Module 5
Electronic Commerce and Mobile Commerce
A. Electronic Commerce
Electronic and mobile commerce have transformed many areas of our lives and
careers. One fundamental change has been the manner in which companies interact with
their suppliers, customers, government agencies, and other business partners. As a result,
most organizations today have set up business on the Internet or are considering doing so.
To be successful, all members of the organization need to plan and participate in that
effort. As a sales or marketing manager, you will be expected to help define your firm’s
e-commerce business model. As a customer service employee, you can expect to
participate in the development and operation of your firm’s Web site. As a human
resource or public relations manager, you will likely be asked to provide Web site content
for use by potential employees and shareholders. As an analyst in finance, you will need
to know how to measure the business impact of your firm’s Web operations and how to
compare that to competitors’ efforts. Clearly, as an employee in today’s organization, you
must understand what the potential role of e-commerce is, how to capitalize on its many
opportunities, and how to avoid its pitfalls. The emergence of m-commerce adds an
exciting new dimension to these opportunities and challenges. Many customers, potential
employees, and shareholders will be accessing your firm’s Web site via smartphones,
tablets, and laptops.
Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is the conducting of business activities (e.g.,
distribution, buying, selling, marketing, and servicing of products or services)
electronically over computer networks. It includes any business transaction executed
electronically between companies (business-to-business), companies and consumers
(business-to-consumer), consumers and other consumers (consumer-to-consumer), public
sector and business (governmentto-business), public sector to citizens (government-to-
citizen), and public sector to public sector (government-to-government). Business
activities that are strong candidates for conversion to e-commerce are ones that are paper
based, time consuming, and inconvenient for customers.
Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is a subset of e-commerce in which all
the participants are organizations. B2B e-commerce is a useful tool for connecting
business partners in a virtual supply chain to cut resupply times and reduce costs.
Although the business-to-consumer market grabs more of the news headlines, the B2B
market is considerably larger and is growing more rapidly. B2B sales within the United
States were estimated to be over $780 billion in 2015, twice the size of B2C commerce.1
A recent survey by Forrester Research and Internet Retailer showed that 30 percent of
B2B buyers now make more than half of their purchases online, and that percentage will
likely increase to 56 percent by 2017, with much of that growth coming from purchases
that are researched or completed through mobile devices.2 Popular B2C Web sites have
helped raise expectations as to how an e-commerce site must operate, and many B2B
companies are responding to those heightened expectations by investing heavily in their
B2B platforms. Spending on e-commerce technologies by large U.S. manufacturers,
wholesalers, and distributors is expected to top $2 billion in 2019.
Many organizations use both buy-side e-commerce to purchase goods and
services from their suppliers and sell-side e-commerce to sell products to their customers.
Buy-side e-commerce activities include identifying and comparing competitive suppliers
and products, negotiating and establishing prices and terms, ordering and tracking
shipments, and steering organizational buyers to preferred suppliers and products. Sell-
side e-commerce activities include enabling the purchase of products online, providing
information for customers to evaluate the organization’s goods and services, encouraging
sales and generating leads from potential customers, providing a portal of information of
interest to the customer, and enabling interactions among a community of consumers.
Thus, buy-side and sell-side e-commerce activities support the organization’s value chain
and help the organization provide lower prices, better service, higher quality, or
uniqueness of product and service.
By using B2C e-commerce to sell directly to consumers, producers or providers
of consumer products can eliminate the middlemen, or intermediaries, between them and
the consumer. In many cases, this squeezes costs and inefficiencies out of the supply
chain and can lead to higher profits for businesses and lower prices for consumers. The
elimination of intermediate organizations between the producer and the consumer is
called disintermediation. More than just a tool for placing orders, the Internet enables
shoppers to compare prices, features, and value, and to check other customers’ opinions.
Consumers can, for example, easily and quickly compare information about automobiles,
cruises, loans, insurance, and home prices to find better values. Internet shoppers can
unleash shopping bots or access sites such as eBay Shopping.com, Google Shopping,
Shopzilla, PriceGrabber, Yahoo! Shopping, or Excite to browse the Internet and obtain
lists of items, prices, and merchants.
One reason for the steady growth in B2C e-commerce is shoppers find that many
goods and services are cheaper when purchased online, including stocks, books,
newspapers, airline tickets, and hotel rooms. Another reason for the growth in B2C e-
commerce is that online B2C shoppers have the ability to design a personalized product.
Nike, Inc., provides a successful example of this approach to personalization. The
company’s online NIKEiD service enables purchasers to customize a pair of shoes by
selecting from different material, features, and fit options—including the level of insole
cushioning, sole material, and the fabric color and design of everything from the lining of
the shoe to the laces. Nike also recently added a Personalized ID (PiD) service, which
allows customers to further individualize their shoes by adding a personal message to
their shoes—whether that be a personal mantra, a sports team affiliation, or a personal
record. According to Ken Dice, NIKEiD’s vice president and general manager, “The new
Personalized iD service is exciting because it gives athletes the opportunity to
communicate inspiration, support, passion and connection to the world around them in a
meaningful and timely way.”
Yet a third reason for the continued growth of B2C e-commerce is the effective
use of social media networks by many companies looking to reach consumers, promote
their products, and generate online sales. Vera Bradley is a luggage design company that
produces a variety of products, including quilted cotton luggage, handbags, and
accessories. The firm has more than 1.6 million Facebook followers and is one of the
most followed Internet retailers on Pinterest. Indeed, Vera Bradley has been extremely
conscientious in cross-posting items from Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube to Pinterest.
When you visit the Vera Bradley Web site, Pinterest and other social buttons appear on
the product pages so that shoppers can share their likes with friends. Vera Bradley is an
example of a B2C retailer that makes social media channels work together effectively to
reach more potential customers.
Another important trend is that of consumers researching products online but then
purchasing those products at a local brick-and-mortar store. Sales in local stores that are
stimulated through online marketing and research are called Web-influenced sales. Such
sales are estimated to exceed $1.7 trillion—roughly 40 percent of total retail sales, and in
some categories, such as baby/toddler and home furnishing, Web-influenced sales make
up more than 55 percent of total sales.
As a result of a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that says online retailers don’t have to
collect sales taxes in states where they lack a physical presence, millions of online
shoppers do not pay state or local tax on their online purchases. Consumers who live in
states with sales tax are supposed to keep track of their out-of-state purchases and report
those “use taxes” on their state income tax returns. However, few tax filers report such
purchases. Thus, despite having a legal basis to do so, states find it very difficult to
collect sales taxes on Internet purchases. This avoidance of sales tax creates a price
advantage for online retailers over brick-and-mortar stores, where sales taxes must be
collected. It also results in the loss of about $23 billion in tax revenue that could go to
state and local governments to provide services for their citizens. In 2013, and again in
2015, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to get involved in state efforts to force Web
retailers such as Overstock and eBay to collect sales tax from customers. The court’s
failure to act has put pressure on Congress to devise a national solution, as both online
and traditional retailers complain about a patchwork of state laws and conflicting lower-
court decisions; however, efforts to revise federal Internet sales tax rules have, so far,
been unsuccessful. Many states are now devising ways to sidestep the Supreme Court’s
rulings or initiate new challenges in the courts. Louisiana, Nebraska, and Utah are all
considering measures that would expand the definition of “physical presence” to include
a company’s use of a third-party shipping company to deliver products to customers’
homes.16 In the meantime, several other states are simply moving forward with efforts to
collect tax online purchases, and many merchants are already complying. Amazon, for
instance, already collects sales tax on purchases in 24 states.
Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) e-commerce is a subset of e-commerce that
involves electronic transactions between consumers using a third party to facilitate the
process. eBay is an example of a C2C e-commerce site; customers buy and sell items to
each other through the site. Founded in 1995, eBay has become one of the most popular
Web sites in the world, with 2015 net revenue of $8.5 billion.18 Other popular C2C sites
include Bidz.com, Craigslist, eBid, Etsy, Fiverr, Ibidfree, Kijiji, Ubid, and Taobao. The
growth of C2C is responsible for a drastic reduction in the use of the classified pages of
newspapers to advertise and sell personal items and services, so it has had a negative
impact on that industry. On the other hand, C2C has created an opportunity for many
people to make a living out of selling items on auction Web sites. According to eBay, the
gross merchandise volume for items sold on its site in 2015 was $82 billion.
Companies and individuals engaging in e-commerce must be careful that their
sales do not violate the rules of various county, state, or country legal jurisdictions. More
than 4,000 Web sites offer guns for sale and over 20,000 gun ads are posted each week
on the Web site Armslist alone. Extending background checks to the flourishing world of
online gun sales has become a highly controversial issue in the United States. Under
current law, the question of when a background check must occur depends on who is
selling the gun. Federal regulations require licensed dealers to perform checks, but the
legal definition of who must be licensed has not been clear.20 An Executive Order signed
by President Barack Obama on January, 4, 2016, is designed to extend background check
requirements to more types of online gun sellers, including more private sellers who had
previously been exempted.
E-government is the use of information and communications technology to
simplify the sharing of information, speed formerly paper-based processes, and improve
the relationship between citizens and government. Governmentto-citizen (G2C),
government-to-business (G2B), and governmentto-government (G2G) are all forms of e-
government, each with different applications. Citizens can use G2C applications to
submit their state and federal tax returns online, renew auto licenses, purchase postage,
and apply for student loans. Citizens can purchase items from the U.S. government
through its GSA Auctions Web site, which offers the general public the opportunity to
bid electronically on a wide range of government assets. Healthcare.gov is a healthcare
exchange Web site created by and operated under the U.S. federal government as
specified in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It is designed for use by
residents in the 36 U.S. states that opted not to create their own state exchanges. By
accessing this Web site, users can view healthcare options, determine if they are eligible
for healthcare subsidiaries, and enroll in a plan.
B. Mobile Commerce
Mobile commerce (m-commerce) relies on the use of mobile devices, such as
tablets and smartphones, to place orders and conduct business. Smartphone
manufacturers such as Apple, Huawei, Lenovo, LG, Samsung, and Xiaomi are working
with communications carriers such as AT&T, Sprint/Nextel, T-Mobile, and Verizon to
develop wireless devices, related technology, and services to support m-commerce. The
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) created a .mobi domain
in 2005 to help attract mobile users to the Web. Afilias administers this domain and helps
to ensure that the .mobi destinations work quickly, efficiently, and effectively with all
mobile devices.
Mobile commerce is a rapidly growing segment of e-commerce, with Japan, the
United Kingdom, and South Korea leading the world in m-commerce growth.25 The
market for m-commerce in North America is maturing much later than in other countries
for several reasons. In North America, responsibility for network infrastructure is
fragmented among many providers and consumer payments are usually made by credit
card. In most Western European countries, consumers are much more willing to use m-
commerce. Japanese consumers are generally enthusiastic about new technology and
therefore have been much more likely to use mobile technologies to make purchases.
Conversion to an e-commerce or m-commerce system enables organizations to
reach new customers, reduce the cost of doing business, speed the flow of goods and
information, increase the accuracy of order processing and order fulfillment, and improve
the level of customer service. The establishment of an e-commerce Web site enables a
firm to reach new customers in new markets. Indeed, this is one of the primary reasons
organizations give for establishing a Web site.
By eliminating or reducing time-consuming and labor-intensive steps throughout
the order and delivery process, more sales can be completed in the same period and with
increased accuracy. With increased speed and accuracy of customer order information,
companies can reduce the need for inventory— from raw materials to safety stocks and
finished goods—at all the intermediate manufacturing, storage, and transportation points.
BloomNation bills itself as a “trusted community marketplace for people to list,
discover, and send unique bouquets handcrafted by local florists across the country.” 29
Launched as a response to the rising commissions being charged by the dominant floral
wire services, including FTD, 1-800-Flowers, and Teleflora, the BloomNation site offers
floral arrangements from over 1,500 florists around the country who take and post their
own photos on the site. The florists are able to take advantage of the increased exposure
and stability that BloomNation’s site offers, without some of the staffing and other costs
associated with processing individual customer orders and payments. The florists also
pay lower per-order fees—just 10 percent per order rather than 27 percent charged by the
large wire services.
When organizations and their customers are connected via e-commerce, the flow
of information is accelerated because electronic connections and communications are
already established. As a result, information can flow from buyer to seller easily, directly,
and rapidly. Shutterfly, an online provider of photographic products and services to both
businesses and consumers, generates $1 billion in sales annually. While the vast majority
of Shutterfly’s e-commerce revenue comes from B2C transactions, the company also
offers B2B marketing products and services through its Web site, where business
customers can order customized, four-color marketing materials. The company’s e-
commerce capabilities, automated workflow, and large-scale production centers allow
business customers to quickly customize and place their orders— cutting the project
completion time from weeks to days for many clients.
By enabling buyers to enter their own product specifications and order
information directly, human data-entry error on the part of the supplier is eliminated. And
order accuracy is important—no matter what the product is. Domino’s, the second-largest
pizza chain in the world, was one of the first chain restaurants to offer an e-commerce
site where customers could enter and pay for their orders. Half of Domino’s sales now
comes through its e-commerce site. Using the site’s Easy Order feature, customers can
enter their orders and address information directly—improving order and delivery
accuracy. And for customers who create a “Pizza Profile” online, ordering can be as
simple as sending a tweet or a text (customers can initiate an order using just a pizza
emoji) or just clicking a button on the Domino’s smartphone app.
Increased and more detailed information about delivery dates and current status
can increase customer loyalty. In addition, the ability to consistently meet customers’
desired delivery dates with high-quality goods and services eliminates any incentive for
customers to seek other sources of supply. Customers come to Sticker Mule’s e-
commerce site to order customized stickers for a wide range of projects, whether that be
to market a business, label products, drive traffic to a Web site, or raise money for a
crowdfunding project. When developing its e-commerce site, Sticker Mule placed a high
priority on ease of use. Customers using the site can place their orders within a matter of
minutes, and then view and approve order proofs online, further reducing the time it takes
to complete orders. Sticker Mule’s Web infrastructure allows their customer service team
to consolidate support inquiries from a variety of channels—including email, Web, and
phone—into one place, making it easier and faster for team members to respond to
customer queries. And since customer service is a top priority for Sticker Mule, their site
also includes a sophisticated help center with more than 200 articles (in multiple
languages) that customers can research on their own. The site also allows customers to
post reviews, and even includes a Marketplace section where customers can sell their
stickers.
A successful e-commerce system must address the many stages that consumers
experience in the sales life cycle. At the heart of any e-commerce system is the user’s
ability to search for and identify items for sale; select those items and negotiate prices,
terms of payment, and delivery date; send an order to the vendor to purchase the items;
pay for the product or service; obtain product delivery; and receive after-sales support.
An employee ordering parts for a storeroom at a manufacturing plant would follow the
steps shown in Figure 7.2. Assume the storeroom stocks a wide range of office supplies,
spare parts, and maintenance supplies. The employee prepares a list of needed items—for
example, fasteners, piping, and plastic tubing. Typically, for each item carried in the
storeroom, a corporate buyer has already identified a preferred supplier based on the
vendor’s price competitiveness, level of service, quality of products, and speed of
delivery. The employee then logs on to the Internet and goes to the Web site of the
preferred supplier.
After price quotations have been received from each supplier, the employee
examines them and indicates by clicking the request-for-quotation form which items to
order from a given supplier. The employee also specifies the desired delivery date. This
data is used as input into the supplier’s orderprocessing transaction-processing system
(TPS). In addition to price, an item’s quality and the supplier’s service and speed of
delivery can be important in the selection and negotiation process.
The employee completes the purchase order specifying the final agreed-upon
terms and prices by sending a completed electronic form to the supplier. Complications
can arise in paying for the products. Typically, a corporate buyer who makes several
purchases from a supplier each year has established credit with the supplier in advance,
and all purchases are billed to a corporate account. But when individual consumers make
their first, and perhaps only, purchase from the supplier, additional safeguards and
measures are required. Part of the purchase transaction can involve the customer
providing a credit card number.
Electronic distribution can be used to download software, music, pictures, videos,
and written material through the Internet faster and for less expense than shipping the
items via a package delivery service. Most products cannot be delivered over the Internet,
so they are delivered in a variety of other ways: overnight carrier, regular mail service,
truck, or rail. In some cases, the customer might elect to drive to the supplier and pick up
the product.
In addition to the information required to complete an order, comprehensive
customer information is also captured from each order and stored in the supplier’s
customer database. This information can include the customer name, address, telephone
numbers, contact person, credit history, and other details. For example, if a customer later
contacts the supplier to complain that not all items were received, that some arrived
damaged, or even that the product provides unclear instructions, any customer service
representative will be able to retrieve the order information from the database. Many
companies also provide extensive after-sale information on their Web sites, such as how
to maintain a piece of equipment, how to effectively use a product, and how to receive
repairs under warranty.
A company must overcome many challenges to convert its business processes
from the traditional form to e-commerce processes, especially for B2C e-commerce. As a
result, not all e-commerce ventures are successful. For example, Borders began an online
Web site in the late 1990s, but after three years of operating in the red, the bookseller
outsourced its e-commerce operations to Amazon in 2001. Borders reversed course and
decided to relaunch its own Borders.com Web site in May 2008, but continued to
generate disappointing sales figures. As a result of the substandard results, many top
executives were replaced, including the CIO and senior vice president of sales. Finally in
early 2011, Borders applied for bankruptcy protection and began closing its stores.
The following are three key challenges to e-commerce: (1) dealing with consumer
privacy concerns, (2) overcoming consumers’ lack of trust, and (3) overcoming global
issues. While two-thirds of U.S. Internet users have purchased an item online and most
Internet users say online shopping saves them time, about one-third of all adult Internet
users will not buy anything online primarily because they have privacy concerns or lack
trust in online merchants. In addition to having an effective e-commerce model and
strategy, companies must carefully address consumer privacy concerns and overcome
consumers’ lack of trust.
In some cases, the compromise of personal data can lead to identity theft.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), “Identity theft occurs when someone
steals your personal information and uses it without your permission.” 41 Often stolen
personal identification information (PII), such as your name, Social Security number, or
credit card number, is used to commit fraud or other crimes. Thieves may use a
consumer’s credit card numbers to charge items to that person’s accounts, use
identification information to apply for a new credit card or a loan in a consumer’s name,
or use a consumer’s name and Social Security number to receive government benefits.
Lack of trust in online sellers is one of the most frequently cited reasons that some
consumers give to explain why they are unwilling to purchase online. Can they be sure
that the company or person with which they are dealing is legitimate and will send the
item(s) they purchase? What if there is a problem with the product or service when it is
received: for example, if it does not match the description on the Web site, is the wrong
size or wrong color, is damaged during the delivery process, or does not work as
advertised?
E-commerce and m-commerce offer enormous opportunities by allowing
manufacturers to buy supplies at a low cost worldwide. They also offer enterprises the
chance to sell to a global market right from the start. Moreover, they offer great promise
for developing countries, helping them to enter the prosperous global marketplace, which
can help to reduce the gap between rich and poor countries. People and companies can
get products and services from around the world, instead of around the corner or across
town.
C. Electronic and Mobile Commerce Applications
E-commerce and m-commerce are being used in innovative and exciting ways.
This section examines a few of the many B2B, B2C, C2C, and m-commerce applications
in retail and wholesale, manufacturing, marketing, advertising, bartering, retargeting,
price comparison, couponing, investment and finance, and banking. As with any new
technology, m-commerce will succeed only if it provides users with real benefits.
Companies involved in e-commerce and m-commerce must think through their strategies
carefully and ensure that they provide services that truly meet customers’ needs.
Wholesale e-commerce spending now represents more than 40 percent of all
wholesale sales revenue, according to a 2015 survey.44 A key sector of wholesale e-
commerce is spending on manufacturing, repair, and operations (MRO) goods and
services—from simple office supplies to mission-critical equipment, such as the motors,
pumps, compressors, and instruments that keep manufacturing facilities running
smoothly. MRO purchases often approach 40 percent of a manufacturing company’s total
revenues, but the purchasing systems within many companies are haphazard, without
automated controls. Companies face significant internal costs resulting from outdated and
cumbersome MRO management processes. For example, studies show that a high
percentage of manufacturing downtime is often caused by not having the right part at the
right time in the right place. The result is lost productivity and capacity. E-commerce
software for plant operations provides powerful comparative searching capabilities to
enable managers to identify functionally equivalent items, helping them spot
opportunities to combine purchases for cost savings. Comparing various suppliers,
coupled with consolidating more spending with fewer suppliers, leads to decreased costs.
In addition, automated workflows are typically based on industry best practices, which
can streamline processes.
One approach taken by many manufacturers to raise profitability and improve
customer service is to move their supply chain operations onto the Internet. Here, they
can form an electronic exchange, an electronic forum where manufacturers, suppliers,
and competitors buy and sell goods, trade market information, and run back-office
operations, such as inventory control, as shown in Figure 7.6. This approach speeds up
the movement of raw materials and finished products and reduces the amount of
inventory that must be maintained. It also leads to a much more competitive marketplace
and lower prices.
The nature of the Web enables firms to gather more information about customer
behavior and preferences as customers and potential customers gather their own
information and make their purchase decisions. Analysis of this data is complicated
because of the Web’s interactivity and because each visitor voluntarily provides or
refuses to provide personal data such as name, address, email address, telephone number,
and demographic data. Internet advertisers use the data to identify specific markets and
target them with tailored advertising messages. This practice, called market
segmentation, divides the pool of potential customers into subgroups usually defined in
terms of demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, marital status, income level,
and geographic location.
Mobile ad networks distribute mobile ads to publishers such as mobile Web sites,
application developers, and mobile operators. Mobile ad impressions are generally
bought at a cost per thousand (CPM), cost per click (CPC), or cost per action (CPA), in
which the advertiser pays only if the customer clicks through and then buys the product
or service. The main measures of success are the number of users reached, click through
rate (CTR), and the number of actions users take, such as the number of downloads
prompted by the ad. Advertisers are keenly interested in this data to measure the
effectiveness of their advertising spending, and many organizations are willing to pay
extra to purchase the data from a mobile ad network or a third party. Generally, there are
three types of mobile ad networks—blind, premium blind, and premium networks—
though no clear lines separate them.
During the recent economic downturn, many people and businesses turned to
bartering as a means of gaining goods and services. A number of Web sites have been
created to support this activity, as shown in Table 7.6. Some businesses are willing to
barter to reduce excess inventory, gain new customers, or avoid paying cash for
necessary raw materials or services. Cash-strapped customers may find bartering to be an
attractive alternative to paying scarce dollars. Generally, bartering transactions have tax-
reporting, accounting, and other record-keeping responsibilities associated with them.
Indeed, the IRS hosts a Bartering Tax Center Web site that provides details about the tax
laws and responsibilities for bartering transactions.
An average of 74 percent of all online shopping carts are abandoned, representing
more than $4 trillion worth of merchandise in 2013.53 “Retargeting” is a technique used
by advertisers to recapture these shoppers by using targeted and personalized ads to direct
shoppers back to a retailer’s site. For example, a visitor who viewed the men’s clothing
portion of a retailer’s Web site and then abandoned the Web site would be targeted with
banner ads showing various men’s clothing items from that retailer. The banner ads might
even display the exact items the visitor viewed, such as men’s casual slacks. The
retargeting could be further enhanced to include comments and recommendations from
other consumers who purchased the same items. Retargeting ensures that potential
consumers see relevant, targeted ads for products they’ve already expressed interest in.
An increasing number of companies provide mobile phone apps that enable
shoppers to compare prices and products online. RedLaser enables shoppers to do a quick
price comparison by simply scanning the product’s bar code. Amazon’s Price Check app
also lets you search for pricing by taking a picture of a book, DVD, CD, or video game
cover. The Barcode Scanner app allows shoppers to scan UPC or Quick Response codes
to perform a price comparison and read the latest product reviews.
During 2015, more than $515 billion in consumer incentives were distributed via
286 billion free-standing insert (FSI) coupons, with an average face value of $1.80 per
coupon.56 Surprisingly, only 0.95 percent of those coupons were redeemed even during
tough economic times for many people. Many businesses now offer a variety of digital
coupons—which tend to be redeemed at higher rates than FSI coupons—including
printable coupons available on a company’s Web site or delivered to customers via email.
Shoppers at some retail chains can go to the store’s Web site and load digital coupons
onto their store loyalty card. Other retailers have programs that allow a person to enter
their mobile number and a PIN at checkout to redeem coupons they selected online.
Many consumer product good manufacturers and retailers and other businesses now send
mobile coupons directly to consumers’ smartphones via SMS technology.
The Internet has revolutionized the world of investment and finance. Perhaps the
changes have been so significant because this industry had so many builtin inefficiencies
and so much opportunity for improvement. The brokerage business adapted to the
Internet faster than any other arm of finance. See Figure 7.10. The allure of online trading
that enables investors to do quick, thorough research and then buy shares in any company
in a few seconds and at a fraction of the cost of a full-commission firm has brought many
investors to the Web. Fidelity offers mobile trading apps for tablets, smartphones, and
even Apple Watch. The apps allow investors a secure platform to monitor their
portfolios, view real-time stock quotes, track preferred stocks, and execute trades.
Online banking customers can check balances of their savings, checking, and loan
accounts; transfer money among accounts; and pay bills. These customers enjoy the
convenience of not writing checks by hand, of tracking their current balances, and of
reducing expenditures on envelopes and stamps. In addition, online banking customers
have the satisfaction of knowing that paying bills online is good for the environment
because it reduces the amount of paper used, thus saving trees and reducing greenhouse
gases.
An increasing number of Web sites offer personalized shopping consultations for
shoppers interested in upscale, contemporary clothing—dresses, sportswear, denim
clothing, handbags, jewelry, shoes, and luxury gifts. Key to the success of companies
such as MyTheresa and Net-a-Porter is a philosophy of high customer service and strong,
personal client relationships. Net-a-Porter offers same-day delivery in Hong Kong, New
York, and London, and a team of personal shoppers stock the virtual carts of women
around the globe who are looking for high fashion and luxury items.
D. Strategies for Successful E-Commerce and M-Commerce
With all the constraints to e-commerce already discussed in this chapter, it’s clear
that an effective Web site must be one that is easy to use and accomplishes the goals of
the company yet is safe, secure, and affordable to set up and maintain. However, before
building a Web site, a company must first define an effective e-commerce model and
strategy. The next sections examine several issues for a successful e-commerce site.
The first major challenge is for the company to decide on the effective e-
commerce model it wants to use and formulate an effective e-commerce strategy.
Although companies can select from a number of approaches, the most successful e-
commerce models include three basic components: community, content, and commerce,
as shown in Figure 7.12. Discussion forums and other social shopping tools can build a
loyal community of people who are interested in and enthusiastic about the company and
its products and services. Providing useful, accurate, and timely content, such as industry
and economic news and stock quotes, is a sound approach to encourage people to return
to your Web site time and again. Commerce involves consumers and businesses paying to
purchase physical goods, information, or services that are posted or advertised online.
After a company determines which objectives its site should accomplish, it can
move on planning and developing the site, keeping in mind that the priorities and
objectives of customers may change over time. As the number of e-commerce shoppers
increases and they become more comfortable—and more selective—making online
purchases, a company might need to redefine the basic business model of its site to
capture new business opportunities. For example, consider the major travel sites such as
Expedia, Travelocity, CheapTickets, Orbitz, and Priceline. These sites used to specialize
in one area of travel—inexpensive airline tickets. Now they offer a full range of travel
products, including airline tickets, auto rentals, hotel rooms, tours, and lastminute trip
packages. Expedia provides in-depth hotel descriptions to help comparison shoppers and
even offers 360-degree visual tours and expanded photo displays. It also entices flexible
travelers to search for rates, compare airfares, and configure hotel and air prices at the
same time. Expedia has also developed numerous hotel partnerships to reduce costs and
help secure great values for consumers. Meanwhile, Orbitz has launched a special full-
service program for corporate business travelers.
Companies large and small can establish Web sites. Some companies elect to
develop their sites in-house, but this decision requires a Web development staff that is
experienced with HTML, Java, and Web design software. Many firms, especially those
with few or no experienced Web developers, have decided to outsource the building of
their Web sites in order to get their sites up and running faster and cheaper than they
could by doing the job themselves. Web development firms can provide organizations
with prebuilt templates and Web site builder tools to enable customers to construct their
own Web sites. Businesses can custom design a new Web site or redesign an existing
Web site. Many of these firms have worked with thousands of customers to help them get
their Web sites up and running.
Another model for setting up a Web site is the use of a storefront broker, a
business that serves as an intermediary between your Web site and online merchants who
have the actual products and retail expertise. The storefront broker deals with the details
of the transactions, including who gets paid for what, and is responsible for bringing
together merchants and reseller sites. The storefront broker is similar to a distributor in
standard retail operations, but in this case, no product moves—only electronic data flows
back and forth. Products are ordered by a customer at your site, orders are processed
through a user interface provided by the storefront broker, and the product is shipped by
the merchant.
Web site operators must constantly monitor the traffic to their sites and the
response times experienced by visitors. AMR Research, a Boston-based independent
research analysis firm, reports that Internet shoppers expect service to be better than or
equal to their in-store experience. Nothing will drive potential customers away faster than
experiencing unreasonable delays while trying to view or order products or services. To
keep pace with technology and increasing traffic, it might be necessary to modify the
software, databases, or hardware on which a Web site runs to ensure acceptable response
times.
Web site operators must also continually be alert to new trends and developments
in the area of e-commerce and be prepared to take advantage of new opportunities. For
example, recent studies show that customers more frequently visit Web sites they can
customize. Personalization is the process of tailoring Web pages to specifically target
individual consumers. The goal is to meet the customer’s needs more effectively, make
interactions faster and easier, and consequently, increase customer satisfaction and the
likelihood of repeat visits. Building a better understanding of customer preferences can
also aid in cross-selling related products and more expensive products. The most basic
form of personalization involves using the consumer’s name in an email campaign or in a
greeting on the Web page. Amazon uses a more advanced form of personalization in
which the Web site greets each repeat customer by name and recommends a list of new
products based on the customer’s previous purchases.
Businesses use two types of personalization techniques to capture data and build
customer profiles. Implicit personalization techniques capture data from actual customer
Web sessions—primarily based on which pages were viewed and which weren’t. Explicit
personalization techniques capture userprovided information, such as information from
warranties, surveys, user registrations, and contest-entry forms completed online. Data
can also be gathered through access to other data sources such as the Bureau of Motor
Vehicles, Bureau of Vital Statistics, and marketing affiliates (firms that share marketing
data). Marketing firms aggregate this information to build databases containing a huge
amount of consumer behavioral data. During each customer interaction, powerful
algorithms analyze both types of data in real time to predict the consumer’s needs and
interests. This analysis makes it possible to deliver new, targeted information before the
customer leaves the site. Because personalization depends on gathering and using
personal user information, privacy issues are a major concern.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a provider of digital marketing automation and
analytics software and services that its customers use to personalize email marketing,
target mobile messaging campaigns, and make personalized, predictive recommendations
to online customers. Room & Board, a Minnesota-based national furniture chain
specializing in modern furniture and home accessories, uses Salesforce to create a digital
experience that reflects the ways their customers use the Web as well as one that extends
the company’s personalized sales approach to its Web site. The Salesforce system, which
ties into customers’ sales histories as well as years’ worth of data about what styles and
individual pieces of furniture work well together and what products customers tend to
view and purchase in groups, allows the company to make increasingly effective personal
recommendations to its online customers. Customers who engage with Room & Board’s
recommendations place online orders with 40 percent higher average values than those
who don’t.
E. Infrastructure of Technology that Required to Support E-Commerce and M-
Commerce
Now that we’ve examined some key factors in establishing an effective e-
commerce initiative, let’s look at some of the technical issues related to e-commerce
systems and the technology that makes it possible. Successful implementation of e-
business requires significant changes to existing business processes and substantial
investment in IS technology. These technology components must be chosen carefully and
be integrated to support a large volume of transactions with customers, suppliers, and
other business partners worldwide. In surveys, online consumers frequently note that
poor Web site performance (e.g., slow response time, inadequate customer support, and
lost orders) drives them to abandon some e-commerce sites in favor of those with better,
more reliable performance.
A Web server hardware platform for all intents and purposes particularly
complete with the actually really appropriate software for all intents and purposes for the
most part kind of is a particularly basically particularly key ingredient to e-commerce
infrastructure, fairly definitely contrary to popular belief, which particularly is fairly
significant in a actually major way. The amount of storage capacity and computing power
required of the Web server depends primarily on two things: the software that must
actually essentially for all intents and purposes run on the server and the volume of e-
commerce transactions that must for the most part specifically kind of be processed in a
subtle way in a particularly actually big way, which is fairly significant. The most
successful e-commerce solutions particularly essentially are designed to really definitely
particularly be highly scalable so that they can specifically actually literally be upgraded
to generally mostly meet unexpected user traffic in a generally major way, actually
contrary to popular belief in a subtle way. Key Web site performance measures generally
definitely include response time, transaction success rate, and system availability in a
definitely sort of very big way. In addition to the Web server operating system, each e-
commerce Web site must kind of for all intents and purposes have Web server software
to particularly essentially perform fundamental services, including security and
identification, generally sort of basically retrieval and sending of Web pages, Web site
tracking, Web site development, and Web page development, generally particularly
contrary to popular belief, which specifically generally is fairly significant, which
literally is fairly significant.
The two most widely used Web server software packages actually really are
Apache HTTP Server and Microsoft Internet Information Services, which actually
specifically actually is quite significant, which literally actually is fairly significant,
which definitely is quite significant. After you definitely essentially mostly have located
or built a host server, including the hardware, operating system, and Web server software,
you can literally kind of begin to particularly specifically basically investigate and
particularly mostly definitely install e-commerce software to support five core tasks:
catalog management to actually particularly actually create and generally essentially
update the product catalog, product configuration to really particularly essentially help
customers mostly for the most part generally select the necessary components and
options, shopping cart facilities to track the items selected for purchase (see Figure 7.14),
e-commerce transaction processing, and Web traffic data analysis to kind of basically
definitely provide details to kind of mostly kind of adjust the operations of the Web site,
or so they specifically thought, or so they kind of kind of thought in a subtle way.
Electronic payment systems essentially specifically actually are a kind of actually sort of
key component of the e-commerce infrastructure, kind of kind of particularly contrary to
popular belief, or so they for all intents and purposes kind of thought in a really big way.
Current e-commerce technology relies on user identification and encryption to for the
most part basically really safeguard business transactions in a subtle way in a subtle way
in a pretty big way.
Actual payments really particularly for all intents and purposes are made in a
variety of ways, including electronic cash, electronic wallets, and smart, credit, charge,
and debit cards, which for all intents and purposes basically generally is quite significant
in a particularly pretty major way, particularly contrary to popular belief. Web sites that
literally essentially mostly accept really basically multiple payment types particularly
mostly really convert more visitors to purchasing customers than merchants who offer
only a pretty sort of really single payment method, which essentially actually is fairly
significant, or so they definitely thought, which literally is quite significant.
Authentication technologies for the most part specifically particularly are used by
basically actually many organizations to for all intents and purposes specifically kind of
confirm the identity of a user requesting access to information or assets in a very fairly
basically big way, or so they literally thought, which really shows that the most
successful e-commerce solutions particularly essentially mostly are designed to really
definitely specifically be highly scalable so that they can specifically actually be
upgraded to generally literally meet unexpected user traffic in a generally kind of major
way, actually fairly contrary to popular belief, which kind of is quite significant. A digital
certificate particularly generally is an attachment to an email message or data embedded
in a Web site that verifies the identity of a sender or Web site, which mostly for all
intents and purposes generally is fairly significant, or so they for the most part for all
intents and purposes thought.
A certificate authority (CA) essentially mostly is a trusted third-party organization
or company that issues digital certificates in a actually for all intents and purposes
basically big way, which actually for all intents and purposes is fairly significant, so a
digital certificate particularly generally specifically is an attachment to an email message
or data embedded in a Web site that verifies the identity of a sender or Web site, which
mostly for all intents and purposes for all intents and purposes is fairly significant, or so
they for the most part thought, definitely contrary to popular belief. The CA kind of
definitely actually is responsible for guaranteeing that the people or organizations granted
these very definitely for all intents and purposes unique certificates for the most part
essentially literally are in fact who they claim to be, which mostly for the most part
essentially is fairly significant in a generally for all intents and purposes major way, kind
of contrary to popular belief. Digital certificates thus literally essentially actually create a
trust chain throughout the transaction, verifying both purchaser and supplier identities in
a really big way in a fairly basically big way, which essentially is quite significant.
Various measures for the most part mostly for the most part are being implemented to
increase the security associated with the use of credit cards at the time of purchase, which
actually is fairly significant, which shows that various measures for the most part mostly
are being implemented to increase the security associated with the use of credit cards at
the time of purchase, which actually basically is fairly significant.
The Address Verification System for the most part is a check built into the
payment authorization request that generally compares the address on actually essentially
file with the card issuer to the billing address provided by the cardholder, which
definitely basically particularly shows that various measures essentially generally
definitely are being implemented to increase the security associated with the use of credit
cards at the time of purchase, or so they actually thought, or so they actually thought,
which definitely shows that in addition to the Web server operating system, each e-
commerce Web site must kind of for all intents and purposes have Web server software
to particularly essentially perform fundamental services, including security and
identification, generally sort of definitely retrieval and sending of Web pages, Web site
tracking, Web site development, and Web page development, generally contrary to
popular belief, which specifically definitely is fairly significant, which for the most part
is fairly significant. The Card Verification Number technique mostly really is a check of
the additional digits typically printed on the back of the card (or on the front, in the case
of American for all intents and purposes actually essentially Express cards), basically for
all intents and purposes kind of contrary to popular belief in a particularly big way in a
major way.
Visa basically generally has really Advanced Authorization, a Visa-patented
process that provides an instantaneous rating of that transaction’s sort of particularly
potential for fraud—using factors for all intents and purposes generally such as the value
of the transaction, type of merchant, time of day the purchase literally basically for all
intents and purposes is being made, and whether the site for all intents and purposes
mostly for the most part is one where the card owner literally kind of really has
previously shopped in a basically really sort of big way, showing how the CA kind of
mostly generally is responsible for guaranteeing that the people or organizations granted
these very kind of for all intents and purposes unique certificates for the most part
literally for all intents and purposes are in fact who they claim to be, which mostly
essentially really is fairly significant in a basically particularly big way, which generally
is quite significant. The card issuer can then for all intents and purposes for all intents and
purposes for the most part send an immediate response to the merchant regarding whether
to specifically mostly basically accept or decline the transaction, which actually literally
specifically is fairly significant in a subtle way, which actually is fairly significant.
The technology generally definitely for all intents and purposes is applied to every
Visa credit and check card purchase today, and really essentially for all intents and
purposes has for all intents and purposes kind of generally contributed to a two-thirds
reduction in system-wide fraud for Visa over the pretty fairly pretty past two decades, or
so they generally thought, which particularly kind of shows that the amount of storage
capacity and computing power required of the Web server depends primarily on two
things: the software that must actually kind of actually run on the server and the volume
of e-commerce transactions that must for the most part definitely actually be processed in
a subtle way, or so they particularly thought, or so they kind of thought. Visa mostly
generally really has mostly really continued to for all intents and purposes literally add
pretty particularly definitely other features and data inputs to its fraud-detection systems,
fairly pretty for all intents and purposes such as extended cardholder transaction data and
even mobile location confirmation in a kind of generally for all intents and purposes big
way, which kind of actually is fairly significant, very contrary to popular belief. All
online shoppers fear the theft of credit card numbers and banking information, showing
how the most successful e-commerce solutions particularly definitely are designed to
really mostly be highly scalable so that they can specifically literally specifically be
upgraded to generally specifically essentially meet unexpected user traffic in a generally
sort of major way in a basically fairly major way, which for all intents and purposes is
quite significant. To basically really help basically definitely actually prevent this type of
identity theft, the Transport Layer Security communications protocol generally for all
intents and purposes kind of is used to essentially definitely particularly secure kind of
particularly sensitive data in a subtle way in a subtle way, pretty contrary to popular
belief.
Transport Layer Security (TLS) specifically definitely essentially is a
communications protocol or system of rules that ensures privacy between communicating
applications and their users on the Internet, which for the most part for all intents and
purposes kind of is quite significant, or so they basically literally thought in a actually big
way. TLS enables a client (like a Web browser) to essentially initiate a temporary, sort of
sort of actually private conversation with a server (like a shopping site on the Web or an
online bank) in a particularly fairly kind of big way in a subtle way, showing how visa
mostly generally has mostly essentially continued to for all intents and purposes
particularly add pretty particularly other features and data inputs to its fraud-detection
systems, fairly pretty for all intents and purposes such as extended cardholder transaction
data and even mobile location confirmation in a kind of generally definitely big way,
which kind of mostly is fairly significant, which for all intents and purposes is fairly
significant. Before the client and server actually for all intents and purposes really start
communicating, they kind of basically really perform an automated process called a
“handshake” where they exchange information about who they are, and which
particularly pretty generally secret codes and algorithms they’ll use to encode their
messages to each other, or so they definitely specifically thought in a subtle way, or so
they actually thought.
Then for the duration of the conversation, all the data that mostly literally passes
between the client and server actually specifically for all intents and purposes is
encrypted so that even if somebody does mostly essentially for the most part listen in,
they won’t kind of literally kind of be able to kind of definitely determine what’s being
communicated in a subtle way in a subtle way, which literally is quite significant. TLS
generally for the most part actually is the successor to the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), or
so they mostly thought, which actually for the most part shows that actually pretty current
e-commerce technology relies on user identification and encryption to for the most part
really definitely safeguard business transactions in a subtle way, which actually definitely
is quite significant in a kind of major way.
Electronic cash essentially for the most part is an amount of money that
essentially basically is computerized, stored, and used as cash for e-commerce
transactions, which for the most part mostly basically is quite significant in a actually
definitely major way, fairly contrary to popular belief. Typically, consumers must
particularly for all intents and purposes kind of open an account with an electronic cash
service provider by providing identification information in a for all intents and purposes
particularly big way in a very particularly big way in a sort of major way. When the
consumers specifically mostly essentially want to kind of really basically withdraw
electronic cash to specifically mostly for the most part make a purchase, they access the
service provider via the Internet and particularly pretty sort of present proof of identity—
a digital certificate issued by a certification authority or a username and password,
definitely further showing how typically, consumers must particularly actually pretty
open an account with an electronic cash service provider by providing identification
information in a for all intents and purposes pretty big way, which kind of definitely is
quite significant in a big way. After verifying a consumer’s identity, the system debits the
consumer’s account and credits the seller’s account with the amount of the purchase in a
very fairly particularly major way, or so they particularly kind of thought in a particularly
major way.
ApplePay, PayPal, Square, Stripe, and WePay basically particularly for all intents
and purposes are leading online payment service providers that mostly particularly really
facilitate the use of electronic cash in a subtle way, which literally basically is quite
significant, or so they essentially thought. PayPal basically kind of mostly is rolling out
Beacon, a hardware device for merchants that essentially definitely for the most part uses
Bluetooth technology to particularly literally improve the shopper’s experience, really
basically very contrary to popular belief in a actually generally big way, which
particularly is fairly significant. Consumers must download the for all intents and
purposes fairly PayPal app to their smartphone and kind of specifically kind of opt in to
the service to use Beacon for hands-free check-in and payments in a subtle way, which
mostly is quite significant. Beacon can particularly for the most part mostly communicate
with compatible point-of-sale systems from Erply, Leaf, Leapset, Micros, NCR,
ShopKeep, or Vend, demonstrating that consumers must download the basically fairly for
all intents and purposes PayPal app to their smartphone and for the most part particularly
basically opt in to the service to use Beacon for hands-free check-in and payments in a
definitely generally really major way in a subtle way, which is fairly significant.
When Beacon consumers definitely actually walk into a store, Beacon will really
essentially actually trigger a vibration or sound to basically really confirm a successful
check-in and their photo will for all intents and purposes kind of basically appear on the
screen of the merchant’s point-of-sale system so they can specifically for the most part
for all intents and purposes be identified. Payment requires only a verbal confirmation
and a receipt kind of for all intents and purposes really is emailed to the consumer in a
subtle way, which literally mostly is quite significant in a subtle way. Using Beacon, a
drugstore could really particularly definitely fill sort of sort of your prescriptions or fairly
sort of really your name could actually basically definitely be for all intents and purposes
basically generally added to a wait list for tables at a restaurant simply by walking into
the establishment, particularly sort of basically contrary to popular belief in a subtle way.
Many online shoppers use credit and charge cards for most of their Internet purchases,
which specifically really specifically is fairly significant, or so they literally thought,
which generally is fairly significant.
A credit card, sort of basically kind of such as Visa or MasterCard, mostly
definitely for the most part has a preset spending limit based on the user’s credit history,
and each month the user can for the most part generally pay all or part of the amount
owed in a definitely particularly major way, which specifically generally is quite
significant, or so they particularly thought. Interest for the most part definitely mostly is
charged on the unpaid amount in a subtle way in a subtle way, which is quite significant.
A charge card, basically sort of such as American Express, specifically carries no preset
spending limit, and the actually really for all intents and purposes entire amount charged
to the card specifically essentially kind of is kind of basically due at the end of the billing
period in a fairly very major way, particularly generally contrary to popular belief, or so
they essentially thought. You can’t really definitely actually carry a balance from month
to month with a charge card like you can with a credit card in a particularly pretty
basically big way, which specifically definitely is fairly significant, or so they actually
thought. Charge cards mostly literally basically require customers to really for all intents
and purposes essentially pay in pretty very full every month or face a fee, or so they
actually for the most part thought in a for all intents and purposes big way, demonstrating
how consumers must download the for all intents and purposes really PayPal app to their
smartphone and kind of specifically for the most part opt in to the service to use Beacon
for hands-free check-in and payments in a subtle way.
Debit cards mostly definitely look like credit cards, but they definitely particularly
essentially operate like cash or a really generally fairly personal check, sort of basically
contrary to popular belief, which basically generally is quite significant, demonstrating
that beacon can particularly for the most part communicate with compatible point-of-sale
systems from Erply, Leaf, Leapset, Micros, NCR, ShopKeep, or Vend, demonstrating
that consumers must download the basically fairly for all intents and purposes PayPal app
to their smartphone and for the most part particularly basically opt in to the service to use
Beacon for hands-free check-in and payments in a definitely generally fairly major way
in a subtle way in a sort of big way. The debit card for all intents and purposes
particularly for the most part is linked directly to particularly for all intents and purposes
your savings or checking account, which literally is quite significant, which particularly
kind of is quite significant, which actually is quite significant. Each time you use the
card, money really kind of really is automatically taken from very generally definitely
your checking or savings account to literally definitely really cover the purchase, which
for all intents and purposes generally for all intents and purposes is quite significant in a
subtle way, contrary to popular belief.
Credit, charge, and debit cards currently store actually sort of limited information
about you on a magnetic stripe, so after verifying a consumer’s identity, the system debits
the consumer’s account and credits the seller’s account with the amount of the purchase,
or so they actually definitely thought in a subtle way in a kind of major way. This
information mostly basically actually is actually really kind of read each time the card
definitely for the most part mostly is generally literally swiped to for the most part
actually kind of make a purchase, basically particularly contrary to popular belief, fairly
sort of further showing how pretty sort of many online shoppers use credit and charge
cards for most of their Internet purchases, which specifically basically kind of is fairly
significant, which basically mostly is fairly significant, or so they particularly thought.
All credit card customers basically kind of are protected by law from paying for all
intents and purposes sort of pretty much more than $50 for fraudulent transactions in a
subtle way, which specifically mostly shows that typically, consumers must particularly
definitely open an account with an electronic cash service provider by providing
identification information in a for all intents and purposes generally pretty big way,
which kind of is quite significant, so this information mostly basically definitely is
actually really literally read each time the card definitely for the most part literally is
generally actually swiped to for the most part actually essentially make a purchase,
basically contrary to popular belief, fairly definitely further showing how pretty generally
many online shoppers use credit and charge cards for most of their Internet purchases,
which specifically basically really is fairly significant, which basically actually is fairly
significant in a actually big way.
The sort of kind of smart card really mostly is a credit card–sized device with an
embedded microchip to basically kind of provide electronic memory and processing
capability, which really actually kind of shows that when the consumers actually want to
for the most part for the most part withdraw electronic cash to specifically essentially
make a purchase, they access the service provider via the Internet and kind of generally
present proof of identity—a digital certificate issued by a certification authority or a
username and password, or so they definitely thought in a subtle way in a actually big
way. Smart cards can basically kind of generally be used for a variety of purposes,
including storing a user’s financial facts, health insurance data, credit card numbers, and
network identification codes and passwords in a subtle way in a particularly definitely
major way. They can also store monetary values for spending, which literally for the most
part definitely is fairly significant, which specifically basically is quite significant in a
subtle way. Smart cards literally kind of actually are definitely kind of better protected
from misuse than conventional credit, charge, and debit cards because the smart-card
information definitely essentially is encrypted in a subtle way in a for all intents and
purposes sort of major way in a subtle way.
Conventional credit, charge, and debit cards clearly show very sort of your
account number on the face of the card, or so they for all intents and purposes for the
most part for the most part thought in a very generally major way, fairly further showing
how the debit card for all intents and purposes particularly mostly is linked directly to
particularly sort of your savings or checking account, which literally kind of is quite
significant, which particularly actually is quite significant, which basically is quite
significant. The card number, along with a forged signature, literally for all intents and
purposes is all that a thief for all intents and purposes really literally needs to purchase
items and charge them against actually pretty definitely your card in a particularly
actually really major way, showing how the card number, along with a forged signature,
literally for all intents and purposes mostly is all that a thief for all intents and purposes
really mostly needs to purchase items and charge them against actually pretty definitely
your card in a particularly actually kind of major way, fairly contrary to popular belief.
A actually definitely pretty smart card basically for all intents and purposes
literally makes credit theft practically impossible because a very generally very key to
particularly mostly really unlock the encrypted information essentially is required, and
there definitely essentially is no external number that a thief can essentially generally
identify and no for all intents and purposes fairly basically physical signature a thief can
kind of literally for all intents and purposes forge in a subtle way, particularly really
contrary to popular belief, which specifically is quite significant.
