North Kent College

At the end of this lesson you will be able to;

 Outline the aims and objectives of the unit
 Understand the unit contents and how it fits
with the unit assessment
 Units aims and objectives
 Learning outcomes of the unit

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Carry out quick research on the Internet to
answer the following question
 What is e-commerce?
Unit Aims
To enable learners to apply the business skills needed to design an e-commerce solution for an
organisation

Unit Abstract:
Organisations of all sizes, structures and aims can benefit from the opportunities made
available by the intelligent application of communication-based technologies and there will
always be a need for practitioners who have a good understanding of those technologies. E-
Commerce has become a vital part of an organisation’s ability to reach out to the
marketplace and position itself to maximise commercial returns on investment.

Poor choices of technology and processes will result in poorly managed opportunities, which
could lose business, market position and profitability. Learners will investigate the values of
business skills by exploring current, topical examples of e-Commerce practices. Learners will
consider how to design an e-Commerce solution to the best advantage of the organisation and
its stakeholders (for example employees, suppliers and customers). Learners will explore
current legislation concerning e-commerce based trading, organisational responsibilities and
finance/payment systems.
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The units contains the following key learning
outcomes
 Understanding the structure and aims of business
organisations
 Understanding the impact of e-Commerce
 Designing( be able to design) e-commerce solutions

Brief descriptions of each is given in the coming

slides
We will look into three related topics in this
learning outcome;
 Organisations:
type e.g. private, public, charitable business organisations; aims e.g. profit,
market share, Return on Capital Employed (ROCE), sales; growth, customer
service; Political, Economic, Social and Technological (PEST) analysis.
 Stakeholders:
Identification of stakeholders; satisfying stakeholder objectives; mission and
vision statement
 Business functions:
Key internal business functions e.g. marketing, sales, accounting,
administration; Management Information Systems (MIS), operations,
payment systems etc.
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 Under this learning outcome, two key concepts
are covered
 Consumer impact: (from consumer point of view mainly positive)
Empowered customers e.g. online sales, direct communication with
customers, greater choice, lower prices, availability of new products; global
markets; new marketing models; on-line advertising etc.
 Business impact: (From business point of view- mainly challenges )
Global business and consumer markets issues e.g. challenge of new
technology, security issues, impact and implications of dealing with
customers on-line, creating new distribution channels, greater competition,
challenge to monopoly power, retraining of staff, legislation
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 Objectives: business idea e.g. unique selling proposition, business-to-
business opportunities, business to consumer markets; domain name

 Market research: purpose of research e.g. identifying information

sources, online and offline competition; types of research e.g. primary,
secondary

 Target markets: market analysis e.g. size, characteristics, dynamics,

competitors, historical background, emerging trends, market share,
market segmentation

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There will be an employment opportunity for
you from time to time after each session .
The aim of this is to make you familiar with
the industry and typical jobs for graduates.
Can you;
 Outline the aims and objectives of the unit
 Understand the unit contents and how it fits
with the unit assessment
We will have exit tickets to seal each session for
formative feedback

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