You are an E-Commerce consultant and you have been approached by the owner of a major high street guitar
shop in your region. The guitar shop is the largest in the region and has built up an unrivalled reputation
for selling high quality guitars at very competitive prices. One of the main advantages of the shop is that
the staff is all proficient guitar players and is therefore able to offer a high level of guidance and
advice to prospective purchasers.

Guitars continue to be widely used in both popular and classical music, and the owner is keen to exploit
this popularity by opening an e-commerce website that sells the existing range of guitars to a wider
audience.

The range of guitars and equipment currently sold is as follows:

Acoustic guitars;
Amplifiers (lead, bass and acoustic).
Classical guitars;
Electric acoustic guitars;
Electric bass guitars;
Electric guitars;
Left hand-ed guitars;
Limited edition and collectable guitars;
The owner has asked you to undertake a feasibility study into launching the e-commerce site. He is aware of
the many benefits that e-commerce can deliver, but is equally aware of the significant range of threats and
problems that can affect the performance and profitability of such a site.

He is also concerned about the current Internet-based security threats that exist and how these might be
countered.

He is also keen to have an indication of possible future directions in which the site might be able to move
once it has been launched. In particular, he is keen to explore the potential for using an online auction to
sell the limited edition and collectable guitars that he currently offers from his shop.
The guitar shop owner has asked you to prepare the following outputs from your feasibility study:

1. A short presentation of no more than 10 slides which will address some of the key marketing issues for
the new e-commerce site. He wishes to ensure that the new site has a prominent position in the results of
any on-line searches for guitars, so has asked you to pay particular attention to search engine placement,
domain name considerations and branding issues. In addition he is keen to replicate the level of personal
advice given in his shop to on-line purchasers through on-line help and guidance and would like this to be
highlighted as a unique selling point of the site. (Note: You will NOT present this in class it will just be
included as an appendix)

2. A report that will consider the following factors:

whether the development of the e-commerce site should be undertaken on an in- house or outsourced basis.
the current security threats posed to e-commerce sites and e-commerce users and the appropriate
countermeasures that can be taken.
the various types of on-line auctions, together with a recommendation of the preferred option and a list of
the benefits that an on-line auction could deliver.
You should submit a formal report, which should:

describe TWO specific strategies that can be adopted to develop an e-commerce site. You should list THREE
specific advantages and THREE specific disadvantages of each strategic approach. In addition you should also
give your recommendation on the preferred strategy to be adopted by the guitar shop owner. As part of your
decision-making process you should take account of the fact that the guitar shop has an IT manager who is
responsible for the operation and maintenance of the various day-to-day IT activities that underpin the
guitar shop business, such as producing accounts, invoicing, ordering stock through EDI, running the wages
system and supporting the various types of office software used by other staff. He has no specific
experience in developing e- commerce websites, but has a very strong technical background in general IT.
describe FOUR of the major current security threats posed to e- commerce owners and users. It is important
that these threats are up-to-date, so you may wish to use the Internet to research the existing threats that
are currently posing problems in the e-commerce world. For each of the threats identified you should
recommend an appropriate countermeasure that can be taken to either eliminate or significantly reduce the
threat. In addition you should briefly explain why it is important for an organisation to have an agreed IT
security policy in place.
describe the various types of online auction models that can be used by an e-commerce provider. In addition,
list THREE benefits that online auctions could provide to the guitar shop owner.