E-COMMERCE AND WEB DESIGN

E-Commerce and Web Design



E-Commerce and Web Design

Introduction

E-commerce is an economic activity that involves the buying and selling of goods via the Internet or online mediums (Chan et al, 2001). Jones et al (2001) suggest that e-commerce is not just the business of selling products and services online, but it refers to the process of doing just about every aspect of business over the internet. The initial activities of electronic commerce first took place in the United States in the year 1995 (Kenneth & Guercio, 2008). However, it was not very popular and integrated since the very beginning. It was only later on, that the world recognized its usability and convenience, integrating it into various forms of businesses to achieve benefits and gains. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent the user from being exposed to Internet fraud, as the security code of Visa cards, which is printed on the signature panel and three-digit characters are inclined to the left. However, some people have yet to be convinced of its usefulness.

This project will begin the discussion with demonstrating the advantages and disadvantages of e-commerce. This will be followed by a design for a simple system of e-commerce, containing a website connected to a database. The design will be based on the users' profile, users' personas, scenarios, task models, system objectives, projects requirements, legal requirements and accessibility issues. In the end, this project will evaluate the entire system using certain techniques of monitoring and evaluation.

Discussion and Analysis

The Advantages and Disadvantages of E-Commerce:

The Electronic Commerce was created as an alternative and cost reduction as a key tool in the performance business, forming an important part in the Internet world, which knows no borders and is transforming the world (Kenneth & Guercio, 2008). Internet has become an integral part of human life, a commodity which we cannot simply live without. In recent times, the integration of internet in all spheres of daily life is quite evident. Kenneth & Guercio, (2008) suggest that in the US, around 92 million people go online every day, and around 76 million send e-mails. In addition, about 50 million have used Wikipedia, and 26 million created a social network profile in 2007 (Kenneth & Guercio, 2008). Jones et al (2001) suggest that if you have a business network on the internet then you can exchange data with the world, exchange data with your employees, exchange data with partners and exchange data within your organization. However, the biggest problem may face e-commerce is the security. Jones et al (2001, P56) point out: “Any business that opens its network to the outside world runs the risk of letting bad people in. The media are full of stories about hackers who steal credit card numbers and other confidential information”.

Fletcher et al, (2004) suggest that there are some disadvantages that apply to e-commerce such the ease with which a competing firm may have an access to the personal information and figures of the original ...