Btec National in IT Student Assignment package

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1 Btec National in IT Student Assignment package Unit: 8 E-commerce Assignment 1 The Pros, the Cons and the Technologies Deadline: Criteria achieved P1 P2 P3 M1 M2 D1 First draft Referral Yes/No Date Yes/No Date Assignment 2 E-commerce and Society Deadline: Criteria achieved P4 P5 D2 First draft Referral Yes/No Date Yes/No Date Assignment 3 - An E-commerce Strategy Deadline: Criteria achieved P6 M3 First draft Referral Yes/No Date Yes/No Date Assessor s comments/feedback to student Assessor s comments/feedback to student Assessor s comments/feedback to student Unit grade achieved Date awarded Assessor s name U (Fail) P (Pass) M (Merit) D (Distinction) Name of student: Group: Target: MGOCT10

2 Assessment and grading criteria In order to pass this unit, the evidence that you will present needs to demonstrate that you can meet all the learning outcomes for the unit as outlined in the unit s content. The assessment criteria for a pass grade describe the level of achievement required to pass this unit. Pass criteria Merit criteria Distinction criteria P1 describe the Technologies required for e-commerce P2 explain the impact of introducing an e-commerce system to an organisation P3 explain the potential risks to an organisation of committing to an e-commerce system P4 review the regulations governing e-commerce P5 examine the social implications of e-commerce on society P6 plan an e-commerce strategy M1 recommend methods to promote an e-commerce system M2 discuss how security issues in e-commerce can be overcome M3 design an interface for an e-commerce business D1 evaluate the use of e-commerce in a brick and click organisation D2 compare different payment systems used by e-commerce systems Btec National for IT Practitioners 2 Last updated 01/01/12 MGJAN12

3 Unit content In order to be awarded the criteria identified in this unit s assignments you will need to make sure you have covered the unit s contents as outlined below. 1 know the technologies required for an e-commerce system Technologies: hardware and software eg web servers, browsers, server software, web authoring tools, database system; networking eg TCP/IP addresses, ports and protocols; considerations eg domain names, multiple registration of domains (.com as well as.co.uk), programming requirements, download speeds, browser and platform compatibility 2 Understand the impact of e-commerce on organisations Benefits: eg global marketplace, 24/7 trading, relatively low start-up and running costs, competitive edge, search facilities, gathering customer information, alternative income sources, pricing opportunities eg differences, fluid pricing Drawbacks: eg consumer trust, lack of human contact, delivery issues, international legislation, product description problems, security issues Promotion: effective use of search engines eg use meta tags, spiders, paying for prominence in search result listing; newsgroups and forums; banners and pop-ups; spam; site name; direct marketing; ensuring an effective user interface; establishing customer loyalty in a virtual environment Security: issues eg prevention of hacking, viruses, identity theft, firewall impact on site performance, SSL, HTTPS, RSA certificates, strong passwords, alternative authentication methods Legislation: associated legislation eg Data Protection Act 1998, Computer Misuse Act 1990, Consumer Credit Act 1974, Trading Standards, Freedom of Information Act 2000, copyright legislation, E-commerce Regulations 3 Understand the effects of e-commerce on society e-commerce entities: e-tailers eg Amazon.com, ebuyer.co.uk; manufacturers eg dell.com; existing retailers eg tesco.com, argos.co.uk; consumer led eg ebay; service providers eg easyjet.co.uk, lastminute.com; financial eg esure.com, banks Social implications: changing customer perspective eg providing added value, providing service, ease and security; economic and social impact due to speed of changes; bricks and clicks (integrating high street and online presence); benefits for customers eg remote shopping, access to goods and services for the housebound, anytime access, internet discounts; drawbacks eg payment security, assessing quality/fit without actual product, reliance on delivery services; impact on employment; social divide Payment systems: services available eg electronic cheque, PayPal, NoChex, credit or debit cards Btec National for IT Practitioners 3 Last updated 01/01/12 MGJAN12

4 4 Be able to plan e-commerce strategies E-commerce strategy: structure of site; hosting; promotion; issues eg cost, security Structure: customer interface eg ease of use, display of products, personal details entry, credit card entry, other types of payment, delivery details; image; style Hosting: choice of ISP; in house or sub-contracted Promotion: marketing eg advertising the site, placing in search engines; message board; chat rooms Costs: setup; maintenance; security; leasing; advertising; delivery strategy; staff training Security: fraud protection; hackers; viruses Btec National for IT Practitioners 4 Last updated 01/01/12 MGJAN12

5 Assignment 1 The Pros, the Cons and the Technologies Learning Outcomes On completion of this assignment you should: 1 Know the technologies required for an e-commerce system 2 Understand the impact of e-commerce on organisations Please read appendix 1 before starting your assignment.. Task 1 Scenario Never Mind the Music Store is a small, local, family business that sells from CDs to old vinyls. They are considering the idea of going on-line. They asked you for advice as they do not know much about on-line businesses and would like to make an informed decision. You are going to use them as an example for some of your articles. You will discuss the technologies that make possible e-commerce in your first article How to go about it You must also list and explain the technologies which might be needed by Never Mind the Music Store. [P1] Make sure you include the following categories: Hardware Software Networking Considerations Please look at the unit s content under the heading Know the technologies required for an e-commerce system to get an idea of what needs to be covered in each of the above bullet points. Task 2 Your second article (Why on-line?) will discuss the benefits of e-commerce for a business, referring to Never Mind the Music Store. [P2] The owner of Never Mind the Music Store is feeling very positive after learning the benefits of e-commerce. He has asked you how he could promote his on-line business if he decided to trade on-line. Write a section within your second article where you will discuss the methods to promote an on-line system under the heading E-Promotion. Identify and explain which of those methods could be used by Never Mind the Music Store. [M1] Btec National for IT Practitioners 5 Last updated 01/01/12 MGJAN12

6 Task 3 A third article (What can go wrong?) will give an insight on the possible risks of going on-line, referring to Never Mind the Music Store. [P3] You would like to reassure the owner of Never Mind the Music Store that, despite the risks of trading on-line, there are security measures that can be put in place to minimise those risks. Write a section within your third article where you will discuss those security measures under the heading What can we do about it? Identify and explain how Never Mind the Music Store could overcome their potential security risks. [M2] Task 4 You will now need to focus on retailers that operate in a brick and click environment. Choose one from the list below and discuss what the click part of the operation has given the organisation over and above their high street presence, and what risks they face. How do they use e-commerce? You could call this section of the article, for example Tesco Case Study [D1] Tesco Dorothy Perkins Sports Direct Btec National for IT Practitioners 6 Last updated 01/01/12 MGJAN12

7 Assignment 2 E-commerce and Society Learning Outcomes On completion of this assignment you should: 1 Understand the effects of e-commerce on society Task 1 The owner of Never Mind the Music Store is really excited about going on-line and having a wider market, he is a bit anxious though as he does not know what legislation applies to an online business. You will need to write another article Ecommerce Legislation, where you will list and describe the legislation that regulates e-commerce and, will give examples of how it could affect Never Mind the Music Store. [P4] Task 2 The last article for the magazine will discuss the effects of e-commerce on society, What are the Effects of E-commerce on Society? As part of the article you will provide a list where you will describe the different e-commerce entities, giving examples. You will then need to look at the social implications of e-commerce, especially from the consumer s point of view. Finally list and describe the different payment systems available. [P5] Compare different payment systems. You can present this task in the form of a table clearly detailing similarities, differences, advantages and disadvantages. [D2] * Please note that Different means different type, thus debit card and credit card are regarded as a single type, ie payment by card. Btec National for IT Practitioners 7 Last updated 01/01/12 MGJAN12

8 Assignment 3 An E-commerce Strategy Learning Outcomes On completion of this assignment you should: 1 Be able to plan e-commerce strategies Task 1 After writing all the articles and several meetings with the owner of Never Mind The Music Store, the owner has decided to trade on-line. You offered to plan an e- commerce strategy for him since he kindly allowed you to use his business as a case study for the articles you wrote in the magazine. You will include in your strategy the following: 1. A report where you will give some ideas for promoting the site, what costs will be involved (actual figures are not required), the security measures to be put in place and how the site will be hosted. [P6] 2. A customer interface design. Make sure you consider the following before designing the interface: [M3] - Who are the users? - What do the users want/need to do? - What is the background of the users? - What is to be done by the computer? And by the user? After considering all the above, design the interface using Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 or similar. You must think about ease of use, display of products, personal details entry, credit card entry, other types of payment, delivery details etc. The image and style will be crucial, as the interface will be the first contact the customer will have with the online business. * Please note that a full functional website is not required for M3, but the design of the homepage only. Btec National for IT Practitioners 8 Last updated 01/01/12 MGJAN12

9 Appendix 1 IT Matters Case Study You have recently taken a job with the local newspaper, Lincs Gazette. The Gazette has decided to start up a fortnightly colour magazine (IT Matters) in which they want a section devoted to issues and concerns for IT users in the local area. You have been asked to write a series of six articles to go into the supplement covering various e-commerce aspects. The article titles could be entitled: 1. How to go about it 2. Why on-line? - E-Promotion 3. What can go wrong? - What can we do about it? 4. Bricks and Clicks - Tesco Case Study 5. E-Commerce Legislation? 6. What are the Effects of E-commerce on Society? - E-commerce Entities - Social Implications - Payment Systems You are asked to prepare drafts of these articles for the editor and review to adapt to the supplement s house style. They would like a snappy easy-to-read written style that will appeal to the readers, keeping jargon to the minimum (or giving full explanation of any technical terms used). You should give examples of local large and small businesses in the area (based on your own environment). Each article should be written in paragraphs separating out any distinct sections with snappy headings. Each article should cover no more than four sides of A4 of neat text (less is fine if appropriate) so that the editorial team can cut it down to fit in the supplement. In order to achieve that you must be succinct but still address the level of detail required. Screen shots or pictures should be added to make the articles better suit the readers than just text (these do not count in the overall length of the article so the draft versions may exceed four sides when pictures are added). Btec National for IT Practitioners 9 Last updated 01/01/12 MGJAN12