Honours Project Proposal

Developing Country E-Commerce Portal

Konstantin Masalov Shiraaz Moollatjie

Supervisors:Prof. Ken MacGregor

Tiro Sethate

1. Problem statement2. Objectives3. System description4. Research and scope5. Key features6. Risks7. Project plan

Presentation structure

Kosta Masalov

Shiraaz Moollatjie

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Problem Statement

Botswana is a developing African nation with a growing wireless communication infrastructure

However, IT and mobile communications literacy in the country is quite low

The country’s merchants are limited to selling their wares within the city and the country

There is a lot of economic potential which can be realised through this project

Objectives

To create an online e-commerce portal through which Botwana’s merchants can sell their wares to the whole world and make more profit

To improve the IT and mobile communication literacy in Botswana

To create a generic design or template for other e-commerce portals in developing countries

System Description

E-commerce website

Online transaction security system

Product, customer and merchant database

Content management system (CMS)

Data security system

System Description

E-commerce Website

Will provide online shoppers with prices, stock availability and descriptions of goods that can be purchased on the website.

Will communicate securely with the CMS and with the internet.

Will allow shoppers to purchase online using their credit card.

Will allow shoppers to search for items of interest using a search engine.

Online Transaction Security System

Gives online shoppers a secure medium through which to make online purchases.

Allows only registered shoppers to make online purchases of goods.

Ensures that any transactional information is communicated to the internet or to the CMS in a secure manner.

Product, Merchant and Customer Database

The database stores information about:

Products that are sold on the website: prices, product descriptions, photos of products.

Merchants that sell goods on the website: banking details, contact details.

Customers that purchase goods on the website: credit card information, contact details, shipping address.

Content Management System

Manages the customer, merchant and product information database.

Processes merchants’ SMS/MMS requests and adds, removes or updates products from the website.

Handles any changes made to the database as a result of transactions on the e-commerce website.

Data Security System

Allows data to be securely transmitted between various components of the e-commerce portal.

This includes transmission of product, merchant and customer information from the content management system to the website.

The transmission of transaction data from the website to the content management system.

Research

The following topics will make up the research component of the project:- Mobile phone coverage and SMS/MMS service

availability in Botswana

- HCI principles for designing cell phone and website interfaces for developing countries (Dr. Marsden’s speciality)

- Commonly-used security systems in e-commerce websites and Content Management Systems

- Design principles of e-commerce websites and commercial databases

Scope of Project

The e-commerce website will not handle shipping or tracking of ordered products.

The implementation of this project will be limited to Botswana.

Key Features

An online shop that will allow online shoppers to buy goods from Botswana’s formal and informal merchants.

A search engine on the website to allow customers to find specific types of merchandise

A secure online transaction system that will allow shoppers to purchase goods safely using their credit cards.

Key Features

A database of merchandise with photos, product descriptions and stock information

A content management system that will process SMS and MMS commands sent by merchants

A data security system that will ensure that all data that is transmitted between various system components is secure.

Risks

Hardware failure leads to loss of code and documentation

- Keep multiple backups of the work.

Team member falls ill and cannot work

- Keep each other up to date so one may temporarily take over the other’s work.

Risk Mitigation Strategy

- Regular meetings between team members to resolve issues that might cause delays in the project. Prevention is the best solution!

Project Plan

The project is expected to run for approximately six months.

- Doing research and literature reviews

- Planning, designing, developing and testing all the e-commerce portal components

- Writing report

- Creating posters and the project website

Workload division amongst team members

Konstantin Masalov

- E-commerce website

- Online transaction security system

- Product, merchant and customer database

- Project website

Shiraaz Moollatjie

- Content Management System

- Data security system

- Project poster

Project Milestones

1. Completion of designs and planning for the e-commerce portal.

2. Completion of CMS and data security components.

3. Completion of the e-commerce website and online transaction security components.

4. Completion of the product, merchant and customer database.

5. Successful integration and testing of all the system’s components.

6. Demonstration of the final e-commerce portal.

7. Final project presentation and the end of the project.

Project Schedule

ID Task Name Duration Start Finish

1 Planning 15 days Mon 07/07/02 Thu 07/07/19

2 Requirements anal ysis 6 days Mon 07/07/02 Mon 07/07/09

3 Designi ng content management system 9 days Tue 07/07/10 Thu 07/07/19

4 Designi ng website and database 9 days Tue 07/07/10 Thu 07/07/19

5 Dev eloping content management system 31 days Fri 07/07/20 Thu 07/08/30

6 Bui lding back-end software 25 days Fri 07/07/20 Thu 07/08/23

7 Setting up data security 11 days Mon 07/08/13 Sun 07/08/26

8 Testing content management system 15 days Mon 07/08/13 Thu 07/08/30

9 Dev eloping website and database system 36 days Fri 07/07/20 Thu 07/09/06

10 Setting up MySQL database 9 days Fri 07/07/20 Wed 07/08/01

11 Coding PHP pages 25 days Mon 07/07/23 Fri 07/08/24

12 Refining website interface 21 days Mon 07/08/06 Fri 07/08/31

13 Setting up onli ne transaction security 11 days Tue 07/08/21 Mon 07/09/03

14 Testing website 15 days Mon 07/08/20 Thu 07/09/06

15 Demoing prototype of system 1 day Thu 07/08/02 Thu 07/08/02

16 Integrating website and CMS 11 days Fri 07/09/07 Fri 07/09/21

17 Linking websi te to content management system 8 days Fri 07/09/07 Tue 07/09/18

18 Testing integrated system 8 days Wed 07/09/12 Fri 07/09/21

19 Implementing e-commerce portal 26 days Mon 07/09/24 Thu 07/10/25

20 Setting up final e-commerce portal 5 days Mon 07/09/24 Fri 07/09/28

21 Demonstrating system 1 day Thu 07/10/25 Thu 07/10/25

22 Preparing final deliv erables 20 days Tue 07/09/25 Thu 07/10/18

23 Prepari ng f inal report 16 days Tue 07/09/25 Sun 07/10/14

24 Designi ng poster 10 days Mon 07/10/08 Thu 07/10/18

25 Designi ng project website 10 days Mon 07/10/08 Thu 07/10/18

'07 Jul '07 Aug '07 Sep '07 Oct '07 Nov '07 Dec

Thank youAny questions?