Mobile Payment Systems in Malaysia: its potentials and consumer adoption strategies

“Maxis FastTap”
On 9th April 2009, the world’s first contactless mobile payment system service which is named as “Maxis FastTap” has been launched in Malaysia, together with partners Nokia, financial services companies Visa and Maybank as well as Touch ‘n Go card. “Maxis FastTap” is an integrated mobile payment service which uses near field communication technology (NFC). It offers high levels of interoperability between devices and readers and it enables a mobile phone to be integrated with a wide range of features that allows credit card, debit card, ticketing and transportation payments.

Customers who sign up for Maxis FastTap are able to use their Nokia 6212 classic phones to buy goods and services at more than 1,800 Visa payWave merchant locations, pay for transit, toll, parking charges at more than 3,000 Touch ‘n Go points nationwide. With all prominent leaders in their field (Maxis, Nokia, Visa, Maybank & Touch n’Go) colllaborating for this new technology, certainly there is a great potential to explore a new commercial market that will spur the e-commerce industry in Malaysia.

Related link:
‘ World's first contactless mobile payment system’ launches in Malaysia


“Mobile money” (MM wallet)

MM wallet, on the other hand, is another mobile payment system which has been in the market for several years. Mobile Money is the pioneer of mobile payment using mobile phone in Malaysia. MM wallet allows its users to conduct transactions via short messaging service(SMS) by a 6-digit security PIN authorization using a mobile phone. Users could send cash to anyone, pay merchants, buy iTalk card, Celcom, and Maxis reload cards, pay utility bills simply by replying to an authorization PIN to make payment. Currently, the participating banks for MM wallet are Hong Leong Bank and Bumiputra Commerce Bank.

These mobile payment systems certainly have great potentials in Malaysia. As the targeted customers for these services are mobile phone subscribers and there are approximately 16 million mobile phone users in Malaysia, it is inevitable that it has vast market potentials in Malaysia. Plus, it brings convenience at our fingertips. This is the case especially when consumers are in need of cash but doesn’t have any in hand, therefore with mobile payments they do not need to even search for an ATM machine to withdraw money for making payments. In addition, mobile payment system also allows buyers to pay merchants for online order without disclosing their credit card details, thus increasing security of data and removing initial trust barriers between merchants and consumers. Through all these potentials, it leads to higher customer satisfaction and therefore creates an increasing trend of using mobile payment systems in Malaysia.

How to get more people to adopt this payment system?

1) Publicize this practical payment solution. Emphasize on the convenience it brings to its users as well as enlightening people on its functions and how it can be used in their daily lives.

2) Alliance with more banks and merchants to enable more consumers to benefit from the service. For instance, if a shopper intends to pay using mobile money (MM wallet), he/she must have either a savings, current or credit card account with the participating banks.

3) Enhance the payment security protection for its users to boost their confidence in using mobile payment system. For instance, a strong pin fraud protection system and prevention of password hacking system are crucial to secure the reliability of this system.

4) Continuous improvement of the system helps to secure customers’ loyalty and satisfaction.

5) Reduce transaction fee of such payment system.

Related link:
Mobile Money (MM wallet)

T.R.U.S.T (Third Party Certification)

WHAT'S THIRD PARTY CERTIFICATION?


















Third party certification is an assessment implemented to make sure there is compliance with industry standard. This method of securing transactions on the internet is well-embraced because it uses independent party.This technique is done by a third party organization that is qualified and licensed to issue certification. Certification will be licensed when the assessment is completed successfully.

WHAT'S UP?

Now we all know, of course, that "trust" is very very important when it comes to buying and selling online. Most people refuse to transact on the internet is because they lack of this element. Users are afraid that the sellers are either just pure scam bag, sending wrong items or poor quality items. On the other hand, sellers will also worry if the buyer is not genuine. I personally confess that I do not really trust buying things online because I simply do not have confidence in abstract shopping. Thus, what is stopping e-commerce is the "lack of trust" issue.

In the light of all these, MSC TrustGate and VeriSign have given solution to this matter, which is by the "third party certification". MSC Trustgate.com Sdn Bhd is a licensed Certification Authority (CA) operating within the Multimedia Super Corridor. MSC Trustgate was incorporated in 1999 to meet the growing need for secure open network communications and become the catalyst for the growth of e-commerce, both locally and across the ASEAN region.

TrustGate is licensed under the Digital Signature Act 1997 (DSA), a Malaysia law that sets a global precedent for the mandate of a CA. As a CA, Trustgate’s core business is to provide digital certification services, including digital certificates, cryptographic products, and software development.

TrustGate is also committed to provide the finest Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to assist all types of companies and institutions conducting their business over the Internet.

Moving on to VeriSign Inc, it is the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world. Billions of times each day, our SSL, identity and authentication, and domain name services allow companies and consumers all over the world to engage in trusted communications and commerce.


















HOW DO THESE TWO SYSTEMS WORK?
1. Cryptography, the science of coding messages so that only a specific audience understands them, is an ancient craft that has become a highly specialized science in the digital age. Certificate authorities, like a latter-day notary public, provide encryption services for "netizens" of the world wide web that insure security for anything from credit card purchases to national defense intelligence.

2. Verisign/TrustGate, the certificate authority (CA) organizations, assigns a digital signature to a customer that contains two encrypted codes called keys--a private key that certifies the customer and a public key, which certifies the customer to anyone using the customer's web site. These codes form what is called a "secure socket layer", or SSL (a digital system developed by Netscape) that insures the website's authenticity.

3. Verisign/TrustGate verifies web sites using a process that examines traditional documents like articles of incorporation and business licenses as well as digital verification of each site operated by the organization. It is this certification process that is represented by the Verisign/TrustGate trademark on participating web sites. The trademark is generally found in an upper or lower corner of a page and any order forms where personal information is requested should display one. Most Windows systems also display a warning screen when the computer switches to secure mode.

4. Each web site is issued a public key and a private key. The public key allows consumers or users to encrypt their transactions using SSL technology. The private key allows authorized users of the web site to receive information sent using the public key. This double-handshake system assures consumers that their transaction is secure and that only authorized representatives of the recipient's company have access to the information (like credit card numbers or bank information) they've sent.

5. Public and private key encryption has been used by merchants for years, but many banks are beginning to add another layer of security for consumers by providing systems that allow the consumer to verify with his own private key. Although this adds a second step to the log-in process for banking and other financial activities, it is the next step in secure encryption and will become more prevalent as CA's develop new ways to protect against cyber-theft and terrorism.

6. Verisign/TrustGate session services are available in various bit (number or pieces of data, or complexity of codes) sizes, beginning with 128 or 40 bits. Public/private keys within certificates are issued in 512 or 1024 bit packages. Since Verisign/TrustGate IDs work on almost all browsers, these companies have become pre-eminent, controlling a majority of certification of sites.

IS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIRD PARTY CERTIFICATION IMPROVING CUSTOMER TRUST?

1.Easy-to-use and manage with Web-based user and administrator services.
Customer are able to register or apply for extra certification through via web, thus, it will help customers to have faith on the third party programme because so simple to use and it doesn’t require complicated procedures.














2.Efficient of management of digital certificates.
Customer authorization for digital certificate and certificate issuance are done via Web-based service. Both customer and administrator services are browser-based and accessed through the Web. Therefore, it will tremendously strenghthen customer trust because they can access the digital certification and inquire about the certificate online.

3. Availability of solutions
Customer will have a better solution provided by the administrator if there are any threats that tampers the company system. The user can contact the administrator to provide a solution to the customer to solve the problem. All in all, it will increase customer trust because of the efficient and effective management of the programme.

4.Complete control over digital certificate issuance, usage, certificate content.
By having this application users would have ultimate control over the service level and certificate. Unlike other public CA deployment model which customer only can rely on the public CA.

PROBLEMS WITH VERISIGN'S NEW FLASH-BASED "TRUST MARK" SEAL.
The newly designed VeriSign Trust Mark is positioned as a way for VeriSign's customers to better communicate the authenticity of their site to potential consumers online. Unfortunately, they implemented it very poorly. One of the Flash designer and developer, analyzed their implementation and found numerous problems, including several ways in which it can be trivially spoofed. His analysis, with a live demonstration, appears at http://www.infinitumdesign.com/verisign.html

Well, in my opinion, third party certification definitely helped in the trust issue by minimizing risk of information being leaked or exposed. However, nothing is a guarantee, so as users of internet, we should be more aware of the current issues on information privacy breaches and equip ourselves with necessary knowledge to avoid damages transacting online.

How to safeguard our personal and financial data?

1. Install a firewall to act as a gatekeeper which guards your network access.
This software checks whether data attempting to enter or leave your network should be allowed, according to rules that you define. It helps to prevent hackers from entering to your network to destroy, change or steal your data. DSL or cable modem provides an added layer of protection to your computer security as it comes with another built-in firewall while older computers or internet users who use dial-up connection are required to install a firewall separately.













2. Be vigilant while using the internet: look out for phishing scammers and viruses
contained in attachments.
Never open an attachment or click on a link embedded in an email from an unknown party. Even if the sender is a known party asking for personal details, one should independently verify the validity of the requests as well as the legitimacy of the organization. Phishers can bring you to a site which looks and feels like the authentic organization which you previously had dealings with. Also, look for small lock icon on the lower right corner of the browser window. Besides, attachments from mysterious sender can contain viruses which can corrupt your files and data.








3. Using encryption as a means to render data unreadable to unauthorized users.
Encryption is often used to achieve data security and privacy. It uses an algorithm to change the contents of computer messages or files into codes which are in an unreadable from, so as to prevent unauthorized eavesdropping along the transmission line. Only the authorized users have the “key” to convert the encrypted information or ciphertext back to a readable form.










4. Inquire web owners what precautions they have against malicious attacks
Database should be designed in a secured way, in which the database management system should not allow user to directly change the data, giving opportunities to hackers to abuse Structured Query Language (SQL) and reach parts of the system they should not be able to access. Although we are unlikely to be involved in writing a web application, we can, however, ask the web owners what precautions they have against SQL injections and other potential vulnerabilities before deciding to input our personal and financial data into its database system.

5. Back up your personal and financial information
This is certainly a sensible way to mitigate problems arising from data loss or files corrupted due to virus attack. Offsite copies of your data can be accomplished in two ways: 1) place hard copies of your personal data at a secured place; or 2) use an online service and synchronize your files with the off-site server.

6. Keeping operating systems and browser updated
Keeping both of this updated will ensure the computer to operate more efficiently and to include more security protection against infringement. Security flaws in the not-so-updated versions could be patched up in the up-to-date versions and this helps to reduce the possibility of Intruders to invade into the system and manipulating the data by taking advantage of the vulnerabilities observed.

7. Setting a strong password and be alert when you’re typing your password or pin number
A combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols will offer you a more secured password. Do not use personal information like your birthday, child’s name as your password as these can be easily guessed by others. Also, do not share your password or write it down, giving the others the opportunity to gain access to your personal and financial information. Moreover, shield your password with your hand when you’re typing it particularly in public area.











8. Install and update antispyware and antivirus programs
Virus will slow down the computer’s operation and cause data loss. Hence, do scan your computers regularly with these programs and keep them updated from time to time. This will inevitably prevent viruses, Trojan horse, spywares from attacking our computers.


To learn more, please refer to:
- Safeguard your financial life
- The best ways to safeguard personal data on social networks

Phishing: Examples and its Prevention methods

• Phishing is an attempt of online identity theft in which confidential and sensitive information of an individual is obtained by disguising as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Usually, a phishing scam can be seen in e-mail messages, social networking website, forged website which accepts donation for charity and instant messaging program. It often places links and directs users to enter details such as passwords, usernames, and credit card details under the pretense of the official or legitimate website.
  
• 
  Phishing scams
  Example 1: Below is a phishing e-mail which disguises as Internal Revenue Service of the United States
  

Abundance of e-mails is sent to potential victims advising them that they are under investigation by the IRS or that they have a refund pending from the IRS. The e-mail then asks the intended victim to “click here” which is a link contained within the e-mail to access the IRS website and prompts the victim for personal information, credit card numbers and credit card pin numbers.

Tips to avoid being a victim
• Tax payers should be aware that government entity such as IRS does not initiate tax payer communications through e-mail. IRB never sends out unsolicited e-mails to request personal information, credit card information and pin numbers.
• Do not reply, open any attachments or click on any links if you receive an e-mail claiming to be from IRS.
• Contact IRS by phone to inquire about your account if you believe it might be legitimate. However, most likely it isn’t.

Example 2: Bank phishing emails are very common too
Tips to avoid being a victim
• Most phishing e-mails will be addressed to either “Dear Valued Customer” or “Dear Sir/Madam”, while any legitimate emails from your bank or Credit Card Company will be addressed to you by name. Thus, be suspicious if generic greeting is used.
• Beware of forged links. HTML-formatted messages can contain links or forms that you can fill out just as you’d fill out a form on a Web site. Even if a link has a domain name which seems correct and authentic, it may not link to the real organization. Do not click on the link provided in the email. Also, it is preferable to call and enquire the bank that you usually deal with.

Notice in the following example that resting the cursor on the link, reveal the real Web address. If the string of numbers looks nothing like the actual company’s Web address, don’t click on it.

• “https” are safer websites than “http”. The “s” refers to as “secure”. Do not proceed if it is not an “https” website.
• If ever you’re required to open up a link, do not click on a link provided in the e-mail, rather, the best option is to open up a new browser window and type in the address which you know to be the authentic one. Or else, you could call the bank or company directly if you have dealings with them and have spoken to them by telephone before.
• The creation of sense of urgency by phishers is to entice people to react immediately without thinking twice about what they are doing. Internet users should always have a clear mind and not acting impulsively which will eventually lead them to be one of the victims.
• Generally, no legitimate business will request its client to send their passwords, login names, pin numbers or any other kind of personal information through an e-mail. If an e-mail requires you to submit personal data, it is probably a phishing attempt.

Example 3: Phishing case with Java Script on eBay.com
Perhaps the most sophisticated phishing scam is with java script. Scammers are given the opportunity to set up traps right on eBay.com as eBay allows java script to be manipulated. The internet criminal uses a forged feedback in order to make buyers believe he has a reputation at eBay. Check out the following:

Fake feedback
A feedback score of 120, Paypal buyer protection button and power seller.















Real FeedBack















To learn more about java script scam, please refer to :-
Acquiring personal information with java script

Other prevention methods of phishing scams:
Upgrading your browser to Internet Explorer 7 with built-in Phishing Filter which is designed to warn or block you from potentially harmful Web sites.
1. An excellent password manager helps to secure your logins, hide your keystrokes and encrypt your passwords. It is a guard against identity theft. It should not release your personal data if the site is not legitimate and has been spoofed.
2. Phoolproof Phishing Prevention. Please refer to:
Phoolproof Phishing Prevention

Take a look at these interesting articles about Malaysia’s online security issues:
• Cyber security in Malaysia Is rated above average
• Phish, your money’s gone!

The threat of online security: How safe is our data?

With the rapid advancement of technology, computerized systems have become a more preferred method among businesses and individuals than manual systems to store a vast amount of data and information. Consequently, the online security which protects data from loss, damage, abuse and misuse has become a major issue of concern for internet users.

Ironically, as the society becomes more and more technologically savvy, the risks of infringement of confidentiality and security of data increase as well. With internet being a medium which connects people from every nook and cranny of the world, it poses a great threat that jeopardizes the online security of data.

Cyber attacks fall under several categories: (1) Accidental Actions; (2) Malicious Attacks; (3) Natural disasters.

(1) Accidental Actions
Accidental actions includes matters such as setting poor passwords, accidental or incorrect business transactions, accidental disclosure of confidential information, outdated software which is easily trespassed by intruders as well as theft or misplace of notebooks which give rise to intruders to access to company’s data.

The root of causing these unintentional acts is attributed to the deficiency of basic knowledge about online security concepts which then result in using security products which are not configured properly. An incorrectly configured web server can allow even an unsophisticated hacker to access files and directories on the web server that should not be accessible. Ultimately, it leads to leakage of important information to outsiders due to insecure information transfers.

(2) Malicious Attacks
These are attacks which are aimed to do harm by breaking through the security defense created by the organization or individuals. The most common threats which internet users face nowadays are cybercrime, hacking, phishing and network attacks.

(a)Cybercrime & Hacking
Cybercrime is the use of online computers as an instrument to conduct illegal acts. Since the internet is inherently open, computer and network experts such as crackers, hackers and corporate spies are “hired” to gain access to competitors’ server to destroy data, change or steal important information without proper authorization given. It involves the violation of privacy of others and it typically attacks computer-based property such as files or web pages.

Hackers can easily learn about the targeted company’s web-based applications and discover its vulnerabilities in order to disguise as genuine users who are able to connect to the company’s web server and do whatever a user could do. For instance, hackers can attack by using SQL injection by circumventing the username and password required to gain access to the database and easily alter the stored data such as ledgers.



(b)Phishing
Internet scam that is designed to trick the recipient into revealing credit card details, usernames, passwords, and other personal information to individuals who intend to use them for fraudulent purposes is known as phishing. The communications are sent in the manner that it looks as if they come from reputable and trustworthy companies. Very often, a phishing attempt requests the recipient to verify their bank account by asking them to click on a link provided in the email and giving his/her personal information. The consequences of giving such confidential information to an unknown person could be very severe.

(c) Network Attacks
Several forms of malicious-logic program are virus, Trojan Horse, computer worm, Denial of Service attacks and etc. Virus, being the most common type of malicious code, its attack is pervasive, in which it can damage the operating system, spread throughout the computer and infecting other computer files, rendering files being corrupted or causing data loss or damaged.

A Trojan Horse is a program that secretly hides within or looks like a legitimate program giving people the impression that it is harmless. However, one may realize that it actually will do harm to one’s computer and data files when it is triggered with certain conditions satisfied.

Distributed Denial of Service attacks (DDOS) attack a web server by overwhelming server with overflowing messages which appear to be normal. The DDOS attacker will instruct its key players to simultaneously send data packets against the given IP addresses using false source addresses. Since the attack contains too much information to be processed, the target server has no choice but to disconnect from the internet or by denying service indiscriminately to all clients sending incoming data. Hence, this shows a potential risk of data loss in transit as client may not know whether his/her data sent is received by the web server.


(3) Natural disasters
Natural disasters also pose a threat to online security. Natural disasters such as fire, flood, earthquake which occurrence at the place where server and database hardware are located can cause data stored to be destroyed or lost. Hence, a comprehensive disaster recovery plan should be in place before any unpleasing event happens.

Related links:-
Computer Security Ethics and Privacy
Top Online Security Threats for 2009
Computer Security, Viruses and Threats

Comparisons of Revenue Models for Google, Amazons.com & eBay

Revenue models outline the sources of income of e-commerce companies. The five major revenue models are sales, transaction fees, subscription fees, advertising fees and affiliate fees.

Google
It is known that approximately 90% of Google’s revenues are derived from the advertising fees received. In January 2009, Google decided to add a new revenue model using resellers to market its Web-based Google Applications to enterprises. Yet, this plan is still under the experimental status. Nevertheless, it portrays potential sales revenue model for Google in future.
For details, please refer to : -
New Revenue Model for Google

Currently, Google’s revenue sources are mainly from advertising fees and affiliate fees. Advertising and affiliate fees revenue models include AdWords, Adsense, Froogle and a new advertising program called Cost-Per-Action program which earns Google a commission every time a customer clicks on an advertisement of a site owner.

Google AdWords is a pay per click advertising program which allows the advertisements to be shown as sponsored links based on the relevant words entered by the users. An advertiser has to pay Google every time his ad receives a click. AdWords generate affiliate fees for Google too.














Google Answers is an internet search and research service offered for a fee by Google. It acts as an agent which helps its customers to find answers by getting the assistance from researchers (not Google employees). Google keeps 25% of the payment from customers when his/her question is successfully answered and sends the rest to the researchers. This portrays an affiliate fee received by Google.


Amazon.com
Amazon.com earns revenue through sales, transaction fees and affiliate fees revenue models. It provides a fixed price online marketplace which allows sellers to offer new or used items to customers. Simultaneously, Amazon is offering a variety of products such as DVD, computer software, books and etc. it charges a commission rate based on the sale price, transaction fee and a variable closing fee.

Besides, Amazon has set up an affiliate partnership marketing program which enables Amazon partners to display Amazon products on their websites. The astore is an affiliate product which website owners can use to create an online store on their site. With the affiliate marketing program, Amazon partners earn referral fees or commissions on the sale of the products purchased by customers. This is a win-win strategy as Amazon gains the sales revenue while its partners earn the referral fees.


eBay
eBay is an online auction and shopping website in which a diversified range of items are traded daily. Its main source of revenue is from a number of fees such as insertion fees (to be listed on eBay), promotional fees (additional listing options to help attract attention), picture service fee (uploading second picture onwards) and final value fees (commission charged when there is a closing bid).

Besides, the acquisition of PayPal, an online paying service system which allows users to buy items online more conveniently, brings additional transaction fees to eBay.

In addition, a portion of Ebay’s revenue also comes from fixed-price sale of goods such as books, CDs, games etc through its subsidiary, Half.com. Direct advertising on the site also brings eBay some advertising fees too.

Apparently, the revenue models of Google, Amazon.com and eBay do not include subscription fee. The major revenue models of each online company are illustrated in the table below:-








The links below provide some interesting facts about how Google and Amazon.com seems to be taking the lead while eBay is falling behind the competition. Do check it out!

How Amazon is beating up eBay
eBay will be permanently marginalized by Google

The collapse of Pets.com and its causes

Undeniably, many companies have been extremely successful in doing e-business. However, several e-commerce companies were not able to sustain themselves and hence were forced to close down its e-business.

Pets.com is one of the examples of an e-commerce failure companies. Pets.com is a former dot-com enterprise that sold pet supplies to retail customers over the World Wide Web. It was launched in August 1998 by Greg McLemore. It went from an IPO on a major stock exchange on the Nasdaq to liquidation in merely 268 days.

Causes of its failure :-

1) Competition
The fierce competition in the online pet supply market has resulted Pets.com to be a short-lived online business. Apparently, Pets.com did not take the initiative to distinguish itself from other online pet suppliers retailers by offering unique products to customers. It is clearly understood that in order to outperform the market, Pets.com should have endeavoured to differentiate itself from other competitors.

2) An unwise decision
Another reason that led to the failure of Pets.com was that it had entered into a market that is selling low margin food and supplies but incurs high shipment costs to deliver the items ordered to the customers. Pets.com should have realized that the market of customers to buy such pets stuff is not large enough for them to conduct such online business. Ironically, many consumers still feel that it is more convenient to shop at local discount stores rather than shopping online particularly for buying pets stuff.

3) An unsustainable business model
In fact, Pets.com went public in February 2000 after its initial launch without any experience. It assumed that the market and its revenues would grow quickly to make a profit before the funding money was exhausted. This assumption has led to the downfall of Pets.com as it was too focused on gaining market share instead of profits. Besides, another mistake it had made was overestimating the number of online customers that it could gain in the pet market. Pets.com was said to have gone into the public too soon and spent money too quickly that it had made an excessive spending on marketing and advertising. To make things worse, this excessive advertising helped the entire online pet companies to gain sales instead of benefitting Pets.com solely.

4) An inappropriate business strategy
Pets.com also failed to position itself with an effective business strategy. Pets.com’s strategy was to compete with low prices with its competitors without considering switching to a unique positioning strategy in its supplies of goods offered to customers. This mistake had led Pets.com to sell its merchandise at prices below cost and therefore it suffered a negative gross margin for months.

The share price of Pets.com on the first day was $14. However, over its duration of operaton, it has dropped to $0.19 only. Hence, the Pets.com management had no choice but to close down the company as there was a lacking of investors of the company to raise further capital.
For more information about Pets.com, view the links below:

http://www.blogger.com/%20http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-248230.html
http://www.fool.com/portfolios/rulebreaker/2000/rulebreaker001114.htm

Do it Right, Make it Big!! (E-commerce success and Its Causes)

As suggested by the title, the fundamental element in succeeding is to “Do It Right”. There are many businesses that have adopted e-commerce as their means to transact, but unfortunately, not all can reap its benefits. Before we further discuss, I would like to give an example of a company that has succeeded big-time with e-commerce to help you grasp the key points of e-commerce.

Dell.Inc, is the chosen one. Dell is one of the world’s crown providers of computer products and services such as servers, storage, workstations, notebook and notebooks computers, to businesses and consumers. Furthermore, Dell was considered a primitive and fervent business that had converted to the Internet, creating its first web site in 1994 and then moving much of its business strategies to the Internet ahead of its rivals. The company foreseen that its direct model gave it an advantage in selling online. The company's strategy of selling over the Internet was carried out with absolutely no physical outlets and no intermediaries. Dell’s online sales strategies has proven a grand victory and an Aberdeen Group analyst Kent Allen has even questioned “Does consumer need to go to the store to buy a PC anymore?”.

History of Dell.Inc
Dell was created in 1984 by Michael Dell on a few simple concepts, which are by selling computer systems directly to customers, they also was able to recognize customer’s demands and efficiently offer the most effective computing solutions to meet those demands. Dell’s ever-changing business strategies combined their revolutionary direct customer model with the new distribution channels to reach commercial customers and potential individual consumers all around the planet.

1. Dell’s Delivery System
Due to its efficient supply chain management, Dell is competent of shipping a PC within 24 hours of receiving an order. The establishment of the internet and e-commerce has aided Dell in improving its efficiency and profitability. Moreover, transacting through the internet speeds up a lot of procedures, thus making Dell well-organized in its services.

2. Dell Ventures
Another vital adding point of Dell’s e-commerce strategy is Dell Ventures, which has invested $700 million in approximately 50 Internet companies (as of July 2000). These investments, includes broadband and wireless communications, business-to-business and business-to-consumer e-commerce, ASPs, server and storage infrastructure, Internet content, and e-consulting. With the variety investments, Dell is able to access to new technologies without expanding its own R&D activities. This will help to control its internal funds wisely within the necessary parameters of Dell Inc.


3. The front end
A dominant part of Dell's success is that the site proposes "choice and control" to its users. With just a simple click of a finger, the consumers are able to assemble computer system piece by piece, choosing each particular components, such as hard drive size and processor speed inline with their budgets and requirements. This flexibility allows people to customize the designs and individualization is the core of identity. Consequently, this direct contact with consumers gives Dell competitive advantage. On top of that, Dell also value constructive feedbacks from its fellow customers. Feedback regarding its website as well as service.

4. The back end
Other than the front end which is seen by the customers, the back end is equally important as well. According to Aberdeen Allen, “Nowadays that many e-tailers have built a customer-friendly front end, their back end supply chain is a greater focus”. The progress on ensuring that they are not just capturing the order but was fulfilling the order. That is when Dell continues to thrive. One of the main reasons Dell can use the Just-In-Time (JIT) system is because the receive orders beforehand online, making it possible to order their inventories after an order has been secured. This helps to cut down on the managing inventories section, where they don’t need to store up so much to display like the traditional storefront would do.

After analyzing the above tips, it is obvious that Dell handles e-commerce well, and benefited on this method. You may check out the website to experience dell's services. http://www.dell.com.my/

Yesterday is History, Today is Revolutionary, and Tomorrow is a Mystery. (History And Evolution of E-commerce)

The ever prospering technique of dealing with routine transactions on the internet, e-commerce, is working its way up in the world as one of the most widely embraced technological gateway to operate economic exchange activities. The word “e-commerce” itself is abbreviated. Initially, it was known as electronic commerce. The utterance “commerce” is defined as: trade, especially between countries; the buying and selling of goods and services. Thus, e-commerce simply means trading activities online. E-commerce was founded over a few decades ago, by Michael Aldrich. It was used extensively by Ford, Peugeot-Talbot, General Motors and Nissan.



1. Originally, electronic commerce was preordained for 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 1970s, allowing businesses to send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically.


2. Next, it is the development of Mosaic web-browser in 1992. This web browser was soon given the form of a browser which could be downloaded and was named as Netscape. This further broadened the scope and possibility of electronic commercial transaction.

3. Subsequently, the birth of DSL was another key moment in the growth to of e-commerce. DSL allowed quicker access and a persistent connection to the Internet.

4. Christmas of 1998 was another major step in the expansion of e-commerce. AOL had sales of 1.2 billion over the 10 week holiday season from online sales.

5. Soon, the creation of Red Hat Linux was also another major step in electronic commerce escalation. Linux gave users another choice in a platform other then Windows that was reliable and open-source.

4. Consequently, a major merger, in early 2000, between AOL and Time Warner was another great push for electronic commerce. The merger, worth $350 million, brought together a major online company with a traditional company.


5. Today, the largest electronic commerce is Business-to-Business (B2B). Businesses involved in B2B sell their goods to other businesses. In 2001, this form of e-commerce had around $700 billion in transactions. Other varieties growing today include Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) where consumers sell to each other, for example through auction sites. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) is another form of e-commerce that allows users to share resources and files directly. Thus, continually, more and more businesses on the globe are adopting e-commerce to trade because of its convenient element as well as other advantages.


By the way, it wasn’t all smooth-sailing for e-commerce since its stone age. During the twentieth century, hackers attacked some major players of e-commerce, including Yahoo, Ebay and Amazon. In the light of these attacks the need for improved security came to the forefront in the development of electronic commerce.

In my opinion, e-commerce had evolved so much since Aldrich because it has provided a very competitive and value adding trading system. Nowadays, e-commerce does not deal with tangible products only, but intangible as well. For example, people can be trading information, knowledge, electronic work of art, digital products and etc.

In the coming days, users will definitely demand more from e-commerce, and perhaps, it will progress until the extend where it actually possesses all the benefits of a physical storefront trading and eliminating all current drawbacks of e-commerce.

Last but not least, Web 2.0 has enhanced e-commerce tremendously. The term "Web 2.0" was coined by Darcy DiNucci in 1999, this was depicted in her article "Fragmented Future". "Web 2.0" refers to what is perceived as a second generation of web development and web design. It is characterized as facilitating communication, information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design and collaboration on the World Wide Web. It has led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and web applications. Examples include social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, mashups and folksonomies. For further information, we have provided a website that shows journals on Web 2.0: http://web2.sys-con.com/

Hie peeps~~!

It’s Marie here! I’m from Seremban (Negeri Sembilan), the place where it is famous for ‘Siew Pau’. To be honest, I don’t really fancy ‘Siew Pau’ as I prefer Italian food than Chinese or Japanese food. One of my all time favorite is pasta and sometimes I cook them too! 
My hobbies are mingling with friends, watching TVB series and Gossip Girl, surfing internet to search for information and keeping myself updated with the latest fashion trend. Oh! And I almost forgot….I LOVE sleeping.
The top five websites which I visited the most are www.topshop.com, to look at the new season of clothes and accessories available In Malaysia’s outlets; www.forever21.com is also another website which I love to visit to learn about the latest fashion trend. Looking at these websites gives me the urge to shop! *Lol*
Besides, www.gsc.com is also one of my favourite websites which I checked often as I’m a movie lover. It is useful not only to check the show times, it provides e-ticketing services as well, saving me the queuing time to buy the movie tickets.
That’s all yall. CioZ!

Greeting everyone!!!

Hello everyone~!!

Thank you for visiting our blog 

I shall first introduce myself. I’m Ong Chiew Ling, from BAC , currently a Year 3 Sem 1 Student. I come from Sarikei, a small town in Sarawak . Sarikei is a place where elderly people would love to stay; it is peaceful, the air is less polluted, and the people are close-knitted with each other.
My hobbies are chatting with friends, watching drama, surfing internet, playing table tennis, and etc. The websites that I visited the most are www.facebook.com and www.friendster.com because these two websites enable me to keep in touch with my friends as well as meeting and making new friends from all around the world. Besides that, I also visit http://wble.utar.edu.my frequently In order to keep myself updated with the latest information that lecturers just uploaded. Furthermore, I also always visit www.blogger.com to blog about my personal feelings and emotions when I am in the mood to blog. Besides, one of my hobbies is to read other people’s blog to know about their recent happenings. Lastly, I also love to visit www.youtube.com to keep myself entertained with dramas and music videos.

Hello everyone!

Welcome to our ec-line blog owned by Chiew Ling, Marie Wong and me, ms Yoong Lee Ping =)

*clears throat * I shall introduce myself now.

I am turning 21 years old this September. I come from Petaling Jaya, Selangor. My hobbies are travelling, hanging out with friends, watching movies, dreaming, sleeping, shopping and etc, these are just a few to name. The most obvious one is certainly dreaming, as my friends often catch me dreaming almost anytime, anywhere. Not to mention during class, even sitting in front of my computer and while taking Lrt I could dream too! *Lol*
The top five websites which I visited the most are:
www.hotmail.com and www.gmail.com
I frequently check my mails as I love to read meaningful or hilarious forwarded emails either in words or pictures or both. However I don’t actually use them to compose mails to keep in touch with my friends.
Besides, www.facebook.com is also one of my favourite websites. I love to read comments, updates, to see new photos uploaded by friends as well as to play the quizzes available in facebook. It is a useful tool that actually helps people to catch up with their loved ones.
www.google.com is also my favourite search engine and I visit www.youtube.com whenever I feel like watching a music video or to get the latest news about a celebrity.
Lastly, I visit www.gsc.com pretty often too especially during weekends to check the show time of the movies available.
Hav a good day! 