E-commerce in small and medium enterprises: current situation and solutions

Businesses should not delay in registering domain names because the principle in registration is that whoever registers first will be granted first.

Businesses should not take advantage of free domain names on the Internet (domain name providers allow users to have domain names without paying a fee) because this service has many potential problems later that businesses need to be aware of. Once a business registers a free domain name, the business will not have ownership of it because the free domain name registration service has invested in it and will find a way to recoup profits in the future. If after many years of operation, the business's website has a certain reputation but the free domain name provider asks the business to pay a price that is too high compared to the reality to maintain the website, then the business will fall into a difficult situation. The cost of owning a domain name and maintaining it annually is completely insignificant compared to the operation of a business. Do not put your business at risk for the sake of saving a small amount of money.

Building database system

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After finding a quality hosting service and having a good domain name, businesses should not immediately proceed to the next step of website design. Because when doing that step without a solid database system, website design will become complicated and difficult to achieve the goals that the business initially set. Businesses need to determine what the purpose of the website is? The website is just a place to promote, introduce products, the business's brand, expand reputation or is an online sales website. Websites usually include both of the above purposes, but if the business determines its goal is to sell online, the system

The database needs to be prepared more carefully because direct shopping needs have higher demands than reference purposes.

For a business in the import-export sector, the main purpose of the website is to promote the products as well as the reputation of the business to foreign customers. Therefore, the database is not only about individual items with prices, sizes and characteristics of the product, but also needs to pay attention to the delivery terms, such as how much is the CIF price, how much is the EXW price so that partners can consider and choose the appropriate delivery terms. Moreover, the website aims to promote the reputation of the business, the database needs to have introductions about the achievements and reputation of the business. Thus, partners can understand more about the business before making long-term cooperation decisions.

As for websites that are intended to be online stores, they need to have a detailed database system of products that they intend to sell on the website. The database needs to have complete and accurate information about the features, images, and prices of the products, which will help consumers easily make purchasing decisions without having to look up any other information.

The database system is the foundation for the future operations of the website.

Website design

When setting up a website for themselves, businesses need to set goals to achieve in order to take full advantage of the outstanding advantages that websites in particular and e-commerce in general bring. Here are some basic goals that businesses need to aim for:

 Enhance reputation by building a more solid and modern corporate image.

 Promote your products and services

 Advertise on many markets at a lower cost than before with advertising banners on other websites about the business's website, ... But it is also necessary to choose advertising forms that are suitable for the characteristics of the product and the conditions of the business.

 Answer customer questions about the company's products and services. Customers do not need to spend money on phone calls or travel to get the necessary information related to products and services. The company's employees can answer those questions through the Q&A section right on the website or can use the email service. This will shorten the response time for customers due to the flexibility of e-commerce. When customers have questions about any information related to the company such as products and services, employees can answer customers immediately through Yahoo Chat or Skype.

 Provide same-day services or services outside normal business hours

 Use email as a marketing tool and a tool to communicate with customers, but avoid overusing it because it will cause spam and inconvenience customers if it does not meet their needs.

 Coordinate supply relationships with customers from multiple markets

 Conducting foreign market research through online surveys helps businesses save a lot of costs while still achieving high efficiency.

Businesses that want to design a website will have to go through the following stages:

 Planning

 Identify audience and competitors

 Website Building

 Determine website structure.

 Interface design

General criteria for evaluating an e-commerce website in particular:

 Attractiveness and design quality.

 Universality.

 Consistency.

 Easy to upgrade.

 Information security

 Display speed

 Linking and interoperability.

The content of the website should include the following main elements:

 Company logo

 List of main products with pictures (catalogue).

Photos of businesses and business owners.

Website advertising

In the era of information technology development as today, forms of advertising and marketing will reach consumers more frequently and more updated. To achieve that goal, it is essential for businesses to build a suitable advertising and marketing strategy.

If a business has an eye-catching website, an easy-to-remember domain name, and a perfect service for consumers, but few people know about the website, it is also a big failure for the business. Make a plan

Website advertising planning is an indispensable step in the process of applying e-commerce in business.

Businesses can apply traditional forms of advertising such as using media such as television, radio, newspapers, etc. because it reaches the majority of the public. Or sponsoring competitions and television programs is also a form of advertising favored by businesses.

But businesses cannot ignore online advertising such as placing banners on websites with a large number of visitors, exchanging links (placing links on other websites and vice versa) or advertising via email to potential customers. However, businesses also need to pay attention not to overuse this form of advertising, because it will cause trouble for users if they receive too many advertising emails that do not match their needs, and it will become spam. There is a new but effective option for businesses, which is advertising on world-famous search engines. Website advertising on Google or website advertising on Yahoo will also contribute to attracting a large number of visitors to the business's website, which also means that the business's business and transaction opportunities will increase significantly over time. Keywords on the business's website are rated higher by Search Engines than other sites. Website advertising services on search engines will help businesses bring information about their websites to the top of the first pages displayed when customers search for a related keyword, so the possibility of customers accessing the business's website is very high.

Get feedback from customers and keep improving

Businesses have anticipated shortcomings and technical errors that may occur during the use of the website, but these are still only subjective estimates of the business. Therefore, businesses need online support tools such as consulting via Yahoo Chat and offline tools such as sending emails to be able to support customers in the most effective and efficient way. From customer questions and feedback, businesses can draw lessons in designing websites to be most convenient for customers or how customers can pay in the fastest and safest way, ... All of these things help businesses to upgrade the quality of their websites as well as the services provided to customers, to become more and more perfect.

2. Solutions to avoid risks in E-commerce

Security and encryption

Currently, the world media reports a lot about the possibility of leaking personal data of customers such as social security numbers, credit card information , etc. This shows that to protect data, just relying on data encryption is not enough. Because more and more hackers can read, exchange data and impersonate to penetrate boldly and skillfully. Thus, businesses need more effective preventive measures to protect important or private data from being violated by hackers.

Businesses need to be aware of the importance of information security and the risks that can occur when business or customer information is leaked. Information security is maintaining the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information, ensuring that information is only accessible to those with appropriate authorization, and protecting the accuracy and completeness of information.

Information and data are only changed by authorized users, and authorized users can retrieve the information when they need it.

Most businesses believe that security issues are mainly based on technical and technological factors. But that is not entirely true, because there is another important factor that also affects information security in businesses, which is the management factor. Management issues here must be understood as including information security policies, the issue of assigning information security responsibilities, information security awareness and training, and planning to ensure business continuity. Another issue worth noting is security threats from within the business. Businesses need to change their views that the biggest risks come from outside or that information security issues are only to protect the system and IT infrastructure; human resource management in information security is not as important as technology; applying high-tech and advanced solutions will increase security. Therefore, businesses need to review this issue and have appropriate information security policies to achieve the highest efficiency.

Enterprises can refer to the solution that many large companies in the world are currently applying, which is the information security management system (ISMS). ISMS is not only a solution to demonstrate its function as well as an information security tool with a 4-step cycle (design, implement, monitor and maintain) but also contributes to changing misconceptions about information security in enterprises. This management system includes organizational structure, policies, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, processes, methods and resources. All of the above issues depend on the human factor, so enterprises should not take this factor lightly because no matter how much investment is made in technology, the risk

Information leaks can still occur and affect the production and business of the enterprise.

Encryption is a useful tool for information security. Encryption is the process of converting text or original documents into encrypted text so that no one, other than the sender and recipient, can read it. The purpose of encryption is to ensure the security of stored information and ensure the security of information during transmission. Encryption is a fairly common technique, capable of ensuring security factors in e-commerce: ensuring message integrity, non-repudiation, ensuring authenticity and confidentiality of information. Businesses can use many different encryption techniques, but there are two basic types of techniques that are widely used: "secret key" encryption and "public key" encryption. And a "public key" encryption method that is very popular today is digital signature. If this method is applied, businesses will go one step further in the process of applying e-commerce.

Electronic payment

Electronic payment is the foundation of the E-commerce system. The fundamental difference between E-commerce and other conventional forms of commerce is the ability to pay online. To apply E-commerce comprehensively, businesses need to perfect the electronic payment system and ensure the factors of safety, reliability and convenience.

Businesses should apply the basic steps in the electronic payment process when transacting online:

 Customers choose products on the business website.

 E-cart software automatically calculates value and displays invoice and order details during customer selection.