Understand the keys to successful electronic commerce Web sites, and explain the different forms of Internet marketing. Successful B2C companies have a Web site that offers something unique, is aesthetically pleasing, is easy to use, and is fast, and that motivates people to visit, to stay, and to return. A company should also advertise its presence on the Web (e.g., using search engine marketing) and should try to learn from its Web site (using Web analytics). Popular ways to advertise products or services on the Web are search marketing, display ads, e-mail marketing, social media, and mobile marketing. Advertisers pay for these types of Internet marketing on the basis of either the number of impressions or pay-per-click.

 

Explain the three components of business intelligence: information and knowledge discovery, business analytics, and information visualization. Information and knowledge discovery tools are used to discover “hidden” relationships in data. Ad hoc query tools allow decision makers to run queries whenever needed. OLAP tools offer the ability to perform complex multidimensional queries. Data mining is used for association discovery and clustering and classification. Unstructured data analysis is used to extract information from textual documents. Business analytics augments business intelligence by using statistical analysis and predictive modelling to identify trends or predict business outcomes. Decision support and intelligent systems are used to support human and automated decision making. A DSS is designed to be an interactive decision aid. Intelligent systems such as expert systems, neural networks, and intelligent agents work to emulate and enhance human capabilities. Knowledge management systems are a collection of technology-based tools that enable the generation, storage, sharing, and management of knowledge assets. Visualization refers to the display of complex data relationships using a variety of graphical methods. Results of complex analyses as well as key performance indicators are displayed on digital dashboards, which are often used to provide decision makers with the right information in an easy-to-understand way. Visual analytics combines the human visual system and analysis techniques to aid in the analysis of complex relationships and make sense of “noisy” data. GISs aid in storing, analyzing, and managing geographically referenced information, such as for locating target customers or finding optimal store locations.