Information Assurance

Information assurance (IA) is the protection of information systems against unauthorized access to or modification of information that is stored, processed, or being sent over a network.  For e-commerce to be secure, the information assurance should ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. Confidentiality means that private information should be encrypted so that the person who it is intended for can only read it. Integrity means that the information should be kept accurate without being altered. Lastly, availability means that the data, website of other EC information should be timely, reliable and restricted to authorized users.

For the EC data to b able to have confidentiality, integrity and be available, the data should also depend on authentication. Which is the process of verifying the real identity of an entity like a person, computer or website. Authentication verifies that the entity is who it claims to be. After the entity is authenticated, the entity also needs to be authorized. The process of authorization is the process in which it is determined what the authenticated entity is allowed to access and what operations he is allowed to perform. There is also nonrepudiation, which is the process that assures that online customers or teading partners cannot falsely deny their purchase or transaction.

Authentication and nonrepudiation are defenses against phishing and identity theft. To ensure trust in EC transactions, digital signatures or digital certificates are used to validate the sender and time stamp of the transaction so that later it cannot be claimed that the transaction was unauthorized or invalid. 

Virtual Fitting Room

Online retail sales only account for 8% of total retail sales. This is due in part because customers are skeptical that if they can't try the clothes on before buying them, the clothes may not fit them properly. Customers don't want to go through the long process of having to return their clothes and exchanging it for a different size that once again may or may not fit. This is also very inconvenient for retailers because they have large amounts a returns which increases their costs. Previously I talked about UpCload, a size profiling technology that tells you whether a specific clothing item will fit according to your body measures taken through a webcam. However that technology does not let you see how a clothing item will look on you before you buy it. "Fits.me" is an Estonian startup offering a solution to this problem using a robotic mannequin that can mimic your body shape so you can see exactly how a clothing item would look on you online before purchasing it. The robot is capable of replicating 2000 body shapes. 

Retailers that sign up with Fits.me, send their clothes to Fits.me so that the robot can cycle all the body shapes it knows with the clothes on. At the same time a camera is taking shots and storing them in an online database. When a customer goes online and they enter their body shapes, the software calls up the picture of the mannequin that corresponds to that body shape. This way you can see exactly how a clothing item fits on you online. The robot can show you how a medium looks on you versus a large. Fits.me has increased sales of some online retailers by 300% and reduced returns by 28 %. This new technology is certainly very useful in my opinion for customers and retailers, but I am sure that the robot will not be able to mimic exactly how a clothing item looks on every body type. Each individual has a different and unique shape. Also another reason why customers don't like to buy online as much and prefer buying clothes offline is because they like to feel the fabric of the clothing before buying it. Fits.me will definitely solve some of the problems involving returns an low purchasing rates but it won't solve the problem entirely. Here is a video showing how the robot takes different body shapes.

Blue Nile Inc.

Blue Nile Inc. (bluenile.com) is a pure-play online e-tailer that sells diamonds and Jewelry since 1999.  Blue Nile's success is due partly to its B2C EC model that allows it to cut down prices by 35% and to get rid of intermediaries. This has allowed Blue Nile to capture a large market share in a short period of time.

It is hard to believe that an online diamond business would be successful, but Blue Nile has defied this conventional wisdom by providing more information about diamonds that any jewelry expert could offer at any other physical store. The vast selection of diamonds and the availability of information have attracted many customers who are not willing to pay the high prices at Tiffany & Co. 

In 2007, Blue Nile sales were $319 million and kept growing 24 % annually and became the eighth largest jewelry company in the United States. Most jewelry companies need 300 stores and 2200 employees to be able to sell $319 million every year and Blue Nile is able to achieve this with a 10000-square-foot warehouse and only 115 staffers. Also, in the diamond industry, a diamond goes through five or more middlemen before reaching a retailer. Blue Nile reduces this by dealing with its suppliers directly. What gives a competitive edge to Blue Nile is its 30 day money-back guarantee, because its gives security to its customers who usually have to worry about paying a fee if they want to return a diamond at other retailers.