e Commerce 1 & 2

Credit: 1.00
Course Preface
Core Code: 37-01-00-00-200
Printable Version: e Commerce 1 & 2 (pdf)

Course Description
Students will analyze company sites from a marketing perspective and select one to redesign and develop. They will then have the opportunity to create different forms of multimedia and to learn of options for adding online sales to sites. Students will complete the course with an understanding of target audience and marketing objectives as they relate to online companies. Students taking marketing classes should have the opportunity to participate in the DECA Organization (student marketing leadership association). DECA related activities and curriculum can be used as an approved part of all marketing classes.

Core Standards of the Course

Standard 08.0802-01
Students will reconstruct the home page of a large company retail site and learn to analyze web sites for marketing rights and wrongs.

• Students will compare web sites for three large retail companies.
• Students will understand that sites must be designed before they can be created.
• Students will know that marketing and technical know-how are required elements for company web sites.

• Students will set up the HTML for the page in an ASCII page editor.
• Students will add the content: pictures, table, text, and navigation using HTML.
• Students will use Winzip® to unzip and extract the files necessary for this project.
• Students will use Fireworks® to create two image maps that are present on the page.

• Students will be given examples of current color choices of large corporations and be told why those colors are used for particular target audiences and products.
• Students will compare web sites for fast food, retail, and electronics super stores, looking for the objectives discussed in this lesson.

• Students will study the outline of a marketing plan to satisfy online and offline marketing strategy.
• Students will recognize the elements of a marketing plan.

• Students are given a business scenario and asked to come up with all or part of the marketing plan for that company site.
• Students will defend their proposed marketing plan.

• Students will understand hosting options.
• Students will understand what is needed in order to be an online merchant; sell things online.
• Students will understand DNS (Domain Name Servers) and FTP (File Transfer Protocol).

• Students will recognize good marketing options.
• Students will recognize poor marketing options.
• Students will be able to identify poor design and marketing strategy.
• Students will understand brand recognition and its relevance to successful business.
• Students will understand principles of psychographics (one of the market segmentations for defining a target audience), and its role in online success.

• Students will be asked to create a billboard design using PhotoShop® or Fireworks®.
• Students will be asked to design a magazine cover.
• Students will be asked to design a home page for a web site to market a particular product/service.
• Students will gain experience with the basics of PhotoShop® and/or Fireworks®.

• Students will be told why a particular site is of poor design.
• Students will be told why a particular site doesn’t positively market for a company.
• Students will complete instructions to redesign the site in a graphics editing program.

• Students will associate company image with selling power.
• Students will see that consumer awareness of companies is an influential factor in eliminating fear of online shopping.

• Students will become aware of the types of questions they may encounter in a DECA competitive event for eCommerce.

• Students will be given example DECA competitive event scenarios and asked to practice responding to them.
• Students will be given guidelines to know whether or not their responses hold professionally-correct information and recommendations.

Standard 08.0802-02
Students gain an understanding of professional design and development.

• Students will recognize the intended age group for the web site and company.
• Students will recognize the intended gender for the web site and company.
• Students will recognize common psychographics (behavioral tendencies and likes and dislikes) of the audience who would be drawn to this particular company web site.
• Students will recognize a common educational background and income range for the intended audience of the web site and company.
• Students will determine whether or not geographic segmentation needs to be considered within the marketing strategy.

• Students will redesign a poorly designed page, resulting in a professionally designed page with a strong marketing focus.
• Students will design the page layout and select colors conducive with target audience.
• Students will use Fireworks®, PhotoShop®, or other comparable software to create the designs for their pages.

• Students will recognize the potential affect of the company logo over the entire visual design of the site and company.
• Students will determine where to place their site navigation to best suit the objectives of the web site and company.

• Students will design site navigation for their projects.
• Students will create site navigation for their projects.

• Students will know that GIF and JPEG formats are preferred online.
• Students will know how to save an image in a GIF or JPEG format within Fireworks® and PhotoShop®.
• Students will understand how file size in pixels differs from file size in KB and how the two work together on the Internet.

• Students will add content to the site, meeting all project and target audience requirements.
• Students will use Fireworks®, PhotoShop®, or other comparable software to create graphics for their projects.
• Students will generate GIF and JPEG images for their projects and save files which can be edited at a later time: PNG or PSD.

• Students will understand how to add images to pages.
• Students will understand how to link pages together.
• Students will understand how forms are used to collect data from site guests.
• Students will know how to add Title attributes to links.
• Students will understand how tables are used to organize data and images on a page.
• Students will understand the importance of and how to add ALT attributes to images.

• Students will create tables and organize data and images within them.
• Students will create hyperlinks using text and images.
• Students will create forms: input boxes, radio buttons, check boxes, pull-down menus, TextArea boxes, and submit buttons.
• Students will make their pages ready for listing within search directories/engines.

• Students will recognize “atmosphere” and “tone” in marketing messages of all types, including the web site.
• Students will understand the importance and value in mirroring company image online and in other forms of marketing media.

Standard 08.0802-03
Students will gain knowledge and experience with multimedia.

• Students will understand when and why media is added to a site.
• Students will see the correlation between marketing and online multimedia.

• Students will be able to identify sites using Flash®
• Students will be able to identify sites using Director® (Shockwave® technology)
• Students will be able to identify sites using JavaScript or a comparable scripting language for their multimedia design.

• Students will achieve basics in Flash®.
• Students will recreate an effect used on the Palmolive® web site.
• Students will design a street billboard.
• Students will design an online advertisement in Flash®.

Standard 08.0802-04
Students will understand the steps to follow to set up online shopping for a site.

• Students will become aware of multiple options for accepting and processing online payments.
• Students will understand the correlation between site hosting and the ability to accept electronic payments online.
• Students will know of a minimum of 4 different options for setting up online shopping capabilities.

• Students will add products into their online database accounts at USA Merchant/USA Secure Pay.
• Students will correctly link the products on their site to the database using anchor tags and forms.

• Students will be able to recognize good marketing decisions for given business situations.
• Students will be able to derive good marketing decisions for businesses based on given situations.

Standard 08.0802-05
Students discover “What is eCommerce and eMarketing?”

• Define what eCommerce means to a consumer versus a company.
• Understand industry definitions of the term “eCommerce”.
• Compare eCommerce, eBusiness, and eTailing.

• Recognize the types of business venturing online.
• Distinguish between types of eCommerce sites.

• Analyze corporate needs to determine the best eCommerce solution.
• Ability to differentiate needs and recommend online services, in-house programming, database integration, and marketing recommendations.

• Understand what is and is not selling online.
• Understand market segmentation and target audience selection.
• Understand the concept of distributors and drop shipping.
• Understand the importance of selling what consumers want.

• Understand what B2B is and how B2B is affecting eCommerce.
• Understand the structure of B2B sites.

• Know how to “screw up” a web store.
• Understand consumer fears in relation to eCommerce and how to effectively address consumer fears on a site.
• Understand the concept of secure sales.
• Understand that consumer privacy equates sales.
• Recognize and avoid poor site attribute choices that inadvertently turn people away.

• Understand the importance of customer retention.
• Understand CRM – Customer Relationship Management.
• Know the concepts behind converting site guests into customers.
• Know the concepts behind forming relationships with and retaining customers.

• Understand the online process of increasing the ratio of visitors to sales.
• Understand the importance of fulfilling orders in a timely manner.
• Understand the importance of being able to contact the company to ask questions when making a decision to purchase.
• Learn the value of establishing consumer trust through testimonials.
• Understand consumer fears.
• Become aware of the need to speak to a live person.
• Understand how brand influences buyer behavior.

• Understand the differences between communicating with customers through e-mail versus direct communication.
• Understand the importance of responding to customer inquiries.
• Discover how to retain customers through e-mail.
• Learn how e-Zines/newsletters are used for effective communication.
• Analyze industry e-Zines/newsletters.
• Define opt-in versus unsolicited e-mail.

• Create a professional signature file in a text editor (or through the email service provider).
• Send an email with the signature file.
• Verify that the email was successfully received with the signature file intact.

• Register to receive (opt-in) eZines from marketing-focused companies.
• Read the eZines received during the semester.
• Summarize three of the best articles you read by the end of the term.

• Define affiliate programs.
• Students will understand the possibilities of establishing a permanent income on affiliate programs.
• Know how, when, and why to offer affiliate programs.

• Understand CTR (Click Through Ratios).
• Know that clicks do not equate customers.
• Compare the top ten banner ads of the current month.
• Design a banner ad to market a product or service.
• Understand where on your site to place banner ads for other sites.
• Understand the criteria by which a company should accept banner ads on their site.

• Create a banner with a free online banner creation service.
• Design a banner ad of your own.
• Create the banner ad within Fireworks® or PhotoShop®, or comparable program.

• Understand the differences between banner ads and rich media spots.

• Create a beginning-level rich media marketing spot, as exhibited within the lesson, using images and a sound file provided for the exercise.

• Define “link swapping”.
• Know how link swapping is used as a marketing tool.
• Understand how to implement link swapping for a company site.

• Know the differences between search engines and directories/guides.
• Explain the process of submitting a site to a search engine/guide.
• Explain the required frequency of requesting a site be analyzed for inclusion in a database of a search engine or directory.
• Understand categories and subcategories as used by search directories.
• Locate specialized search engines for a given site topic.

• List the steps for setting up an online store.
• Selecting a good URL.
• Students will know how to determine whether a company should host their site in-house or go through a hosting service.
• Define how to select a good web host.
• Define how to select a good eCommerce host.
• Students will understand the different online sales options for companies: shopping carts, complete templates with store backend, software, XML and other programming options.

Standard 08.0802-06
Students will understand setting up online payment transactions for a company.

• Define “merchant account”.
• Understand the role of the banking institution, an online company, and any third party eCommerce hosting services.

• Understand Digicash or e-Cash.
• Understand Digicash or e-Cash.
• Understand the process behind C.O.D. and the Internet.
• Understand the process of accepting credit cards online.

• Understand a SSL (secure socket layer).
• Understand digital certificates.
• Know the process of applying for and installing a digital certificate.
• Understand the securing of online transactions.

• Understand what electronic cash is.
• Understand what PayPal is to the consumer and the company.
• Understand what Smart Cards are.

• Differentiate mobile from non-mobile systems.
• Learn wireless markup language.
• Become acquainted with browsers specific for mobile and hand-held devices.
• Understand the concept of selling goods through a distributor.

• Use the phone simulator to test web addresses within a mobile phone.
• Develop a simple page using WML (Wireless Markup Language).
• View the WML page through the phone emulator.

• Become aware of call centers and their purpose.
• Understand what an autoresponder is and how they are used for order confirmations.

• Distinguish among the different shipping options.
• Know the process of drop shipping.
• Become aware of services offered by UPS and USPS.
• Understand the concept of selling goods through a distributor.

Standard 08.0802-07
Students will know the process of putting together an eCommerce site.

• Define a target audience.
• Relate target audience and company goals as an inseparable set in site design.
• Understand the importance of getting to know your target customer
• Define the 4 Ps of marketing as they relate to the Internet.

• Understand the role of the shopping cart service in payment processing.
• Understand the role of the company in payment processing.
• Understand the role of banks in payment processing.
• Understand the role of the consumer in payment processing.

• Students will understand the importance of immediately verifying orders with customers.
• Students will understand the reasoning behind offering discounts for repeat customers.
• Students will understand the benefits of personal communication with consumers.
• Students will identify the mediums used by companies for communicating with consumers.

• Add product pictures and descriptions to the site.
• Format the Specials and Contact pages so they’re ready to add search capabilities later in the course.
• Add appropriate content to the sales page to market the product offerings.
• Add products/inventory items to an online database for your site.
• Link forms and/or “Add to Cart” buttons to online service for order processing capabilities.
• Test functionality within a web browser.
• Compare shopping cart services to all-in-one hosting options.

• Students will understand the avenues for promoting a site away from the Internet.
• Students will develop an advertising/promotional item for their online company.

Standard 08.0802-08
Students will become aware of online databases and site content.

• Students will understand the purpose of C2C sites and how they differentiate from B2C and B2B sites.
• Students will become familiar with the process for consumers purchasing from a C2C site.
• Students will become familiar with the process of selling on a C2C site.

• Students will be introduced to the software and programming necessary for database inclusion within a web site.
• Students will understand why databases are often utilized within company web sites.
• Students will be introduced to the software they will be using for their project.

• Students will learn basics of establishing tables, generating reports, and querying within MS Access.
• Students will learn the basics of SQL (Structured Query Language) and dynamic pages.
• Students will learn the basics of CFML (ColdFusion Markup Language).
• Students will become acquainted with online CFM (ColdFusion server) services.

• Create a database file with two tables, one for the Specials page and one for Contact page of the web site.
• Generate a report and query data within MS Access.

• Use SQL (Structured Query Language) skills within the dynamic page.
• Use CFML (ColdFusion Markup Language) to create the dynamic page, ending with a .cfm extension and prepared to interact with ColdFusion server.
• SQL and CFML will be used together to query the database created in MS Access and provide search capabilities on the Specials and Contact pages within the web site project.

• Receive account with online ColdFusion service.
• Upload site to server.
• Upload MS Access file.
• Establish ODBC connection for the database file, server, and site.
• Troubleshoot and test functionality/searchability of site.

• Understand how the majority of web pages are actually discerned by site guests.
• Students will learn what it means to “write to be scanned”.
• Students will understand what Bobby approved sites are.
• Students will become aware of the importance of proper grammar, correct spelling, and writing informatively and persuasively.

• Take an already-existing article and reformat it with proper headings to make it web ready.
• Upload the article to the ColdFusion web site.

• Understand the importance of omitting errors within a company site.
• Students will identify web usability issues as they relate to cultural differences.
• Be careful when selecting the words with the correct meaning for your sentences.
• Students will learn methods for and the importance of proofreading.

Standard 08.0802-09
Overall course knowledge.

• Throughout the course, students will become acquainted with the Internet marketing industry
• Students will gain knowledge regarding careers within the Internet marketing industry

• Research employment opportunities in Internet marketing careers.
• Report on your findings.

• Throughout the course, students will be asked to read and summarize articles.
• Students will also be asked to answer questions regarding what they’ve read.

• Read a variety of articles throughout the course.
• Summarize a variety of articles throughout the course.
• Answer questions regarding a variety of articles throughout the course.