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Here are some off-the-shelf products, rental and template sites to review. All these companies advertise themselves as "Your complete E-Business solution. Review them in general in the Text area box below (in Activity 2 you will "Test Drive" One and report on your experience.) You can use template systems (purchased or rented) and Blogging systems that are usually free. 1. Purchased Template Software Systems - are purchased (one time cost of $100 to $1,000 and up) then hosted (ongoing expense of $20-$50 monthly) where ever you want to host or move it. Shopsite | Magento | Nexteral Cruzio: An ISP Mediated Solution (see hosting fees and price break) https://quartz.cruzio.com/signup/lang_en/faqs/ecommerce_faq.html 2. Rented Systems are NOT purchased but are hosted (ongoing expense of $20-$50 monthly) plus ongoing rental fee of $10-$50 monthly. Yahoo! Store | Intuit.com 3. Blog Sites - Another Option is to use a Blogging site software and it's templates, usually for free (no hosting cost, and no rental or purchase cost ...FREE) A Blog, a contraction of web log = blog, is a template built website. Usually for social purposes but can be for any purpose. Google's Blogger | TypePad | WordPress | Answers.com Activity 1 Answer: Review at least one of each of the 3 types above. Write at least three paragraphs (at least 200 words) Your answer should include but is not restricted to the following: What product options are there? Is it a rent or buy solution? What is the price or prices for this product or its options? Do they have a demo or free trial offer? Are there initial and ongoing fees. Which seem easiest to use and most functional? Activity #2 Test Dirve Sign up for a free demo or do a more extensive review of one of the sites - Since we are using Shopsite in the class, you will benefit by comparing ease of use, features, one time and ongoing expenses and so on. Review the demo experience. Write at least three paragraphs (at least 200 words) detailing your experience and impressions of the product. Your answer should include but is not restricted to the following:Which product did you use; How easy was it to access the demo; were you able to work the templates and wizards; what did like and not like about the product; did you feel like you had adequate skills to work with the technology; what features were strong about the templates; what happens when you place an order; how do you view oreders as the merchant; how well does the shopping cart work; haow well does the check out (payment system) work' overall thoughts and impressions? Activity 2 Answer The following Table is a checklist for assessing the features of an eCommerce Solution. Keep and use this checklist for when you begin to choose an eCommerce solution. Add to it as you identify needs and features I didn't include. Also, review this comprehensive list of features in an eCommerce solution from Shopsite . X Desired Features .  Fast - most steps need to be automated except decision making .  Be able to track users .  Internationalization- language & currency conversion, calculate shipping, taxes .  Compatible with logistics partners for order fulfillment .  Include auto-responders, chat, newsgroups,  site-search engine .  Automatic search engine submission option in the setup process .  shopping basket/cart - add, remove, change amount of items   Check-out functions - list all items, price totals, include shipping & taxes . Multiple payment methods - credit cards (SSL), etc.  . Automated order, payment processes, billing, and order acknowledgement . Customer privacy and security in transmission and storage of data . Cross-selling and cross-promotion . Repeat & high volume customers receive automatic quantity discounts . Check order and account status anytime . Automate inventory control and restocking . Change and test site offline then upload to server . Database quality assurance  (verify content, set limits on price & quantity . Staging area - exact duplicate site for testing changes before uploading . Work with existing company databases or easily convert to one database . Interface with other backend applications - accounting, order processing, etc. . Integrate with existing inventory system . HTML presentation on online shop done with templates/storable variables  . Marketing can add, delete or change product information . Divisible into departments by merchandise or functions . Reporting of customer patterns readable for management . Customizable reports with different perspectives (e.g. time, product, person) . Scalable - handle small and large orders; few to many products . extensible - grow in volume/size for content/bandwidth, customer and load demands