E-Business: Strategic Thinking and Practice - Book Report/Review Example

EVALUATE AND REPORT ON E-COMMERCE WEBSITES of the of the Introduction E-commerce websites have gained significance in recent times. This is because of high demand towards convenience shopping. Customers nowadays prefer to shop online rather than visiting any retail outlet. E-commerce is all about trading in services or products with the support of computer networks. Online market places are securing high profit margins in terms of business to consumer or consumer to consumer sales. This study would analyze a particular e-commerce website which has sustained market position over the years. Amazon.com is a well-known e-commerce website based in America. It is considered to be the biggest online retailer, having its headquarters in Washington. Initially this organization was selling books through online platform. In the current scenario, Amazon.com encompasses wide range of products such as CDs, DVDs, software, toys, clothes, jewelry, food, etc. Privacy Privacy policy is a key area of concern in online shopping. Amazon.com has adopted best practices in order to address privacy issues. This company takes care of personal information which is being shared on the online platform. A notice is issued by this online retailer that describes elaborately all privacy terms and conditions. There is certain specific information gathered by Amazon.com regarding their customers. Information is entered by customers themselves in the website. There are options available through which customers can avoid providing some information. Gathered information is utilized to respond to various requests, upgrading online store facilities, developing effective communication channels and customization of shopping experience. Amazon.com enables cookies and hence they are able to store information automatically when an individual access this site through web browser. Information is a vital part of the entire business operation. Information being gathered by this site is not sold to others. When a third party is involved in the trading practice then customer’s information is shared by Amazon.com. Third party service providers perform required functions on behalf of Amazon.com. These parties can only use certain information which is essential to accomplish set goals. Privacy is also maintained by sending promotional offers to selected group of individuals. These offers can also be terminated by contacting Customer Care Service of Amazon.com. Contact information is not shared with businesses who are indulged into sharing promotional offers (Amazon.com, Inc, 2015). Privacy notice remains the same for this online website even when there are business transfers. Consent of customers is firstly taken before any kind of information is shared with third party service providers. Security Issues Amazon.com has designed a platform which ensures high security for customers. Information security is taken into consideration by all online retail companies. Secure Sockets Layer is utilized by the firm in order to meet desired standards of information security. This particular software is implemented by the online retail store to encrypt information which is provided by customers. While placing an order, credit card details are required. Customers usually denote it as a security issue when it comes to entering credit card details. However Amazon.com incorporates appropriate measures to protect confidential information entered by customers. This website only reveals last four digits of any credit card. It helps in gaining customer satisfaction in context of security of provided information (Heinemann and Schwarzl, 2010). During order processing, entire credit card details of customers are only given to credit card companies. A secure network infrastructure is developed by this online website. Boundary devices and firewall are included to control or monitor communications at the internal boundaries as well as external boundaries. Boundary devices are responsible for setting rules, configuration in terms of aligning information to certain information systems and enabling ACLs or access control lists. The traffic flow is usually managed by ACLs. These policies of ACL are scrutinized by Amazon Information Security. Limited customer access points are provided by this e-commerce website. These access points are referred to as API endpoints. A secured HTTP access is promoted by Amazon.com. Secure communication session is the primary requisite of any customer. Monitoring tools embedded within the system is able to detect any form of unauthorized access. User Interface User interface is a critical component in ecommerce businesses. Potential customers tend to deviate towards other online shopping platforms if they do not witness appropriate user interface. User interface of Amazon.com is inclined towards building customer confidence, facilitating online presence and enhancing findability of products. The website appears in the first few searches in SEO. Relevant keywords have been purchased by this online store in order to attract large base of customers. Social networking sites are also considered to be suitable options to promote such e-commerce websites. Amazon.com maintains an online portal where customers can easily locate their desirable products by browsing through different categories. Books, clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, etc., all are placed under separate categories. These product categories appear on the first page of the website (Canzer, 2006). Customers need to provide their sign in details so as to continue shopping with Amazon. Security measures undertake by the company is highlighted throughout the website. Use of easy keywords enables customers to understand terms and conditions encompassed within the website. All brands are represented by this website along with their necessary product details. The wide range of products offered by Amazon.com can be easily sorted so that customers can find their required items. Smooth navigation helps customers to locate their exact position on the website and they can even backtrack as and when required. In the search results overall product information is displayed so as to ensure that customers have clear idea about browsed items on this online platform. Purchase Decisions Purchase decision is a crucial stage for all business firms. Customers should be convinced about purchasing from a specific website. These online platforms have many such fraudulent cases where customer’s information was exploited by third parties. It is often stated that purchase gateway is highly unsafe in case of e-commerce websites. However Amazon.com has been able to mitigate such issue by incorporating best security measures and access control points. This aspect contributes towards purchase decision making process. Customers are able to rely on this e-commerce website only because of its privacy and security standards. On the other hand, product range and price are also some factors which facilitate purchase decision. There is large number of products of different categories available on this website. Predictive type-ahead options present in this website enable customers to select proper terms before they start searching a product. The interface is efficiently designed so as to help customers in terms of refining, sorting, comparing and filtering available search results. There is a flow in the shopping process of Amazon.com. Once the products are selected by customers it is sent to shopping cart and individuals are simultaneously directed to payment gateway. These set of operations are exhibited in minimum time interval so that customers are not deviated from final purchase decision. The online retailer not only helps customers to select best products but it even guides them during checking-out from the website. Conclusion As per the study, e-commerce businesses have to take into consideration wide array of factors. These factors are related to protecting confidential information of customers and enhancing customer confidence towards the online retail store. Over the years, Amazon.com has provided exceptional service to all customers. This online retailer is based in America but has extended its business operations across the globe. Customers rely on this website due to effective security measures and inclination towards safeguarding confidential information entered by customers. Third party service providers are also included by this company in order to deliver desirable products or services. However these service providers are not given full access to available customer information. References Amazon.com, Inc. (2015). Amazon.com privacy notice. Retrieved from: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=468496 . Canzer, B. (2006). E-Business: strategic thinking and practice: strategic thinking and practice. New York: Cengage Learning. Heinemann, G. and Schwarzl, C. (2010). New online retailing: innovation and transformation. Netherlands: Springer Science & Business Media. Read More