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436 Part Three Key System Applications for the Digital Age

TABLE 10.8 SYSTEM ANALYSIS: BUSINESS OBJECTIVES, SYSTEM
FUNCTIONALITY, AND INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS FOR A
TYPICAL E-COMMERCE SITE
BUSINESS OBJECTIVE SYSTEM FUNCTIONALITY INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS

Display goods Digital catalog Dynamic text and graphics catalog
Provide product information Product database Product description, stocking numbers,
(content) inventory levels
Personalize/customize Customer on-site tracking Site log for every customer visit; data
product mining capability to identify common
customer paths and appropriate
responses
Execute a transaction Shopping cart/payment Secure credit card clearing; multiple
payment system options
Accumulate customer Customer database Name, address, phone, and e-mail for all
information customers; online customer registration
Provide after-sale customer Sales database and customer Customer ID, product, date, payment,
support relationship management shipment date
system (CRM)
Coordinate marketing/ Ad server, e-mail server, Site behavior log of prospects and
advertising e-mail, campaign manager, customers linked to e-mail and banner
ad banner manager ad campaigns
Understand marketing Site tracking and reporting Number of unique visitors, pages visited,
effectiveness system products purchased, identified by
marketing campaign
Provide production and Inventory management Product and inventory levels, supplier ID
supplier links system and contact, order quantity data by
product

indicates. The business objectives of an e-commerce site are similar to those
of a physical retail store, but they must be provided entirely in digital form, 24
hours a day, 7 days a week.

BUILDING THE WEB SITE: IN-HOUSE VERSUS
OUTSOURCING

There are many choices for building and maintaining Web sites. Much depends
on how much money you are willing to spend. Choices range from outsourcing
the entire Web site development to an external vendor to building everything
yourself (in-house). You also have a second decision to make: will you host
(operate) the site on your firm’s own servers or will you outsource the hosting
to a Web host provider? There are some vendors who will design, build, and
host your site, while others will either build or host (but not both). Figure 10.10
illustrates the alternatives.

The Building Decision
If you elect to build your own site, there are a range of options. Unless you
are fairly skilled, you should use a pre-built template to create the Web site.
For example, Yahoo! Merchant Solutions, Amazon Stores, and eBay all provide

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