Chapter 4

What are the two most important management challenges in building a successful e-commerce presence?

developing a clear understanding of business objectives and knowing how to choose the right technology to achieve those objectives

The Web server software used has a significant impact on how a Web site's Web pages look on a user's computer.

false

Using prebuilt templates is typically one of the most expensive choices when building an e-commerce site

false

Which of the following are the two main components of a systems design?

logical design and physical design

When developing an e-commerce presence, it is important to understand that the business must drive technology decisions, not the reverse

true

The annual maintenance cost for a Web site is typically much lower than its development cost.

false

All of the following might be part of a Web site's middle-tier layer except:

legacy corporate applications

Which of the following typically includes a data flow diagram to describe the flow of information for an e-commerce site?

logical design

All of the following are basic functionality provided by e-commerce merchant server software except:

marketing software

Which of the following types of e-commerce presence is best suited for creating an ongoing conversation with one's customers?

social media

In order from beginning to end, the major steps in the SDLC are:

systems analysis/planning; systems design; building the system; testing; and implementation.

Apache Web server software works with Linux and Unix operating systems.

true

Prior to the development of e-commerce, Web sites primarily delivered static HTML pages.

true

Which system functionality must your Web site have in order to be able to personalize or customize a product for a client?

Customer on-site tracking

All of the following are basic functionality provided by Web servers except:

a shopping cart

The process of comparing a Web site with that of its competitors in terms of response speed, quality of layout, and design is known as:

benchmarking

Advantages of dynamic page generation include all of the following except

client-side execution of programming.

All of the following are basic information requirements for a product database except:

customer ID numbers

What are the phases, activities, and milestones for developing an e-commerce presence for a typical start-up Web site over a one-year period?

A one-year e-commerce presence timeline might include the following phases, activities, and milestones. Phase 1/Planning, in which an e-commerce presence would be envisaged and personnel developed, with a milestone of creating a mission statement; Phase 2/Web site development, in which content would be acquired, a site design developed, and hosting arranged for the site, with a milestone of creating a Web site plan; Phase 3/Web implementation, in which keywords and metatags would be developed, search engine optimization strategies deployed, and potential sponsors identified, with a creation of a functional Web site as the milestone; Phase 4/Social media plan, in which appropriate social platforms and content for products and services would be identified, with the creation of a social media plan as the milestone; Phase 5/Social media implementation, in which a Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social media presence would be developed, with a functioning social media presence as the milestone; and Phase 6/Mobile plan, in which a mobile plan would be developed with options for porting the Web site to the mobile platform considered, and with a mobile media plan as the relevant milestone. Phase 6/Mobile plan might also be the first phase for a firm that wanted to employ mobile first design.

Which of the following details the actual hardware components to be used in a system?

Physical design

Explain the main functionalities included in e-commerce merchant server software.

The main functionalities included in e-commerce merchant server software are online catalog, order taking capabilities using an online shopping cart, and online credit card processing. Merchant server software typically includes a database and the capability to post lists, product descriptions, product photographs, and in larger sites even sound, animations, videos, or interactivities with product demonstrations and customer service representatives.