Ecommerce Interview Preparation Guide

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How E-commerce works?
List the major benefits of E-commerce.
What are the various applications of E-commerce?
Explain the term “Web Hosting”.
Explain in brief B2B, B2C, C2B and C2C.
Explain electronic payment procedure.

The merchant submits a credit card transaction to the Payment Gateway on behalf of a customer via secure connection from a Web site, at retail, from a MOTO center or a wireless device.
Payment Gateway receives the secure transaction information and passes it via a secure connection to the Merchant Bank’s Processor.
The Merchant Bank’s Processor submits the transaction to the Credit Card Interchange (a network of financial entities that communicate to manage the processing, clearing, and settlement of credit card transactions).
The Credit Card Interchange routes the transaction to the customer’s Credit Card Issuer.
The Credit Card Issuer approves or declines the transaction based on the customer’s available funds and passes the transaction results, and if approved, the appropriate funds, back through the Credit Card Interchange.
The Credit Card Interchange relays the transaction results to the Merchant Bank’s Processor.
The Merchant Bank’s Processor relays the transaction results to Payment Gateway.
Payment Gateway stores the transaction results and sends them to the customer and/or the merchant. This communication process averages three seconds or less.
The Credit Card Interchange passes the appropriate funds for the transaction to the Merchant’s Bank, which then deposits funds into the merchant’s bank account. The funds are typically deposited into your primary bank account within two to four business days.

In B2B, companies transact with each other. This includes the companies selling their product to wholesalers, distributors, etc

This is usually when average businesses transact with the customer. This is done through the shopping cart softwares and the amount involved in the transactions is usually low.

In this, a consumer places the product on the net. The companies willing to buy this product bid for it. The comsumer can then decide, depending upon the bid, which company to sell it to.

These kind of transactions are usually done at an individual level. Payments can be done with the help of online systems like PayPal.

Web hosting is a way to gain a presence on the internet. The web hosting company should be capable of providing you with the level of service that you need to maintain your Web Store.

Following are a few products where Ecommerce can be used:

Computer products (hardware, software, accessories)
Books
Music
Financial Services
Entertainment
Home Electronics
Apparel
Gifts and flowers
Travel services
Toys
Tickets
Information

Once the product is selected, the consumer transaction is moved to the online transaction server where he places an order.
The informations is exchanged over a secure channel through a private gateway to a processing network.
The networked banks accept or reject the transaction.
All this happens in just a matter of seconds.
eCommerce is a very secure due to the SSL (Secure Socket Layer) technology.

The basic steps involved in becoming Commerce Enabled are:

Getting an Internet Merchant Bank Account
Web Hosting
Obtaining a Digital Certificate
Finding a Provider of Online Transactions
Creating or Purchasing a Shopping Cart Software

The major benefits of Ecommerce are:

secure - more secure than a cheque.
fast - the transactions take not more than a few seconds
always on - the purchases can be made 24/7
convenient - ease of purchasing
reduced cost price - Reduction of Marketing and Advertising Costs