IT310 - E-commerce technology

E-Commerce

Digitally enabled commercial transactions between and among organizations and individuals.

E-Business

The digital enablement of transactions and operational processes within a firm under its control.

Ubiquity

E-commerce feature where the marketspace is available everywhere at all times, freeing shopping from geographic boundaries.

Global Reach

E-commerce feature allowing commercial transactions to cross cultural, regional, and national boundaries seamlessly.

Universal Standards

Shared technical standards across all Internet systems worldwide that lower market entry and search costs.

Information Richness

E-commerce feature supporting complex, multimedia marketing messages combining text, audio, and video.

Interactivity

E-commerce feature enabling real-time, two-way communication between merchants and consumers.

Information Density

The total amount and quality of information available to market participants, reducing costs and raising currency.

Personalization / Customization

Targeting marketing messages to specific individuals and modifying products or services based on user preferences.

Social Technology

Technology that supports user-generated content, independent content creators, and social networking ecosystems.

B2C E-Commerce

Business-to-Consumer transactions involving commercial businesses selling directly to individual retail shoppers.

B2B E-Commerce

Business-to-Business digital transactions, representing the largest overall e-commerce segment by dollar volume.

C2C E-Commerce

Consumer-to-Consumer platform transactions conducted directly between individuals, such as on eBay or Craigslist.

Invention Phase (1995–2000)

Early period of e-commerce marked by dot-com euphoria, simple retail offerings, and first-mover market visions.

Consolidation Phase (2001–2007)

Period of e-commerce focusing on business profits, viable revenue models, and traditional brand extensions.

Reinvention Phase (2008–Present)

Era characterized by mobile devices, social platforms, local services, and on-demand consumer marketplaces.

Business Model

A set of planned organizational activities designed to result in a profit within a specific marketplace.

Value Proposition

Defines how a company's product or service fulfills customer needs and answers the question: 'Why buy from you?'

Revenue Model

Outlines how a business will earn revenue, generate profits, and produce returns on invested capital.

Advertising Revenue Model

Model where a business provides a platform for advertisements and receives fees from commercial advertisers.

Subscription Revenue Model

Model where a business charges a recurring fee for ongoing access to premium content, digital products, or services.

Transaction Fee Revenue Model

Model where an operator receives a fee for enabling or executing an online transaction on behalf of users.

Freemium Strategy

Pricing approach giving away basic services for free while charging subscription fees for advanced or premium features.

E-tailer

Online retail store format, encompassing virtual merchants, catalog merchants, and bricks-and-clicks sellers.

Portal

Web destination offering integrated search packages, content, and services, such as Yahoo or specialized industry vortals.

Transaction Broker

Online intermediary that processes transactions to save consumers time and money, notably in financial and travel industries.

Market Creator

Digital environment where buyers and sellers meet and transact, including sharing economy platforms like Uber.

E-distributor

B2B digital wholesaler supplying MRO (maintenance, repair, and operations) and indirect goods directly to individual firms.

E-procurement

B2B service and SaaS providers offering digital supply chain management tools and procurement software.

Exchange

Independently owned vertical digital marketplace creating dynamic price competition among commercial suppliers.

Packet Switching

Method of slicing digital messages into discrete packets (~1,500 bytes), routing them independently via routers, and reassembling them at the destination.

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)

Core protocol establishing connections among sending/receiving devices and managing message assembly and reassembly.

IP (Internet Protocol)

Core protocol providing the Internet's addressing scheme and handling the actual delivery of individual packets.

Client/Server Computing

Architecture model where client devices request shared applications, files, and services from central server computers.

IPv4 Address

32-bit Internet address expressed as four numbers separated by periods, supporting approximately 4 billion unique addresses.

IPv6 Address

128-bit Internet address capable of supporting approximately $3.4 \times 10^{38}$ unique addresses.

Domain Name System (DNS)

System that translates numeric IP addresses into human-readable domain names.

Hourglass Model Layer 1

Network Technology Substrates layer consisting of physical cables, wireless media, satellite links, and DSL lines.

Hourglass Model Layer 2

Transport Services and Representation Standards layer housing core transport protocols like TCP and IP.

Hourglass Model Layer 3

Middleware Services layer providing security tools, identity management, storage repositories, and file systems.

Hourglass Model Layer 4

Applications layer housing end-user software such as web browsers, email clients, media players, and remote access tools.

HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)

Application layer protocol used to format and transmit hypermedia web pages between web servers and client browsers.

E-Commerce Presence Map

Framework coordinating a firm's touchpoints across four channels: Websites/Apps, Social Media, Email, and Offline Media.

Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

Five-step process for developing web systems: Systems Analysis/Planning, Systems Design, Building, Testing, and Implementation.

Systems Analysis / Planning

First SDLC phase that identifies business objectives, defines system functionality, and maps information requirements.

Vertical Scaling

Increasing website hosting capacity by upgrading the processing power and hardware specifications of existing individual servers.

Horizontal Scaling

Increasing site capacity by adding more physical server units to distribute and balance the processing workload.

Content Delivery Network (CDN)

Distributed network of proxy servers that cache website content geographically close to end users to reduce latency.

Responsive Web Design (RWD)

Design approach that automatically adapts website layouts and media to fit varying device screen resolutions.

Integrity

Security dimension ensuring that displayed or transmitted electronic data has not been altered by an unauthorized party.

Nonrepudiation

Security dimension ensuring that transaction participants cannot deny initiating an online action, transmission, or purchase.

Authenticity

Security dimension verifying the true identity of a person, agent, or merchant conducting business online.

Confidentiality

Security dimension ensuring that digital messages, documents, and data are viewable only by authorized parties.

Privacy

Security dimension that determines how personal data gathered during commerce is controlled, used, and protected.

Availability

Security dimension ensuring an e-commerce website, network, or application continues to operate and serve users without downtime.

3 Vulnerability Points

The primary operational layers where e-commerce security risks occur: Clients, Communications Pipeline, and Servers.

Malware

Umbrella term for malicious software programs, including viruses, worms, Trojan horses, ransomware, and botnets.

Phishing

Deceptive online practice designed to trick users into revealing sensitive data by masquerading as a legitimate entity.

SQL Injection

Cyberattack where malicious commands are injected into database-driven web inputs to manipulate backend servers.

DoS / DDoS Attack

Attack that floods a server or network with excessive requests to exhaust bandwidth, crash systems, and disrupt availability.

Encryption

Process of encoding plaintext into ciphertext such that it can only be read by authorized parties possessing the decryption key.

Online Credit Card Flow

Transaction chain linking the Consumer, Merchant, Payment Clearinghouse, Card-Issuing Bank, and Merchant Bank.

PCI-DSS Compliance

Mandatory Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard requiring technical protocols from any business handling card data.

Clickstream Behavior

The chronological log and pattern of website clicks and browsing actions performed by a user leading to a transaction.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Process of modifying website structure and content to achieve higher organic rankings on search engine results pages.

Impressions

Metric representing the total count of times an online advertisement or web page is served and loaded for viewers.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Percentage of individuals who click on an advertisement after viewing it, calculated by total clicks divided by impressions.

View-Through Rate (VTR)

Percentage of users who view an ad without clicking immediately, but subsequently visit the merchant's site within 30 days.

Stickiness (Duration)

Metric quantifying the average duration of time a user remains engaged on a specific website.

Conversion Rate

Percentage of visitors to an e-commerce platform who successfully execute a desired outcome or finalize a purchase.

Abandonment Rate

Percentage of online shoppers who add items to an online shopping cart but exit the site without completing checkout.

CPM (Cost Per Thousand)

Online advertising pricing model where the buyer pays a predetermined rate per 1,000 ad impressions rendered.

CPC (Cost Per Click)

Online advertising pricing model where the advertiser only pays each time an individual clicks on an advertisement.

CPA (Cost Per Action)

Advertising billing model where payment is contingent on the user completing a specific end action, like purchasing or registering.

eCPM (Effective Cost Per Thousand)

Return on investment measure calculated by dividing total ad earnings by total impressions in thousands.

FTC Privacy Policy Mandate

Federal Trade Commission regulatory requirement obligating online merchants to publish explicit policies detailing data use.

State Breach Notification Laws

Statutes requiring organizations to formally inform affected residents whenever unencrypted personal data is exposed.

NY SHIELD Act

New York statute mandating that businesses holding resident data maintain administrative, physical, and technical safeguards.

CISA (Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act)

U.S. federal statute establishing legal protocols for exchanging cybersecurity threat indicators between private firms and the government.