be able to easily
navigate the website.

• A good website should have subsections.

• A linking structure is mandatory. It describes the way in which the
alternative sections of the site are linked. This linking structure enables
users to easily move back and forth between the site’s subsections.

• Navigation tools should be present. These refer to the site tools that
facilitate the user’s movement throughout the site.

To attract and retain users, some sites provide a number of features.
Some such features are as follows:

(i) The user returns and enters the requisite information through the login
registration. The site recognizes the returning user and configures itself
as per the user’s preset preferences.

(ii) In order to identify the visitors, most sites try to track and collect data on
the returning user’s behaviour by saving, identifying and tracking
information on the user’s local disk storage in temporary files called
cookies.

(iii) Many sites provide free e-mail accounts to send and receive e-mails from
the site using a unique e-mail ID.

(iv) Users can select screen layouts and content sources based on their
interests.

                                   Figure 1 Basics of a Commercial Website

2. Need for an Intelligent Website

One cannot build an intelligent website that optimally has all sources of
information for an online company, overnight. Actually, it is a long process that
requires significant investment in technology, and an accumulation of knowledge
that can come only with experimentation and trial and error. Website intelligence
leverages four types of information.

(i) Demographics: This explains such basic elements of the customers as:

• Who they are
• What their income is
• Their marital status

(ii) Expressed Preferences: This explains what topics customers have
expressed an interest in; for example, types of music, choice of books,
and the stocks they track. The preferences are generally stored through
form-based questionnaires provided when the customer registers for a
site or a service.

(iii) Past Transactions: These are records of past transactions that the
consumers have had with a company. They are recorded when a customer
actually makes a purchase.

(iv) Observed Behaviour: This type of information is derived by observing the
manner in which the customer navigates when using the website. It also
tracks the sites he visited previous to and after visiting the said site.
Consider the following steps that e-commerce companies typically follow
in leveraging their information.

Step 1: Basic Web traffic analysis

Before starting any Web activity, one first needs to analyse the Web traffic. This
type of data provides a record of the entry and exit points into a website, pages
that were visited, links that were followed, the duration for which a person viewed
a particular page, the precise day and time of visit, the browser type, visitor’s IP
address and other information.

Step 2: Customer interaction analysis

This step is used to collect more information about the customer’s interactions
with the website. The registered users are people who have had to register for
site usage, generally by filling out a survey form. As you know, in any site (even
a free site) the user has to fill a registration form in which there are various
types of questions related to profession, education, age, gender, leisure activities,
merchandise purchasing, etc. Through this registration process, the site is able
to get information related to both the demographics and preference. This type
of data is used to help inform personalization engines to serve the contents
according to the visitor’s interests.

Step 3: Real-time personalization

Personalization is the ultimate realization of the one-to-one marketing dream.
Customers are recognized when they come in; they can tailor the way they
interact with the merchant; and receive promotions and marketing pogrammes
that perfectly fit their personal requirements and preferences.
The following are four ways of personalization:

(a) Greetings: This is a more general way of personalization. The customer
is greeted by name and welcomed back whenever he or she visits the
site.

(b) Customization: It allows a customer to tailor the service he or she receives
from an e-commerce site. For example, any Hotmail user can customize
his use of the popular search engine by creating a ‘My Hotmail’ environment
which is more adapted to his needs.

(c) Narrowcasting: This relates to the delivery of time-sensitive information,
personalized to each customer. These types of personalized messages
can be sent through e-mails, phone calls or pagers which enable the
customer to receive information without having to connect to the site.

(d) Recommendation: Recommendation technology has evolved dramatically
in the past few years. Earlier, it was based only on the preferences that a
customer would have explicitly expressed during registration. Now, it can
be done in real time and predicted automatically by the personalization
engine using different types of information such as observed real-time
behaviour, purchase histories and expressed preferences.

Step 4: Getting to fine-grained segmentation

Fine-grained segmentation is used to enhance the site’s marketing power by
using an e-commerce intelligence system performing customer segmentation.
You can start with products that are at hand’s reach through coarse segmentation,
and then continue to fine-grained segmentation. This step also uses artificial
intelligence to conduct knowledge discovery. That is, it can look for patterns in
large data sets and identify common elements.

Step 5: Going through the streams of clicks

The click-stream data contains details on customer behaviour that are richer
than what can be achieved in traditional channels. Click-stream information is
the recording of every page request from every visitor by the website owners.
This information is stored into massive log files.

Step 6: Enrich content with external data

Once a customer performs a number of purchases, the website is able to further
enhance the customer’s profile. Demographic data from third party providers
may be added to the profile to provide a richer view of the customer base.
Analysing the enriched data might show, for instance, that a customer who
buys history books falls into a demographic segment which is also inclined to
buy classical music.

Step 7: Reaching optimal intelligence

A company can reach optimal intelligence once it is able to combine historical
transaction records, observed behaviour via click-stream data and preferences
expressed in online surveys.

2.1 Website: Goals, Objectives and Manpower Required

Before creating a web page, it is important to decide the goals, objectives, and
overall purpose of the e-commerce website. Without these, the website may
not have the focus it needs to be successful. To help determine the goals and
objectives, you have to ask and answer questions such as the following:

• Will the website collect information about current and potential customers?
• Will the website allow the customers to make online orders for products
and services?
• Will the website advertise products and services?
• Will the website provide links to the related web pages?
• Will the website provide general information or industry-related
information?
• Will the website recruit employees?
• Will the website act as a virtual salesperson that will perform online
transactions?
• How many web pages are planned for design?
• Should the site be structured such that it helps in gathering data for the
purpose of marketing?
• Is there a requirement for development of special tools to help users
when they visit the site?
Based on the answers to the aforementioned questions, you will either
require a one-stop shop or separate contractors that will look into each part of

the site. The simplicity or complexity of the act of designing a website largely
depends on your imagination and/or budget constraints.

2.2 Design vs Development

Often, the terms ‘Web designing’ and ‘Web development’ are used
interchangeably. This, however, is not an accurate usage. Designing a website
and developing one are two very different activities. Designing a website has
two components, the ‘front end’ and the ‘back end.’ While these have been
used interchangeably, usually design means the front-end whereas development
means the back-end.

Front-end design

When a customer visits a site, what he sees is the front end. These are the
‘pages’ that display the graphics, images, and text on your site. Those that
design a website focus on this end. They select appropriate images and fonts
and even decide text and image arrangement. Appreciation of aesthetics is a
Web designer’s strength. He need not be tech savvy. Nonetheless, apart from
understanding what will be visually appealing on screen, designers need to
know the technical limitations while designing for the Web. An experienced
Web designer should also be able to collaborate with a Web developer.

Back-end development

Web developers help you build your website. They work on the back end, the
side not visible to the surfer, to make a site work. Although not seen by visitors,
this site is required to enhance the visitor’s experience.
Back-end functions are all about making provisions so that visitors can
view different pages and even enter data, execute sales transactions, and allow
images to alter or move. It is important for the Web developer to be adept at
various/languages such as Javascript.
Thus, it is important to ensure that the resumes of potential employees
reflect the following skills:

• HTML (is used to create text and the layout framework of the page)
• Web imaging (it creates and compresses images)
• Javascript (it writes programs which run as part of web pages)
• ASP (customizes web pages for users)
• Java/C++ (writes programs that are embedded in a web page)

2.3 Advantages of a Website

What is novel about the Internet is that it not only is a mine of information, but is
also available at the click of a button. The Internet is undoubtedly a huge source
of knowledge. All that a person requires is a website and a resource-generous
Web hosting company. Most people feel that designing a website is an expensive
project. This, however, is not true. All that you need to do is to find the right Web
host. The benefits of a website will certainly override the costs.
Whether for personal use, or to aid a business venture, the advantages
of a website are tremendous. Many who have their own websites use them to
further a hobby or an interest since a personal website too can be an excellent
avenue for the exchange of knowledge with others. On the other hand, firms
use websites such that their goods and services are marketed and promoted.
For them, the attractive advantage is that they are able to cut costs involving
postage, couriers and advertising, etc. For them, cutting back on such expenses
as postage, couriers and advertising, etc., becomes the attractive advantage.
The following are the key benefits of having a website.

Increased awareness of products and services

The Internet allows a business to expand its markets tremendously. Businesses
no longer need to limit their focus only to the local scene. Through the use of the
Internet, businesses can effortlessly explore international and regional markets.
This introduces dynamic changes in participating businesses. This is because,
their nature and marketing activities alter and many find encouragement to enter
new markets by diversifying their products and services. Trading hours too find
extension since numerous items can be viewed on a website round the clock.

Freedom

The Internet provides great freedom to its users. Therefore, not only do those
that are otherwise introverts, frequent the Net, but even the smallest of
businesses are tempted to join. In fact, such is its growth rate that users are
alarmingly increasing at a rate of approximately 50,000 per day. Since information
can be freely posted on the website, and hence the Net, businesses profit in a
huge way. Not only has the Net become a huge customer marketplace, but
businesses have found a medium that enables them to compete with the largest
of organizations, on an even field.

Cost advantage

Web businesses are keenly aware of their profit potential simply by being on
the Internet. The advantages are very obvious. They can advertise their products
and services and yet avoid the costs and delays caused by such activities as
printing, publishing and distribution. Since the Internet offers a global
marketplace, greater value is added to the costs outlaid for promotion and
marketing. Thus, compared to the offline market, the benefits are many more.
Websites incorporate e-commerce facilities that transform 2D screen visuals
into user-reactive models. For instance, consumers can place online orders for
products and services. This greatly reduces their administration costs. Some of
the ways to reduce costs are—follow-ups through e-mails thereby reducing
costs incurred by making phone calls, electronically generated and distributed
newsletters that reduce printing and distribution costs, and most importantly,
extended trading hours.
It is now felt that if any business does not exist on the Internet, then it is
not only losing out on the benefits of a dynamic industry, but is also increasing
its chances of being forgotten.

3. Technology Infrastructure Required

A great deal of planning and preparation goes into the development of a
successful website. Acquiring the vital tools of the Internet is a significant part
of that preparation.

HTML Editor

An HTML editor is a software program used to edit and create HTML documents.
This is a tedious process which is why most Internet marketers prefer using an
HTML editor. There are some that prefer writing their own HTML code.
Nonetheless, HTML editor is an advantageous tool to use, as there are editors
that tend to add unnecessary codes which may not support the latest technology.
As a potential Web developer, whether you write your own HTML or use an
editor, learning HTML is very essential. Its knowledge not only provides
independence, but it also enables one to add special effects a feature that not
many HTML editors support.

Text Editor

A text editor is a software program used to edit text which does not involve any
special formatting. Those who write their own HTML code, need an adequate
text editor. Although using a text editor can be a time-consuming activity, its use
ensures that the code is clean, free from errors and that the file size is not very
large. Moreover, a text editor is also useful in writing articles and in editing
scripts. Those who have a Windows operating system use the Note Pad as
their preferred text editor.

FTP

File Transfer Protocol, or FTP, is a system that is used to upload files to a Web
server and download files from a Web server. It provides you a way to control files
on the server. This makes it an important tool. An FTP program enables operators
upload scripts, set file permissions, create folders and transfer files to and from a
server. To use FTP, a software program that supports it has to be downloaded
and installed in the computer; the most popularly used being WS FTP Pro.

Graphics Editor

A graphics editor is a software program used to edit as well as to design graphics.
Most Internet entrepreneurs find graphic designing intimidating. However,
since hiring a professional graphics designer can be expensive, most
entrepreneurs learn some basic design techniques. The program that Internet
marketers use the most is Paint Shop Pro. It is a powerful program and alone
can design graphics professionally.

Zip/Unzip Software

A Zip file is an ‘archive’ of one or more files compressed into one file for easy
distribution. These are used to compress and transport file archives over the
Internet. Since downloading one Zip file is more convenient than downloading
several different files ZIP file is the popular method for distributing files
electronically. Moreover, the files in the Zip archive are compressed. Therefore,
download time gets minimized.
You can effortlessly extract or unzip a Zip file using a Zip/Unzip software
program. WinZip is the most popular Zip program because it makes the use of
file archives easy and uncomplicated. WINZIP has certain easy features that
allow files to be conveniently viewed, extracted, added, deleted and tested.
These features include point-and-click and drop-and-drag.

E-mail

Most Internet service providers also feature and provide e-mail accounts to their
clients. Nonetheless, these accounts are inadequate to conduct business over
the Internet. This is more true for those businesses that receive large numbers of
e-mails every day. The disadvantage of an e-mail is that it contains the ISP’s
name and is also very limited when it comes to features and options. Outlook and
Eudora are the most popular e-mail clients. Outlook and Eudora enable you to
download e-mails from a server. In addition, it offers such features as sorting and
filtering. You can easily organize e-mail messages. The most important feature is
that your e-mail address remains your own domain and not another’s. Therefore,
a webmaster toolbox always has a significant role in your success.

4. Basic Web Languages for Web Designing

HTML

HTML is a method which converts ordinary text into hypertext. Technically
speaking, HTML is not a programming language, but a set of special codes that
controls a text’s layout and appearance. The instructions are within a data. This
data informs the browser, which is a display program, how to render the data
that is contained in the document.

JavaScript

Originally called LiveScript, JavaScript was developed by Netscape. An
agreement with Sun Microsystems changed the original name. The intention
was to benefit from the growing popularity of Java Programming language.
JavaScript is a language that can be executed on the web browser. Java script
programs do not require any software and can run on Internet Explorer or
Netscape Navigator. It is a client side scripting language, and is basically used
to validate and edit an image, text colours and other things. JavaScript is casesensitive.

VBScript

Developed by Microsoft, VBScript is a subset of the Visual Basic for Application
language used in Microsoft Office suite. Just like the JavaScript, VBScript is
also a client-based language. Again, like Java, VBScript is also run on Internet
Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. The most pertinent difference between them is
that while VB can be compiled, a VBScript cannot be compiled. VBScript is the
default ASP scripting language.

Perl Script

Perl is a powerful text processing language. Prior to the development of Active
Server Page (ASP), it was extensively used in Common Gateway Interface
(CGI) scripting. Perl Script is a subset of Perl and retains most of its functionality.
Microsoft does not ship Perl Script with ASP, but it can be downloaded from the
Internet.

Active Server Page

Active Server Page (ASP) allows users to be treated as unique entities. This, in
spite of the fact that all the users may be running the same program on the
same machine, i.e.,your Web server. Needless to say, running a complex
program for multiple users on one computer requires many resources.
Fortunately, Microsoft makes sure that those resources are at the users’s
disposal. ASP provides:

• A means by which individualized data can be saved for each other
• Access to the various file systems
• Access to the various databases
• A way by which Control Object Model (COM) can be launched and
controlled
In other words, ASP can be used to create multi-user application. This
implies that one can obtain application scalability by leveraging ASP.

XML

XML is not just another mark-up language, it is a Meta language. In programming
parlance, ‘meta’ means description. In other words, it is used to provide
descriptive information about a document. It is very different from HTML. The
main difference is that while HTML is a ‘fixed’ language, XML is not. HTML has
a set, pre-decided structure that has to be followed to make pages workable.
XML, on the other hand, is flexible enough to allow users to create their own
tags. It can even be extended by creating other mark-up languages with it. XML
can be used to write mark-up languages for many kinds of applications. They
can be used for ATM machines, databases, etc. It is not only a powerful tool for
creating other languages but it also works much like its parent language, SGML.
At the same time, the advantage that XML has over SGML is that SGML is
extremely complicated while XML is relatively easy to learn and use.

5. Corporate Strategic Infrastructure Required

Initially, when companies were beginning to establish themselves on the Web,
their websites was in their infancy. They were more like static brochures, were
not updated frequently with new or additional information and did not possess
the ability to help the company’s customer or vendor transact business. As Web
technology transformed fairly rapidly, only a few businesses were able to catch
up with these changes in terms of website development and management.
Internal Development vs Outsourcing: There are a fair number of companies
that tend to avoid the problems of e-commerce site development by outsourcing
the project. However, this is not advisable. An e-commerce website can be
successful only if it integrates and supports those activities which the business
is engaging in. Nonetheless there are, companies that are large and technically
self-sufficient enough to launch their own e-commerce projects without requiring
external help. The key to the success of any project is that a balance is struck
between the support from inside and outside for each project.

Internal Team: To begin with, a company needs to decide the parts of its ecommerce
project that require to be outsourced. This is achieved by creating
an internal team that assumes responsibility for the entire project. Such a team
should include professionals who have sufficient knowledge about the Internet
and the Web. They also need to be creative and interested in taking their
company beyond its existing boundaries. Including a technical professional is
not sufficient. The person should be knowledgeable about the company’s
business. In order to create a successful e-commerce project, it is very essential
that the appointed people have sound business knowledge, creativity, and are
well respected by the company’s line managers.
The internal team takes full responsibility for the e-commerce project.
This means that from deciding the objectives of the site to their final
implementation and operation, the team is ultimately responsible for the initiative.
This team also has the responsibility of deciding the sections of the project that
need to be outsourced.

Early Outsourcing: Many companies choose to outsource the initial designing
and development of their e-commerce projects. This is usually done for an
early launch of the project. The outsourced team develops the site, and trains
professionals from the concerned company before handing them charge of the
site. This mechanism is known as early outsourcing.

 Late Outsourcing: This type of outsourcing works in the reverse pattern. The
initial site design and development is done by the professionals of the concerned
company. They even implement the system and operate it so that it becomes a
stable and integral part of the company. After the company gains the competitive
edge that the system was meant to provide, its maintenance is outsourced. In
this way, professionals can channelize their energies to further develop new
technologies. This mechanism is known as late outsourcing.

Partial Outsourcing: In this type of outsourcing, only specific functions of a
project are outsourced. A company that specializes in designing, developing,
implementing and operating a website is hired for this purpose. The electronic
payment system is a case in point. Most vendors willingly provide complete
customer payment processing. These vendors provide a site that takesover
when customers are ready to pay, and returns the customers to the original site
after processing the payment transaction. Handling the e-mail and response
function of numerous small websites is another example of partial outsourcing.
Many companies also like to send an automatic order confirmation via e-mail
as soon as the order or credit card payment is accepted.

6. Miscellaneous Website Design Tips

Keep it Simple

The type of website one chooses to create depends on the market one wishes
to target. Unless the market that you are trying to reach consists of teenager or
such groups that appreciate a dressy website, it is recommended to keep the
website simple. This rule is particularly applicable if yours is a professional
company.

Navigation

Also ensures that the navigation is simple. This can be done by making available
a menu, textual or graphical, on each page. If the site is large, care should be
taken that visitors always know the section they are visiting. The site should
also be such that simple easy ways are available that help locate links which
will redirect visitors to the main page or any other section.

Font Size

It is advisable not to fix the font size as there are surfers who face problems
reading text that is in a small font size. They like to set their own font size. If the
font size is fixed, it discourages many such people from visiting the site.

Load Time

Not all surfers have a DSL cable modem connection. There are many who
browse with 14.4K modems. The need for speed is the key factor on the Internet.
Whether users are on high-speed connection or dial-up modem, speed is of
great value. Recent studies have shown that if your page does not load in the
first 8 seconds, the user is likely to move away from the page. People are
switching to high speed internet connections, more so in the case of mobile
users who are on the move. The web page should load rapidly. The size should
be about 50kb including images, content and other media elements.

Screen Resolution

There are three major screen resolutions: 640 × 480, 800 × 600 and 1024 ×
768. Since mobile devices have different width, you have to provide for pages
working well on smart phones and iPad as well. You should use device emulators
to test the site on as many devices as possible. Also, since today, most users
have a screen resolution higher than 1024 × 760 pixels. The smart phone screen
also has to be taken into consideration, and the use of emulator will be most
helpful. It is erroneous to assume that all monitors are set for the same resolution.
The difference in dimension and proportion can cause unexpected issues
when zooming in mobile browsers. The close up view of the product is essential
on an e-commerce site, for e.g. Apple doubled the pixel density of its display in
iPhone 4, essentially to circumvent the zoom-in issues.

 In Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7
Right click on your desktop
Click on properties
Click on the settings tab
You can change your monitor’s resolution by sliding the bar for Screen Area.

On a MAC
Apple Menu > Control Panels > Monitors > Choose Setting

Frames

Why is it that frames do not work? This is because they increase the load time.
Loading two pages simultaneously is a problem for people with a slow connection.
Moreover, frames also take up space, more so if there are more than two frames.
If the screen’s resolution is 640x480, it can have a bad effect. Of course, you
can add a scroll but again screen resolution will pose a problem. Creating the
perfect layout can be difficult especially if it has to be created using frames that
work at all resolutions.

Animation

Animation should be kept at a minimum unless the site is meant either for
children or for teenagers. It takes away from the main focus of the site which
ideally should be its content.

Links

Links should be created that direct the visitor out of the site. This allows flexibility
to the visitor who can then browse new links while staying on your site.

Banner Exchange

Banners should never be on the front page because the visitor might get
dissuaded before he has even explored the site. Banners should be located in
the inner pages of the site. Even then these should be limited to the bottom of
the page.

Top of Page

When pages are long, links to the top of the page should be provided at the
bottom. Giving text links at the bottom is another alternative. This way, the
visitor will not have to scroll to the top for the menu.

Table Tricks

Playing around with tables can yield good results. You can place tables inside of
each other, and can differentiate by using different colours for each.

Website Image

Also ensure that your website projects the image you want it to. This image can
be projected with a simple manipulation of colours, layout and design. Fonts
too can be experimented with. A judicious use of all such elements can go a
long way to create the desired look.