Chapter 9: E-commerce Software

Google Analytics 

• Reflect on which statistics you feel are most important and why.
• What statistic would you like to see that may not be there already?
• How can this information be used to assist in developing an organization's e-commerce strategies?

After a week of using Google Analytics on my blog, there were (3) main categories that I feel collected the most important data. These categories were "Visitors," "Traffic Sources," and "Content." Within the "Visitors" category,  I think the overall visits, absolute unique visitors, pageviews, bounce rate, and browser capabilities helped to see the success rate in attracting viewers to the website as well as recognized the types of viewers visiting. With my blog, I received 34 overall visits within a week, but of those 34, only 29 were absolute unique visitors. This means that 5 visits actually came from the same viewer. These 29 visitors, visited an average of 1.21 pages per visit and gave an 85.29% bounce rate, which showed me that these viewers showed little interest in my blogs. As far as the usefulness of the browser capabilities, I think by knowing which browsers your viewers are using, you can better create your website to compliment those browsers and hopefully gain more traffic. Reviewing the "Traffic Sources" section would also help because of it's breakdown of sources and keywords, which attracted visitors to my site. The majority of my visitors came from a direct link, which showed me that very few visitors did not take any effort in searching for my website. However, for those who did, the google search tool directed them the most and by using the keywords that they used to find my site within my blogs, I can hopefully attract more visitors. However, it is the "Content" section which helps the most in attracting more visitors. By seeing the breakdown of which pages the visitors visited the most, I can see what interest them and what did not. Many of my visitors showed more interest in chapters 5 and 8 as opposed to the rest of the chapters. This can help me better improve the pages they did not visit as well as expand on the visits they showed more interest on. By using these three statistic categories, I can help focus on certain visitors, customize my website to the majority of my visitors, take advantage of keywords through search results, and edit content in terms of viewer interest.

If I were to ask for any other statistic, which I think would be beneficial to e-commerce, I would suggest maybe having an "Origin" section. This section can be broken down by countries, states, and even languages. This would help in international e-commerce. I would also suggest a "Transaction" section. Many e-commerce sites include web catalogs and process payments. Perhaps having the capability to track transactions would help companies better track their profits, rate their products based on profits, expand their payment options, as well as better their payment software. Last, I would maybe want a "Time" section, which would track the exact times of visits. Companies can take advantage of this by highlighting short-term sales during peak times. They can also better their customer service and sales representative availabilities, which will not only take advantage of more sales, but show the quality of their service. Overall, all of these suggested statistics can help to increase the quality of an e-commerce business, but it is really up to the company or individual in how they take advantage of these statistics. 

Chapter 8: Web Servers

RQ1. Most electronic commerce Web sites use three- tier client / server architecture. In about 100 words, explain why they do and briefly describe what happens in the third tier of most electronic commerce Web sites.

The three tier architecture is needed to support dynamic websites and to process transactions. In most cases the third tier consists of databases and software applications which interact with the web server. The web server can extract the information from the database in order to produce dynamic websites. The third tier also helps with web catalog websites by responding to customer requests. For example, if a customer wanted more information on a product, the third tier is what allows the web server to search and retrieve the requested information from a database. Other than responding to requests, it also processes and responds to transactions by interacting with applications such as checkout software and databases consisting of pricing and “order complete” responses, which is important in ecommerce operations.

RQ3. Beginning with the links provided in the Online Companion, locate more information about two of the three Web servers discussed in the chapter: Apache, Microsoft IIS, and Sun JSWS. Write approximately 100 words about each of the two servers you choose. Include descriptions of three features for each Web server and indicate the computer platforms and operating systems on which each runs.

Apache is an open source web server created and maintained by a community of developers. It is the most common web server used online today. It is cross-platform compatible, supporting many of today’s operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Unix, and Linux. Apache also has a variety of features such as modular programming, DBM database implementation, customized error responses, as well as authentication and authorization set up.

Following Apache as the second most used web server is Microsoft IIS. This web server was created by Microsoft Windows specifically for Windows operating system. Unlike Apache, IIS is a paid service. It is a modular architecture with features such as ASP.NET and PHP support, integrated media platform, and centralized web farm.

RQ4. In one paragraph, outline the main differences between a typical desktop PC and a computer that would be suitable to use as a Web server for a small Web site.

A desktop PC is an individual-based computer used for personal activities such as browsing the internet, word processing, and media downloads. However, a web server is used on an upscale level by responding to client requests and delivering content to the internet. In order for web servers to take on these tasks, they have high-capacity memory and hard disk drives as well as faster, also multiple processers unlike PCs, which usually have one processor. Since web servers consist of these high-capacity elements, they are typically much larger and more expensive compared to  a desktop PC.

E2. You created a Web site for International Paper Products and Pulp, complete with links to other pages on your site and to pages on the Internet. Bob Pardee, your supervisor, wants you to check periodically that the links on the corporate site are still valid. Instead of purchasing and installing a link- checking program, you decide to investigate online link check-ers ( Web sites that allow you to enter a Web site’s root or home address and then check all the links that emanate from that site). Use W3C Link Check or Elsop LinkScan Quick Check to check the links on any site of your choice. Print a few pages of the report and be prepared to turn them in to your instructor. Be patient. The program can take some time to complete its work— especially on a Web page that has a large number of links.

In using the W3C Link Checker, I checked out www.smashingmagazine.com. The results showed that 26 links were not checked due to the robots exclusion rules. Meaning, the link was instructed by its web owner to disallow a check with robots.txt files.  Of the links that were checked, 7 links were broken links. This meant that they were missing characters in the URI in order to properly link. However, only 1 link was completely disabled due to a server side problem.

Chapter 7: Legal, Ethic, and Tax Issues

C1. Nissan.com

1. U. S. courts sometimes appoint advisors ( often called Special Masters) to help them decide cases that involve complex business or technical issues. Assume you are a business advisor to a court that is hearing an appeal of the Nissan Motor Co. v. Nissan Computer Corp. case. In about 200 words, explain why Nissan Motor Co. is so concerned about the use of these two domain names and how a monetary damages judgment of $ 10 million could be justified ( if you do not believe that the monetary damages are justified, explain why).

The concern that Nissan Motor Co. has in terms of the two domain names is the association their company will have due to the use of the “Nissan” name. Since Nissan Motor Co. was established before Uzi Nissan’s company, “Nissan” can be considered their trade name. Therefore, when people see or hear of “Nissan,” they think of Nissan Motor Co. and its products such as their vehicles. Having this name registered under a different company can confuse customers wanting more information on Nissan Motor Co. and perhaps veer prospective buyers away from the Nissan Motor Co. products. This confusion could result in profit losses. Considering the amount of years that Nissan Motor Co. had already established their name, the worth of their products, and then the years that Uzi Nissan registered the two domains for, Nissan Motor Co. potentially had a profit loss of 6 years. I believe that would justify the $10 million dollar suit.      

2. In about 200 words, provide an outline of the ethics of the position taken by Uzi Nissan in this dispute.

Uzi Nissan ethically registered the two domain names under his family name, which would be considered a “basic right.” He also sold products, which had no relevance to Nissan Motor Company. The products he sold were computer related, which was entirely different to that of Nissan Motor Co. vehicle products.  With that in mind, he had no intentions of associating the domains to Nissan Motor Company only to his family name nor did he want to persuade sales since his products had no relation or mention of Nissan Motor Company.  

3. In about 200 words, provide an outline of the ethics of the position taken by Nissan Motor Co. in this dispute.

Nissan Motor Co.  changed their brand name before Uzi Nissan established his company thus branding the “Nissan” name for their products. Their vehicle products gain popularity in the U.S.  making it a well-known brand name. In order to secure their brand, Nissan Motor Company’s lawyer sent a letter to Uzi Nissan to notify him of the misuse of their brand name. However, Uzi Nissan took the notice lightly and did not reply nor make any changes. Uzi Nissan’s negligence led Nissan Motor Co. to believe his use of the two domain names were for cybersquatting.  

4. If you believe that the courts’ decisions in this case are fair to the parties and the general public, explain why in about 200 words. If you believe that the courts’ decisions are not fair, outline a decision ( in about 200 words) that you believe would be fair.

“Cybersquatting is the practice of registering a domain name that is the trademark of another person or company in the hopes that the owner will pay huge amounts of money to acquire the URL.” However, in this case, Uzi Nissan had no intention of selling the domain names to Nissan Motor Company. He sincerely registered the domains because he was only using his family name. However, under common law, Nissan Motor Company had trade name rights. Since Nissan was established before Uzi Nissan’s company, the name “Nissan” identified Nissan Motor Co. first. With both parties acting under ethical terms, I believe the court’s decision was fair. It eliminated the confusion concerns of Nissan Motor Co., but was also considerate towards Uzi Nissan’s company since he registered the domains without harmful intent. I think favoring one company over the other in this case would contradict ethical approaches, thus making this the best decision.