DECLARATION

I declare that the contents of this research proposal document are a result of my own personal effort,
reading and research, and has not been plagiarized neither reproduced in this fashion anywhere else.

Student signature: ………………………… Supervisor’s signature: ……………………………

Date: ………………………. Date: ……………………….

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I cordially thank my research supervisor, Madam Jane Ouma, for offering helpful guidance, critique
and encouragement throughout the course of the research and writing this proposal. Big thank you
also to the unit instructor, Mr. Herbert White for providing weekly instructional materials that proved
significantly helpful when conducting the research. Lastly, I want to thank Ms Grace Ruo who
connected me to the website manager, Jumia Kenya who through our few interactions, provided
meaningful and in-depth insight into the nitty gritties of e-commerce systems, information that I
bought together with my literature review findings to gain a broad and deep understanding of e-
commerce systems in general and the proposed e-commerce system in particular.

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DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS
Catalogue – list of things or items

Checkout – the activity of completing a purchase by proceeding to pay for the purchased item/s

Database – a central repository for a system’s data for easy and efficient access and updating

Interface – a point of interaction between the system user and the system

Cart – feature in an e-commerce system for adding products as customer goes about the system
collecting those products, before checking out, just as a physical cart in a physical store.

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ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
Ltd – limited

Inc – Incorporated

API – Application Programming Interface

PhP – Hypertext PreProcessor

HTML – Hyper text Markup Language

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ABSTRACT
- What is the proposed system about - objectives
- What were the data sources, criteria for data source selection
- Summary of the different sections of the paper and what they contain
- What is the action plan

The proposed system aims at providing a way in which clients can buy men’s wear and accessories
online. The research has included data from different secondary sources such as journals and
websites. Significant e-commerce websites such as Jumia and Jiji (local), and Alibaba and Amazon
(international) were selected for evaluation and study. The features of these systems were found to be
helpful in understanding what modern e-commerce systems require and how they function. This
proposal document is divided up into five parts: - the cover page, the preliminary pages, Chapter
One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Appendices, and a Reference list. APA 7 has been
used as the preferred referencing style, in accordance with research standards and policies by Zetech
University. At the end of the research, there will be a development of an actual system of the same
title as in this proposal document, which shall be developed in the following semester.

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LIST OF FIGURES
Fig 2.1 A summary chart of the use of e-commerce systems during COVID-19.

Fig 2.3.1 Amazon checkout vs Alibaba checkout feature

Fig 3.2.2 Flowchart for payment process

Fig 3.4.4 Class diagram for e-commerce system for the boutique shop

Fig 3.4.6 Use case diagram

Fig 3.4.7 Collaboration diagram

Fig 3.4.8 State chart diagram

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.4 Differences between an e-commerce system and a physical shop

Table 5.1 Gantt chart

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 CHAPTER ONE: RESEARCH INTRODUCTION
1.1 Research problem
- Statement that shows an existing real world problem that the proposed system intends
to solve
- The problem that exists in the real world, that inspires the research.

Many people have a problem physically visiting shops due to challenges such as distance from
home/work place to the shop, physical disabilities, tiredness, security especially when one
wants to buy at night. Some people are also too busy at their work to get time to go for physical
shopping. Physical shopping also wastes time due to the actual walking from shelf to shelf in a
store trying to decide which product/s is best for the client. Clients also might not get a wide
array of options if they visit only few shops which they can visit per time. Physical shops are
normally also very congested at particular hours of the day which might be a potential
encourager for contagious diseases such as flus and also COVID-19 as we experienced a few
years back. These and many other downsides and inconveniences of visiting physical shops
would make us rethink how to do shopping in more convenient, safe and trusted ways.

1.2 Research Objectives

- GOALS you intend to achieve from this research
- SMART – Specific, Measurable, Accurate, Realistic, Time Bound

1.2.1 General Objective

- SPECIFIC GOAL / BIGGER GOAL you intend to achieve from this research
(i) To develop an e-commerce system for a boutique shop

1.2.2 Specific Objectives

- Mini goals that together help you to achieve the bigger goal
(i) To develop user access controls and user communication mediums
(ii) To develop products module for products update, viewing and selection
(iii) To develop a payment and invoicing module
(iv) To develop a delivery tracking and communication module

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1.3 Background Information
- Inspiration from different related systems that inspire the particular research you are
conducting
- Information about the FAMILY of systems that the proposed system belongs to
- What those systems do, how helpful they are

An e-commerce system is an electronic means of buying and selling goods and services through
the use of a computer and a computer network. E-commerce systems eliminate the need for
visiting physical shops by providing a way in which buyers and sellers can meet online using
their personal computers. They are a great way of providing a convenient method of shopping
for individuals with different needs: busy workers who have no time to visit shops physically,
the physically challenged who might not be able to get to the shop physically given their
condition, those who need the comfort and luxury of getting products and services at the
comfort of their homes, those who need to order for products and/or services at any hour of the
day or night, those who cannot visit the shop nearest to them due to a distance factor, etc. E-
commerce systems have become popular especially with the use of personal phones and devices
that people can access at any given time. E-commerce systems also provide significant features
and services that many buyers and sellers might not find in their physical shopping experience,
e.g. the ability to get a direct invoice and receipt to one’s email, which is easy to keep and refer
to in case of a purchase gone wrong, the ability to track a delivery through GPS mapping
technology, the ability to select from a wide array of products without walking from shelf to
shelf, security features that allow user transactions and information to be safe and confidential
throughout their shopping experience, etc. E-commerce systems generally continue to be the
most widely preferred method of buying and selling in a technological world that is fast
evolving.

1.4 Study Justification

- Argue out why the proposed system will be important and why is it a great alternative
to other kinds of solutions for the same problems

The proposed system would be a solution to physical shopping since it would eliminate the
need for buyers and sellers to meet physically which would be a solution to cases where buyers
have met sellers who were fraudsters that ended up harming them and robbing them
physically. It would also reduce physical contact that could potentially cause the spread of
contagious air-borne viruses and bacteria, as was experienced during COVID-19. The proposed
system would also include detailed descriptions of shoe, cloth or bag size, and pictures that
would allow the customer make an informed decision about their size before purchasing. It
would also be a great way for the business to increase their client reach since an online system

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can be accessible by many online users at the same time. It would also allow customers to get
the benefit of shopping at the comfort of their homes, and also as they get about their daily busy
schedules without having to go for physical shopping, which can be time-wasting, and also
boring for some people.

1.5 Study Limitation

- Boundary of the research
- This is what I’m focusing on, and this is what I’m not

The research is focused on B2C (Business to Consumer) e-commerce systems even though some
B2B (business to business) systems such as Alibaba are examined in passing to get an
understanding of the general features and processes. The research focuses in detail on B2C e-
commerce systems such as Jumia, Aliexpress, Kilimall and Jiji.

1.6 Problem Scope

- Boundary and the limits of the research that tells the reader what aspects of the research
problem does the research focus on
- Elements that constrain your research

The research will focus on the features of B2C ecommerce systems, the payment process and
payment validation of the system, the database integration of the system, the ability to search
and find available products, invoice generation, delivery tracking with GPS mapping, interface
and backend integration and hosting of the website.

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 CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
4.1 CONCLUSION
- Findings
- Features, examples, Advantages, Technical aspects, Design, Development and
deployment

In summary, B2C ecommerce systems such as the ones largely used like Amazon, Alibaba,
Jumia, etc, demonstrate an ability to seamlessly allow a customer to find a product, manage
their cart, checkout and use a payment option of their choosing, process receipt and send it to
the client after purchase and client can then track and receive their delivery. The research also
indicates that most of these sites also allow customers to claim return of or refund for products
that did not meet their expectations. The research has also revealed that e-commerce systems
provide many advantages to both customers and business such as safety, convenience, luxury,
ease of use and increment of clientele coverage for the business. It has also been identified
through the research that to implement e-commerce system, one would need programming
knowledge using web-based tools such as HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP and any database
management software such as MYSQL, SQLite, MongoDb or Oracle. XAMMP has also been
discussed as one of the middleware tools for developing a good website and integrating with
the user interface. The research has also established that the system would need to be deployed
using a free web hosting site such as BlueHost, HostGator, GoDaddy or others for access by
internet users.

4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
- Suggest to the next researcher:
o Areas of improvement
o Areas of expansion
o Alternative methods, etc.

I recommend that simulation using Virtual Reality technology be explored as a means to

allowing customers to fit products and get that experience for themselves before deciding on
purchasing a product. Due to limited technical feasibility, better alternatives to integrate and
include both local and international payment methods be explored in future researches.

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