Valahian Journal of Economic Studies

The e-Commerce Tools and their Use in the Global Market

Veronica STEFAN
Valentin RADU
Valahia University of Targoviste, Romania
veronica.stefan@ats.com.ro

Abstract
This paper aims to contribute to the foreshadowing of the future of commerce,
identifying key directions for change impact analysis of new technologies and the
possibilities offered by some emerging solutions such as those in the field of electronic
commerce. It addresses the issue of business model innovation in trade and changes in the
retail industry's structure, cataloging some software products, their characteristics and
specific solutions offered.
The result is a set of tools and useful recommendations for the creation of
advanced electronic commerce applications that take into account both the technology and
the protection of consumer rights in the global marketplace.

Keywords: e-Commerce, Global market, Web technologies, Software tools

JEL Classification: O3

Introduction

Traditional trade activity must change and adapt constantly to the market
conditions and technological changes to remain a highly competitive sector. The buyer
today is more hurried, more mobile, more informed and concerned about health issues,
environment, comfort and aesthetics, more demanding in terms of quality and level of
customization. Trading activity should provide an appropriate response to changing
demographic factors such as population migration, expanding urbanization, increasing
average age, reducing the average size of households or demographic decline and also to
the effect of globalization.
The operating costs of traditional commercial enterprises are growing while buyers
are savvier under the impact of the global financial crisis, which put additional pressure on
the profit levels. Under these conditions, increasing innovation and applying the newest
and modern technologies is the main way for enhancing trade competitiveness [Papazoglou
& Ribbers, 2006].
The use of new information and communications technologies provide innovative
solutions represented through competitive software tools, web technology and content
development; new forms of shops, new types of commercial technologies, new methods
and new strategies for market sale, which this paper aims to investigate. The results will
contribute to the analysis and predictability of expected mutations in the structure and
methods of commerce activity and solutions to acquire the knowledge and skills needed in

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the field, the issue of achieving multi-channel commerce, setting and development the
main modules of the electronic commerce platforms.

1. Electronic commerce software tools

For those who want to develop a successful business in the field of electronic
commerce there is a very varied supply of software products designed to achieve a fully
standardized electronic shop with all the necessary modules, quickly, easily and especially
without much cost [Powers, 2010 ], [Nixob, 2009].
The following software products are designed to create and manage online stores
and are among the most famous and popular product of its kind.
They belong to two distinct categories:
firmware products;
freeware products.

1.1. Firmware software tools for e-Commerce

There are two ways of implementing and working:

by download from the official websites a trial, a program aimed to achieving an
electronic commerce site with this product, for a limited period, usually a wizard that
guides through the process of making site. This system dont offers all the functionality of
the paid product but only a limited functionality, to convince the user about products
performance.
by creating test sites on the server, using the product for a limited period
(approx. 14 days), in this case with available and free hosting. Similar to the previous case,
this variant offer only a part of the basic modules and products functions.
The main characteristics of firmware software tools for electronic commerce:
for the site: product catalog, product descriptions, shopping cart, search by
various features of the products, VAT, inventory, multiple currencies, order history,
invoice issuing, electronic payment, remote management, other;
for the software product: software price, the platform on which to install,
operating system, server scripting (ASP, PHP, other), acceptance of third-party modules.
Firmware software provides a complete set of tools for developing electronic
commerce applications. These products typically have multiple modules and their
integrated functionality level depends on the modules chosen and their properties.
Among the most used and powerful software firmware:
CoreCommerce
Interspire Shopping Cart
X-Cart
LiteCommerce 2.2x
EROL Business
StoreFront XE

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1.2 Freeware software tools for e-Commerce

The category of freeware software tools for e-Commerce offers greater flexibility
in adding personal module, a narrower range of features of the site, cost, optionally even
the possibility of hosting the site on the own server.
There are two ways of implementing and working:
by download a site structure in ASP or PHP or anything that allow to make
changes and to upload databases;
by download a program, which, using a wizard, is guiding the development of
the electronic commerce application that later will be customized.
The most important features for software products selected:
for the site: product catalog, product descriptions, shopping cart, search by
various features of the products, VAT, inventory, multiple currencies, order history,
invoice issuing, electronic payment, remote management, other;
for the software: software price, the platform on which to install, operating
system, server scripting (ASP, PHP, other), acceptance of third-party modules, other.
Among the most used and powerful freeware software for e-Commerce: Magento,
Zen Cart, Ubercart, osCommerce Online Merchant, Quick.Cart

Table 1.
Software tools for e-Commerce
Firmware software tools Freeware software tools
CoreCommerce Magento
Interspire Shopping Cart Zen Cart
X-Cart Ubercart
LiteCommerce 2.2x osCommerce Online Merchant
EROL Business Quick.Cart
StoreFront XE BizHosting
Yahoo! Merchant Solutions
EasyStoreCreator

2. Comparing features for e-Commerce software tools

2.1 CoreCommerce

CoreCommerce is an electronic commerce tools for solution all-in-one, providing

tools for building websites, shopping cart technology and web hosting through the hosting
provider called Rackspace http://www.corecommerce.com/. This firmware software allow
to quickly create online shops based on an existing design or using one of the professional
design templates and functionalities.
CoreCommerce is considered one of the most innovative software for electronic
commerce, constantly updated with new features suggested by customers. Is ideal for small
and medium businesses for areas such as clothing, automobile, electronic goods,
downloadable products, food and drink gifts, toys, sports and games, others.

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Figure 1.
CoreCommerce commercial tool

With CoreCommerce there are no fees for installation and configuration and the
first 30 days of using the product are free. Basic package provides the ability to sell up to
50 products, use up to 1 GB of bandwidth per month and 100 MB of storage space on the
server. There are still three packages differentiated by the maximum number of products
that can be marketed, bandwidth and amount of memory allocated to the server.

2.2 X-Cart

Qualiteam Software is the firm that developed X-Cart, a software tool for
electronic commerce that is one of the best shopping-cart system in the world.
This software has ensured the success of many businesses around the world
http://www.x-cart.com/ecommerce_software.html.
X-Cart offers for retailers the necessary tools to sell online: dynamic product
catalog, shopping cart, ability to oversee the stock, tools, top and cross sale, up-sell and
cross-sell, the administration Web based, search engine optimization, integration with the
leading couriers in order to deliver and more than 100 portals and payment systems.
This software electronic commerce tool is based on the template and the code is
open source, which means that the interface and its functionality can be modified or
extended depending on the particular needs of different business.
This product does not require logical limitations in terms of the number of
products that can be transitioned. Rear code is optimized to obtain good performance up to
20.000 products, but depending on server settings that will be installed can cover up to
500.000 products.
X-Cart is available in two variants, X-Cart Gold and X-Cart Pro, with distinct
features and functions, depending on the size and the type of business.

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Figure 2.
X-Cart software tool

General characteristics of the two software are the same, but X-Cart Pro is an
electronic commerce solution that offers a way for more companies to sell products online
in the same virtual store, while in terms of X-Cart Gold only one trader can operate in an
online shop.
System Requirements for X-Cart tool:
X-Cart can be installed and running on multiple operating systems: Linux,
Windows, MAC, other;
The server must provide support for MySQL databases versions starting from
3.23 to 5.x version;
The server that hosts the site must allow running some external executable files
such as modules Pearl, HTTPS, other;
It is recommended to obtain an SSL certificate for securing online transactions.

2.3 Magento

Magento is an electronic platform from freeware category, which gives traders

flexibility and also an unprecedented control over the interface, content and functionality
of their virtual store www.magentocommerce.com
Magento intuitive administration interface exposes powerful marketing tools,
search engine optimization (SEO) and to manage product catalogs through which offers
traders the power to make websites tailored to the unique needs of their business.
It is designed to be completely scalable and offers a final solution ecommerce
holding company Varien offers a network of maintenance and operation.

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Regarding the facility for implementing the software solution, Magento is
available free and downloadable as open source under OSL 3.0 license.

Figure 3.
Magento Enterprise Edition

Beneficiaries of this solution can receive technical support from the company
Varien according to business needs, requests and packages of support services. Even
without the benefit of the services offered by the company owning Magento, the product is
supported by a large community of users and there are many sources with information
regarding the exploitation of this program, including discussion forums.
Magento is a solution developed as open source and is therefore free of cost, but
that is as "bright" and sophisticated as a commercial solution. Figure 3 summarizes its
main functionalities.

3. Performance criteria

Regardless of the software used, an electronic commerce online platform must

meet a range of performance characteristics [Nastase & Timofte, 2004]:
The strategy of selling: grouping and presenting the products very clearly
explained, the order fulfillment policy, understanding the basic requirements of the
potential buyers;
Confidence in the company standing behind the virtual store: how much the site
is set up with all the information that would interest a buyer, to inspiring confidence;
sometimes, insignificant details can make the difference between a finalized command or
an abandoned one;
The navigation catalog; all products must be found easily and intuitively;
Increasing the probability to keep customers: knowing how buyers search in the
site, using the own search-engine;

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Product description: paying attention to some hidden traps that can cause
confusion and problems for buyers;
The order system: online customers have certain expectations about the way to
order. Failure the usual steps, imposition of restrictions or lack of information erodes
purchasing desire and customer confidence.

4. The result of technological change

In the market economy the consumer is dominant, it constitutes the reference

element of all actions taken by both the manufacturer and the retailer.
As a result of the technological revolution brought by the Internet, digitization and
globalization of trade, consumers face an environment of increasingly complex, leading to
the emergence of significant challenges regarding the protection of consumer rights.
Guaranteeing these rights can be provided if the online solutions will include in the
interface of applications menus, forms or modules referring to the basic consumer rights:
the right to protection of health and safety, the right to information and education, the right
to protection of economic interests, right to choose, the right to compensation, the right to
ensure basic needs, freedom of association and representation of clients in organizations
beneficiaries.
Given that the production, distribution and marketing of goods and services truly
global dimension, traders will sell more and more online, their products anywhere in the
world via e-Commerce. This globalization makes it difficult to identify unsafe products
entering the market. Products and services will be increasingly more sophisticated and
customized instead traditional consumer rights will become less and less adapted to the
digital age. This increases the difficulties of protecting consumer rights and therefore need
to ensure effective market surveillance, so consumer policy to better adapt to these
realities.
The inclusion of customer satisfaction questionnaires for testing and the possibility
of submitting online feedback in the e-Commerce platforms can help to improve this.
These issues involve a practically effort to create an economic, informational,
institutional and appropriate legal basis which could be fully used for protecting consumer
rights, guaranteed by law and implemented by web technologies.

Conclusions

Electronic commerce is being increasingly used in product design, supply chain,

sales and marketing. Having the support of advanced software for online tools
development, electronic commerce will be adopted by organizations having infrastructure,
applications and business management skills to support collaborative practices.
There is a strong correlation between the adoption of electronic commerce and the
adoption of a new set of rules regulation for financial services and communications; banks
and financial investment companies are among the fastest growing technology users. Very
soon, most trade and financial services will be made online. Email addresses are becoming
as important as geographical addresses, and in some areas they are even more.
Collaborative trade optimizes supply and distribution channels to make an organization
more competitive and profitable.
Analyzing the electronic commerce from the perspective of a sustainable business
and appropriate strategies specific to an efficient organization we could conclude that
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requires the introduction of new indicators for sustainable implementation of such
solutions, companies or business.
Developing a sustainable online business concept needs a business mindset change
from all stakeholders and interested partners. It refers to understanding business in a
holistic way, involving all the stakeholders in a partnership cooperation.
These features attract accountability to closely monitoring the business and also
the virtual business throughout the whole cycle of life with appropriate software tools, like
those described here.

References

Papazoglou, M.P, Ribbers, P.M.A, (2006), E-Business: Organizational and Technical

Foundations, J. Wiley USA.
Powers, D., (2010), PHP Solutions: Dynamic Web Design Made Easy, friends of ED, USA
Nastase Fl., Timofte C., (2004), Tehnologia afacerilor pe Internet, ASE, Bucuresti.
Nixob R., (2009), Learning PHP, MySQL, and JavaScript: A Step-By-Step Guide to
Creating Dynamic Websites, Wiley, USA
http://ecommerce-software-review.toptenreviews.com/
http://www.finestshops.com/
http://blog.webdistortion.com/2008/05/03/9-kick-ass-open-source-e-commerce-platforms-
reviewed/
http://www.blueacorn.com/blog/shopping-carts/magento-commerce-a-first-look/
http://www.corecommerce.com
http://www.interspire.com
http://www.x-cart.com
http://www.magentocommerce.com/

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