E-commerce Systems (COM6004) Report: Issues, Audience, and Benefits

This report delves into the multifaceted world of e-commerce, addressing critical legal, security, and technical challenges faced by online businesses. It examines issues such as incorporation problems, copyright protection, privacy concerns, spam, brute force attacks, and logistics. The report also explores strategies for identifying and engaging the target audience through the STP approach (segmentation, targeting, and positioning), along with various media channels like social media and email marketing. Furthermore, it highlights the advantages of adopting an e-commerce model over traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Finally, the report covers the development of a paper prototype and usability testing methods to improve the design and user experience. The report provides valuable insights for e-commerce entrepreneurs and businesses looking to establish or enhance their online presence. This report is contributed by a student to be published on the website Desklib.

COM6004 E-commerce
Systems

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................3
Legal, security and technical issues that must be addressed to conduct online operations....3
The intended audience for e-commerce products, along with several media channels and
technologies through which the company can reach its target audience................................5
Benefits of adopting an e-commerce in comparison with traditional “bricks and mortar” store.
................................................................................................................................................7
Development of a paper prototype and testing the design through usability testing methods9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
Books and Journals:..............................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
E-commerce or electronic commerce is defined as an process of purchasing and
merchandising of products and services, or the transmission of data or funds, over an electronic
network, mainly the internet. These business transactions happen either as B2B (business to
business), B2C (business to consumer), consumer to business or consumer to consumer. In order
to run a e-commerce business, the company needs to identify the e-commerce platform to run
their business. These platforms can be regarded as the software application where both the
parties, buyer and seller come to interact and play their respective roles. There are several types
of platforms at which the e-commerce entrepreneur can reach their potential customers
throughout the world (Aggarwal and Aakash, 2018). As per the case study, an e-commerce
entrepreneur wants to develop their website for the purpose of selling their physical goods such
as soft toys to its target customers. For such purposes, they need to identify several legal,
security and technical issues that can come along in the way of dealing online business with its
customers. Also, it will outline its key customers and many media channels and technologies to
share the information of the goods and brand to its aimed audience. Later, in this report, it also
highlights key advantages of using e-commerce approach as opposed to a traditional “bricks and
mortar” store.
TASK
Legal, security and technical issues that must be addressed to conduct online operations.
As the entrepreneur wants to create their website and sell its physical goods i.e. soft toys,
to the target audience, it becomes essential for them to critically identify different issues that can
affect their business operations in multiple ways (Barenji and et.al., 2019). These issues can be
come in a legal, security or technical way, so the organisation must understand their effects as
well as make suitable ways to resolve or address those issues.
Legal issues: Incorporation problem: If the organisation has operated their business merely through an
online site and not being unified is a critical issue. Any selling and purchasing activity
associated to the items will be considered unlawful and one cannot claim for the right in
case of corruption and fraud.

 Copyright protection issue: While publishing or posting any content on online websites,
exploiting the content of any other organisation can be a big legal issue, resulting can
mark the business towards end (Behl and et.al., 2020). There are multiple online sites
which are royalty free and enable one to access their images and content. Being a new
business in e-commerce line, the company might not use intentionally the content of
other business site, but this might also lead the business to be sued by the other party. Privacy issues: When it comes to e-commerce business, the concern for privacy is crucial
to the business, together with its customers. Buyers share many information with
businesses when dealing their online transactions such as personal information like name,
contact number, addresses, bank account details and many more, and they expect that
sellers to maintain the privacy for all such data. But, one mistake or negligence behaviour
may leak the information to fraud and the organisation will not only lose the potential
clients, but also it harms the reputation and image in the market.
Security issue: Spam: Emails are highly known for being an impactful channel for boosting business
sales, but they are also one of the most frequently exploited mediums for spamming.
Nevertheless, leaving abscessed URLs in comments on the contact forms or blog is a
strong invitation for internet spammers to harm the business. It often times send through
the social media inbox and wait for the click on them. Therefore, it might raise the
concern for security of the online site. Brute force attacks: It is one of the major issues in security that is password cracking
techniques. Hackers attempt to exploit as many character combinations as doable for the
purpose of hacking the correct password. Man in the middle: A cybercriminal may listen the communication between a customer
and a store consultant (Cao, Shao and Zhang, 2022). If the customer is connected to an
assailable network or Wi-Fi, hackers can take benefit of that to steal the confidential
information.
Technical issues: Logistics issues: Overcoming logistics issues is increasing among e-commerce
businesses. The online entrepreneurs need to ensure that deliveries of their products are
made on time. In case if the product deliveries are delayed, then business may suffer.

Online shipping is a major concern for the business that the respective online business
require to focus on as an online business. Hosting issues: Hosting issues are most found issue in online retailing. Hosting is found
where the online store takes place, so the e-commerce entrepreneur need to ensure that
they choose a reliable host (Chandrasekhar and Karthik, 2021). The online business
owners ideally want fast e-commerce web hosting for their site, along with, they also
want to have hosting that should not be crumbled under the enhanced traffic.
Solutions to issues in e-commerce business: Anti-malware: It helps in detecting and deleting the viruses in computer and other
unwanted or dangerous programs. It also re-establishes documents that have already
infected by viruses, safeguard further data file or software alteration that can be cooked
by vindictive code. Deploy firewall: A firewall is a solution to e-commerce businesses which regards as the
network security system that controls and separate network traffic as per the informed
rules and limits the threats of security. This safeguards the website against SQL injection,
XSS, and other cyber crimes. Employee training: It can be said that when employees are highly educated and
qualified, then there will be lesser chances of breaching security in the e-commerce
dealings. Providing proper training to employees can lead to better tracking the activities
so that they will know which law or policy is suitable as per the situation and will combat
the issue accordingly.
 Prioritise updates: In an e-commerce business, it is fundamental to exploit the latest
technology when dealing online transactions (Deepak and Kasaraneni, 2019). The
outdated tools and technology have better features to secure portals and websites which
becomes a challenge for the online company. So, it is suggested to exploit updated and
modern tools, along with plugins to neglect a serious liability.
The intended audience for e-commerce products, along with several media channels and
technologies through which the company can reach its target audience.
STP approach is stands for segmentation, targetting and positioning. This is a marketing
approach that helps in examining the commodities and services, or even the way the organisation
communicate their benefits to certain segments of consumer. This model is effective to use as it

concentrates on breaking the customer base into smaller teams, allowing one to grow very
certain marketing strategies to reach as well as engage their target customers (Gupta and Patil,
2020). The respective e-commerce business can apply this model of marketing to reach their
aimed audience. The model has been applied below:
Segmentation: Segmentation of market can be defined as the categorisation of customers
into segment or group with common needs and characteristics. It helps organisation to better and
effectively meet the customer needs and requirements. Also, it provide the e-commerce business
to gain key competitive benefits in the target customers. The company can segment their
customers on the basis of various ways such as demographic, geographic, behavioural or even
psychographic manner (Huang and et.al., 2020). Being an e-commerce organisation, the
managers can segment their customers on the basis of geographic and demographic manners.
Targeting: This is the second step in the approach which says that segments that have
been chosen before and, now its time to determine which of those segments are most promising
to make aimed conversions. In respect of e-commerce organisation, the company can target the
customers whose age comes in between 2-12, along with they can also target the female
customers as they always like to play with soft toys. And, these customers can be targeted on the
regional level, state or even country level as online business is capable to reach global customers.
Positioning: It is the final stage in the approach in which positioning is determined for
the business. It helps organisation to set their image, product, services and brand apart from their
competitors in the customer's mind. The e-commerce business can use different tools and
channels to build their positioning and these tools can be advertisements, newspapers ads, social
media platforms and many more.
Various media and technologies to communicate with the aimed audience: Social media marketing: Social media marketing is also known as digital marketing in
which social media platforms have been used to develop social networks and
communicate information to increase the brand awareness, drive website traffic and
increase sales (Ismailova and et.al., 2020). In e-commerce business, the company can use
several platforms to increase their brand awareness among target audience. These
platforms can be YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and much more. Email marketing: This is another way through which company can communicate with its
aimed audience. The e-commerce business can use this channel to send promotional

emails to the intended audience that contains a particular message. In the email, they can
include the information related to the upcoming sale, changes in the products and services
and so on. Catalog direct: It is a communication tool where a target customer browses through a
digital or printed catalog. It may cover product descriptions, prices or images of the
options. The viewer can choose the items they want from the catalog as well as places the
orders. Also, this channel is beneficial as there is no need to interact with the customers
directly or face to face.
 Articles: Mostly B2B marketers exploit content marketing. Content marketing exploiting
blog posts and articles is essential to answer convoluted questions of the technical masses
(Jing and et.al., 2018). Writing articles defines the IT services that has added the benefit
of setting an individual connection with the audience, generating more leads and
develops trust at the same time.
Benefits of adopting an e-commerce in comparison with traditional “bricks and mortar” store.
E-commerce business is a business of selling and purchasing goods and services or the
sending of finances or data through a digital network, basically on the internet. On the other side,
traditional “brick and mortar” stores defines as the traditional street-side business in which there
is a direct and face to face interaction occurs between customers and the seller for the purpose of
selling and buying goods or services. Some of the good example of traditional brick and mortar
business is local grocery store. Traditional way of doing business has its benefits, but most of
businesses nowadays are reliant on e-commerce approach as it limits the investment and boost
the convenience of the customers (Kamberaj, 2020). As the e-commerce business planning to set
their website, using e-commerce approach can deliver various benefits without experiencing the
limitations and stresses that occurs with the traditional approach. As the shopping trend among
audiences have visibly changed and transformed over the time. With the immense impact of e-
commerce approach over the business sector, people are more likely to buy product online rather
than visiting the physical store.
Benefits of e-commerce over traditional commerce: No geographical limitation: When it comes to the brick and mortar approach, the
business can be set up to only physical store, but is opposed to the e-commerce websites.
In e-commerce approach it can cover the whole world if planning is done strategically.

Audience from one corner of the globe can easily place their order from another side of
the planet with the help of certain clicks. Easy way to gain customers by search engine visibility: Traditional business stores rely
mostly on branding and relations to boost their customer base to their outlet, whereas e-
commerce drive the most of the masses from search engines. Most of the traffic for e-
commerce business drive from organic search on search engines. This is only traffic from
raw searches and then advertisements, along with social media have been used to enhance
the traffic. Locate product quickly: In traditional approach, it is found that customers found hassles
and issues in order to search a specific product and for which they ask the person in
charge for the helping purpose (Li and et.al., 2019). But, it is opposed in e-commerce
stores as the buyers need to do only click through spontaneous navigation or just write
the certain item in the search box to immediately determine their need. Abundance of information: When the customer visit the physical shopping store, the
only information that can see is that written on the item, together with their price, but in
an e-commerce store, extra data is easily available to the buyer in just a click. Generally,
such type of information is entered into the system by individual suppliers which need no
extra endeavour or value of the e-commerce entrepreneur. Remains open all the time: Another big factor, why the customer has moved from brick
and mortar approach to the adoption of e-commerce websites is that they can purchase
products even at odd timings (Lin, Li and Guo, 2021). E-commerce business delivers
their goods and services 24*7*365 as it has no obligation which is why it can remain
offer its services all the time. The merchandisers benefits from more and more orders all
over the world. Creates targeted communication: To develop a targeted communication, the only thing
company need is the personal information or habits of the potential customer and email
address. To collect such data, developing a registration page and allowing cookies on the
website is essential. Once the organisation get a hold of the customer's habits, they can
communicate relevant content such as right recommendations on the e-commerce
website. Also, some e-commerce websites also send emails with goods the customers
may like to shop.

 Enables deal, bargain, coupons and group buying: It is assumed that traditional
commerce offers deals and even bargains with customers, but it can be said that e-
commerce business makes it more easy and convenient for the customers to avail them.
For example, in brick and mortar approach, one store has offered the customers some
coupons for the groceries while the second one offer discount vouchers for clothing
which is wholly different outlet. The customers face several issues and hassles while
buying all such products (Ma, Chai and Jia, 2022). Hence, in the e-commerce shopping
customer can shop anything with just certain clicks and avail both the discount voucher
and coupon on the same platform.
 Save travel time and cost: The key objective for people shifting from old method to
online method is because it saves travel cost and time. For a physical retail shop, the
customer has to go to the store top shop the particular item, while, e-commerce website
or application, customer can just do it few some clicks at any place. Therefore, with the
time of e-commerce stores, it has saved the time of the buyer by enabling them to buy the
items on the go (Nanduri and et.al., 2020).
Development of a paper prototype and testing the design through usability testing methods
Literature which informed about usability issues associated with Website design
Usability of websites: Websites usability is mainly depends upon the factors which develop it
simple for any visitor to its websites for attaining their objectives. Such as in case someone
desires to identify their consumer services contacts information thereafter a websites enhanced
for usability would enable those information to be identified into as some clicks as possible.
Usability issues that occurs in websites are explained below:
 Excessive website text
While at the site message and check whether individuals are utilizing succinct sentences that
come to the heart of the matter. Additionally, One of the manners in which that they can get
individuals to remain on particular site longer than 60 seconds is to offer realities and data in a
reduced organization that is not difficult to peruse. In case their sentences are too lengthy and its
sections are more than a few sentences, then their substance isn't succinct. So, it is suggested not
to try or not to make the text design mistaking for visitors.
 Poorly structured links

In case the links to pages that are not on its site, thereafter really look at their links no less than
once every week to ensure they are as yet useful. Broken links disappoint guests and deter
individuals from returning to your site. Suppose their menus ought to be restricted to seven
things. Anything else than seven things will make the guest become baffled and accept that they
cannot find what they are searching for
 Tiny Clickable areas
Hyperlinks are intended to be clicked, in order to utilise them. It's a good idea to guarantee that
they're not difficult to click. Here is an illustration of links that are unreasonably little; clicking
them is more enthusiastically than it ought to be. These are the remarks joins on Hacker News, a
social news site.
 Lack of consistency
In case the varieties, textual styles, illustrations and data are not steady all through your site,
clients will think they have gone to an alternate site. Make a page layout which would permit
them to provide a steady show and told clients they are on particular site.
 No way to get in touch
Client commitment is significant if they have any desire to fabricate an effective local area, and
networks are significant if you need to construct fruitful sites and social Web applications. Client
commitment is likewise significant if it have any desire to construct steadfast clients. Rapidly
responding to individuals' inquiries and fixing their concerns doesn't simply imply that you have
great client support - it implies you give it a second thought, and your clients and guests will see
the value in it
 Complicated navigation
Any website pages ought to have the option to describe for themselves and guests ought to have
the option to get any fundamental registry page in three site clicks or less. The links on that
pages ought to be not difficult to track down and the name of the links are to check out. Utilize
normal terms, for example, "contact" and "about" with the goal that guests can find the data they
are searching for.
Usability Testing Done on the prototype
Guerrilla Testing: This method was utilized during the early stages of the website development
to understand opinions of consumers about the specific topic. It is a direct method of completing
usability testing of a website because it helps identify the actual issues from the first hand data

provided by the consumer. In case of the respective website, the usage of this usability testing
method was completed in a nearby café to understand consumer perspectives. It helped build the
basic data to improve the design of the website. In addition to this the primary expectations of
the consumer base were also highlighted with the help of this usability testing method.
Unmodertaed remote usability Testing: This is relatively inexpensive yet effective method of
completing usability testing. Unmoderated remote usability testing involves consumers testing
specific website remotely on their home devices. The advantage of this testing method is that it
helps the company an accurate look at the positive and negative impact of website features as
consumers use it in real time from their homes. In case of the specific website for the e-
commerce shop the implementation of this suability methods helped hunt down any security
issues related to the website so that it can be handled accordingly.
Card Sorting: In this usability testing method, respondents are given cards which have label
about the website content and features. After this they are asked about dividing and sorting these
various labelled cards so that viewpoint of the consumers about the content displayed and the
features available on the website can be collected. It is an effective technique for understanding
consumer opinion about specific they are asked about the rationale behind their sorting. In case
of developing the e-commerce website for the physical goods shop it was determined that card
sorting is an effective way of getting a more detailed input about consumer preferences and
changing the website design on the basis of this data.
Contextual Inquiry: Finally the last selected method for conducing usability test on the website
for e-commerce company selling physical goods such as soft toys and footwear is completed
through contextual inquiry because it is a relatively simple method of completing usability tests.
It merely requires observations and interviews from real time users so that their decisions and
feedback can be understood more clearly. In case of the present website development this
usability method was extremely helpful as it helped identify user experience and plot the user
actions taken when first interacting with the website. I helped evaluate its strengths and
weaknesses clearly.
After completing the usability tests the two main areas which required improvement were
poorly structured links and tiny clickable areas. The suability test methods results were used to
develop prototype below:

CONCLUSION
It has been concluded from this assignment is that e-commerce business is increasing day
by day due to its benefits against traditional “brick and mortar” store. As e-commerce business
deals transactions through online manner, it avails benefits to customers as it saves their time
and costs while indulging other benefits to organisation as well. Although, e-commerce dealings
involve several types of issues such as legal, technical and security issues which can affect the
online operations. STP approach is used in the report to analyse the target audience for the e-
commerce business. Also, various media channels have been mentioned where company can
enhance their brand image while promoting their items or services.