Electronic mail (e-mail)Sending messages or
documents, such as news about a new product or sales
promotion between individuals. A primitive form of
pushchannel. E-mail may be inboundor outbound.
Electronic mail advertising Advertisements
contained within e-mail such as newsletters.
Electronic mallSeeVirtual mall.
Electronic marketingAchieving marketing
objectives through use of electronic
communications technology.
Electronic marketspaceA virtual marketplace such
as the Internetin which no direct contact occurs
between buyers and sellers.
Electronic Shopping or ES testThis test was
developed by de Kare-Silver to assess the extent to
which consumers are likely to purchase a particular
retail product using the Internet.
Electronic tokensUnits of digital currency that are
in a standard electronic format.
E-marketingSeeElectronic marketing.
Emergent strategyStrategic analysis, strategic
development and strategy implementation are
interrelated and are developed together.
Emotional loyaltyLoyalty to a brand is
demonstrated by favourable perceptions, opinions
and recommendations.
EncryptionThe scrambling of information into a
form that cannot be interpreted. Decryptionis used
to make the information readable.
Enterprise application integrationThe middleware
technology that is used to connect together
different software applications and their underlying
databases is now known as ‘enterprise application
integration (EAI)’ (Internet World, 1999).
Entry pageThe page at which a visitor enters a web
site. It is identified by a log file analyser. See also
Exit pageand Referring site.
Environmental scanning and analysisThe process of
continuously monitoring the environment and
events and responding accordingly.
According to Dennis et al. (2004), the business of
e-retailing is defined as the sale of goods and
services via the Internet or other electronic channels
for individual consumers. This definition includes
all e-commerce and related activities that ultimately
result in transactions.
Ethical standardsPractices or behaviours which are
morally acceptable to society.
Evaluating a web siteSeeWeb site measurement.Exchange SeeBusiness-to-business exchanges or
marketplaces.
Exit pageThe page from which a visitor exits a web
site. It is identified by web analyticsservices.
Expert reviews An analysis of an existing site or
prototype, by an experienced usability expert who
will identity deficiencies and improvements to a site
based on their knowledge of web design principles
and best practice.
Exposure-based payment Advertisers pay according
to the number of times the ad is viewed.
Extended product Additional features and benefits
beyond the core product.
Extension SeeCustomer extension.
Extranet Formed by extending the intranetbeyond
a company to customers, suppliers, collaborators or
even competitors. This is password-protected to
prevent access by general Internet users.File Transfer Protocol (FTP)A standard method for
moving files across the Internet. FTP is available as a
feature of web browsersthat is sometimes used for
marketing applications such as downloadingfiles
such as product price lists or specifications.
Standalone FTP packages such as WSFTP are
commonly used to update HTMLfiles on web
serverswhen uploadingrevisions to the web server.
Firewall A specialised software application mounted
on a server at the point where the company is
connected to the Internet. Its purpose is to prevent
unauthorised access into the company by outsiders.
Firewalls are essential for all companies hosting
their own web server.
First-party cookiesServed by the site currently in
use – typical for e-commerce sites.
FlowDescribes a state in which users have a
positive experience from readily controlling their
navigationand interaction on a web site.
Focus groups Online focus groups have been
conducted by w3focus.com. These follow a bulletin
board or discussion group form where different
members of the focus group respond to prompts
from the focus group leaders.
FormA method on a web page of entering
information such as order details.
Forward auctions Item purchased by highest bid
made in bidding period.GLOSSARYF
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