IT for Decision Makers

e Commerce Overview

By Taholo Kamifor UNESCO

What is e Commerce?

e commerce is enabling or achieving your business

objectives by using information technology to enhance or transform your business

processes. Kami, 2000

e commerce

Business to business (B2B) automating supply increasing business efficiency Car manufacturing ordering tires from

supplierBusiness to Consumer (B2C)

Retail Sales ,Ordering books online Customer Support

Consumer to Consumer (C2C) Online Auctions of second hand articles,

antique pieces

eCommerceecommerce is more then just an

online shop selling goods…. Businesses make huge savings by more efficient interaction with their suppliers or buyers. A local pharmacist orders 60% of his

supplies from an overseas pharmaceutical suppliers website and saves 5% in his purchases - is this ecommerce?

A remote Fiji resort attracts guests from the USA after several exchanges of email. Is this ecommerce?

Global

400 million users of Internet worldwide

1999 US online retail sales - US$20bn. Forrester Research

2000 US online retail sales - US$30bn+ Forrester Research

2004 US Online retail sales US$6.9 trillion. Forrester Research

electronic payment of bills and banking will cost US Postal Service $17bn over 10 years.

Interpretation ?

Consumers are willing to spend money on online transactions.

Despite the recent dot.com drop in investment - consumers continue to use the Internet in growing numbers.

The US figures are only part of the global picture.

What is working?

Travel / Tourism Retail - items that don’t need personal

touch - objectivity in product quality and performance music, books, gifts, Computers,

electronic items Auctions

Real Estate - houses and investment properties.

Customer support servicesMore efficient and effective processes

between businesses (B 2 B)

What is not working?

Items which require “touch and trial” Luxury goods Clothes

Groceries - it works for some people but market is restricted

Note: Many OFF line factors determine success of Online service.

Eg. Transport network, customer profiles,

Demonstrations - Tourism

Tourism: www.tongaonline.com/sailingsafarisSailing Safaris - Tonga One boat operation in 1996 from small

island base Competing with 2 multinational yacht

companies with global marketing network

Since 1997 - 80% of business from web site.

This statistic 60-80% of bookings from web inquiries is common to Tourism operators in the Pacific.

Objectives?

Why get online? Promote awareness of your

Organization Sell a product Customer support Information and contact page Networking Everyone else has a web page

Plan

What is your product?Electronic, Services or physicalPortable and inexpensive to deliverTourism

Who is your market?Overseas buyersUpper income art collectorsBudget travellers / Up market

Obstacles, Implementation and deadlines.

Getting Online

Hosting Your WebsiteFast AccessCost, Support, Space and Services

Choosing a Domain Name (web address)

www.myname.com / .nu / .to / .tv / .fj /

Calling Card Choose name that relates to product Reflects on organizationEasy to remember

Design Issues

Often Simple Is Better E.g. National PNG, Yahoo Complexity depends on your website

objectivesPlanning content

How do you keep content fresh and relevant

Who Develops your website? Professional Services Do it Yourself

Web Site Software

Web-site CreationCommon Software Tools. Image Editing Adobe Photoshop Jasc.com Web Page Development Paint shop Microsoft Front page - $150 Dream Weaver - $150 – 200 Netscape Communicator-FreeNote: There are a lot of cheaper software

online.

Managing your Web Site

Managing your website can take TIME!

Adapting Business processesCustomer expectationsLimitations of the medium (non face to face)

Transactions

1. Getting paid online is very difficult in some countries. Many banks will need a large deposit or a strong relationship to allow a SME to open a merchant / credit card processing account at a bank.

Alternatives include: Bank transfer Credit Cards

Merchant account Manual / Automated processing Third party processing

paypal.com

Delivery

Delivering an artifact after online purchase or attracting visitors to an eco tourism resort - managing expectations is essential

People are used to guaranteed delivery but more importantly, communicate reality so expectations are realistic. E.g. Implement a 2 week guarantee for

goods Ensure online advertisement meets

expectations Use a reliable delivery service (TNT,

FedEx)

Marketing Web site

How do people find your website?ONLINE Strategy

Links from related and / or popular web sites

Search Engines Online Advertisements Informed by other users

Marketing Your Website

OFFLINE Strategy - Show Your URLwww.MYCOMPANY.com

Stationary Advertising on conventional media Trade shows

What terms do you want to include?What risks are you trying to avoid?How will disputes about contract be dealt

with?What is the governing law?Who will sign it?

Making a contract

Conclusion

Despite infrastructure limitations, the target market in developed countries are likely to be Internet users.

If unsure, start small. An existing website helps develop your capacity to interact with customers and measure web potential.

Lobby Government for effective IT Strategy that develops infrastructure and builds local capacity.