This document provides an overview of an e-commerce course. It discusses that the course is a half unit elective course consisting of 30 lectures. Assessment will include assignments, tests, and presentations worth 20% of the grade, while the final exam will be 80% of the grade. It recommends several reference books and assignments students to design an e-commerce website. The document also provides an overview of the implementation of e-commerce in Bangladesh, including an e-commerce committee and efforts to pass electronic transaction laws.

1. E-Commerce/MCS-510 Chapter 1 date: 30-12-2006
e-Commerce
Overview of the Course
(Updated on 12-1-2007)
1. About the course: This course is ½ unit elective course. There will be 30 lectures
(each 50 min) in total.
2. Assessment: Out of the total marks (50/Credits 2) 20% marks are allocated for in
course assessment or class work (that is, lab reports, assignments, class tests, oral
presentation etc.) and the remaining 80 % marks are reserved for the final examination.
The duration of ½ unit course is 2.5 hours (while for 1 unit it is 4 hours). For the in
course assessments I will give only one assignments (which is also to be presented) that
weigh 20 % of the total assessments.
3. Recommended Books: There will be no one particular books for this course. The
following reference are being recommended to follow:
(1) Web search (e.g. Amazon.com)
(2) Jeffrey F Rayport and Bernard J Jaworski “e-Commerce”
(3) P.T. JOSEPH, “E-Commerce: A Managerial Perspective”
(4) Kalakota and Winston,”Frontiers of Electronic Commerce”
(5) SAMS, “Teach Yourself-Beginning e-Commerce with Visual basic, ASP, SQL
Server 7.0 and MTS
(6) SAMS, “Teach Yourself E-Commerce Programming with ASP.
*(7) Electronic Commerce- NCC Education Limited.
4. Assignment: Design and Document an interactive Commercial Website for any
commercial firm [Note: Try to include the best possible features of e-Commerce]. Submit
this at least one month before the exam. Marks: 20% of the total assessment.
Abu Sayeed Chowdhury
Teacher IST & Deputy Secretary, M/o Commerce
email:sadmansadif@hotmail.com
1

2. E-Commerce/MCS-510 Chapter 1 date: 30-12-2006
e-Commerce
Chapter1 -Introduction [ lect-1,2,3]
1.An Overview
1.1 What is e-Commerce: e-Commerce refers to the process of buying or selling
products or service over an electronic network. The most popular medium in which
e-Commerce is conducted is the internet. It combines a range of process such as :
• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
• Electronic mail (E-mail)
• World Wide Web (WWW)
• Internet Applications
• Network Applications.
[XXXX Basically e-Commerce involves the sale or purchase of goods or services over
computer mediated networks. These goods or services may be ordered though these
networks, but payment for them and the ultimate delivery of the goods and services may
be conducted on or off line. Some analyst define e-commerce as simple buying and
selling over electronic networks; and use e-business (buzzword) to refer to these wider
range of supporting business activities that can be conducted over such networks.]
**There are three basic components to every e-commerce solution:
• Communications
• Standards
• Software
1.2 Existing Barriers:
• Security
• Tariffs
• Legal issues
e-Commerce
Chapter1 -Introduction [ lect-2, date19-3-2004]
1.3 History of E-Commerce:
• In 1950’s companies began to use computers to store and process internal
transaction records
• By 1960’s businesses that engaged large volume of transaction had began
exchanging transaction information on punched card
2

3. E-Commerce/MCS-510 Chapter 1 date: 30-12-2006
• In 1968 Transportation Data Co-ordination Committee (TDCC ) was formed by
some companies
• In 1979 ANSI (American National Standards Institute) chattered a new
committee to develop uniform EDI (Electron Data Interchange)
• In 1987 UN publish its first standards under the title EDI
2.Traditional and Electronics Business Transaction:
The business process are broadly divided into five main categories namely:
• Market product and services
• Sell and deliver products and services
• Process payments
• Manage relationship
• Manage the enterprize
2.1 Traditional Commerce vs e-Commerce
Items e-Commerce Traditional Commerce
Sales Channel Enterprize → Internet → Manufacturer →
Consumer Wholesaler → Retailer →
Consumer
Sales Hour /Region • Entire world • Restricted area
• 24x7 • Restricted sales
hour
Sales place/method • Market space • Market space
(Network) (store)
• Sale based on • Sale based on
information display
Customer information • Any time • Market survey and
acquisition acquisition through salesman
internet • Require
• Digital Data information re-
without no re-entry entry
Marketing activity 1:1 Marketing via bi- One way marketing to
directional communication consumer
Customer support • Real time support • Delayed support for
for customer customer
Dissatisfaction Dissatisfaction
• Real time • Time different for
acquisition of catching customer
customer needs needs
capital • small • large
3

4. E-Commerce/MCS-510 Chapter 1 date: 30-12-2006
3. Types of E-Commerce:
E-commerce can be divided into primarily three catagories
(1) Business to consumer(B2C): Where enterprizes sell directly to the customer,
often cutting out (‘disinter mediating’ ) wholesalers or ‘bricks and mortars’ retail
outlets. B2C is the most commonly understood form of internet business
(www.amazon.com). The most successful trading has been with standard
products such as CDs, Books, Software, downloadable music etc.
(2) Business to Business (B2B): it is larger, growing faster. This includes
procurements of raw materials and supplies, liaison with contractors, sales
channels, servicing customers, collaborating with partners, integrated
management with data and knowledge.
(3) Business to Government(B2G): Here business trade directly with government
offices and agencies for public procurement (e.g. supplies for hospitals, school
and other government contracts.
(4) Consumer to consumer (C2C): Online transaction between private individuals.
(5) Consumer to business(C2B):
4. Benefits of E-Commerce
The benefits of e-Commerce are many and many. Some of them include:
(1) 24X7 operation: Round the clock operation is an expensive proposition in the
brick and mortar world while it is natural in the click and conquer world
(2) :Global reach: The net being inherently global, reaching global customers is
relatively easy on the net compared to the world of bricks
(3) Cost of acquiring serving and retaining customers: It is relatively cheaper to
acquire new customers over the net. Thanks to 24 X 7 operation and its goal
reach. Through innovative tools of push technology to retain customers, loyalty
with minimal investments.
(4) An extended enterprise is easy to build: In today’s world every enterprise is a
part of the ‘connected economy’; as such you need to extend your enterprise all
the way to your suppliers and business partners like distributers, retailers and
4

5. E-Commerce/MCS-510 Chapter 1 date: 30-12-2006
ultimately you end customers. Internet provides an effective (often less
expensive) way to extend your enterprise beyond the narrow confines of your own
organization. Tools like enterprize resource planning (ERP) ,supply chain
management (SCM) and customer relationship management (CRM), can easily be
deployed over the net permitting amazing efficiency in time needed to market,
customer loyalty, on time delivery and eventually profitability.
(5) Dis-intermediation: Using the net one can directly approach the customers and
suppliers, cutting down the number of level sand in the process, cutting down the
costs.
(6) Improved customer service to your clients: It results in higher satisfaction and
more sales
(7) Power to provide the ‘best of both the worlds’: It enhances traditional along
with internet tools.
[XXX*** The impact of e-Commerce to business can be huge. E-commerce can
transform the way products and services are created, sold and delivered to the
customers. It can also change the way in which the company works with its partners.
The followings are well established benefits of e-commerce:
• Improved productivity :Using e-commerce, the time required to create,
transfer and process a business transaction between trading partners is
significantly reduced. Furthermore human errors like duplication of records
are largely eliminated with the reduction of data entry and re-entry in the
process. This improvement in speed and accuracy plus the acess to document
and information, will result in increase in productivity.
• Cost savings: The cost savings stem from efficient communication, quicker
turnaround and closer access to market.
• Streamlined business process: Use of internet and with automation of
business process can make business more efficient
• Better Customer service: Customer can enjoy the convenience of shopping
at any our and anywhere in the world.
• Opportunities for new business: Business over the internet have global
customer reach. There are endless possibilities for business to exploit and
expand their customer base.]
4.1 Benefits of e-Commerce to Organization
• Expands the Marketplace to national and international market
• Decrease the cost of creating, processing, distributing, storing and retrieving
paper based information
• Allows reduced inventories and overhead by facilitating pull-type supply
chain management
• The pull-type processing allows for customization of products and services
which provides competitive advantage to its implementers
5

6. E-Commerce/MCS-510 Chapter 1 date: 30-12-2006
• Reduces the time between the outlay of capital and the receipt of product and
services
• Supports Business process re-engineering (BPR) efforts
• Lowers telecommunication cost- the internet is much cheaper than value
added networks (VANs)
4.2 Benefits of e-Commerce to Consumers
• Enables consumers to shop or do other transaction 24 hours a day, all year round
from almost any location
• Provides consumers with more choices
• Provides consumers with less expensive products and services by allowing them
to shop in many places and conduct quick comparisons
• Allows consumers to interact with other consumers n electronic communities and
exchange ideas as well as experiences
• Facilitates competition which results in substantial discounts
• Allows quick delivery of products and services (in some cases) especially with
digitized products
• Consumers can receive relevant and detail information in seconds rather than in
days or weeks
• Makes it possible to participate in virtual auction
4.3 Benefits of e-Commerce to Society
• Enables more individuals to work at home, and to do less traveling for shopping,
resulting in less traffic on the roads and lower air pollution
• Allows some merchandise to be sold at lower prices benefiting less affluent
people
• Enable people in third world countries and rural areas to enjoy product and
services which otherwise are not available to them
• Facilitates delivery of public services at reduced cost, increases effectiveness and
or improve quality
4.4 Disadvantages: Some disadvantages because of newness of e-Commerce. If e-
commerce matured they will perhaps remove.
• Inadequate inspection facility
• Security
• legal issues
4.5 Technical Limitations to e-commerce
• Lack of sufficient system security, reliability, standards and
communication protocols
• Insufficient telecommunication bandwidth
• The software development tools are still evolving and changing rapidly
6

7. E-Commerce/MCS-510 Chapter 1 date: 30-12-2006
• Difficulties in integrating the internet and e-commerce software with some
existing application and data base
• The need for special web servers and other infrastructures, in addition to
the network servers (additional cost)
• Possible problems of inter operability, meaning that some EC softwares
does not fit with some hardware, or is incompatible with some operating
systems or other components
4.6 Non- Technical Limitations to e-commerce
• Cost and Justification
- The cost of developing an EC in a house can be very high …….
• Security and privacy
• Lack of trust and user resistance
• Channel conflict
• Other limitations factors are:
-Lack of touch and feel online etc
(8) What are the reasons to put a company on a website?
1. To establish a presence: To be a part of the internet
community and show that you are interested in serving
them.
2. To network
3. To make business information available
4. To serve your customers
5. To heighten public interest
6. To release time sensitive materials
7. To sell things
8. To make pictures sound and film files available
9. To reach a high desirable demographic market
10.To answer frequently asked questions
11.To stay in contact with Sale people
12.To open international markets
13.To create a 24 hour service
14.To make changing information available quickly
15.To allow feedback from customers
16.To test market new services and product
17.To reach the media
18.To reach the education and youth market
7

8. E-Commerce/MCS-510 Chapter 1 date: 30-12-2006
19.To reach the specialized market
20.To serve your local market.
(9) Describe the difference between e-commerce and e-business
e-Business vs e-Commerce
e-Commerce
e-Commerce describes the process of buying, selling, transferring, or exchanging
products, services, and or information via computer networks including the internet.
e-Commerce can take several forms depending on the degree of digitization(the
transformation from physical to digital). The degree of digitization relates to:
• The product (service) sold
• The process
• The delivery agent (or intermediary)
e-Business:
• Compared with e-Commerce, e-Business is a more generic term; it refers not only
to information exchanges related to buying and selling but also to servicing
customers and collaborating with business partners, distributors and suppliers.
• E-Business encompasses sophisticated B2B interactions and collaboration
activities at a level of enterprise applications and business process.
Characteristics of e-Business
e-Business is about integrating external company with an organization’s internal
business process:
• Collaborative product development
• Collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment
• Procurement and order management
• Operations and logistics
(10)Describe the main ingredients of e-business solution
1. Web: Website act as the pioneer role in e-commerce
2. Customer relationship management system (CRM): “front office” that
help enterprise deal directly with their customers. CRM integrates and
automates customer serving process within a company.
8

9. E-Commerce/MCS-510 Chapter 1 date: 30-12-2006
3. Enterprize Resource Planning System (ERP): Management
Information system that integrate and automate many of the business
practices associated with the operations or production aspects of a
company. An ERP system includes:
• Production: Manufacturing resource planning and execution
process
• Buying a product: Procurement process
• Sales of products and services: Customer order management
process
• Costing, paying bills and colleting: financial/management
accounting and reporting process
4. Supply Chain Management (SCM): A supply chain is a network of
facilities and distribution option that performs the function of
procurement of materials; transformation of these materials into
intermediate and finished product & distribution of these finished
products to customer. A supply chain has three essentially main parts: the
supply, manufacturing and distribution.
5. Knowledge Management (KM): Knowledge regarding markets,
products, processes, technologies and organization that a business owns
that enable its business process to generate profits. Also include the
subsequent planning and control of actions.
(12) Overview of implementation stage of e-Commerce in Bangladesh:
M/o Commerce, Ministry of Information and Communication and Planning Commission
jointly implementing the e-commerce in Bangladesh
• There is e-Commerce committee headed by commerce secretary
• Ministry of Information and Communication is working for enacting a law
regarding “Electronic Transaction act
• Online order from foreign buyer has started
• www.registrarofcompniesbangladesh.com here registration of joint stock
company started as online
• Online non-financial transaction has started by all bank from 31-7-2002
• Intra-bank transaction started from 31-7-2003
• Some bank already started credit card system in a limited way(e.g. JB)
9

10. E-Commerce/MCS-510 Chapter 1 date: 30-12-2006
10