Electronic Commerce refers to the process of buying, selling and exchanging products, information and services through Internet Turban King 2003. Companies and organisations nowadays due to EC's spectacular growth in 21st century have significantly concerned it and applied to their business. Recently, most of the companies have integrated their traditional business into electronic business and expanded worldwide. Regarding to a company called SatWorld that is specialising in providing satellite TV, GPS and communication equipment in both business to business (B2B) and business to consumers (B2C) segments. However, the company has used only paper, fax and e-mail based document for their supply chain. This assignment is enabling electronic commerce on SatWorld which including on-line sales, establish a chain and provide an ICT infrastructure. This can increase theirs sales without expanding customer base and establishing national presence. Lastly, a marketing strategy related to marketing mix, database management systems, which provide a chain to link up branches and head office, the security privacy and security of Internet, would be covered.
MARKETING STRATEGY - MARKETING MIX
Marketing mix is defined as a fundamental of marketing plans. The functions of all marketing mix work together evenly as a team and complement each other (Parmerlee, 2000). In the meantime, it is also determined as a set of controllable marketing tools, which are utilised to produce the response. However, the Internet marketing has changed some elements of the marketing mix. Obviously unlike traditional marketing, Internet marketing works in very different process. Thus, marketing mix dimensions, which may be facilitated through the utilisation of the Internet, are studied. There are product, price, place, promotion and physical distribution.
Product
Product can always be divided into a complex bundle of benefits, which mean different things to different customers and satisfy their needs (Ivy, 2000). In this study of SatWorld, the concept of product configuration should become literal via the mechanism of a configuration engine (Kalyanam & Mclntyre, 2002). For instance, Dell Inc.'s web site provides a configuration engine that can be utilised by the customers to design their own specification of computer. Furthermore, from the research of Kalyanam and Mclntyre (2002), web sites with digital services delivery, which can provide benefits including cost savings, anytime and anywhere to customers is capable for many product categories.
Price
Price is defined as value that is placed on product and it is commonly measured in money. It is the only variable within marketing mix that linked directly to revenue. As Malhotra (2007) pointed out, the psychological influences of price on customer's product evaluations need to be concerned to avoid errors from pricing decisions. In addition, the Internet marketing environment provide a widely utilisation of pricing mechanism (Kalyanam & Mclntyre, 2002). For instance, the online forward auction and dynamic pricing on eBay Inc.'s web site. By offering items directly (disintermediation), sellers can obtain more profit from buyers who have more opportunity to bargain instead at a fixed price in the same time (Turban & King, 2003).
Place
As Ferrerri (2001) indicated that the products are not necessary to be anywhere, however, they should be able to obtain from anywhere and fast. Undoubtedly, the environment of Internet marketing can fulfil the condition of this element. Beside this, the utilisation of the Internet allow sales department to communicate with the customer from different part of the world (Eid & Trueman, 2002).
Promotion
Promotion refers to an organisation that persuades its target customers to buy the products and communicates its products' merits. It encompasses all the tools that SatWorld can utilise to the market with sales promotion, direct marketing and advertising (Sheth, 2006). However, Poon and Jevons (1997) argued that some of the promotion strategies do not work effective on the Internet since it is different with traditional market. For instance, advertising will globally reach the customer, thus its costs will be significantly reduced and is cheaper than traditional market under comparison.
Physical Distribution
As Wilson and Abel (2002) indicated that the Internet is borderless which mean there is more opportunity to sell products through the Internet without natural barriers to entry. In other words, ordering the products from their web sites via Internet decreases the distinction between businesses to another businesses. Thus, SatWorld can have a cheaper distribution channels to sell their products to buyers. However, it is necessary that SatWorld is capable to have twenty-four-hour order taking and high responsiveness of customer service in order to achieve the distribution system.
DATABASE MANAGEMENT
According to the literature, there are a number of advantages processing with a database basic management system (DMBS) (Anjard Sr, 1995). Data can be stored in a location and accessed by many various departments and systems. However Segev and Zhao (1994) argued that the DMBS is worked inefficiency without expert systems (ES). They are both being integrated into a new type of systems, expert database systems (EDS). Beside that, the integration is inevitable due to first, the data needed for ES application may already be stored and it is costly to reproduce the data. Secondly, the functions ES are not as well as in current DBMS. Thus, the combination EDS will provide efficient and systematic development of data-intensive (Segev & Zhao, 1994).
ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE (EDI)
Electronic data interchange (EDI) refers to the movement of business data and documents that permits to be exchanged between structured firms, without rekeying, from a business application location point to another point of business application location (Hansen & Hill, 1989). Researchers have indicated that using EDI will lead to vertical information integration between business partners along the chain (Bakos & Treacy, 1986). EDI significantly affect companies conduct business with their customers and suppliers by improving accuracy and timeliness of information exchanged (Mukhopadhyay, Kekre & Kalathur, 1995).
According to the studies from Hansen and Hill (1989), EDI consists of seven benefit factors, which are improved customer service, improved control of data, reduced clerical error, decreased administrative cost, decreased inventory cost, increased sales and decreased manufacturing cost. Meanwhile, the spectacular growth of EDI since 1990's due to quick response and access to information, cost efficiency and customer's request.
TRANSACTION PROCESSING SYSTEMS (TPS)
Transaction processing is determined as the fundamental of organisation information processing activity that involve with an exchange of messages across organisation boundaries (Culnan, 1992). Through the studies, two major roles have been sought. Transaction processing systems (TPS) serve as an organisational boundary spanner. For other information systems, a major producer of information has been served as well.
INTERNET SECURITY
A new medium for communicating and interacting with customers is recently become significant for the Internet, hence, the roles that marketing play will be affected (Sierra, Hernández, Ponce & Manera, 2005). Meanwhile, security obviously become a big issue for SatWorld to provide services through Internet to customers who from around the world. On the one hand, utilising security technologies must protect information system under possibility of attacks or flaws. Those technologies for Internet security are firewalls, user authentication, data encryption, key management, digital certificates, Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), virus detection, Virtual Private Networks (VPN) and extranet (Hawkins, Yen & Chou, 2000). However on the other hand, it is necessary that SatWorld educate customers to utilise the technologies.
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) SECURITY
Figure 1
Customer's ICT Knowledge
Qualitative Marketing
Transitive Trust
Transitive Trust
Quantitative Marketing
According to the studies from Sierra, Hernández, Ponce and Manera (2005) through Knowledge on ICT of the Customer, marketing strategy could be different between a marketing based quantitative description and qualitative description (Figure 1). For instance, the quantitative perspective should be utilised instead of qualitative when the customer's decreases. However, none of the marketing based description of the security measures can be utilised when the customer knowledge is the modest. On the other hand, there is another way called transitive trust has been determined from the studies. It refers to the certification of the security level that supported by third party, for example, an online company.
INTEROPERABILITY OF INTERNET SECURITY METHODS
Figure 2
Interoperability of Security Components
Users
RAS Server
Data Encryption
Data Server
Extranet/Virtual Private Network
Server
Firewall
User Authentication
Internet
Company Network
Vendors and Suppliers
Actually all Internet security methods are able to work together within a network in various ways as figure 2 above (Hawkins, Yen & Chou, 2000). User authentication is utilised to prevent gateways outside, for example, remote access service (RAS), which utilises to protect important data that only can be accessed with the authorised user. Furthermore, data encryption can be utilised to exchange data from home computer to the Internet at the same time. Hence, user has the same right to access from home instead of company. In addition, as Chellis and Donald (1996) indicated that RAS server has its own protection including encrypted passwords and user permission.
SECURITY POLICY
Security policy for SatWorld refers to specify the application independent security rules. This rule is enforced for multilevel security to ensure that the user who is operating at level one cannot view data, which is classified at level two (Thuraisingham, 2007). In a multilevel secure, users pass the database at different level to access the management system. For instance, a user from SatWorld in a secret level can access all data at that level or below, however, there will be a restriction and limitation for those users who at the unclassified level can only access unclassified data.
CONCLUSION
In a nutshell, traditional business is quite different with electronic business. The marketing strategy should change once the company integrated into online sales. Furthermore, database management has been concerned significantly to access the data from different departments. However, a risk has been sought if SatWorld expand its business globally without a good Internet security. According to the literature, different Internet security methods can work together which helps to prevent the important data and keeps the privacy or secret between company and customer's profile. Meanwhile, classification of user is necessary under security policy.
