COMP 2113 Electronic Commerce Richard Henson University of

COMP 2113 Electronic Commerce Richard Henson University of Worcester April 2008

Week 6: On-line Shopping n Objectives: ØExplain the features of B 2 C systems for handling on-line ordering and payment ØDescribe the stages required to achieve an on-line order ØIdentify these stages in a pre-prepared simple but effective on-line shopping system ØExplain important considerations when planning to receive payment on-line

Three stages of buying n Whether happening face-face, by mail order, or through the web, the following three stages usually occur: Øcustomer (usually) looks at goods Øvendor lets customer know total price of goods chosen Øcustomer pays for goods (or leaves without making a purchase)

Buying on-line from a website All about the website… n Functionally (and legally) MUST include: n Øweb pages showing details of products (product pages) Øweb pages and system giving cost detail and total cost of order (shopping cart) Øweb pages for managing on-line payment

The Home Page n n Equivalent of a shop window Needs to: Ø be attractive to users – potential customers (marketing!) Ø provide a balanced colour scheme & text font which will be replicated throughout the site… Ø provide links to all features of the site, including product pages

Product Pages n As an absolute minimum, a product page should include: Øpicture of product Øprice Ødrop-down menu for quantity Øat least one mouse-click option to buy » preferable also for customer to click on product image to make a purchase

On-line Ordering n Can be achieved via the www in a number of ways: Ø data noted by customer and sent manually via email » requires effort on the part of the customer… Ø HTML or Web forms on the shopping pages linked to an on-line product database capture data and send it via email Ø A more sophisticated forms system creates the online order » captures customer’s personal data securely » links to a secure payment system

Order via e-mail n Now considered as primitive… Ø but better than nothing Ø provided that emails are checked regularly! n n Two possibilities: Ø customer creates email from scratch using email address given on home page Ø using a HTML mailto command, which allows the email message header to be generated automatically In either case, this is a manual system requiring the vendor to physically read the message and send a reply. . .

Process of ordering via e-mail n Customer: Ø initiates communication by sending an unstructured message requesting product(s) displayed on website n Vendor: Ø replies with an emailed order » may have be inputted by hand Ø requests an address for sending the request for payment n Payment needs to be manual: Ø shouldn’t send credit card details by email

Order via a Simple HTML form n n Customer presented with product list as a form on the web page Just needs to select qty of each product required and submit the completed form to either the vendor’s email address or direct to the vendor’s own server Ø because the information is structured, it can be read, processed, and stored automatically by software at the server end Ø vendor system can also automatically get back to the customer to continue the buying process…

Order via real-time on-line forms system (Shopping Cart) n The cart…. Ø Collects the order based on mouse clicks on shopping pages Ø Stores, processes, displays the order Ø Captures customer details Ø Displays on-line invoice for customer, including tax and any other extra costs Ø Provides payment options for the customer to complete their order Ø Emails a copy of the online invoice to the customer

More about Shopping Cart software n Written in a combination of: ØHTML Øa client-side scripting language » E. g. Javascript » VBScript ØScripts running on the vendor’s web server (server-side) » interaction with server each time new data is entered

Further requirements of a full B 2 C e-commerce system n B 2 C e-commerce sites also seek to provide customers with up to date information Ø e. g. price changes Ø new products in stock Ø changes to existing products n Can only be achieved by linking the web site to a product database on a web server Ø database records for products should themselves be easily updated from an online form

Server side web programming n n n Already cover “web scripting” (client side) Shopping Cart implementation requires “server scripts” running on web servers Current popular types of script: Ø php (PHP Hypertext Preprocessor) often on a breed of Unix Ø asp. net (Active Server Pages) often on Windows 2000, XP, or 2003 Server systems n More this in the practical, and next week. . .

Typical Implementation of Server-side Shopping Cart n Most commonly used (and most successful) B 2 C e-commerce implementation: Ø Web page displays live data from organisational web server Ø Customer selects product(s) and qty from on-line form Ø Costs, including VAT and any extras automatically included on on-line invoice Ø Customer can choose to buy (or not!) directly by simply clicking a screen button Ø System requests customer details and means of payment before continuing…

Capture of Customer Details n n Essential to deliver the goods… Needs to include email address to inform customer of progress of order Ø details need to be stored so as not to infringe the 1998 Data protection Act n Customer data capture could be combined with choice of username/password for future login site authentication purposes Ø should not be used for bank details authentication Ø a fraudster could guess username/password…

On-line Payment Systems n n n Require a reliable means of authentication of the user, to establish TRUST Most effectively done through an on-line link to the International banking system Authentication requires confirmation of: Ø Name Ø type of account Ø account number Ø other information, depending on the type of account

B 2 B Payment Systems n B 2 B systems around for some time… Ø made use of EFT (Electronic funds Transfer) from the outset n Both buyer and seller need to contact relevant bank computer: Ø for authentication purposes Ø to transfer funds n On-line banking system highly secure: Ø 512 bit encryption Ø virtual private network (VPN)

B 2 C Payment Systems n n Websites and http are NOT secure Payment data may take place FROM the web site, if made secure Ø no easy matter requires secure protocols: » http-s (secure) » SSL Ø safer to transfer to a secure site for data capture n Most popular method of authentication and payment is credit/debit card Ø relevant bank computer needs to be contacted Ø similar authentication and funds transfer systems as for B 2 B

Security on B 2 C Payment Systems n n Lot of concern about security of B 2 C authentication and transactions Use of VPNs, encryption and secure protocols make it extremely unlikely that data will be intercepted en route Some concern about the “secure servers” of merchant service providers Such servers hold e. g. credit card numbers stored in an encrypted format

Secure Merchant Servers n Server security a a matter of: Ø configuration and management of the server software Ø setting appropriate user privileges and file security Ø auditing of all access to confidential data Ø appropriate monitoring of attempted entry to the system by “invalid” users n Probably a lot safer to have credit details here than written down by a stranger at the other end of the telephone line…

Keeping the Customer Informed! n Relatively easy to produce a system that will keep the customer informed by email about the processing of their order Ø especially important, bearing in mind that customers may be from overseas n Can program the system to send messages at various trigger points: Ø credit details are authenticated Ø order is paid for Ø order is “picked” » from the database » physically from stores Ø order is dispatched

Completing the customer shopping experience… n Important to have: ØA means of giving the customer a record of their order: » by web page as well by email… (“fail-safe”) n A corporate “thank you” page Øequivalent to the polite “goodbye” when a customer leaves the shop – especially if they have made a purchase…

Producing web pages for ecommerce n n By now, you should be able to use HTML (or an Authoring package) to produce simple web pages You should also be able to implement mailto, simple forms, and frames You should be at the point of using small Java. Script applets in HTML programs to provide processing ability or special effects You should be becoming aware that using Java. Script makes the whole thing much more complicated!

Who can create e-commerce websites? n Producing an e-commerce site from scratch requires: Ø Good communication and analysis skills Ø Web page design skills Ø Some programming skills Ø Database knowledge Ø Client-server networking skills

Shop@ssistant (example of how to design shopping pages) n A variety of page items n Øe. g. buttons, text, pictures etc. that can be changed “Instant” shopping cart system: Ø automatically displays “shopping basket” whenever forms data is added Ø handles tax and shipping Ø links with third party payment handling system (merchant services provider) » security handled by a “trusted” third party

Shop@ssistant Demo Sites n Page designs can be used as templates Ø also contain embedded client-side Java. Script to interface with the shopping cart system… Ø manipulation may need programming knowledge… Ø should be noted that the shopping system on most systems uses server-side scripting, and not necessarily written in Java. Script n To access demonstration sites: Ø locate Shop@ssistant demos share on relevant server Ø double click on index. html in the shop assistant demos folder (itself within the program files folder)

Bookshop Demo Site (example) n n Navigation: Øforward (buttons at the bottom of the page) Øback (hyperlinks at top and bottom) Further forward navigation enables the customer to order the book in at least two ways Ø “hot” image of the book (i. e. you can click on it) n Buttons bunched together - bottom of all product pages: Ø Order this Book Ø 3 Copies for 2 Offer Ø Review Basket

Bookshop Demo Site n n Each page is customizable for those with Java. Script expertise. . . Other features to note: Ø heading – to reflect corporate image, etc. Ø product pages all have hyperlink to a pop up “more detail” page Ø the cart display » terms & conditions & “remove item” check box Ø option to go to payment page - cashier » brings up form for customer data Ø on-line invoice Ø bullet pointed help

Demo Site - Handling Payment n Online invoice appears AFTER customer details completed Øincludes shipping and VAT charges ØTOTAL is what the customer will actually pay n If name, address, email address fields not satisfactorily completed (validated) Øpayment method section is blocked…

Where shop@ssistant fails miserably… n Product details are stored “client-side” Ø each product page has its own data Ø no option for updating data remotely Ø any updating requires reprogramming of the page… n This is why SERVER SCRIPTING is usually used for shopping sites… Ø product data held on an easily readable/updateable database Ø connected via scripts with embedded SQL statements

For next week… More Shopping sites to look at n Woosh! (www. wooosh. com) “The World of Online Shopping” Ø over 1, 000 UK shopping sites n www. childrens-warehouse. com www. webelectricals. co. uk Ø sites using freecom. net services n n www. wineonlinenorth. com www. funerals. co-op. co. uk

And… More URL’s to look at Continental Research. com - profiles of consumers using E-Commerce n Zendor. com - logistics firm - back end E -Commerce n TPS - Telephone Preference Service n MPS - Mail Preference Service n

Finally… Investigate Server-side scripting n Course practicals will use asp. net Ø different from asp, which is being phased out… n Needs an Internet Information Service Ø provided with any XP Professional machine Ø and any Vista Premium machine… Ø in each case, not a default installation & needs to be installed n Each of the above is FREE to Worcester Business School students via MSDN