Electronic Commerce, or E-Commerce, refers to any type of commercial/business transaction where information, data, products and services are exchanged across the internet. These transactions can cover a wide diversity of business types to include: consumer-based retail sites (e.g. Amazon), sites that provide facilities such as auctions (e.g. eBay) and business exchanges between different organisations. E-Commerce allows consumers to electronically exchange goods and services 24/7 with no barriers in terms of time or geography.

Within this course students will gain an understanding of how and why businesses and organisations develop E-Commerce strategies: to remain competitive in the global market. Students will also appreciate the elements and resources required to set up an E-Commerce site and be engaged in the design and implementation of their own strategies that would in reality form part of a secure E-Commerce site.

Students will examine the impact that E-Commerce has on society and the global market for consumers, buyers and sellers in terms of the benefits and drawbacks of online purchasing. Through investigation, students will also research the technologies involved in setting up a secure E-Commerce site in preparation for their own ECommerce strategy.

There is an expectation that students will devise a strategy based on an element of ECommerce such as designing a shopping cart, an ordering system, payment system or an online marketing system, for example. This design should be fully implemented and evaluated accordingly in terms of its success or failure. Standards and levels of support, marketing, CRM, promotion and supply chain management will all be explored within the context of developing the implementation strategy.

On successful completion of this course a student will have gained both a technical and practical insight into E-Commerce strategy, design and development. As a result they will develop skills such as communication literacy, critical thinking, analysis, reasoning and interpretation, which are crucial for gaining employment and developing academic competence.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course a student will be able to:

LO1 Examine the strategies employed and the impact of E-Commerce on business organisations.

LO2 Analyse the hardware, software, web-based and database technologies involved in setting up a secure E-Commerce site.

LO3 Design an E-Commerce strategy based on a given end user requirement or specification.

LO4 Implement an E-Commerce strategy based on a given end user requirement or specification.