IT management assignment on: E-commerce business model

1. E-commerce business models:The e-commerce business models with respect to AusNat have been defined as under. They are as follows:

Þ    Business 2 Business Models (B2B): AusNat would be referred to be under the Business to Business model. This type of the e-commerce model would take into consideration ordering, purchasing, and selling of the goods & services between two or more business houses. Business to business model takes into consideration trading of the product offerings, professional services along with the various manufacturing and wholesale dealings (Silver, 2002).

Some of the advantages amongst B2B model have been described as under. They are as follows:Business to Business model would help to maintain proper supply chain amongst the manufacturing as well as procuring process.

• Business to Business model would help in order to automate the entire corporate processes which would help in the proper delivery of the products & services in a much effective & a quick manner
• The main benefit with this type of model is to save money as well as procure immediate decisions.

Þ    Business 2 Consumer Model: AusNat would also be referred to as B2C model. This means that, the transactions would be made available between the business organizations & customers. AusNat would provide an online catalog describing the range of the products & services offered. The customers would use any of the payment methods to pay for the services acquired (Silver, 2002).

Some of the advantages amongst B2B model have been described as under. They are as follows:Business to Consumers (B2C) has been referred to as a much more advanced & competitive as compared to business to business models (B2B).

• In such type of model, the products & services are readily available. There are various types of benefits attached with this type of model. They are customized services, lower cost as compared to catalogues, accurate payments’, prompt services, 24*7 availability & more profitable.

1. E-commerce business model to derive revenues:

There is no such thing like a Free Lunch.! The cost as well as the potential revenue would require a business model which would help in the derivation of the revenue. Every site over the web consists of a business model which helps them to derive high levels of revenues. There are different business models which are used by the various websites to generate revenues (Silver, 2002).

The five major e-commerce business models which can be used by AusNat in order to generate high levels of revenues have been described in this section of the report. All the five models mentioned below have various types of characteristics which has helped in order to generate revenues. They are as follows:Þ    Vanity

Þ    Billboard

Þ    Advertising

Þ    Subscriptions

Þ    Storefront

Vanity: The first business model which shall be sued by AusNat refers to posses Vanity sites. Such type of site would be quite helpful for AusNat to have a self expression, to share a hobby as well as promote a cause which would help to find similar type of interests. The main intention of such type of an e-commerce model would be to derive high levels of revenues in a much effective manner.

Billboard: The second type of an e-commerce site which shall be used in order to generate high levels of revenues by AusNat refers to Billboard. In such type o fistes, AusNat would be able to generate revenues with the help of creating awareness regarding the different products & services over the web. It must be taken into consideration that, these days the corporate sites load the electronic brochures consisting of the various products & services offered by the organization. This helps to attract as well as inform the potential & the existing customers regarding the product offerings of the same. In case of AusNat, this business model would be regarded as one of the best ways to generate high amounts of revenues.Advertising: The third type of e-commerce business model which would help in order to generate revenues would be with the help of attractive advertising over the web. Spending high dollars would help to attain consumer viewership as well as attract people to buy or try the products and services offered by the enterprise. In case of e-commerce advertising for AusNat some of the best means would be to flow banners, ezine advertisements & sponsorships (Silver, 2002).

Storefront: Storefront also refers to one of the ways with which AusNat would be able to generate high levels of revenue. Storefront refers to an electronic catalog which consists of the different types of products & services offered by AusNat. This type of an e-commerce business model helps to complete the website as well as surpass the wholesalers & retailers to offer the product directly to the consumers.

Subscriptions: Lastly, subscription models would also refers to one of the business models which would help to generate revenues at AusNat. Though this type of business model is not widely accepted by the consumers as it only subscribe to a specific niche target audience who has their specific needs. Such type of sites consists of content written by the experts with timely information. The payment within such type of a business models would be done by the credit cards as it has been referred to as one of the common payments systems.

1. Network & Communication infrastructure:E-commerce requires network infrastructure in order to transport content, data, animations, texts, visual, etc. This type of network infrastructure is provided as the I-way or the information super highway. Such type of information helps in order to transmit the information between the users as well as the interface.

Some of the elements of network & communication infrastructure are as under. They are as follows:

Þ    Network interface card (NIC): NIC would help in order to allow the computers to be joined with another in LAN. This would help to transmit the data in packets between the machines known as Nodes (Shah & Nagree, 2001).

Þ    Gateways: Gateway refers to the ISP which helps to link users along with a firewall.

Þ    Hubs & Switches: In case of e-commerce hub has been rendered to as a small, simple & an inexpensive device which joins two or more computers together.

1. Applications to meet the business goals:

Effective optimization of the information technology (IT) infrastructure has been regarded one of most importance in today’s age due to the fast pace with which business organizations enhances. Some of the applications which would help to meet the business goals have been discussed as under. They are as follows:

Þ    Understanding the trends as well as the challenges associated with the optimization of information technology (IT)

Þ    Integrate the systems to simplify the infrastructure

Þ    Focusing on IT governance & strategic planning in order to manage the priorities.

Þ    Choose a model to match the business

Þ    Create an IT strategy which would help to support the business goals

Þ    Draw fair connections between IT & business

1. Address the security issues:

Some of the security issues which shall be kept into consideration in case of AusNat have been discussed as under. They are as follows:Þ    Privacy levels

Þ    Integrity

Þ    Authentication

Þ    Non – Repudiation

Þ    Technical Attacks (Denial of Service Attacks, Teardrop Attack, Phlashing, Distributed Denial of Service Attacks, Brute Force Attacks, etc)

Þ    Non – Technical Attacks (phishing attacks, social engineering, etc)

1. E-marketing requirements:

The e-marketing requirements for AusNat have been described as under. They are as follows:

Þ    Full description of the products & services offered

Þ    A valid Contact Number along with the Address

Þ    Return & Cancellation policy

Þ    Product Delivery Policy

Þ    Transaction Currency

Þ    Home Country

Þ    Export Restrictions

Þ    Privacy Statements

Apart from the above listed requirements, the customers shall also be informed regarding the information with the information on when will the credit cards will be charged along with the processing time of the same. If there is any change in the delivery date of the product, the customers shall be provided with a prior notification of the same.

1. Payment system to be used:

Some of the payment systems have been described as under. They are as follows:

Þ    Credit Card: The first payment system which can be used by AusNat would be with the help of the credit cards. It must be taken into consideration that, credit card consists of an embossed number which would be read by the merchant once the purchase is being made. In case of mail orders, the merchants would quote the card number along with the amount & the bank personnel would believe over them (Poneman, 2004).

Þ    Digital Payment Systems:  The second payment system which can be used by AusNat refers to the digital payment systems. This type of the payment system would include credit card over the internet. Some of the examples are First Virtual PIN System, Cyber Cash, Cyber Coin, the automated clearing house (ACH), SET & the closed proprietary software system.

Þ    First Virtual PIN System: The First Virtual PIN System refers to one of the well convinced, low technology as well as one of the security enabled credit card infrastructure. This process helps to avoid sending the card numbers over the net to the merchants. This payment system does not use any kind of encryption. This means that, the fear of losing the credit card number over the web is deducted. The entire process goes are under. The customer provides the card number to the First Virtual Bank by means of a call. Once the card number is shared, the customer gets a PIN password. This PIN password is then provided to the merchant who has contacts with First Virtual & asks for the due amount. If the customer sends a “Yes”, then only the transaction is carried over further (IBM, 2007).

Þ    Digi Cash: Digi cash refers to the last payment means which shall be used by AusNat in order to carry forward the transactions. Digi Cash refers to software which provides a digital wallet along with an open account with a government bank. It must be taken into consideration that, it refers to a process which has been signed with a group of government institutes. Digi cash would include a running wallet consisting of digi coins, cyber cash, etc.

1. Privacy & Ethical concerns:Based upon Culnan 2000, privacy has been defined as an “ability of an individual to control the various personal information which is acquired & then used unwisely”. In case of AusNat, privacy has been referred to as a matter of sheer tension & has been defined as a conjunction of capabilities to transact the business as well as control its level of privacy. Clarke 1999, has noticed that the levels of privacy needs to be traded off in some of the transactions such as credit card information, account details, quality of health to be maintained, etc. Apart from privacy there are various terms such as notice, digital, choice, authentication, identification, anonymity & trust which could be used in privacy discussions.

1. Legal issues with e-commerce issues:

While starting a business over the web, AusNat shall take into consideration the various legal issues associated with e-commerce. Some of the legal issues have been discussed as under. They are as follows:

Þ    Trademark

Þ    Copyright

Þ    Trademark: Trademark refers to a design, symbol, a word or a phrase which would help in the recognition as well as the identification of the goods & services available in the market. A trademark helps in order to identify the source of service rather than the product available. An “®” shall be depicted upon the product or the service which indicates a registered mark. In case of AusNat, the domain name would be referred to as the brand name & hence would tequire a trademark (Festa, 1998). Once AusNat would choose its domain name, it shall get it registered under the Trademark Act.  When the domain name is chosen by AusNat, it would be helpful for them to determine whether the consumers would be confused regarding the source of the product or service with any other organization available over the web.

Þ    Copyright: The second legal issue which shall be taken into consideration by AusNat refers to the Copyright issues. Copyright would be referred to as one of the important aspects which would help to secure the content of the site. It must be kept in mind that, the owner of AusNat would have the right to the following i.e. :

• copy the work
• modify the content
• distribute the work
• to perform the transactions publicly
• display the content or the transactions to the tire public

The issue of copyright would arise with the creation of the various copyrightable works such as text, background music, images, videos, etc. The content displayed over the site of AusNat would not be required to register their work under the copyright protection act. If they do register the material, then the owner would preserve the fact that the content is original due to the date of registration (Fisher, 2001).

 AusNat shall also keep in mind the fact that, when content is created by the creator then an agreement shall be signed with the contractor under the Copyright Act. This would help AusNat in a manner that, the content created would remain original and the creator will not be able to owe the same. If the contract is not signed then, the creator will own the copyrights to that particular piece of write up.

1. Customer service issues:

If the business is a service oriented enterprise, it is bound that there would many customer related issues which might arise at AusNat. It would be better if the organization outlines the things which can be practiced in order to handle the various issues & provide its customers with the best customer service (Etzioni, 1999). This would help t retain & attract the potential customers towards it. It shall be taken into consideration that proper response shall be provided to the customers in order to enhance the business with the help of e –commerce.

Some of the potential customer service issues which might be faced by AusNat have been described as under. They are as follows:

Þ    Employee Handbook: The first potential customer service issue which might be faced by AusNat would be in regards to solving the queries of the employees. The backhand employees at AusNat would provide 24*7 supports and resolve the queries of their employees. The employees shall be provided with a handbook which would help them to solve the queries in a well defined as well as a consistent manner. Different strategies shall be formulated by the employees of AusNat to offer one of the best solutions for resolving their issues.

Þ    Answering the e-mail: The second customer issue which might arise in case of AusNat would be to solve the queries via e-mails. The ranges of products which are offered by the organization are the propagation equipments, fertilizers, accessories, tree guards, etc. It is a tough task for the employees working in AusNat to solve the queries via e-mails. Each day many e-mails are received by the clients or the customers. Therefore, the employees have to prioritize the mails & revert them in the same business day within a stipulated time frame (Cole, 2008).

Þ    Return Policies:  One of the most common customer issues which would arise in case of AusNat refers to return policy. AusNat shall keep in mind whether they would allow their customers to return the merchandise purchased through its outlet or not. AusNat shall keep in mind the fact that, how to mesmerize the customers which would help to retain them as well as eliminates its hassles. The return policies shall be made clear in the terms & conditions while buying a particular product through the e-commerce means.

Þ    Warranties & Guarantee: 100% guarantee has been referred to as the best guarantee. In case of AusNat, 100% guarantee shall be provided to its customers. If the customers are not satisfied with the product offerings, the officials at AusNat shall keep a track record of what they don’t like & the reasons they do not like a particular product. AusNat shall do something which would help its customers at the time of need & return a smile on their face (Culnan, 2000).

1. Measurement of the success of the proposal:Measurement of the success of the proposal can be done with the help of the following. They are as under:

Þ    The success of the proposal for AusNat can be seen with the help of new sales, revenues generated, level of growth, etc

Þ    The success can also be noticed with the help of the visibility of the health of the business.

Þ    With the implementation of the Sales Metrics, measurement of success would be readily done (Billam, 1998).

Þ    To see whether the goals of the organization i.e. AusNat has been achieved in an effective or efficient manner.

Þ    Benchmarking would also help in order to compare the level of goals achieved within an enterprise (Clarke, 1999).

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