E-COMMERCE

UNIT 1

INTRODUCTION
World Wide Web
World Wide Web (WWW) is an information system of interlinked hypertext
documents that are accessed via the internet. Individual document pages on the
worldwide web are called web pages and are accessed with a software application
running on the user’s computer, commonly called a web browser. Web pages may
contain text, images, video, and other multimedia components, as well as we navigation
features consisting of hyperlinks.

E-BUSINESS
E-business is the conduct of business on the Internet, not only buying and selling but also
servicing customers and collaborating with business partners.
E-business includes customer service (e-service) and intra-business tasks.
E-business is the transformation of key business processes through the use of Internet
technologies. An e-business is a company that can adapt to constant and continual
change.

The development of intranet and extranet is part of e-business. E-business is everything

to do with back-end systems in an organization. In practice, e-commerce and e-business
are often used interchangeably.

Electronic Commerce
With the advent of the Internet, the term e-commerce began to include:
 Electronic trading of physical goods and of intangibles such as information.
 All the steps involved in trade, such as on-line marketing, ordering payment and
support for delivery.
 The electronic provision of services such as after sales support or on-line legal advice.
 Electronic support for collaboration between companies such as collaborative on-line
design and engineering or virtual business consultancy teams.

Definition
Electronic commerce, better known as E-commerce, refers to the commercial activities—
such as on-line shopping and payment transactions—carried out using computers and the
Internet.
 Electronic commerce is sharing business information, maintaining business
relationships and conducting business transactions by means of telecommunications
networks.
 Electronic Commerce (EC) is where business transactions take place via
telecommunications networks, especially the Internet.
 Electronic commerce describes the buying and selling of products, services, and
information via computer networks including the Internet.

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 Electronic commerce is about doing business electronically.
 E-commerce, ecommerce, or electronic commerce is defined as the conduct of a
financial transaction by electronic means.
 E-Commerce or Electronics Commerce is a methodology of modern business which
addresses the need of business organizations.

Advantages and disadvantages of E-Commerce:

E-commerce covers the global information economy, which includes electronic trading
goods and services, electronic fund transfer, online procurement, direct marketing and
electronic Billing. E-commerce provides the procedures or the ways for generating profits
by increasing the number of transactions. Some of the main advantages of E-commerce
are as follows:

Increased access:
E-commerce has made it easier for businesses to reach people around the world and run
their operation without approaching their suppliers directly. E-commerce businesses
provide access to the consumers and the other businesses all over the world

Reduces competitive gap:

E-commerce reduces marketing and advertising expenses. So, smaller companies can also
compete on quality, price and availability of goods with the bigger companies.

Reduced sale cycle:

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The customers access the product listing and the pricing directly from the Internet
without any phone calls and e-mails.

Reduced cost of business:

E-commerce reduces the effort required to do business. It reduces the amount of
manpower required, inventory costs, purchasing costs and order processing costs
associated with faxing, phone calls and data entry.

Easy business administration:

With the use of efficient software, most of the business-related tasks can be done
automatically. Business processes like storing of inventory levels, shipping and receiving
logs and other business administration processes are automatically stored.

Better payment system:

With the advancement in payment technologies, E-commerce allows encrypted and
secure payment facilities on-line.

Reduced burden on staff:

E-commerce simplifies the customer service and sales support tasks, thus relieving the
staff from one of their job responsibilities.

Medium to grow business:

E-commerce serves as a medium for start-up, small- and medium-sized companies to
reach the global market.

Network production:
E-commerce allows parcelling of the production process to the contractors who are
geographically separated but are connected through the Internet. This helps in selling of
add-on products, services and new systems.

Disadvantages:
E-commerce has helped customers to find the required product in an easy way. But, there
are some difficulties that exist in the use of E-commerce. Some of the most common
difficulties are as follows:

1. It is difficult to decide the criteria on which taxes should be charged on the selling of
goods over the Internet in case the business and the customer are in different states. It
would be unfair to collect taxes from businesses whose products are not marketed over
the Internet and to allow businesses selling their products over the Internet not to pay any
tax
2. The issue of security is another major area of concern on E-Commerce. The security
issues concerning personal and financial information about a customer still exists even
with the improvement of data encryption techniques.
3. The cost that is involved in the development and deployment of the E-commerce
application is very high.

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 4. Some protocols are required to develop some specific E-commerce applications that
are not standardized around the world. The deployment of such applications over the
Internet required that these protocols should be available on the client side.
5. The integration of E-commerce infrastructure with the present organizational
Information technology system is difficult. The technologies used in the development of
an E-commerce application in an organization may be different from that of the presently
existing application used in -the organization.
6. There are no common rules and regulations agreed to by all the parties involved in the
development and usage of Web resources and applications.
7. On the business side, higher employee training is required for proper management of
the process involved in the transactions.

Criteria
The criteria that can determine the level of advancement of e-commerce can be
categorized as:
1. Technological factors – The degree of advancement of the telecommunications
infrastructure which provides access to the new technology for business and
consumers.
2. Political factors – including the role of government in creating government
legislation, initiatives and funding to support the use and development of e-commerce
and information technology.
3. Social factors – incorporating the level and advancement in IT education and training
which will enable both potential buyers and the work force to understand and use the
new technology.
4. Economic factors – including the general wealth and commercial health of the nation
and the elements that contribute to it.

Features
E-Commerce provides following features
 Non-Cash Payment: E-Commerce enables use of credit cards, debit cards,
smartcards, electronic fund transfer via bank's website and other modes of electronics
payment.
24x7 Service availability: E-commerce automates business of enterprises and
services provided by them to customers are available anytime, anywhere. Here
24x7refers to 24 hours of each seven days of a week.
 Advertising / Marketing: E-commerce increases the reach of advertising of products
and services of businesses. It helps in better marketing management of products
/services.
 Improved Sales: Using E-Commerce, orders for the products can be generated
anytime, anywhere without any human intervention. By this way, dependencies to
buy a product reduce at large and sales increases.
 Support: E-Commerce provides various ways to provide pre sales and post sales
assistance to provide better services to customers.

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 Inventory Management: Using E-Commerce, inventory management of products
becomes automated. Reports get generated instantly when required. Product
inventory management becomes very efficient and easy to maintain.
 Communication improvement: E-Commerce provides ways for faster, efficient,
reliable communication with customers and partners.

The impact of Electronic Commerce

 Marketing– issues of on-line advertising, marketing strategies and consumer
behaviour and cultures. One of the areas in which it impacts particularly is direct
marketing. In the past this was mainly door-to-door, home parties (like the
Tupperware parties) and mail order using catalogues or leaflets. This moved to
telemarketing and TV selling with the advances in telephone and television
technology and finally developed into e-marketing spawning ‘eCRM’ (customer
relationship management) data mining and the like by creating new channels for
direct sales and promotion.
 Computer sciences– development of different network and computing technologies
and languages to support e-commerce and e-business, for example linking front and
back office legacy systems with the ‘web-based’ technology.
 Finance and accounting– on-line banking; issues of transaction costs; accounting
and auditing implications where ‘intangible’ assets and human capital must be
tangibly valued in an increasingly knowledge based economy.
 Economics– the impact of e-commerce on local and global economies; understanding
the concepts of a digital and knowledge-based economy and how this fits into
economic theory.
 Production and operations management– the impact of on-line processing has led to
reduced cycle times. It takes seconds to deliver digitized products and services
electronically; similarly the time for processing orders can be reduced by more than
90 per cent from days to minutes.
Production systems are integrated with finance marketing and other functional
systems as well as with business partners and customers (see Intel mini-case).
 Production and operations management (manufacturing)– moving from mass
production to demand-driven, mass customization customer pull rather than the
manufacturer push of the past. Web-based Enterprise Resource Planning systems
(ERP) can also be used to forward orders directly to designers and/or production floor
within seconds, thus cutting production cycle times by up to 50 per cent, especially
when manufacturing plants, engineers and designers are located in different countries.
In sub-assembler companies, where a product is assembled from a number of
different components sourced from a number of manufacturers, communication,
collaboration and coordination are critical – so electronic bidding can yield cheaper
components and having flexible and adaptable procurement systems allows fast
changes at a minimum cost so inventories can be minimized and money saved.
 Management information systems– analysis, design and implementation of e-
business systems within an organization; issues of integration of front-end and back-
end systems.

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 Human resource management– issues of on-line recruiting, home working and
‘entrepreneurs’ work on a project by project basis replacing permanent employees.
 Business law and ethics– the different legal and ethical issues that have arisen as a
result of a global ‘virtual’ market. Issues such as copyright laws, privacy of customer
information, legality of electronic contracts, etc.

Economic Forces and Electronic Commerce

Economic Forces
Economic forces are factors such as level of employment, rate of
inflation, rate of interest, demographic changes, and fiscal and
monetary policies, which determine the state of competitive
environment in which a firm operates. These forces affect the outcome
of the firm’s marketing activities, by determining the volume and
strength of demand for its products.

How do Economic Forces affect E-Commerce Organization?

Global trade liberation and technological advancements have opened up the domestic and
international markets. Trade liberalization is elimination of trade barriers that previously
hindered free trade in international markets. These transformations of business
environment, coupled with the widespread use of e-commerce, have enabled small
businesses to access local, regional and global markets. The success of e-commerce
organizations depends on prevailing economic conditions in target markets.

Economic Forces versus E-Commerce

Economic forces are facts such as inflation, interest rates, labor and government
monetary policies that influence levels of production and demand for goods and services.
These factors dictate the availability and affordability of production resources, as well as
the abilities of consumers to afford the end products. E-commerce involves transacting
business through the use of automated information technology applications. The
outcomes of e-commerce activities are affected by economic forces, as was evidenced by
the 2007-2009 global economic crisis. According to the Census Bureau of the U.S.
Department of Commerce, e-commerce declined by 5.5 percent in the fourth quarter of
2008 compared to the same period in 2007. This clearly shows that economic factors
affect e-commerce.

Traditional Commerce v/s E-Commerce

Traditional Commerce E-Commerce
1 Heavy dependency on information Information sharing is made easy via electronic
exchange from person to person. communication channels
making little dependency on person to
person information exchange.
2 Communication/ transaction are done in Communication or transaction can be done in
synchronous way. asynchronous way.

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 Manual intervention is required for each Electronics system automatically handles when to
communication or transaction. pass communication to required person or do the
transactions.
3 It is difficult to establish and maintain A uniform strategy can be easily established and
standard practices in traditional commerce. maintain in ecommerce.
4 Communications of business depends upon In e-Commerce or Electronic Market, there is no
individual skills. human intervention.
5 Unavailability of a uniform platform as E-Commerce website provides user a platform
traditional commerce depends heavily on where al l information is available at one place.
personal communication.
6 No uniform platform for information E-Commerce provides a universal platform to
sharing as it depends heavily on personal support commercial/business activities across the
communication. globe.

UNIT 2
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF E-
COMMERCE

Advantages
E-Commerce advantages can be broadly classified in three major categories:
 Advantages to Organizations
 Advantages to Consumers
 Advantages to Society

Advantages to Organizations
 Using E-Commerce, organization can expand their market to national and
international markets with minimum capital investment. An organization can easily
locate more customers, best suppliers and suitable business partners across the globe.

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 E-Commerce helps organization to reduce the cost to create process, distribute,
retrieve and manage the paper based information by digitizing the information.
 E-commerce improves the brand image of the company.
 E-commerce helps organization to provide better customer services.
 E-Commerce helps to simplify the business processes and make them faster and
efficient.
 E-Commerce reduces paper work a lot.
 E-Commerce increased the productivity of the organization. It supports "pull" type
supply management. In "pull" type supply management, a business process starts
when a request comes from a customer and it uses just-in-time manufacturing way.

Advantages to Customers
 24x7 support. Customer can do transactions for the product or enquiry about any
product/services provided by a company anytime, anywhere from any location. Here
24x7 refers to 24 hours of each seven days of a week.
 E-Commerce application provides user more options and quicker delivery of
products.
 E-Commerce application provides user more options to compare and select the
cheaper and better option.
 A customer can put review comments about a product and can see what others are
buying or see the review comments of other customers before making a final buy.
 E-Commerce provides option of virtual auctions.
 Readily available information. A customer can see the relevant detailed information
within seconds rather than waiting for days or weeks.
 E-Commerce increases competition among the organizations and as result
organizations provides substantial discounts to customers.

Advantages to Society
 Customers need not to travel to shop a product thus less traffic on road and low air
pollution.
 E-Commerce helps reducing cost of products so less affluent people can also afford
the products.
 E-Commerce has enabled access to services and products to rural areas as well which
are otherwise not available to them.
 E-Commerce helps government to deliver public services like health care, education,
social services at reduced cost and in improved way.

Disadvantages
E -Commerce disadvantages can be broadly classified in two major categories:
 Technical disadvantages
 Non-Technical disadvantages

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Technical Disadvantages
 There can be lack of system security, reliability or standards owing to poor
implementation of e-Commerce.
 Software development industry is still evolving and keeps changing rapidly.
 In many countries, network bandwidth might cause an issue as there is insufficient
telecommunication bandwidth available.
 Special types of web server or other software might be required by the vendor setting
the e-commerce environment apart from network servers.
 Sometimes, it becomes difficult to integrate E-Commerce software or website with
the existing application or databases.
 There could be software/hardware compatibility issue as some E-Commerce software
may be incompatible with some operating system or any other component.

Non-Technical Disadvantages
 Initial cost: The cost of creating / building E-Commerce application in-house may be
very high. There could be delay in launching the E-Commerce application due to
mistakes, lack of experience.
 User resistance: User may not trust the site being unknown faceless seller. Such
mistrust makes it difficult to make user switch from physical stores to online/virtual
stores.
 Security / Privacy: Difficult to ensure security or privacy on online transactions.
 Lack of touch or feel of products during online shopping.
 E-Commerce applications are still evolving and changing rapidly.
 Internet access is still not cheaper and is inconvenient to use for many potential
customers like one living in remote villages.

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 UNIT 3
THE ARCHITECTURE OF E-COMMERCE.

E-commerce is based on the client-server architecture.

A client can be an application, which uses a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that sends
request to a server for certain services.
The server is the provider of the services requested by the client.
In E-commerce, a client refers to a customer who requests for certain services and the
server refers to the business application through which the services are provided.
The business application that provides services is deployed on a Web' server.
The E - Commerce Web server is a computer program that provides services to "other
computer programs and serves requested Hyper Text Mark-up Language (HTML) pages
or files.
In client-server architecture, a machine can be both a client as well as a server.
There are two types of client server architecture that E-commerce follows: two-tier and
three-tier.

E- Commerce System Architecture: Two-tier architecture:

In two-tier client-server architecture the user interface runs on the client and the database
is stored on the server. The business application logic can either run on the client or the
server. The user application logic can either run on the client or the server. It allows the
client processes to run separately from the server processes on different computers.
The client processes provide an interface for the customer that gather and present the data
on the computer of the customer. This part of the application is known as presentation
layer. The server processes provide an interface with the data store of the business.

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This part of the application is known as data layer. The business logic, which validates
data, monitors security and permissions and performs other business rules, can be kept
either on the client or the server. The following Figure shows the e-commerce system
two-tier architecture diagram.

E- Commerce System Architecture: Three-tier architecture:

The three-tier architecture emerged in the 1990s to overcome the limitations of the two-
tier architecture. In three-tier architecture, the user interface and the business application
logic, also known as business rules and data storage and access, are developed and
maintained as independent modules.

The three-tier architecture includes three tiers: top tier, middle tier and third tier.

The top tier includes a user interface where user services such as session, text input, and
dialog and display management reside.

The middle tier provides process management services such as process development,
process monitoring and process resourcing that are shared by the multiple applications.

The third tier provides database management functionality. The data management
component ensures that the data is consistent throughout the distributed environment, the

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centralized process logic in this architecture, which makes administration easier by
localizing the system functionality, is placed on the middle tier.

The following Figure shows the outline of the e commerce system Three - tier
architecture diagram.

The client server architecture advantages:

The client-server architecture provides standardized, abstract interfaces to establish

communication between multiple modules. When these modules are combined, they
become an integrated business application. Each module is a shareable and reusable
object that can be included in another business application.

In the client-server architecture, the functions of a business application are isolated within
the smaller business application objects and so application logic can be modified easily.

In "the client-server architecture, each business application object works with its own
encapsulated data structures that correspond to a specific database. When business
application objects communicate, they send the data parameters as specified in the
abstract interface rather than the entire database records.

This reduces the network traffic. In the client-server architecture, a programmer can
develop presentation components without knowing the business application logic.

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This architecture also helps a database analyst in accessing the data from the database
without being concerned how the data is presented to an end user.

UNIT 4
THE COMPONENTS OF E-COMMERCE
The technology and infrastructure used to develop the E-commerce application is the key
to its success.
The hardware and software must be selected in such a way that they can fulfill the needs
of the E-commerce application.
The following figure shows the components involved in E-commerce infrastructure.

1. Hardware:

A Web server hardware platform is one of the major components of the Ecommerce
infrastructure on which the performance of the whole E-commerce application depends.

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While selecting Web server hardware, the software that will run on the server of the E-
commerce transactions to be processed must be considered.
The amount of the storage capacity and the computing power required depend on the
volume of the E-commerce transaction to be processed.
If the exact requirements are not known in advance, then the hardware configuration
should be highly scalable so that they can be upgraded to meet the requirements.
2. E - Commerce Softwares
Software is the main component that implements the E-commerce services and
functionality. Software for E-commerce can be categorized in the following two types
Web server software:
Web server software is required in addition to the Web server operating system software.
It is used to implement some extra functionality such as security and identification and
retrieval and sending of Web pages.
Web server software creates a Web log file that identifies things such as the URL of the
visitor, the length of the visit and the search engine and the key words used to find the
site.
Web server software includes website development tools such as HTML editor and Web
page upload support.

E-commerce softwares:
With the growth of E-commerce, many applications have emerged— for example, the
electronic shopping cart that tracks the items selected for purchase and their costs.

A typical E-commerce software must support the following processes:

Catalog management:

It is required to deliver the customized content to the screen or the GUI used by the
customer.
The software used for catalog management combines the different product data formats
into a standard format for viewing, aggregating and interacting catalog data into a central
store.

Product configuration:

The Web-based product configuration software allows the user to build the product to
their specifications without the intervention of the salespeople.

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For example, Dell Computers and CISCO systems use configuration software to sell
build-to-order and network processes to their customers over the Internet.

Shopping cart
A model known as shopping cart is used by Ecommerce sites to track the items that are
selected for purchase; the shopping cart allows customers to view all the items selected
by them.
The customers can add new items and remove the previously selected items from the
shopping cart.

Transaction processing:

E-commerce transaction processing is used to process the data received from the.
Shopping cart and to calculate the total cost of the purchase.
Web traffic data analysis:
It is required to analyze all the data captured in the Web log file. The analysis is essential
to improve the Website performance.

UNIT 5
E-COMMERCE

Value chains in electronic commerce

A value chain for a product is the chain of actions that are performed
by the business to add value in creating and delivering the product. For
example, when you buy a product in a store from the web, the value
chain includes the business selecting product to be sold, purchasing
the components or tools necessary to build them from a wholesaler or
manufacturer, arranging the display, marketing and advertising the
product and delivering the product to the client.
A value chain is the order of the main activity unit. From order entry
through to the delivery of the goods to their recipients, the different
stages of processing orders are intricately intertwined to guarantee
customer satisfaction.

Order processing – Payment Management – Computer Processing – Picking and

Packaging – Dispatch – Stock Management

Infrastructure for Electronic Commerce

Every business requires an infrastructure to support its customers and operations. This
includes facilities, equipment, and processes to support all the financial areas of your

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business. Choosing the correct infrastructure to match your business strategies enables
your operations to run efficiently. Conversely, if an element of your infrastructure is out
sync with your strategies, you will likely feel the pain in every aspect of your business.

7 Key E-Commerce Infrastructure Decision or important infrastructure decisions

that ecommerce businesses face.
1. Marketing
Of all the infrastructure elements, marketing may be the most important. To succeed,
your website must be found. Once visitors are on your website, you need to keep
them there and compel them to buy from you. That’s the job of your marketing team.
Whether it’s website design, social media, search marketing, merchandising, email or
other forms of advertising, it’s all about marketing.

To effectively manage market activities in-house is very challenging. Most

ecommerce businesses outsource some element of marketing.

2. Facilities
A key competitive advantage that ecommerce businesses have over brick-and-mortar
stores is the investment in their physical offices and warehouses. In many cases, you
can host your business out of a home office and your basement or garage. If your
drop ship or outsource fulfillment, you may be able to do that for a long period of
time. Even when you grow to have many employees, you can set up your offices in
class B or C space, as you have no need for a fancy store in the right location.
A word of advice is to keep your options flexible. Try to find an office park that has a
wide variety of spaces in different sizes. You may be able to start in a smaller space
and move up to a larger one without penalty, as your needs change.

3. Customer Service
There are many choices today for delivering high-quality customer service. You can
manage those activities in-house or outsource to a third party. Basic customer service
for sales and post-sales activities can be handled using email, and by providing an
800 number for more extensive phone support. A customer-management system will
make those activities easier, but for smaller companies it is not a requirement.

Live chat will impact your operations as someone needs to be available during
specified hours of operation. Be sure to gauge the impact of that on your organization,
if you decide to handle those activities in house.

4. Information Technology
Choosing the right ecommerce platform is one of the most important decisions you
will make in your business. Do you want to build and host your own system,
outsource the development and then manage the system going forward, or use a
hosted, software-as-a-service platform that is more turnkey and eternally managed?

If you build and host your own system, you may need more cash up front and skilled
administrators and developers on your staff. By using a SaaS platform, you will not

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 need to host or manage the system in-house, but you may still need web developers as
staff. Choosing to outsource the development and hosting will reduce your staffing
costs, but you will incur higher costs for any future enhancements or changes to your
websites.

There are pros and cons to any approach. Just be sure to think through the impacts on
both your staffing and your cash flow and bottom line before you move forward.

5. Fulfillment
Another key decision is whether you will manage your own inventory or outsource
those activities to a fulfillment house or through drop shipping arrangements with
your supplier.
Managing your own inventory will provide you with a high level of control, but you
will tie up your cash in inventory, warehouse space, and your own fulfillment staff.
Select the best fulfillment option to meet your needs. Be sure to understand the costs
involved and analyze the other options before moving forward.

6. Finance and Administration

As with other business operations, you will need to decide if you want to manage
your finance and administration activities in-house, outsource, or a hybrid of the two.
If your ecommerce platform is tightly integrated to your accounting system, you may
have very little need for an in-house bookkeeper. If you use separate systems for your
website, order management and accounting, you may need more help for data entry
and making sure that the information is properly managed.

Many e-commerce companies use outside services for vendor payments, payroll and
other basic accounting activities. They decide to focus on the sales, marketing, and
customer service. This allows them to maintain a focus on growing their businesses,
instead of paying an internal accountant – or doing that work yourself as the business
owner.

On the administration side, you need a leadership team and provide direction to them.
Good communication is important, whether you have 3 or 100 employees. Whether
you choose to be more authoritative or democratic in your management style is up to
you. But choose a style and stay consistent. Be sure that everyone understands their
roles, as well as the overall business strategies. You may need to adjust your approach
as your business evolves.

7. Human Resources
Many small-business owners avoid the human resources function. Recruiting, setting
up compensation, maintain compliance and other HR activities are specialized and
time consuming. You may choose to bring the resources in-house to manage those
activities, but also evaluate outsourcing them. There are many individuals and
agencies well equipped to take on your HR activities.

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Strategies for marketing, sales and promotion
Markets
Marketing a product goes beyond just the obvious aspects of age group and gender.
Strategists have to factor in lifestyles, income and location, as well as what is trendy.
They conduct research and polls to discover what the public likes about their products, or
what the public would do differently. They also need to find out why people are choosing
not to buy their products.

Promotions
A good sales and marketing promotions strategy involves a sure-fire method to reach its
audience. This involves designing graphics to creating catchy jingles for advertising.
Sales and marketing strategists push their products and services through many different
venues, such as broadcast and print advertising, billboards and e-mail newsletters. Other
promotions include offering discounts on products or rewards for purchasing a certain
degree of service.

The Strategies for marketing, sales and promotion are:

 creating effective web presence
 identifying and reaching customers
 creating and maintaining brands on the web
 business models for selling on the web.
UNIT 4
BUSINESS MODEL

Classification of e-commerce by transaction partners

E -Commerce or Electronics Commerce business models can generally be categorized in

following categories.

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  Business - to - Business (B2B)
 Business - to - Consumer (B2C)
 Consumer - to - Consumer (C2C)
 Consumer - to - Business (C2B)
 Business - to - Government (B2G)
 Government - to - Business (G2B)
 Government - to - Citizen (G2C)

(1) Business - to - Business (B2B)

B-to-B is the exchange of products, services or information between business entities.
Website following B2B business model sells its product to an intermediate buyer who
then sells the product to the final customer. As an example, a wholesaler places an order
from a company's website and after receiving the consignment, sells the end product to
final customer who comes to buy the product at wholesaler's retail outlet.
Web-based B-to-B includes:
 Direct selling and support to business (as in the case of Cisco where customers can
buy and also get technical support, downloads, patches online).
 E-procurement (also known as industry portals) where a purchasing agent can shop
for supplies from vendors, request proposals, and, in some cases, bid to make a
purchase at a desired price. For example the auto parts wholesaler
(reliableautomotive.com); and the chemical B-to-B exchange (chemconnect.com).
 Information sites provide information about a particular industry for its companies
and their employees. These include specialized search sites and trade and industry
standards organization sites. E.g. new market makers.com is a leading portal for B-to-
B news.

(2) Business - to - Consumer (B2C)

B-to-C is the exchange of products, information or services between business and
consumers in a retailing relationship. Website following B2C business model sells its
product directly to a customer. A customer can view products shown on the website of
business organization. The customer can choose a product and order the same. Website
will send a notification to the business organization via email and organization will

19
 dispatch the product/goods to the customer. Some of the first examples of B-to-C e-
commerce were amazon.com and dell.com in the USA and lastminute.com in the UK.

(3) Business - to - Government (B2G)

B-to-G is the exchange of information, services and products between business s
organizations and government agencies on-line. B2G model is a variant of B2B model.
Such websites are used by government to trade and exchange information with various
business organizations. Such websites are accredited by the government and provide a
medium to businesses to submit application forms to the government.
This may include,
 E-procurement services, in which businesses learn about the purchasing needs of
agencies and provide services.
 A virtual workplace in which a business and a government agency could coordinate
the work on a contracted project by collaborating on-line to coordinate on-line
meetings, review plans and manage progress
 Rental of on-line applications and databases designed especially for use by
government agencies.

(4) Business-to-Peer Networks (B-to-P)

This would be the provision of hardware, software or other services to the peer networks.
An example here would be Napster who provided the software and facilities to enable
peer networking.

(5) Consumer - to - Business (C2B)

C-to-B is the exchange of products, information or services from individuals to business.
A classic example of this would be individuals selling their services to businesses. In this
model, a consumer approaches website showing multiple business organizations for a
particular service. Consumer places an estimate of amount he/she wants to spend for a
particular service. For example, comparison of interest rates of personal loan/ car loan
provided by various banks via website. Business organization that fulfills the consumer's
requirement within specified budget approaches the customer and provides its services
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(6) Consumer - to - Consumer (C2C)
Website following C2C business model helps consumer to sell their assets like residential
property, cars, motorcycles etc. or rent a room by publishing their information on the
website. Website may or may not charge the consumer for its services. Another consumer
may opt to buy the product of the first customer by viewing the post/advertisement on the
website. In this category consumers interact directly with other consumers. They
exchange information such as:
 Expert knowledge where one person asks a question about anything and gets an e-
mail reply from the community of other individuals, as in the case of the New York
Times-affiliated abuzz.com website.
 Opinions about companies and products, for example epinions.com. There is also an
exchange of goods between people both with consumer auction sites such as e-bay
and with more novel bartering sites such as swapitshop.com, where individuals swap
goods with each other without the exchange of money.

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(7) Consumer-to-Government (C-to-G)
Examples where consumers provide servicesto government but it has not yet be
implemented

(8) Consumer-to-Peer Networks (C-to-P)

This is exactly part of what peer-to-peer networking is and so is a slightly redundant
distinction since consumers offer their computing facilities once they are on the peer
network.

(9) Government - to - Business (G2B)

It is also known as e-government. This is the exchange of information, services and
products between government agencies and business organizations. Government uses
B2G model website to approach business organizations. Such websites support auctions,
tenders, and application submission functionalities.
Government sites now enable the exchange between government and business of:
 Information, guidance and advice for business on international trading, sources of
funding and support (ukishelp), facilities (e.g. www.dti.org.uk).
 A database of laws, regulations and government policy for industry sectors.
 On-line application and submission of official forms (such as company and value
added tax).
 On-line payment facilities.
This improves accuracy, increases speed and reduces costs, so businesses are given
financial incentives to use electronic-form submission and payment facilities.

(10) Government-to-Consumer (G-to-C)

It is also known as e-government. Government sites offering information, forms and
facilities to conduct transactions for individuals, including paying bills and submitting
official forms on-line such as tax returns.

Government - to - Citizen (G2C)

Government uses G2C model website to approach citizen in general. Such websites
support auctions of vehicles, machinery or any other material. Such website also provides
services like registration for birth, marriage or death certificates. Main objectives of G2C
website are to reduce average time for fulfilling people requests for various government
services.

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(11) Government-to-Government (G-to-G)
It is also known as e-government. Government-to-government transactions within
countries linking local governments together and also international governments,
especially within the European Union, which is in the early stages of developing
coordinated strategies to link up different national systems.

(12) Government-to-Peer Network (G-to-P)

There is no real example of this type of e-commerce yet.

(13) Peer Network-to-Business (P-to-B) Peer-to-peer networking provides resources to

business. For example, using peer network resources such as the spare processing
capacity of individual machines on the network to solve mathematical problems or
intensive and repetitive DNA analyses which requires very high capacity processing
power.
This framework can be used by organizations to segment their customers and distinguish
the different needs, requirements, business processes, products and services that are
needed for each.

(14) Peer Network-to-Consumer (P-to-C)

This is in effect peer-to-peer networking, offering services to consumers who are an
integral part of the peernet work.

(15) Peer Network-to-Government (P-to-G)

This has not yet been used, but if it was, it would be used in a similar capacity to the P-to-
B model, only with the government as the party accepting the transaction.

(16) Peer–to-Peer Network (P-to-P)

This is the communications model in which each party has the same capabilities and
either party can initiate a communication session. In recent usage, peer-to-peer has come
to describe applications in which users can use the Internet to exchange files with each
other directly or through a mediating server.

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 UNIT 5
SECURITY SYSTEMS

What is E-Commerce Security?

E-Commerce security is the protection of e-commerce assets from unauthorized access,
use, alteration, or destruction.

6 Dimensions of e-commerce security

1. Confidentiality: protection against unauthorized data disclosure. Information should
not be accessible to unauthorized person. It should not be intercepted during
transmission
2. Integrity: prevention against unauthorized data modification. Information should not
be altered during its transmission over the network.
3. Availability: prevention against data delays or removal. Information should be
available wherever and whenever required within time limit specified.
4. Non repudiation: prevention against any one party from reneging on an agreement
after the fact. It is protection against denial of order or denial of payment. Once a
sender sends a message, the sender should not be able to denys ending the message.
Similarly the recipient of message should not be able todeny receipt.
5. Authenticity: authentication of data source. There should be a mechanism to
authenticate user before giving him/her access to required information
6. Privacy: provision of data control and disclosure
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E-Commerce Threats
Threats: anyone with the capability, technology, opportunity, and intent to do harm.
Potential threats can be foreign or domestic, internal or external, state-sponsored or a
single rogue element. Terrorists, insiders, disgruntled employees, and hackers are
included in this profile.

1. Intellectual property threats – use existing materials found on the internet without
the owner’s permission, e.g. music downloading, domain name (cyber squatting),
software pirating.
2. Client computer threats
–Trojan horse
- Active contents
- Virus
3. Communication channel threats
– Sniffer program
- Backdoor
- Spoofing
- Denial-of-Service.
4. Server threat
– Privilege setting
- Server Side Include (SSI), Common Gateway Interface (CGI)
- File transfer
- Spamming

Counter Measure
A procedure that recognizes, reduces, or eliminates a threat
1.Intellectual property protection
- Legislature
- Authentication

2. Client computer protection

- Privacy – Cookie blockers; Anonymizer
- Digital certificate
- Browser protection
- Antivirus software
- Computer forensics expert

3. Communication channel protection

(a)Encryption:
It is a very effective and practical way to safeguard the data being transmitted over
the network. Sender of the information encrypts the data using a secret code and
specified receiver only can decrypt the data using the same or different secret code.

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  Public-key encryption (asymmetric) vs Private-key encryption (symmetric)
 Encryption standard: Data Encryption Standard (DES), Advanced Encryption
Standard (AES)

(b) Protocol:
The following are the popular protocols used over the internet which ensures security
of transactions made over the internet.

(i) Secure Socket Layer (SSL)

It is the most commonly used protocol and is widely used across the industry. It
meets following security requirements:
- Authentication
- Encryption
- Integrity
- Non-reputability
"https://" is to be used for HTTP urls with SSL, whereas "http:/" is to be used for
HTTP urls without SSL.

(ii) Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (SHTTP)

SHTTP extends the HTTP internet protocol with public key encryption,
authentication and digital signature over the internet. Secure HTTP supports
multiple security mechanism providing security to end users. SHTTP works by
negotiating encryption scheme types used between client and server.

(iii) Secure Electronic Transaction

It is a secure protocol developed by MasterCard and Visa in collaboration.
Theoretically, it is the best security protocol. It has following components:
 Card Holder's Digital Wallet Software- Digital Wallet allows card holder to
make secure purchases online via point and click interface.
 Merchant Software- This software helps merchants to communicate with
potential customers and financial institutions in secure manner.
 Payment Gateway Server Software- Payment gateway provides automatic and
standard payment process. It supports the process for merchant's certificate
request.
 Certificate Authority Software-This software is used by financial institutions to
issue digital certificates to card holders and merchants and to enable them to
register their account agreements for secure electronic commerce.

(c) Digital Signature

Bind the message originator with the exact contents of the message. Digital
signature ensures the authenticity of the information. A digital signature is an e-
signature authentic authenticated through encryption and password.
 A hash function is used to transform messages into a 128-bit digest (message
digest).

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  The message + signature are sent to the receiver
 The recipient uses the hash function to recalculate the message digest
 The sender’s public key is used to decrypt the message digest
 Check to see if the recalculated message digest = decrypted message digest

4. Server Protection
(i) Access control and authentication
 Digital signature from user
 Username and password
 Access control list

(ii) Firewalls
International Computer Security Association classification:
 Packet filter firewall: checks IP address of incoming packet and rejects
anything that does not match the list of trusted addresses (phone to IP
spoofing).
 Application level proxy server: examines the application used for each
individual IP packet (e.g. HTTP, FTP) to verify its authenticity.
 Stateful packet inspection: examines all parts of the IP packet to determine
whether or not to accept or reject the requested communication.

How to Minimize Security Threats

1. Perform a risk assessment: a list of information assets and their value to the firm
2. Develop a security policy: a written statement on:
 What assets to protect from whom?
 Why these assets are being protected?
 Who is responsible for what protection?
 Which behaviors are acceptable and unacceptable?
3. Develop an implementation plan: a set of action steps to achieve security goals
4. Create a security audit: a unit to administer the security policy
5. Perform a security audit: a routine review of access logs and evaluation of security
procedures.

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 UNIT 6
PAYMENT SYSTEMS
Electronic payment systems are medium of payment between remote buyers and sellers
in cyberspace. E-Commerce or Electronics Commerce sites use electronic payment where
electronic payment refers to paperless monetary transactions. Electronic payment has
revolutionized the business processing by reducing paper work, transaction costs, labour
cost. Being user friendly and less time consuming than manual processing, it helps
business organization to expand its market reach / expansion. Some of the modes of
electronic payments are following.
 Credit Card
 Debit Card
 Smart Card
 E-Money
 Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT)

Credit Card
Payment using credit card is one of most common mode of electronic payment. Credit
card is small plastic card with a unique number attached with an account. It has also a
magnetic strip embedded in it which is used to read credit card via card readers. When a
customer purchases a product via credit card, credit card issuer bank pays on behalf of the

28
customer and customer has a certain time period after which he/she can pay the credit
card bill. It is usually credit card monthly payment cycle. The following are the actors in
the credit card system.

 The card holder – Customer

 The merchant - seller of product who can accept credit card payments.
 The card issuer bank - card holder's bank
 The acquirer bank - the merchant's bank
 The card brand - for example, visa or master card.

Credit card payment process

Step Description
Step 1 Bank issues and activates a credit card to customer on his/her request.
Step 2 Customer presents credit card information to merchant site or to merchant from whom
he/she want to purchase a product/service.
Step 3 Merchant validates customer's identity by asking for approval from card brand company.
Step 4 Card brand company authenticates the credit card and paid the transaction by credit.
Merchant keeps the sales slip.
Step 5 Merchant submits the sales slip to acquirer banks and gets the service chargers paid to
him/her.
Step 6 Acquirer bank requests the card brand company to clear the credit amount and gets the
payment.
Step 7 Now card brand company asks to clear amount from the issuer bank and amount gets
transferred to card brand company.

Debit Card
Debit card, like credit card is a small plastic card with a unique number mapped with the
bank account number. It is required to have a bank account before getting a debit card
from the bank. The major difference between debit card and credit card is that in case of
payment through debit card, amount gets deducted from card's bank account immediately
and there should be sufficient balance in bank account for the transaction to get
completed whereas in case of credit card there is no such compulsion.
Debit cards free customer from carrying cash, cheques and even merchants accepts debit
card more readily. Having restriction on amount being in bank account also helps
customer to keep a check on his/her spending.

Smart Card
Smart card is again similar to credit card and debit card in appearance but it has a small
microprocessor chip embedded in it. It has the capacity to store customer work
related/personal information. Smart card is also used to store money which is reduced as
per usage.
Smart card can be accessed only using a PIN of customer. Smart cards are secure as they
stores information in encrypted format and are less expensive / provide faster processing.
Mondex and Visa Cash cards are examples of smart cards.
Compared to conventional magnetic stripe cards, smart cards differ in several important
ways:
(i) They can store much more data
(ii) They can be password protected

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(iii) They can incorporate a microprocessor that can perform processes such as
encryption

Smart Cards can be used for:

(i) The secure storage of encryption keys
(ii) The storage of digital money in an electronic purse
(iii) Ensuring secure transactions over public Web terminals and screen

E-Money
E-Money transactions refer to situation where payment is done over the network and
amount gets transferred from one financial body to another financial body without any
involvement of a middleman. E-money transactions are faster, convenient and save alot
of time.

Online payments done via credit card, debit card or smart card are examples of e-money
transactions. Another popular example is e-cash. In case of e-cash, both customer and
merchant both have to sign up with the bank or company issuing e-cash.

Electronic Fund Transfer

It is a very popular electronic payment method to transfer money from one bank account
to another bank account. Accounts can be in same bank or different bank.
Fund transfer can be done using ATM (Automated Teller Machine) or using computer.
Now a day, internet based EFT is getting popularity. In this case, customer uses website
provided by the bank. Customer logins to the bank's website and registers another bank
account. He/she then places a request to transfer certain amount to that account.
Customer's bank transfers amount to other account if it is in same bank otherwise transfer
request is forwarded to ACH (Automated Clearing House) to transfer amount to other
account and amount is deducted from customer's account. Once amount is transferred to
other account, customer is notified of the fund transfer by the bank.

Electronic Fund Transfer (ETF) services that consumer’s may find practicable are:
(a)i Automated Teller Machines or 24-hour Tellers: are electronic terminals that let
you bank almost anytime. To withdraw cash, make deposits, or transfer funds
between accounts, you generally insert an ATM card and enter your PIN. Some
financial institutions and ATM owners charge a fee, particularly to consumers who
don’t have account with them or on transactions at remote locations. Generally,
ATMs must tell you they charge a fee and its amount on or at the terminal screen
before you complete the transaction.
(i) Direct Deposit: let you authorize specific deposits, such as paychecks and Social
Security checks, to your account on a regular basis. You also may pre-authorize
direct withdrawals so that recurring bills, such as insurance premiums, mortgages,
and utility bills are paid automatically.

30
(ii) Pay-by-Phone Systems: let you call your financial institution with instructions to
pay certain bills or to transfer funds between accounts. You must have an
agreement with the institution to make such transfers.
(iii) Personal Computer Banking: let you handle many banking transactions via your
personal computer. For instance, you may use your computer to view your account
balance; request transfer between accounts and pay bills electronically.
(iv) Point-of-Sale Transfers: let you pay for purchases with a debit card, which also
may be your ATM card. The process is similar to using a credit card, with some
important exceptions. While the process is fast and easy, a debit card purchases
transfers money-fairly quickly from your bank account to the store’s account. So
it’s important that you have funds in your accounts to cover your purchase. This
means you need to keep accurate records of the dates and amounts of your debit
card purchases and ATM withdrawals in addition to any checks you write. Your
liability for authorized use, and your right for error resolution, may differ with a
debit card.
(v) Electronic Check Conversion: converts a paper check into an electronic payment
at the point of sale or elsewhere, such as when a company receives your check in
the mail. In a store, when you give your check to a store cashier, the check is
processed through an electronic system that captures your banking information and
the amount of the check. Once the check is processed, you’re asked to sign a receipt
authorizing the merchant to present the check to your bank electronically and
deposit the funds into the merchant’s account. You get a receipt of the electronic
transaction for your records. When your check has been processed and returned to
you by the merchant, it should be voided or marked by the merchant so that it can’t
be used again. In the mail-in situation, you should still receive advance notice from
a company that expects to process your check electronically.

Payment Properties Costs Advantages Disadvantages

Systems
Electronic cash - 31% of US - Internet cash - Efficient - Money
e.g. PayPal population not transfer: no - Less costly laundering
have credit fixed cost of - Forgery
cards hardware - Low
- Micropayments - No distance acceptance
(< $10) costs - Multiple
- Independent - Small standards
- Portable processing
- Divisible fee to banks
Electronic wallets - Stores shipping - Lengthy - Enter - Client-side
e.g. Passport & billing download information wallets are
information for client- into checkout not portable
- Encrypted side wallets forms - Privacy issue
digital automaticall for server-
certificate y side wallets
Smart cards e.g. - Embedded - Time value - Convenience - Need a card

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Blue microchip of money reader
storing - Card theft
encrypted - Low
personal acceptance
information
Credit cards e.g. - Line of credit - Unpaid - Most popular - Costly
Verisign - Purchase balance - Worldwide
dispute charge acceptance
protection - $50 limit on
- Secure frauds
Electronic - Processing
Transaction fee
(SET) Protocol

SHOPPING CART
 On larger sites the customer will flag products during browsing session to be added
to an electronic “shopping cart”
 At any point the customer can review the contents of the cart, the cost and so on.
 When the shopping session is complete, the customer clicks on a hyperlink which
takes him or her to the checkout page.
 At this stage the customer is presented with a list of the goods marked for purchase,
the total cost, shipping, handling, tax, etc. The customer can then add shipping
instructions, name, address and so on.
 The customer is normally given a range of payment options. The most common is
to use the credit card and the customer enters the card number, name of the card and
expiry date.
 At this stage the Web site switch to a secure mode as soon as credit card
information is requested so that an eavesdropper cannot steal the credit card
information.
 The customer will get visual warning from his or her Web browser that they are in
secure mode, a blue key and a blue line in Netscape or a padlock symbol in Internet
Explorer.

Security Requirements
1. Authentication of merchant and consumer
2. Confidentiality of data
3. Integrity of data

32
4. Non-repudiation

Security Measures
1. Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) protocol: developed jointly by MasterCard and
Visa with the goal of providing a secure payment environment for the transmission of
credit card data.

Features SSL SET

Encryption of data during transmission Yes Yes
Confirmation of message integrity Yes Yes
Authentication of merchant Yes Yes
Authentication of consumer No Yes
Transmission of specific data only on a “need know” basis No Yes
Inclusion of bank or trusted third party in transaction No Yes
No need for merchant to secure credit card data internally No Yes

SET payment transaction:

 A shopper makes a purchase and transmits encrypted billing information with his/her
digital certificate to the merchant.
 The merchant transfers the SET coded transaction to a payment card processing
center.
 The processing center decrypts the transaction
 A certification authority certifies the digital certificate as belonging to the shopper
 The processing center routes the transaction to the shopper’s bank that the transaction
is approved
 The shopper’s payment card account is charged for the transaction amount.
 The merchant ships the merchandize and transmits the transaction amount to the
merchant’s bank for deposit.

2. Disposable credit numbers: one-time-use credit card number (private payment

number) are transmitted to the merchant
 Register with American Express or Discover
 Download software (a private payment icon tray will be displayed on the screen)
 Shop online
 Click on the Private Payment icon
 Log-in
 Select the credit card to be used
 View unique, one-time-use credit card number and expiration date
 Enter the one-time-used credit card number and expiration date into merchant’s
standard form.

33
 UNIT 7
B2B BUSINESS MODEL
This unit describes b2b (Business to Business) e-Commerce Model.

Website following B2B business model sells its product to an intermediate buyer who
then sells the product to the final customer. As an example, a wholesaler places an order
from a company's website and after receiving the consignment, sells the end product to
final customer who comes to buy the product at wholesaler's retail outlet.

B2B implies that seller as well as buyer is business entity. B2B covers large number of
applications which enables business to form relationships with their distributors, resellers,
suppliers etc. The following are the leading items in B2B e-Commerce.

 Electronics

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 Shipping and Warehousing
 Motor Vehicles
 Petrochemicals
 Paper
 Office products
 Food
 Agriculture

Key technologies
The following are the key technologies used in B2B e-commerce:
 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) - EDI is an inter-organizational exchange of
business documents in a structured and machine processable format.
 Internet - Internet represents worldwide web or network of networks connecting
computers across the world.
 Intranet - Intranet represents a dedicated network of computers within a single
organization
 Extranet - Extranet represents a network where outside business partners, supplier or
customers can have limited access to a portion of enterprise intranet/network..
 Back-End Information System Integration - Back End information systems are
database management systems used to manage the business data.

Architectural Models
The following are the architectural models in B2B e-commerce:
 Supplier Oriented marketplace - In this type of model, a common marketplace
provided by supplier is used by both individual customers as well as business users. A
supplier offers an e-store for sales promotion.
 Buyer Oriented marketplace - In this type of model, buyer has his/her own market
place or e-market. He invites suppliers to bid on product's catalog. A Buyer company
opens a bidding site.
 Intermediary Oriented marketplace - In this type of model, an intermediary
company runs a market place where business buyers and sellers can transact with
each other.

35
 UNIT 8
B2C BUSINESS MODEL
This unit describes b2c (Business to Consumer) Business model of e-commerce.

In B2C model, business Website is a place where all transactions take place between a
business organization and consumer directly.

In B2C Model, a consumer goes to the website, selects a catalog, orders the catalog and
an email is sent to business organization. After receiving the order, goods would be
dispatched to the customer. The following are the key features of a B2C Model
 Heavy advertising required to attract large number of customers.
 High investment in terms of hardware/software.
 Support or good customer care service

36
Consumer Shopping Procedure
The following are the steps used in B2C e-commerce:
A consumer:
 determines the requirement
 searches available items on the website meeting the requirement.
 compares similar items for price, delivery date or any other terms.
 gives the order.
 pays the bill.
 receives the delivered item and review/inspect them.
 consults the vendor to get after service support or returns the product if not satisfied
with the delivered product.

Disintermediation and Reintermediation

In traditional commerce, there are intermediating agents like wholesalers, distributors,
retailers between manufacturer and consumer. In B2C website, manufacturer can sell
products directly to consumers. This process of removal of business layers responsible
for intermediary functions is called Disintermediation.

Nowadays, a new electronic intermediary breed is emerging like e-mail and product
selection agents are emerging. This process of shifting of business layers responsible for
intermediary functions from traditional to electronic mediums is called Reinter-
mediation.

37
 UNIT 9
EDI
EDI stands for Electronic Data Exchange. EDI is an electronic way of transferring
business documents in an organization internally between its various departments or
externally with suppliers, customers or any subsidiaries etc. In EDI, paper documents are
replaced with electronic documents like word documents, spreadsheets etc.

EDI Documents

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The following are few important documents used in EDI:
 Invoices
 Purchase orders
 Shipping Requests
 Acknowledgement
 Business Correspondence letters
 Financial information letters

Steps in an EDI System

The following are the steps in an EDI System.
 A program generates the file which contains the processed document.
 The document is converted into an agreed standard format.
 The file containing the document is send electronically on network.
 The trading partner receives the file.
 An acknowledgement document is generated and sent to the originating organization.

Advantages of an EDI System

The following are the advantages of an EDI System.
 Reduction in data entry errors. - Chances of errors are much less being use of
computer in data entry.
 Shorter processing life cycle - As orders can be processed as soon as they are
entered into the system. This reduced the processing time of the transfer documents.
 Electronic form of data - It is quite easy to transfer or share data being in electronic
format.
 Reductions in paperwork - As lot of paper documents are replaced with electronic
documents there is huge reduction in paperwork.
 Cost Effective - As time is saved and orders are processed very effectively, EDI
proves to be highly cost effective.
 Standard Means of communication - EDI enforces standards on the content of data
and its format which leads to clearer communication.

39