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    • E-commerce

    Why Care about E-commerce?

    The internet has greatly shaped modern life in many ways. Areas such as entertainment and social interaction have changed drastically under the reign of the web, and the field of commerce is no different. A business having an e-commerce (electronic commerce) presence can open them up to a much wider market. It can also be beneficial for the consumer, in that e-commerce provides more options than just what may be found locally. E-commerce may also provide more convenience for consumers. Instead of having to drive or board a bus for miles, all they need to do is click a few buttons and wait for a package to arrive.

    Part A – E-commerce purchase

    1. Identify what type of e-commerce business are you using? B2C or C2C etc.

    I’m using business to consumer (B2C) when it comes to both websites.

    2. What platform or marketplace are you using?

    Newegg and Best Buy are the marketplaces I’m using for this assignment.

    3. What item are you buying? What are the two sites you are buying from and what is the price on each site?  Provide screenshots.

    The item I’m looking at is the Blue Snowball Ice microphone, and I’m comparing them on Best Buy and Newegg. The microphone happens to be $49.99 on both sites.

    Blue Snowball microphone on Best Buy website
    Best Buy offer
    Blue Snowball microphone on Newegg website
    Newegg offer
    4. What do you do if you have to return or exchange the item?  What is the return or exchange policy?  Is there a time limit?  How do you do this?  Are there any fees/charges that the customer must pay?

    At Best Buy, the return policy varies depending on the product, but since the microphone isn’t an activatable device, and it doesn’t fall under their list of items with a return fee, the return policy is pretty simple with it. I would just have to adhere to the 15 day return period, ensure the product is in like-new condition, and either return it to a physical store, or ship the product back to them, using their prepaid shipping label. The process would be completely free.

    With Newegg, the return policy is also simple. The microphone also doesn’t have any restocking or return fees. I would just need to ship the item back to them within 30 days in an undamaged state.

    5. What forms of payment are accepted?

    For payment, Best Buy accepts card, PayPal, Zip, or store credit. Newegg accepts card, BitPay, PayPal, Zip, Affirm, or a Newegg Store Credit Card.

    6. Are there any shipping costs?  How much are they?

    Best Buy did not charge me shipping when I went through their checkout process, but Newegg did. They included a $3.99 shipping fee.

    7. Are there any taxes?  How much are they?

    Both sites charged me sales tax. On Best Buy, the tax was $4.19. On Newegg, it added up to $4.52 because the shipping fee was taxed as well.

    Best Buy checkout
    Best Buy
    Newegg checkout
    Newegg
    8. Are there any other fees on online purchases from international companies (i.e. outside of North America)?

    Because both Best Buy and Newegg are based in the United States, I did see any fees from international companies. However, I know from experience that when you buy an item that has to ship overseas, it is likely that you will have to pay more on shipping.

    9. Are there any hidden costs that you discovered?

    I did not discover any hidden costs in the checkout processes with Best Buy and Newegg.

    10. What security measures are used to ensure that the information of the customer is protected?

    Best Buy says that they use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to encrypt sensitive information. Newegg on the other hand, uses SSL/TLS, as well as “salted password hashing for all customers’ logon credentials.” Newegg also restricts access of sensitive information only to select employees and regularly reviews access logs.

    Part B – Questions About Starting E-commerce

    E-commerce stands for "electronic commerce" and is a term describing the selling of products and services through electronic means, such as through internet websites like Amazon, or eBay.

    1. Potentially lower startup cost - Starting an online small business doesn't usually cost anywhere near the amount needed to open a physical store. For example, you wouldn't need to buy or rent a building to operate out of.

    2. Convenience - A semi-passive income is possible. You can make money even when away from your work.

    3. Much wider audience - By opening your metaphorical doors to the internet, you would be tapping into a much wider audience than if you opened a local shop without an internet presence.

    More competition - Creating an electronic store has a much lower barrier to entry than physical stores. As such you may find yourself competing against a large number of businesses that went the same route you did.

    More difficult customer service - It is true that less customer service may be involved in e-commerce, because consumers generally interact with a website rather than a person. However, when you need to directly communicate with customers, it may be more difficult than in-person interaction. Talking on the phone, email, etc. can be difficult. Waiting for responses, hearing someone with a bad mic or in a noisy environment, etc. can make things less than convenient.

    Potential technical difficulties - The website can go down or be hacked.

    There are way too many platforms to mention all of them here. However, here are some that allow you to create a commerce oriented website: Shopify, Squarespace, Wix, Drupal Commerce, as well as WooCommerce (a WordPress plugin).

    On the other hand, already established marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, or Etsy can also be used to sell products from.

    Technical difficulties - Because e-commerce is web based, it is very dependent on technology, and sometimes technology has problems.

    Data Security - Keeping your customers' (and your) information safe and secure is a task of utmost importance, unfortunately it isn't a simple task and may require extensive knowledge of computer systems, or someone else to be hired fill that role.

    Heightened demand - It is possible that your business could explode in popularity after reaching a larger internet audience. In such a case, it may be difficult to scale your operations to meet the demands of your customers. Hiring other people or procuring warehouse space may be required.

    1. Offer affordable, quality products that are unique and meet a need unfilled by others.

    2. Create a unique brand identity.

    3. Make the online experience user friendly and well optimized for your consumers.

    1. What products/services are your selling?

    2. Who is your target audience and how will you appeal to them?

    3. How will you stand out amongst your competitors?

    4. What platform will you use?

    5. What will your unique branding look/feel like?

    Search engine optimization (SEO) - You should use SEO best practices to improve your ranking. Some of which includes using descriptive and unique keywords, meeting real searcher queries, linking to other sites and your own, as well as optimizing your images, video, and overall pages to load quickly, along with so much more.

    Part C – Plugins

    1. Find five plugins used in building e-commerce sites today. Compare and contrast five of the features of these plugins.
    • WooCommerce – The most popular e-commerce plugin on WordPress. The plugin is a comprehensive tool that includes features such as the ability to sell both digital and physical goods, shipping and payment options, inventory management, hundreds of design themes, and more.
    • Easy Digital Downloads – Unlike WooCommerce which allows the sale of digital and physical goods, this plugin only allows sales in the digital space, but it does it well. With hundreds of themes and extensions available, along with an easy to use UI, this is a great choice for retailers only interested in selling digital products.
    • WP Simple Pay – This plugin allows you to setup payments on WordPress without a shopping cart. It has support for credit/debit cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and more.
    • ELEX WooCommerce Dynamic Pricing and Discounts Plugin – Offering powerful dynamic pricing tools, ELEX makes it easy to set prices based on a wide variety of criteria. Discounts can be offered to specific users given their role, email, or other information. ELEX also makes it easy to create product price and offer tables.
    • MemberPress – Allows you to setup a robust membership website utilizing an automated billing system. MemberPress boasts a plethora of features that allow you to modify access to content based on user membership tiers. It also offers a large catalog of add-ons that can be used to improve functionality.
    2. How are themes related to each of the plugins discussed above? Name at least one theme for the plugin discussed above. Why did you choose this theme?

    Themes are related to the plugins above in that WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads allow you to use themes to change the look of their elements on page. Shoptimizer is a WP theme specialized for e-commerce and designed to be used with WooCommerce specifically.

    Sources:

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