ASSIGNMENT NO 4

Submitted to: Sir. Javed

Subject: Computer

Name: Haris Mumtaz

Roll No : 09

Class: M.Com 1st

Department of Commerce
Faculty of Management Sciences
University of Kotli Azad Jammu and Kashmir
 Every online site has a basic group of functionalities which mark the e-

commerce website out from other websites of another type. However, trading

processes can be handled in different ways and a shop may perform more business

functions than just taking orders. I selected the Vmart.pk online shopping site.

1. Basic Functionalities

The core of Vmart.pk are the product catalogue and the cart. The users browse

products which are grouped in categories and add the desired ones to the cart. Next

there is the transaction handling, which in its simplest form consists in the order being

sent via e-mail to the seller, but most often it takes the whole buying process through

separate order statuses.

In the catalogue, products can be promoted in various ways: by special price

offers (the “old price” is crossed through and there is a “new price” next to it), new

products module, bestsellers module, banner modules, displaying a “see also”

module in the product details (“customers who bought this item also bought”).

Navigation in the catalogue and the finding of products is certainly facilitated by

the search engine. A simple one will search the catalogue for any entered keyword

and an advanced one will let you define selected criteria, e.g. price range. While

placing an order, the client selects one of delivery methods (mail, courier, in-store

pickup) and payment methods (cash on delivery, bank transfer, credit card).

2. Advanced Functionalities

An element which is a both basic and advanced functionality is the online

payment service, i.e. integration with a selected operator handling credit cards and

instant bank transfers. I decided, however, to put payments in advanced functionalities

because contrary to appearances, not all shops where you can place online orders have

an online payment service.

 An interesting tool which makes it easier to use the catalogue is the product

comparison tool, which enables you to select a few different products and then see

them and their most important features on one screen, most often in a comparative

table. For sales stimulation – and especially when it comes to any promotions it is

necessary to have discount service. These can be individual discounts (specified for

each client individually) or group discounts (given to all users who meet given

criteria; useful with wholesale selling). They can also be in the form of vouchers that

are, of course, distributed outside the shop itself or even outside the Internet. There

can be cash amounts and percentage discounts and they can be given after quantity or

cash amount thresholds (and sometimes time threshold, in the case of regular clients)

are crossed.

A newsletter and automatic notifications of new products and special offers in

selected catalogue categories can help you maintain regular contact with your clients.

An online shop can also perform part of the accounting tasks and in particular issue

invoices/receipts. When it comes to making clients attached to your shop and to up-

selling, a loyalty program is indispensable. An online shop may have a functionality

that handles such a loyalty program in that it allows its clients to collect points while

doing shopping and then to “buy” prizes for the points.

On the other hand, an Internet partner program may significantly increase

sales by obtaining traffic from other www sites, in return for which, their operators

are rewarded with a commission on the purchases made by redirected users. The

functionality handling such a program is responsible for both assigning users to

partners and calculating the commission, amounts to be paid etc.

3. Integration with other servers

An effective online shop is not able to function without cooperating with

external applications. Most e-commerce websites are at least integrated with an online

payment system.

Leading payment operators:

Integration consists in connecting a shop with another server in such a way

that they are able to communicate directly and automatically without the participation

of an administrator. It is thanks to that that price comparison sites display up-to-date

information about the products offered by the shops they cooperate with. Apart from

comparison sites, a vital source of extra traffic in the shop may be participation

in eBay Stores, which means taking advantage of a great popularity of the largest

auction system in the world. Of course, such cooperation with a comparison site or

eBay costs and it costs quite a lot. Anyway, the expense brings profits in the majority

of cases. Integration with courier companies’ systems helps streamline logistics. In

such a case, a courier is hired right after the order is confirmed in the shop without the

participation of the shop administrator.

Another type of integration is connecting the online shop with a

storehouse accounting system. That is practically indispensable when the number of

orders is large and for sure facilitates work in any other case. In an integrated shop,

stock levels are imported from the storehouse accounting system and orders are

exported there. The level of such integration may be different, i.e. the issuing of

invoices may, for instance, be handled either by the shop or by the accounting

software.
4. Vital elements
Choosing functionalities is one thing, developing them (even the basic ones)

properly is another. That is why it is important to make yourself sure before choosing

a solution that the shop has certain key possibilities:

 product variants if there are different versions say, colours or sizes – of one

product there is no point in displaying each combination of features as a

separate item on the product list but it should be possible to choose product

variants in the product card (where the details of a selected product can be

seen);

 definable features and feature values – a closed list of product features to a

large extent limits the potential of a shop; in a good shop you can define on

your own both the features themselves and their values.

 defining the content of e-mail communications and notifications – it is not

uncommon knowledge that clients expect a very individual approach;

additionally, the style of communications must be adapted to the target group,

which means that such a thing as standard communications or notifications

should not exist at all;

 different sales tax rates – at a given time, a shop may sell only 10%-rate

products but after a few months it may be suddenly necessary to include

another sales tax product range in the offer;

 tying delivery costs to the weight of the products from the cart – an online

payment requires that a final value of the order is defined the moment the

order is placed; after all, the delivery costs cannot be calculated against each
 item because, for example, a delivery of 5 sets of ping-pong balls is not in fact

more expansive than a delivery of 1 set;

 when you plan to sell abroad: additional languages and currencies – seems

obvious, but, for example, exchange rates are not always imported from online

news programs and entering exchange rates every day on your own is an

unnecessary waste of time;

 sales statistics – information on the users that is delivered by providers of

traffic monitoring services (e.g. Google Analytics) is just a tip of an iceberg;

in order to effectively plan your sales (prices, promotions, catalogue structure

etc.) you need statistical information on the sales in the shop, i.e. how popular

particular products and categories are, what the average cart value is, how

productive different user groups are etc.; all that information should be located

in CMS (administration panel) of the shop.