Unit 3 ECommerce Contents Brief on ECommerce Electronic

Unit 3 E-Commerce

Contents

Brief on E-Commerce • Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or e. Commerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. Electronic commerce operates in all four of the major market segments: business to business, business to consumer, consumer to consumer and consumer to business. • The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown dramatically since the spread of the Internet. A wide variety of commerce is conducted in this way, spurring and drawing on innovations in electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), automated inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at some point in the transaction’s lifecycle, although it can encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail as well.

Brief on E-Commerce A small percentage of electronic commerce is conducted entirely electronically for “virtual” items such as access to premium content on a website, but most electronic commerce involves the transportation of physical items in some way. Online retailers are sometimes known as etailers and online retail is known as e-tail. E-commerce or electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. • The meaning of “electronic commerce” has changed over the last 30 years. Originally, “electronic commerce” meant the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, using technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These were both introduced in the late 1970 s, allowing businesses to send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically. The growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the 1980 s were also forms of e-commerce. From the 1990 s onwards, e-commerce would additionally include enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing. •

Brief on E-Commerce In the dot com era, e-commerce came to include activities more precisely termed “Web commerce” — the purchase of goods and services over the World Wide Web, usually with secure connections, with eshopping carts and with electronic payment services such as credit card payment authorizations. • In a sense, we can say that it is an entire set of different, digitally enabled activities that are progressively replacing the more traditional brick-and-mortar commercial functions. E-commerce has allowed firms to establish a market presence, or to enhance an already larger market position, by allowing for a cheaper and more efficient distribution chain for their products or services. One example of a firm having successfully used e-commerce is Chapters, which not only has physical stores, but an online store where the customer can buy books, CDs and DVDs. • In many cases, an e-commerce company will survive not only based on its products, but by having a competent management team, good postsales services, well-organized business structure, network infrastructure and a secured, well-designed website. • From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lead-in 1. Discuss the following questions with your partner. 2. Discuss with your group members what use you often make of the Internet. Tick the uses first and then talk about the strengths and weaknesses of doing them on the Internet.

Lead-in 1. Discuss the following questions with your partners. 1) What are your feelings about shopping on the internet? What do you see as the advantages? What disadvantages are there? 2) How do you feel about providing information to online services about yourself — for example, phone numbers, addresses, shopping preferences? 3) Knowing that companies can track your online behavior, do you modify or alter your online profile or behavior to “hide” from them, or would you prefer that websites “recognize” you and your preferences? Do you think that online shoppers should be able to choose whether their behavior is tracked or not? 4) Have you ever recognized that something on your computer screen has appeared automatically because of your online activity (advertisements for products you mentioned in an email to a friend, for example)? What was your reaction? Do you approve of such automation? Do you appreciate being informed of products or services in such a manner?

Keys Lead-in 1. 1) E-commerce provides many new ways for businesses and consumers to communicate and conduct business. There a number of advantages and disadvantages of conducting business in this manner. Advantages: • Being able to conduct business 24 x 7 x 365. E-commerce systems can operate all day every day. • Access the global marketplace. The Internet spans the world, and it is possible to do business with any business or person who is connected to the Internet. • Speed. Electronic communications allow messages to traverse the world almost instantaneously. • Marketspace. The market in which web-based businesses operate is the global market. • Opportunity to reduce costs. The Internet makes it very easy to “shop around” for products and services that may be cheaper or more effective than we might otherwise settle for. • Computer platform-independent. Many, if not most, computers have the ability to communicate via the Internet independent of operating systems and hardware. More

Keys Lead-in Allowing customer self service and “customer outsourcing”. People can interact with businesses at any hour of the day that it is convenient to them, and because these interactions are initiated by customers, the customers also provide a lot of the data for the transaction that may otherwise need to be entered by business staff. This means that some of the work and costs are effectively shifted to customers; this is referred to as “customer outsourcing”. • Stepping beyond borders to a global view. Using aspects of e-commerce technology can mean your business can source and use products and services provided by other businesses in other countries. • A new marketing channel. The Internet provides an important new channel to sell to consumers. As a marketing channel, the Internet has the following characteristics: � ▪the ability to inexpensively store vast amounts of information at different virtual locations; ▪the availability of powerful and inexpensive means of searching, organising, and disseminating such information; ▪interactivity and the ability to provide information on demand; ▪the ability to provide perceptual experiences that are far superior to a printed catalogue, although not as rich as personal inspection; More •

Keys Lead-in � ▪the capability to serve as a transaction medium; � ▪the ability to serve as a physical distribution medium for certain goods (e. g. , software); � ▪relatively low entry and establishment costs for sellers. • Disadvantages and constraints. Time for delivery of physical products. It is possible to visit a local music store and walk out with a compact disc, or a bookstore and leave with a book. E-commerce is often used to buy goods that are not available locally from businesses all over the world, meaning that physical goods need to be delivered, which takes time and costs money. • Physical product, supplier & delivery uncertainty. In some respects ecommerce purchases are made on trust. This is because, firstly, not having had physical access to the product, a purchase is made on an expectation of what that product is and its condition. Secondly, because supplying businesses can be conducted across the world, it can be uncertain whether or not they are legitimate businesses and are not just going to take your money. • Perishable goods. Though specialised or refrigerated transport can be used, goods bobias for perishable and/or non-durable goods back towards traditional supply chain arrangementsught and sold via the Internet tend to be durable and non-perishable: they need to survive the trip from the supplier to the purchasing business or consumer. This shifts the, or towards relatively more local e-commerce-based purchases, sales and distribution. More

Keys • • • Lead-in Limited and selected sensory information. The Internet does not allow full scope for our senses: we can see pictures of the flowers, but not smell their fragrance; we can see pictures of a hammer, but not feel its weight or balance. And, taking into account our other senses, we can’t test the car to hear the sound of the engine as it changes gears or sense the smell and feel of the leather seats. There are many ways in which the Internet does not convey the richness of experiences of the world. Returning goods online can be an area of difficulty. The uncertainties surrounding the initial payment and delivery of goods can be exacerbated in this process. Privacy, security, payment, identity, contract. Many issues arise — privacy of information, security of that information and payment details, whether or not payment details (eg credit card details) will be misused, identity theft, contract, and, whether we have one or not, what laws and legal jurisdiction apply. Defined services & the unexpected. E-commerce is an effective means for managing the transaction of known and established services, that is, things that are everyday. It is not suitable for dealing with the new or unexpected. Personal service. Although some human interaction can be facilitated via the web, e-commerce can not provide the richness of interaction provided by personal service. Size and number of transactions. E-commerce is most often conducted using credit card facilities for payments, and as a result very small and very large End transactions tend not to be conducted online.

Keys 1. 2) (open-ended) 3) (open-ended) 4) (open-ended) Lead-in

Lead-in 2. Discuss with your group members what use you often make of the Internet. Tick the uses first and then talk about the strengths and weaknesses of doing them on the Internet. Uses Information searching E-mail Shopping Chatting Downloading video & music Your preferences Strengths and weaknesses

Keys Lead-in 2. (open-ended)

Reading 1. Text 2. Reading-related Information 3. Language Interpretation 4. Reference Chinese of the Text

Text Reading Preview: E-commerce can be defined as any business or commercial transaction carried out over the internet. Nowadays, e-commerce is booming. Customers can buy air tickets, books, computers, flowers, music and a wide variety of other products over the internet. Ecommerce complements the traditional way of conducting business, with new technologies offering a wide range of ways in which a company can reach an appropriate consumer with their product message. These techniques border on the range of science fiction, and both consumers and sellers can benefit. The combination of e-commerce and high tech offers us a glamorous vista: enhanced interactivity, better visuals, more information, improved search results along with more personalized commercial service, and much more.

Reading Taking E-Commerce to the Next Level Coming soon: Improved recommendations and personalized pitches that actually work. But how much of this will shoppers stand for? By Amey Stone [1] This summer, Chester Yeum was watching Tom Cruise’s scifi thriller Minority Report, set in the year 2054, when he realized he was helping make an element of it a reality today. The epiphany came as Cruise strode through a shopping concourse and impromptu, personalized advertising pitches buffeted him from all sides — just the kind of location-based marketing Yeum is trying to bring to market. Translation

Reading [2] Yeum’s first step to a 2054 -like world is Spot. Meeting. com, a location-based online dating service. Romance seekers are linked to others near them through software that identifies their location. Today the site maps each member’s Internet address, but an upcoming version will use global positioning technology to locate members on the go. Translation

Reading [3] Eventually, Yuem hopes to sign up retailers to send his customers pitches via their cell phones or handheld computers that will entice them into a store they’re approaching, perhaps using a 10%-off coupon. Or maybe send them an e-mail reminding them that an outfit they abandoned in an online shopping cart is available in the store to try on. Translation

Reading [4] “I don’t believe the mainstream market is ready for that right now, ” says Yeum, who thinks people first have to get comfortable disclosing their location and personal information — something they might be willing to do now for a chance at romance. Once his site establishes itself in dating, he says, “we will stream in supplemental applications that will plug right into e-commerce. ” Translation

Reading [5] It’s back to the future for e-commerce, now that some of the technologies envisioned years ago are finally ready for prime time. With so many e-tailers profitable, they’re finally ready to move ahead with adding new technologies that can take online shopping to the next level. Translation

Reading [6] For shoppers, the next level means more interactivity, better visuals, and improved search results with more product information. It also means being watched more closely by sites and receiving personalized pitches based on past browsing behavior — which can be a little creepy. For retailers, this next phase presents an opportunity to generate more sales volume, but it also requires treading carefully so as not to anger customers by invading their privacy. Translation

Reading [7] Web designers’ widespread adoption of “meta data” and XML (extensible markup language), both standards for tagging data on Web pages, are making the transition easier. With such tagging in place, developers can create applications that manipulate information in new ways. Not only has this technology allowed for higher levels of interactivity but it has also triggered great advances in the ability to track customer behavior on e-commerce sites. That’s rapidly leading to more personalization and smarter merchandising. Translation

Reading [8] Vastly improved search and site navigation probably represent the most important sales drivers for cutting-edge ecommerce sites today. One such company, Atomz, which hosts the Web applications it designs, has software that trawls a retailer’s site gathering product information and creating advanced search functions. At Pacific Sunwear’s site, customers can drill down from seeing all shirts, to just, say, girls’ t-shirts in red. The retailer has some control over results, too, so higherprice items can be displayed first, says Atomz Chief Executive Officer Steve Kusmer. Translation

Reading [9] Atomz also can drive sales by allowing businesses to highlight special promotions tied to searches on their sites, like handheld maker Palm. One does with a "noteworthy" box that appears along with search results. On Palm. One’s site, type “Zire” into its search engine and up pops a box recommending the Zire 72, which comes with photo, video, and MP 3 capabilities. The addition of a promotion box above the search results has increased the number of searchers converted to buyers by up to 60%, says Kusmer. Translation

Reading [10] Cutting-edge Web sites aren’t just serving better information to customers; they’re also tracking buyers’ behavior much more closely. Web analytics companies Coremetrics and Omniture are thriving on new demand for their products, which analyze customer behavior. These are often sold as a hosted service for fees ranging from $30, 000 to $100, 000 a year, depending on the volume of traffic and the extent of the site analyzed, says Freeman Evans. Translation

Reading [11] Web analytics allows retailers to predict what customers might want to buy next by looking at their past purchasing history, as well as data generated from other shoppers. It also helps companies make important improvements in how easy their sites are to navigate and use. Sportsline. com announced in a May press release that it used Omniture’s Site. Catalyst to identify when customers dropped out of signing up for its fantasy football league, allowing Sportsline to improve its process and increase the number of paying customers. Translation

Reading [12] With so much data available at their fingertips, more retailers will be using Web analytics to personalize e-mail. For example, customers might get an e-mail letting them know that a sweater they perused but never bought is now available for 10% off. In retailingo this is called “remarketing. ” Translation

Reading [13] Retailers say higher-quality, interactive images are driving sales, too. Lamps Plus, for one, is using rich-media software from Scene 7 that allows customers to manipulate highresolution photos, zooming in to see the texture of fabric, spin products around for a 360 -degree view, or sample color swatches. Lamps Plus says the software has helped increase sales on its Web site and from in-store kiosks because customers can get a more realistic idea of a broad range of products. Translation

Reading [14] Creating a richer, more realistic online shopping experience is just one way retailers are getting customers to buy more. They’re also employing so-called smart-pricing technology to optimize how much they charge for items on their sites. Plus, they’re learning they can generate more sales by adding more information, such as customer ratings and reviews. Translation

Reading [15] Too much computer-driven personalization can backfire, though, as Tom Cruise’s character learned in the Big Brother-style world of Minority Report. “Retailers have to be careful to make sure shoppers don’t feel they’re being watched a little too closely, ” says Freeman Evans. Translation

Reading [16] That’s why Spot. Meeting’s Yeum is happy to take a slow and steady pace in bringing his brand of e-commerce to the next level. Your favorite clothing retailer won’t be broadcasting a personalized message to you as you walk by for a while yet. But Yeum, for one, is confident that’ll happen sooner than you might think. (1056 words) From Business Week Translation

Reading Related Information Reading • Chester Yeum • He is the Spot. Meeting’s CEO who launched Spot. Meeting. com (refer to note 5) in April 2004 to allow people to meet each other face-to-face regardless of where they are.

Reading • Tom Cruise • He is an American movie star known for his performance in Rain Man, Born on the Fourth of July, Mission: Impossible and so on.

Reading • Minority Report • It is a 2002 science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg, loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s short story of the same name. It is set in Washington D. C. in the year 2054, where criminals are apprehended based on foreknowledge. The film stars Tom Cruise as John Anderton, a pre-crime officer, who heads the precrime police force.

Reading • • Spot. Meeting. com It is an online location-based singles network, launched by Chester Yeum (refer to note 1) to allow people to meet each other face-to-face regardless of where they are. Spot. Meeting is a revolutionary service for singles that lets them find a date instantly and usually within walking distance. Other available online dating sites are limited in their reach because they are missing the key ingredient — location. Spot. Meeting offers “on-the-spot” connectivity by combining the established power of the Internet along with the emerging technology of Location-Based Services. After logging in with a valid e-mail address, Spot. Meeting subscribers can have access to its Location-Based Singles Network, enabling them to make contact with other singles in their immediate vicinity.

Reading • Atomz • Based in San Francisco, Ca. , Atomz was a leading provider of on-demand digital marketing applications, including site search and web content management. It was acquired by Web. Side. Story in May 2005.

Reading • Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. sells casual apparel, footwear, and accessories designed for teenagers and young adults in the United States, mostly in regional malls. Pacific Sunwear generates 75 percent of its revenues from young men’s merchandise.

Reading • Palm. One • It is a leading U. S. producer of handheld computing products established in January 1992.

Reading • Zire 72 • It is Palm. One’s second Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) with an integrated digital camera.

Reading • Coremetrics • Headquartered in San Mateo, California, Coremetrics provides Web-based analytics and precision marketing software that analyzes the behavior of online customers and Web site visitors. The company’s software captures and stores site visitor activity data, and then converts the data into individual visitor profiles that give online marketers, information technology managers, and e-commerce company executives insight into how their Web sites are being used. Customers have included Bank of America, Motorola, and so on.

Reading • Omniture • Headquartered at Orem, Utah, and founded in 1996, the company provides web-based analysis for internet channel monitoring.

Reading • Sportsline. com • Sports. Line. com operates a leading sports news and information Web site and maintains online properties for other sports organizations, including the NBA, MLB, and the NCAA. Registered users and subscribers can take part in a variety of fantasy sports leagues. Sports. Line’s sites attract an audience of more than 7 million people.

Reading • Site. Catalyst • It is a free Web page statistic service available to help users track traffic patterns, visitor profiles, and marketing effectiveness of a Web site, a product of Ominture.

Reading • Lamps Plus • It is a shop for home lighting, light fixtures and home decor products at factory direct pricing with free shipping offers.

Reading • Scene 7 • Now owned by Adobe System, the company provides dynamic image management software that enables clients to manage, generate, and publish graphic images and ecatalogs both online and offline.

Language Interpretation Reading • 1. The epiphany came as Cruise strode through a shopping concourse and impromptu, personalized advertising pitches buffeted him from all sides — just the kind of location-based marketing Yeum is trying to bring to market. • — Chester Yeum suddenly hit upon a brilliant idea when he saw spontaneous and personalized advertising messages surround Tom Cruise, who walked purposefully through a shopping centre; the scene gave him an inspiration of the type of location-based marketing that he is trying to introduce to the market.

Reading • 2. . that will entice them into a store they’re approaching, perhaps using a 10%-off coupon. • —. . . that will lure them into a nearby shop by offering a coupon that entitles the customer to a 10% discount.

Reading • 3. . something they might be willing to do now for a chance at romance. • —. . . something that they would like to do in the hope that they might start a romantic relationship in this way.

Reading • 4. . we will stream in supplemental applications that will plug right into e-commerce. • —. . . we will provide additional computer programs — transmitted in real time over the Internet — that will be connected with e-commerce.

Reading • 5. With so many e-tailers profitable, they’re finally ready to move ahead with adding new technologies that can take online shopping to the next level. • — Since so many Internet-based retailers are successful, they are finally ready to introduce advances in online shopping enabled with new technologies.

Reading • 6. It also means being watched more closely by sites. . . • — It also means that websites will monitor and track shoppers’ behavior on e-commerce sites more carefully. . .

Reading • 7. . customers can drill down from seeing all shirts, to just, say, girls’ tshirts in red. • —. . . on the website, customers can move from the most general and broad category of all shirts to the lower level of girls’ t-shirts in red, as an example.

Reading • 8. Atomz also can drive sales by allowing businesses to highlight special promotions tied to searches on their sites, like handheld maker Palm. One does with a “noteworthy” box that appears along with search results. • — Atomz also can boost sales volumes by allowing companies to call Internet searcher’s attention to the special promotions related to the items that they are looking for, just as the PDA maker Palm. One adds a “noteworthy” box to search results.

Reading • 9. The addition of a promotion box above the search results has increased the number of searchers converted to buyers by up to 60%. . . • — Because a special promotion box has been added above the search results, the number of searchers-turned buyers (i. e. , people who searched for and then bought an item) has increased by up to 60%. . .

Reading • 10. to identify when customers dropped out of signing up for its fantasy football league • — to indicate when customers quit after they initiated a sign-up for its fantasy football league

Reading • 11. . is now available for 10% off. • —. . . is now sold at 90% of the original price.

Reading • 12. . zooming in to see the texture of fabric. . . • —. . . looking at a close-up picture of the structure of the material. . .

Reading • 13. . Big Brother-style world of Minority Report. • — Here Big Brother is used to refer to a government when it has complete control over people and is always checking what they do.

Words & Phrases 1. Words 2. Phrases

Words stream convert envision peruse transition zoom manipulate optimize trigger backfire trawl pop

Phrases stand for on the go sign up plug into in place drop out at one’s fingertips

Words & Phrases stream vi. 1) transmit (data) in real time, especially over the Internet Examples: • A computer needs to be powerful enough to record video and stream it out at the same time. • You can put software on your computer to stream music to your car. 2) move in a continuous flowing mass Examples: • Thousands of migrant workers streamed into the city. • Sunlight was streaming through the window.

Words & Phrases envision v. imagine Examples: • He envisioned a partnership between business and government. • The company envisioned setting up three branches next year.

Words & Phrases transition n. change; a development or evolution from one form, stage, or style to another Examples: • China is undergoing a transition from a planned economy to a socialist market economy. • The company realized its transition from a consumer-based Internet model to an enterprise software business model.

Words & Phrases manipulate vt. 1) manage or use skillfully Examples: • Thanks to Photoshop, it’s easy to manipulate photographs. • A computer user can manipulate great amount of data at one time if the computer has a large memory. 2) influence Examples: • Throughout his career he has successfully manipulated the media. • A clever politician knows how to manipulate his supporters.

Words & Phrases trigger v. cause sth. to begin to happen or exist Examples: • Price increase trigger off demands for wage increases. • People’s conservative consumption triggered the bankruptcy of the health club.

Words & Phrases trawl v. search Examples: • He surfed on the net trawling for information for her project. • The UK’s Competition Commission may have to trawl through more than 12 million emails to look into the treatment of suppliers by Tesco.

Words & Phrases pop vi. go, come, or appear suddenly Examples: • His name has popped up from time to time in the papers. • She is a film star who pops up on TV, in magazines, on Broadway.

Words & Phrases convert v. bring over from one belief, view, or party to another Examples: • For an online retailer, converting fearful online consumers into loyal customers can make his online business prosper. • Successful managers can convert visions into operating plans.

Words & Phrases peruse v. examine or consider with attention and in detail; study Examples: • He opened a newspaper and began to peruse the job advertisements. • He perused the document closely.

Words & Phrases zoom v. focus more narrowly on an object so that the object’s apparent distance from the observer changes Examples: • Television cameras zoomed in on the fans fighting in the stands. • Click on a photo, and it zooms out to full-size.

Words & Phrases optimize v. make as perfect, effective, or functional as possible Examples: • The managers provided strategic suggestions to optimize the development of the new product at the meeting. • They wanted to optimize the customer’s experience of using their websites to know about the company.

Words & Phrases backfire v. have the opposite result to the one that was intended; have the reverse of the desired or expected effect Examples: • Parents can help their kids learn to read, but pushing them before they’re ready can backfire. • Taxi fare hikes could backfire, discouraging many customers from taking short taxi trips.

Words & Phrases stand for 1) support Examples: • With a strong brand, a company doesn’t have to sell hard. Customers know what it stands for before the promotion. • The company stands for corporate responsibility. 2) represent Examples: • “APEC” stands for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. • “SWOT” stands for strength, weakness, opportunities and threats. 3) accept a situation or a particular type of behavior Examples: • I can’t stand for the manager’s haughty manners any more. • The company can’t stand for any piracy of their products.

Words & Phrases on the go constantly or restlessly active Examples: • Many teenagers lead lives on the go and use cell phones. • As a sales manager, he has been on the go.

Words & Phrases sign up 1) initiate a business deal with Examples: • The club has signed up a new goalkeeper this season. • The company has signed up three top models for the fashion show. 2) put your name on a list for something because you want to take part in it Examples: • I’m thinking of signing up for a yoga course. • A user can sign up for a new account by clicking an Internet service provider in the list.

Words & Phrases plug into connect or become connected to Examples: • He searched information by plugging into the international computer network. • The local system is plugged into the national telephone network.

Words & Phrases in place working or being able to be used; working or ready to work Examples: • It would take the phone companies several years to put the required fiber optic networks in place. • Operators must make sure the guard is in place before operating the machine.

Words & Phrases drop out withdraw from participation or membership; quit Examples: • Some companies dropped out from the competition. • He was forced to drop out of amateur athletics.

Words & Phrases at one’s fingertips instantly or readily available Examples: • Knowledge and information are at teenagers’ fingertips on the Internet. • The chairman has detailed information about the company at his fingertips.

Exercises 1. Comprehension 1. Answering questions 2. Doing exercises 2. Critical Thinking 3. Vocabulary 1. Writing sentences 2. Replacing 3. Linking 4. Translation 1. English to Chinese 2. Chinese to English

Comprehension Exercises 1. Answer the following questions. 1) What did Minority Report evoke in Chester Yeum’s mind? 2) How does Chester Yeum’s Spot. Meeting. com work? 3) What technological advances has Chester Yeum been envisioning over recent years? 4) Does Chester Yeum think that the mainstream market will embrace his idea about e-commerce wholeheartedly right now? Why or why not? 5) What does it mean to take e-commerce to the next level, so far as customers are concerned? 6) From retailers’ perspective, what does it mean to take e-commerce to the next level? 7) What implications does the adoption of “meta data” and XML have for ecommerce? 8) What are the major sales drivers for e-commerce sites today? 9) Does building a cutting-edge e-commerce web site solely mean feeding state-of-the-art information to customers? Why or why not? 10) According to Steve Kusmer, what purpose has the promotion box served? 11) How can retailers make business predictions on the basis of the customer data available?

Keys Exercises 1. 1) He realized that he was helping make an element of the movie a reality today. 2) Chester Yeum’s Spot. Meeting. com is a location-based online dating service by which romance seekers are linked to others near them through software that identifies their location. 3) He was envisioning the use of global positioning technology to locate members on the go. 4) No, he doesn't. He thinks that people have yet to get comfortable disclosing their location and personal information. 5) So far as customers are concerned, to take e-commerce to the next level means more interactivity, better visuals, and improved search results with more product information. It also means being watched more closely by sites and receiving personalized pitches based on past browsing behavior 6) From retailers’ perspective, to take e-commerce to the next level presents an opportunity to generate more sales volume, but it also requires treading carefully so as not to anger customers by invading their privacy. More

Keys Exercises 7) The adoption of “meta data” and XML will enable developers to create applications that manipulate information in new ways, allowing for higher levels of interactivity and triggering great advances in the ability to track customer behavior on e-commerce sites. 8) The major sales drivers for e-commerce sites today are vastly improved search and site navigation. 9) Building a cutting-edge e-commerce Web site does not solely mean feeding state-of-the-art information to customers because it also means tracking buyers’ behavior much more closely. 10) According to Steve Kusmer, the promotion box, which is added above the search results, has increased the number of searchers converted to buyers by up to 60%. 11) Retailers can make use of the customer data available to predict what customers might want to buy next by looking at their past purchasing history, as well as data generated from other shoppers. End

Exercises 2. Do the following exercises and compare your answers with your partner’s. The text can be roughly divided into four parts. Write the paragraph numbers of each part and then give its main idea. The first one has been done for you: Parts Paragraphs Main idea Part One paras. 1 - 4 Introduction: Chester Yeum’s e-commerce venture Part Two paras. ________________________ Part Three paras. ________________________ Part Four paras. ________________________

Keys Exercises 2. Parts Paragraphs Main idea Part I Paras. 1 - 4 Introduction: Chester Yeum’s e-commerce venture Part II Paras. 5 - 6 The prospect of e-commerce Part III Paras. 7 -14 Commercial applications of web technologies to ecommerce Part IV Paras. 15 16 A word of caution for e-commerce

Critical Thinking Exercises 1. As a business person, what advantages do you see in secretly identifying people who express an interest in products like yours in their online activity? What drawbacks do you see in taking advantage of that information? 2. How likely do you think it is, in the near future, that almost everyone will regularly use the internet for e-commerce? Why? Will online shopping gradually take the place of other forms of shopping? Why or why not?

Keys 1. (open-ended) Exercises

Keys 2. (open-ended) Exercises

Vocabulary Exercises 1. Match the verbs with a similar meaning. Then think of a noun or a noun phrase to follow each pair of verbs. 1) entice imagine 1)______________ 2) disclose change 2)______________ 3) envision process 3)______________ 4) convert improve 4)______________ 5) identify reveal 5)______________ 6) optimize examine 6)______________ 7) manipulate cause 7)______________ 8) trigger lure 8)______________ 9) peruse discover 9)______________

Keys Exercises 1． 1) entice — lure (e. g. ~ sb. into spending money) 2) disclose — reveal (e. g. ~ details of a transaction) 3) envision — imagine (e. g. ~ the commercial success of his own company) 4) convert — change (e. g. ~ metric measurements to U. S. equivalents) 5) identify — discover (e. g. ~ a loophole in the law) 6) optimize — improve (e. g. ~ a computer system) 7) manipulate — process (e. g. ~ data rapidly) 8) trigger — cause (e. g. ~ inflation) 9) peruse — examine (e. g. ~ an advertisement)

Exercises 2. Rewrite the following italicized parts by using the appropriate words and expressions from the text. 1) The salesman works under great pressure and is busy and active all the time. 2) They pushed hard to be part of the initiative from News Corp. ’s Fox unit and NBC that will put peak-time TV shows on the Web as early as this summer. 3) An errant supplier can delay a key product launch and enrage customers. 4) Today, the potential from new technology is staggering. The Internet can increase grassroots democracy — or infringe on our privacy. 5) Higher, higher, then bam! Shanghai’s pumped-up stock market fainted dead away on a black Tuesday. Many people wondered what on earth set off the slump. More

Exercises 6) After years of taking abuse from counterfeiters, companies and even nations are turning to state-of-the-art technology to win back control of their brands and ward off accidents associated with fakes. 7) Some companies are applying the latest developments in molecular science and nanotechnology to fight against counterfeits. Stores, customs officials, or investigators will soon be able to see whether a product is real or fake by scanning it with a handheld reader and matching it against an electronic database. 8) The official said government revenues may benefit in the short term “but this could have an opposite effect, as they create significant disincentives to new investment in oil production, thus ultimately affecting the governments’ long-run revenues. ” 9) Despite years of criticism from the West and some new anti-piracy technologies, the country’s black market for counterfeit goods is flourishing. 10) Weather forecasts, directions, stock quotes, traffic reports, and more can be instantly or readily available to us with simple text messages on any mobile phone. End

Keys 2. 1) on the go 2) prime-time 3) anger 4) invade 5) triggered 6) cutting-edge 7) advances 8) backfire 9) thriving 10) at our fingertips Exercises

Exercises 3. Complete each sentence with the correct form of the words in capital letters. 1) THRILLER Sometimes getting promoted is a double-edged sword: _____, yes, but terrifying. 2) PERSON The marketers can target the exact person who is most likely to buy a product at the precise moment they are most likely to buy it. It’s the ad industry’s dream come true: a perfect _____ pitch. 3) IDENTIFY New Haven plans to offer a city _____ card that undocumented workers may use to access city services. 4) DISCLOSE The company was strongly condemned for insufficient _____ of negative information. More

Exercises 5) SUPPLEMENTAL President Bush’s proposal for Personal Reemployment Accounts would _____ traditional unemployment insurance with an individually controlled account to fund training or provide income when an individual changes jobs. 6) NTERACT TV on the Internet will, and should, closely resemble TV on the television— save for some tinges of _____ like chat, and a thus-far unfulfilled promise of ultra-targeted ads. 7) OPTIMIZE Now he is recalling the most important time of his business life, the years 1972 to 1979, when he lived in Afghanistan and India, manufacturing and exporting women’s clothing to luxury retailers in the West under less than _____ conditions. More

Exercises 8) REAL Only 3% of senior management at FORTUNE 100 companies is black or Hispanic. Many nonwhite kids lack early exposure to the corporate world, and they often find a career at Goldman Sachs (高盛) a(n) _____ goal. 9) ANALYZE A 15 -year Walt Disney Co. veteran, he had risen to the chairmanship of the company’s amusement parks and resorts unit. By nature a methodical thinker, he embraced market _____ and other research to help him understand consumer spending patterns. 10)DEMAND The processor of the computer is a 2. 4 gigahertz Celeron (赛扬处理器), more than adequate for the relatively _____ use — mostly e-mail, Web browsing, and word processing. End

Keys 3． 1) thrilling 2) personalized 3) identity 4) disclosure 5) supplement 6) interactivity 7) optimum 8) unrealistic 9) analytics 10) undemanding Exercises

Translation Exercises 1. Translate the following paragraphs into Chinese. 1) It’s back to the future for e-commerce, now that some of the technologies envisioned years ago are finally ready for prime time. With so many etailers profitable, they’re finally ready to move ahead with adding new technologies that can take online shopping to the next level. 2) For shoppers, the next level means more interactivity, better visuals, and improved search results with more product information. It also means being watched more closely by sites and receiving personalized pitches based on browsing preferences — which can be a little creepy. For retailers, this next phase presents an opportunity to generate more sales volume, but it also requires treading carefully so as not to anger customers by invading their privacy.

Keys 2. Exercises Cutting-edge web technology has triggered in business great advances of far-reaching significance. First and foremost, it enables businesses to serve more and better product information to customers. In the meantime, it also makes it possible for web sites to track buyers’ behavior more closely. Web analytics companies are thriving on new demand for their products — analyses of customer behavior. Web analytics allows retailers to predict what customers might want to buy next by looking at their past purchasing history. Retailers will use the data at their fingertips to personalize e-mail. However, a word of caution seems in order here. While state-of-the-art web technology provides retailers with an opportunity to expand their business, it requires a slow and steady pace so as not to offend customers by invading their privacy.

Business Practice 1. Online Retailers 2. An Invitation

Offer & Counter-offer Business Practice

An Email Business Practice Study the following sample first and then write a reply email. Add anything necessary. To: Ms. Mary Brown, Sales Dept. , Mayflower Company, marybrown@bigpond. com From: Mr. Mike Owen, Purchasing Dept. , Kmart, mikeowen@kmart. com Subject: Asking for price reduction Date: 08/11/2008 Dear Ms. Brown, We have received both your quotation of October 31 and the samples of Men’s suiting, and thank you for them. While appreciating the good quality of your suitings we find the prices of these materials rather high for the market we wish to supply. We have also to point out that very good suitings are now available in European countries from several other manufacturers and all of these are at prices from 10% to 15% below yours. We would like to place our order with you, but must ask you to consider whether you can make us a more favorable offer. Is it possible to give us a 10% reduction? As your order would be worth around $100, 000 you may think it worth while to make a concession. A prompt reply would be appreciated. Yours faithfully, More Mike Owen Purchasing Dept. , Kmart

Business Practice Suggested key points of reply letters • Can not accept 10% reduction; • Can only give 3% special discount; • Considerable business has been done with many customers in European markets at these prices; • The products are with high quality and better than similar articles from other sources; • Minimum order quantity is 3, 000 dozen. End

Extension 1. Business Expressions 1. Completing words 2. Writing abbreviations 3. Completing sentences 2. Specialized Reading 1. Choosing topic sentence

Business Expressions Extension 1. Complete the words in the left column according to the definition in the right column. Words Definitions 1) _ _ A term coined to describe the sum total of computer accessible _space information in the world. 2) d_ _ _ The transfer of information from the internet to the browsing _ _ computer. 3) b Software that allows you to read information and navigate on the Internet: The most important ones are Internet Explorer and Netscape. 4) h_ _ _ A person who deliberately logs on to other computers by somehow bypassing the security system. This is sometimes done to steal valuable information or to cause irreparable damage. 5) f_ _ _ A combination of specialized hardware and software designed to keep unauthorized users from accessing information within a _ _ networked computer system. More

Extension 6) _ _er A component of a Web page containing an advertisement that is usually an inch or less tall and spans the width of the Web page. 7) m_ _ The word come from the two words: Modulation and Demodulation. It refers to something used to convert information from analog to digital and vice versa. 8) m_ _ _ A list of options presented to the user to enable them to perform a specific task. Each option on the list will perform a different task. 9) l_ _ _ A component of a hypertext document which, when selected with a mouse, takes the user to another document or a different section of the current document. 10) _ _ An internal or company network that can be used by anyone _net who is directly connected to the company's computer network 11) in_ _ A world-wide computer network through which you can send a _ _ letter, chat with people electronically, or search for information on almost any subject. Quite simply, it is a network of computer networks. More

Extension 12) s_ _ A host computer that stores information (e. g. , Web sites) and _ responds to requests for information (e. g. , links to another Web page). The term is also used to refer to the software that makes the act of serving information possible. 13) s_ _ _ Looking around the Internet, jumping from page to page, just going to wherever takes your fancy at that time. Similar to channel-surfing with a TV remote control. 14) up_ _ To copy files from your own PC to another computer via a network or a modem. This is the opposite of download. 15) v_ _ This is a program that can damage your PC files. It is often created intentionally to do so. 16) _ _ _ A word or phrase used in a search engine query, for example, _d to find Web documents relating to a particular subject. 17) _ _ _ The maximum speed at which data can be transmitted between _ _th computers in a network. 18) multi_ _ _ The presentation of video, sound, graphics, text, and animation _ _ by software. End

Keys 1. 1) cyberspace 2) download 3) browser 4) hacker 5) firewall 6) banner 7) modem 8) menu 9) link 10) intranet 11) internet 12) server 13) surf 14) upload 15) virus 16) keyword 17) bandwidth 18) multimedia Exercises

Extension 2. Some abbreviations concerning e-commerce are scattered around a flower-shaped pattern. Write out the full name of the abbreviations with the proper words given inside the pattern.

Keys 2. BBS (bulletin board service) EC (electronic commerce) IM (internet marketing) CAD (computer aided design) EPC (electronic product code) GPS (global positioning system) ISP (internet service provider) B 2 B (business to business) B 2 C (business to consumer) SET( secure electronic transactions) PIN (personal identification number) WAP (wireless application protocol) ATM (automated teller machine) WWW (world wide web) Exercises

Extension 3. Complete the following sentences with the expressions in the box. I-way domain names digital economy e-logistics cyber cash welcome page click(s)-and-mortar virtual marketplace shopping cart web hosts 1) The ________ is ideal for companies with an established market position and a clearly-defined customer base who want to offer a more complete service and a better on-line experience to their customers, simply and profitably. 2) It is useful to think of the ________ as having three primary components — supporting infrastructure, electronic business processes (how business is conducted), and electronic commerce transactions (selling of goods and services online). 3) Our integrated ________ solutions can help you manage resources allocation, supply chain, inventory, logistics flow and warehouse More operations.

Extension 4) You’re reading the ________, but the daily “front page” is here. 5) ________ are companies that provide space on a server they own for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center. 6)________ are sometimes colloquially (and incorrectly) referred to by marketers as “web addresses. ” 7) In British English, ________ is generally known as a shopping basket, almost exclusively shortened on websites to “basket. ” 8) ________ refers to a shop that exists both online and in the physical world. 9) There may be many popular meanings for ________ with the most popular definition being that of Information high way. 10) For those concerned primarily with payment protection, however, SET technologies and e-cash or ________ are the best bets. End

Keys 3. 1) virtual marketplace 2) digital economy 3) e-logistics 4) welcome page 5) Web hosts 6) Domain names 7) shopping cart 8) Click(s)-and-mortar 9) I-way 10) cyber cash Exercises

Specialized Reading Extension 1. E-commerce should take customers into consideration and avoid its problems. Read the following passage and choose the topic sentence marked A-H to complete the gap. A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. Providing service and performance Providing value to customers Providing personal attention Providing an incentive for customers to buy and to return Providing a sense of community Helping customers do their job of consuming Owning the customer’s total experience Letting customers help themselves A successful e-commerce organization must provide an enjoyable and rewarding experience to its customers. Many factors go into making this possible. Such factors include: 1) ______. Vendors can achieve this by offering a product or product-line that attracts potential customers at a competitive price, as in non-electronic commerce. More

Extension A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. Providing service and performance Providing value to customers Providing personal attention Providing an incentive for customers to buy and to return Providing a sense of community Helping customers do their job of consuming Owning the customer’s total experience Letting customers help themselves 2) ______. Offering a responsive, user-friendly purchasing experience, just like a flesh-and-blood retailer, may go some way to achieving these goals. 3) ______. Sales promotions to this end can involve coupons, special offers, and discounts. Cross-linked websites and advertising affiliate programs can also help. 4) ______. Personalized web sites, purchase suggestions, and personalized special offers may go some of the way to substituting for the face-to-face human interaction found at a traditional point of sale. More

Extension A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. Providing service and performance Providing value to customers Providing personal attention Providing an incentive for customers to buy and to return Providing a sense of community Helping customers do their job of consuming Owning the customer’s total experience Letting customers help themselves 5) ______. Chat rooms, discussion boards, soliciting customer input and loyalty programs (sometimes called affinity programs) can help in this respect. 6) ______. E-tailers foster this by treating any contacts with a customer as part of a total experience, an experience that becomes synonymous with the brand. 7) ______. Provision of a self-serve site, easy to use without assistance, can help in this respect. This implies that all product information is available, cross-sell information, advice for product alternatives, and supplies & accessory selectors. More