Selling Mobile Accessories: E-Business Report

This e-business report discusses the strategies, infrastructure, and requirements for selling mobile accessories online. It also covers the impact of e-business strategies and the risks and challenges involved.

E-Business Report
Selling Mobile Accessories
6/4/2019

Selling Mobile Accessories: E-Business Report
Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
E-Business Model..................................................................................................................................2
Impact of E-Business Strategies............................................................................................................2
E-Business Infrastructure......................................................................................................................3
Hardware Needs................................................................................................................................3
Software Needs..................................................................................................................................3
Cloud-based Web Development Platform......................................................................................3
Cloud-Based Database...................................................................................................................4
Resource Needs.................................................................................................................................4
Functional Requirements.......................................................................................................................4
Non-Functional Requirements...............................................................................................................5
Risks & Challenges...........................................................................................................................7
Security Risks................................................................................................................................7
Operational Risks..........................................................................................................................8
Technical Risks.............................................................................................................................8
Budget Issues.................................................................................................................................8
Legal, Ethical, Social, and Cultural Issues.............................................................................................8
Recommendations & Conclusion..........................................................................................................9
References...........................................................................................................................................10
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Selling Mobile Accessories: E-Business Report
Introduction
E-Business has become necessary for a majority of the business firms in the current scenario.
This is due to the increased demand of online shopping platforms by the customers. The e-
commerce platforms allow the business firm to mark their global presence and have a
customer base across the nations. These shifts in business are observed in the past few years.
There are numerous e-commerce and e-business tactics that the organizations undertake. The
report has been prepared for the business of selling mobile accessories through the web
portal. The web portal selected by the client is an e-commerce website that shall be designed
as per the nature and demands of the business.
E-Business Model
There are several e-business models defined around the business side and the consumer side
and the interaction between the two parties.
These models that are applicable for the case of selling mobile accessories are Business to
Consumer (B2C) and Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce models. The main aim of the
business is to sell the mobile accessories to the customers as per their demands. Therefore,
the business shall implement the e-commerce strategies that may fulfil the demands of the
customers. Similarly, there are retail firms and business units that may wish to buy these
accessories in bulk for their respective customers and employees. Such transactions will
involve the two business firms and therefore, B2B model shall also be designed as per the
demands of such business units (Lindgren, 2012).
Impact of E-Business Strategies
The e-business strategies will be new for the business and there will be a number of
implications associated with it. The business firm will be able to mark its web presence
through the e-business website and the implementation of the e-business strategies. It will be
in-line with the competitors and will succeed in capturing its own and the competitor markets
through the utilization of an adequate strategy. The e-business strategies will also allow the
business firm to target the internal and the global markets and the number of customers will
gradually increase resulting in the positive impacts on the return on investments and profits
earned. The customers always wish to see an element of innovation in the services and
solutions that are provided by the organizations (Ebel, Bretschneider and Leimeister, 2016).
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Selling Mobile Accessories: E-Business Report
With the setting up an e-business website and the implementation of the e-business strategies,
the customers will be able to witness such innovations being adopted by the organization. It
will have a positive influence on their engagement levels.
E-Business Infrastructure
Hardware Needs
In order to develop and deploy an e-business website, there will be hardware components that
will be required. These will include the computer systems, such as desktops and laptops for
accessing the software components and packages. Networking and communication tools will
also be needed to sync in all of the varied set of components and share the information and
data sets. There will be data servers required for the data management and website data
storage.
Software Needs
The development of the E-business website will require design and development tools.
Microsoft Visio and Microsoft Project will be needed for system design and project planning
activities. Selenium will be the tool needed for conduction of the automated test cases. HP
Quality Centre will be the test management tool required.
Cloud-based Web Development Platform
Cloud is one of the basic needs of such e-business websites. The cloud services and platforms
are used for design, development, and deployment activities. The tool that shall be used for
the e-business website for selling mobile accessories shall be Wix tool (Wix, 2019).
There are some of the default templates and layouts that are included in the tool which may
be used for the website design and development. These wide of range of templates will save
the time and effort spent on the design activities. Customization will also be allowed in these
templates to make the changes as per the need. The website created using Wix will be a
responsive site which will provide the same user experience on the desktop as well as the
mobile platforms. The tool will allow the incorporation of the rich graphics as well. There
will be an option to make use of advanced code capability so that the APIs may be integrated.
The ease of coding will be provided to the development team involved with the project. One
of the most significant features of the tool will be an option to carry out customer
interactions. Also, an option of data analysis will be provided so that the customer data and
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Selling Mobile Accessories: E-Business Report
information along with the website data may be analysed during the development and
deployment phases. The security tools are also integrated in the Wix tool to keep the
information sets protected and the website content will be protected from the security attacks
through SSL certificates.
Cloud-Based Database
CouchDB is the cloud database that will be apt for the e-business website for selling mobile
accessories. CouchDB is the NoSQL database which will allow the ability to store the data
sets and carry out streamlined data storage (Couchdb, 2019). The handling of the website
information will also become easy with the aid of the database. There are numerous features
and functionalities that will be provided by the database to the clients. The database users will
be able to place the ad-hoc queries to carry out the database operations. Load balancing on
the application will be automated so that it does not drop at any time. The use of JavaScript
will be done so that the overall processing speed is enhanced. There is also an option of
replication in the database so that the availability of the data sets and the database does not
emerge as an issue.
Resource Needs
There will be numerous resources that will be needed to carry out the website development
and deployment processes. The primary resource will be the Project Manager that will handle
all of the project planning and control activities. There will be a development team involved
in the project as Application Developer and associate developer. UI Expert will be involved
to work on the design aspect. Database Engineer along with the panel of analysts will be
involved as well. These will include Business Analyst, Security Analyst, and Quality Analyst.
Functional Requirements
 The e-business website shall allow the users to log in to the site in a secure manner.
 The users accessing the web site shall be able to browse the products; however, they
shall register themselves on the site before they purchase an item from the site.
 The users shall be able to view the product catalogue on the site comprising of the
details of all the products, such as the name, image, description, etc.
 The users shall be able to add or remove the items from their carts before they
purchase the items (Hider, 2016).
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Selling Mobile Accessories: E-Business Report
 The matching products with the one selected and the products recommended for the
users shall be displayed on the site.
 On the placement of the orders, there shall be an expected delivery date that shall
appear for the orders.
 Social media integration shall be done on the site so that the users may share and post
information on their social media accounts using the website (Sharma, 2016).
 The details of the organization and the ability to contact the support team shall be
provided from the Contact Us page.
 The customers shall be able to search for the specific mobile accessories matching
with their handsets using the search option.
 The integration of the payment gateways shall be done on the site so that the
customers may be able to pay for their products through these modes of payment.
 The customers shall be able to track the orders by putting the order number.
 The customers shall be provided with the ability to make changes in their account data
and information.
 The customers shall be able to return or exchange a product received within 15 days
of its delivery by using the return option on the site.
Non-Functional Requirements
Apart from the functional requirements and specifications listed above, there are numerous
non-functional requirements that are also equally significant for the system. These
requirements are listed below.
 The system shall be usable in terms of the functional specifications and features. The
primary purpose of the website is to sell mobile accessories through the site and the
purpose shall be fulfilled by inclusion of the functional aspects. The site shall have
high usability and the users must be able to access these features. They shall have the
ease of usage in the site and the users shall be able to understand the workflows in the
site (Nsairi and Khadraoui, 2013).
 The website is being implemented to target the local and global customers. The time
zones of the customers will vary from each other and therefore, it will be essential that
the website is available 24 x 7. The customers shall be able to carry out all of the
website features and functionalities, such as searching for a product, placing an order,
cancelling an order etc. at any hour of the day.
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Selling Mobile Accessories: E-Business Report
 The website shall offer high degree of reliability. When a customer will place an order
for a particular item, the value of the item in the stock will decrease. The availability
or unavailability of the product on the site shall be determined using correct and up to
date information. Also, the website scalability should not be an issue for the web
development team. The website shall be scaled up or scaled down at any time as per
the requirements.
 Performance of the website must be included as a primary non-functional
requirement. There will be multiple users that will access the website at the same
time. These users shall be able to experience enhanced website performance at all
times in terms of the response rate and throughput time. The resources at the back-end
shall also be distributed adequately in order to avoid any lags (Carlson and O’Cass,
2011).
 The website will comprise of a lot of data and information sets. These will include the
customer data and information, product details available on the site, payment
information of the customers, and a lot more. All of the e-business platforms are
exposed to some of the security risks and attacks. The case will be the same for this
case as well. Therefore, the website shall be able to provide protection against the
security risks and attacks. The website shall be able to ensure that the risks, such as
malware attacks, man in the middle attacks, eavesdropping attacks, etc. shall not
occur.
 The website will be designed using specific technologies and technical components.
However, there are numerous improvements being done in the technology in the
present times. Therefore, it will be necessary that the website is maintained and it is
upgraded from time to time. The ease of maintenance shall be included in the site and
the ability to install the upgrades shall be possible with minimum downtime. It will
provide the ability to keep the maintenance costs low and the overall security of the
site and its data sets will also be promoted as a result.
 Another non-functional requirement that must be included in the site is supportability.
It is the requirement that will provide the ability to improve the customer experience
and engagement levels. There will be scenarios wherein the number of users suddenly
goes up or down on the site. In the same manner, the distribution of the resources at
the back end will be regulated. The website shall be able to handle such changes and
alterations in terms of the demand of the resources.
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Selling Mobile Accessories: E-Business Report
 There will be certain users that may wish to access the website on their desktop
computers equipped with Windows Operating System. There may also be users that
may access the site on UNIX or Linux platforms. Also, the website will be accessed
by the users on their mobile devices equipped with Windows, Android, or iOS
systems. The development of the site individually for each of these platforms will be a
costly affair. Therefore, the site shall provide the ability to be inter-operable. The site
shall have develop-once and use anywhere scheme so that the code is developed once
only.
Risks & Challenges
Security Risks
The development of an e-business website for selling mobile accessories will provide the
business with numerous capabilities and benefits. The business firm will be able to reach out
to a large number of customers through the site which will have a positive implication on the
market shares and the revenues that they will earn. However, there will be some of the
security attacks that may emerge.
The e-business website will be accessible to the users through Internet. There will be use of
cloud database on the site for the storage and the handling of the data sets. There will also be
other cloud services and platforms used for handling the site data and information. These
cloud services, platforms, and networks may bring up the network-based security issues
(Svantesson and Clarke, 2010). There may be an external entity that may access these
networks in an unauthorised manner. The network information may be accessed by the users
and it may be misused later on. For example, the malicious attackers may gain access to the
financial details of the users and they may misuse the same. There are also possibilities that
the malicious codes are launched on the site and these codes have an adverse impact on the
privacy and confidentiality of the information. There are different forms of malware attacks,
such as, ransomware attacks, viruses, logic bombs, etc. that may attack the site. The
availability of the site features and the data sets may also be an issue in the case of the
occurrence of denial of service and distributed denial of service attacks. There are issues of
data and information breaches that may occur.
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Selling Mobile Accessories: E-Business Report
Operational Risks
The website will be exposed to some of the operational risks and issues as well. For example,
the customers or the employees may carry out an operational error during the website access
and its usage.
Technical Risks
There are technical issues and risks that may occur on the site as there are numerous technical
components involved with the site. The failure or fault in one of these technical components
may have an impact on all of the associated resources. The functioning and the accessibility
of the site will get impacted as a result.
Budget Issues
With the occurrence of any of the risks and issues highlighted above, there will be effort
needed to resolve and recover from the same. There will be some of the resources that will be
needed and significant costs will be involved with these resources. This may bring up the
issues of budget overrun.
Legal, Ethical, Social, and Cultural Issues
The website will be exposed to a number of security risks and attacks. In the case of the
occurrence of the security risks, there will be loss of the information properties, such as
privacy, integrity, and confidentiality of information. These may also lead to the legal
obligations for the organization as the customers may file legal suite against the organization
involved. The employees of the business firm will be provided with the access to the database
and the confidential information of the customers. These employees may also misuse their
rights and permissions and may provide the private customer information to the unauthorised
entities. This will lead to the violation of the ethical codes and may also result in legal
obligations for the employees involved.
The website content that is developed and included on the site shall be done in such a manner
that it should not prefer or favour any particular community or the cultural group. In such a
case, there will be cultural issues that may come up. These may also be observed among the
members of the project team during the execution of the project activities. There may be
social repercussions of such issues as well.
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Selling Mobile Accessories: E-Business Report
Recommendations & Conclusion
There are some of the recommendations that are provided for the website that must be
included to provide improved site performance.
 The security of the site shall be promoted by ensuring that the website is integrated
with numerous security controls. There shall be access control implemented on the
site and there must be authentication mode included so that the identity of the users is
verified and validated. There are numerous technical controls, such as anti-malware
and anti-denial tools integrated with the site to keep it protected from any form of
security risks and attacks.
 The design of the website shall be done in such a manner that the design is
responsive. The users will access the site on difference platforms and devices. There
will be certain users that may wish to access the website on their desktop computers
equipped with Windows Operating System. There may also be users that may access
the site on UNIX or Linux platforms. Also, the website will be accessed by the users
on their mobile devices equipped with Windows, Android, or iOS systems. Also,
there may be users that may prefer portrait mode while some may prefer landscape
mode. The website shall use responsive web design to meet these needs of the users.
 The customer interactions and collaborations shall be done so that the customer
perception is obtained and the features of the site are in accordance with the customer
needs.
The e-business strategies will be new for the business and there will be a number of
implications associated with it. The business firm will be able to mark its web presence
through the e-business website and the implementation of the e-business strategies. The
business firm will be able to reach out to a large number of customers through the site which
will have a positive implication on the market shares and the revenues that they will earn.
However, there will be some of the security attacks that may emerge. The website shall
include the functional requirements and specifications. There are numerous non-functional
requirements that are also equally significant for the system.
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Selling Mobile Accessories: E-Business Report
References
Carlson, J. and O’Cass, A. (2011). Creating commercially compelling website-service
encounters: an examination of the effect of website-service interface performance
components on flow experiences. Electronic Markets, 21(4), pp.237-253.
Couchdb (2019). Apache CouchDB. [online] Couchdb.apache.org. Available at:
http://couchdb.apache.org/ [Accessed 5 Jun. 2019].
Ebel, P., Bretschneider, U. and Leimeister, J. (2016). Leveraging virtual business model
innovation: a framework for designing business model development tools. Information
Systems Journal, 26(5), pp.519-550.
Hider, P. (2016). The functional requirements for community information. Journal of
Documentation, 72(1), pp.81-102.
Lindgren, P. (2012). Business Model Innovation Leadership: How Do SME’s
Strategically Lead Business Model Innovation?. International Journal of Business and
Management, 7(14).
Nsairi, Z. and Khadraoui, M. (2013). Website Satisfaction: Determinants and Consequences
on Website Loyalty. International Business Research, 6(9).
Sharma, S. (2016). Building Social Media Collections: Legal and Ethical Issues. SSRN
Electronic Journal.
Svantesson, D. and Clarke, R. (2010). Privacy and consumer risks in cloud computing.
Computer Law & Security Review, 26(4), pp.391-397.
Wix (2019). Wix.com. [online] Powerful Features for Your Website | Wix.com. Available at:
https://www.wix.com/features/main [Accessed 5 June 2019].
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