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National University of Science and Technology

Faculty of Applied Sciences – Computer Science Department

Programme: MSc Information Systems

Year: First Year, Semester 1, June 2015

Course: e-Commerce

Course Code: SCIS5103

Lecturer: Mr. R. K. Chilumani

Student Name: James Gwainda

Student Number: N01416098Q

Evaluation of Zimselector.com as a way

of Purchasing Financial Services

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Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 3

Background Information about Zimselector ................................................................................................. 3

Problem Statement ....................................................................................................................................... 3

The Ecommerce Solution .............................................................................................................................. 4

Research Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 4

Implementation of the Ecommerce Solution Administrative Perspective ................................................... 4

Buying Process. ............................................................................................................................................. 5

Security ......................................................................................................................................................... 6

Having Multiple Security Layers ................................................................................................................ 7

Secure Server ............................................................................................................................................ 7

Ensure DDoS protection with cloud-based services ................................................................................. 8

Install security patches on system regularly ............................................................................................. 9

Return on Investment ................................................................................................................................... 9

Marketing Opportunities from the Zimselector Initiative .......................................................................... 10

Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................... 11

Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................. 13

Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 14

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Abstract Implementing an ecommerce site especially in Zimbabwe is a risky project since there is no

profound knowledge and experiences on using ecommerce as a business tool. Zimselector with the

help of its partners locally and abroad tried this and have made some considerable progress though

it is starting. This paper seeks to evaluate and analyses the Zimselector initiative as a way of

bringing financial services to the Zimbabwe populace from the comfort of their homes and

possibly come up with some recommendations on the project

Background Information about Zimselector This is an online financial services platform founded by Mr. Luke Ngwerume a Zimbabwean

business executive who was the Chief Executive Officer for Old Mutual Zimbabwe for a period of

more than two decades. Mr. Ngwerume launched this site so that it can be the first comprehensive

online financial services shopping mall and comparison site that offers a wide range of financial

packages from different companies for local and foreign-based Zimbabweans. Zimselector offers

the following products motor insurance, funeral insurance, life assurance, home insurance,

medical insurance, banking, investments, travel, personal accident

Problem Statement Mr. Ngwerume with his fast experience in financial services noticed that in Zimbabwe there was

no smart financial services which is available to Zimbabweans. Because of the liquidity challenges

in Zimbabwe people are turning out to insurance covers for the future eventualities .The

Zimselector was designed specifically to deal with the following issues

To attract more than 4 million Zimbabweans in diaspora to invest into the country as it moves to

tap into the market with a potential of contributing close to $2 billion to Gross Domestic Product

by just logging in online from wherever there are

To communicate well with Zimbabweans in diaspora so that they will know what’s happening in

the country and being able to compare and financial products

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ZimSelector.com will offer a comprehensive online financial service shopping mall and

comparison site that offers a wide range of financial packages from different companies for local

and foreign- based Zimbabweans

Tap into more than 8 million Zimbabweans using EcoCash , TeleCash, and OneWallet services so

that they can get a premium insurance

To leverage on the internet to change the approach Zimbabweans have when it comes to purchase

their financial products

The Ecommerce Solution The Zimselector initiative will be a success through signing of different agreements with reputable

organization which includes CBZ, Cabs, Fidelity Life, Old Mutual Group, Zimnat life, Zimnat

Lion, RM Insurance. This online strategy also targets Zimbabweans based all over the world, that

are now able to compare and buy products anywhere and at any time. Zimselector worked with a

UK based development outfit called Total Systems Plc. This decision was likely prompted by the

need to work with a team that has extensive experience with similar insurance and financial

models. Zimselector, the Zimbabwean online insurance aggregator, the startup had introduced a

payment option and was working on signing on more insurance institutions to give users a wider

range of options for credible comparisons.

Research Methodology According to Wikipedia Qualitative research method is “Qualitative research is a method of

inquiry employed in many different academic disciplines, traditionally in the social sciences, but

also in market research by the business sector and further contexts including research and service

demonstrations by the non-profit sectors”. I will use this method in order to get as much

information as I can on why Zimselector and issues which will make it a success with the

available literature and newspaper reports.

Implementation of the Ecommerce Solution Administrative Perspective In order to create a good site design constraints and other contingence need to be addressed. In this

section will emulate any and all the consideration that when creating the project. The system will

be able to address some of these issues

Must be coded efficiently enough to run well on provided server hardware

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Client side code and or web pages must be able to run efficiently on low end hardware including

any entry level mobile computers and phones

The database will be created and maintained in a way that makes it of reasonable and manageable

size.

The diagram below shows the activity flow associated with the system administrator who will be

maintaining the site

Source: Software Design Document for Online Shopping Mall Texas University 11/15/2010

Buying Process. The buying process for the ecommerce solution will make use of shopping carts software that

keeps track of what users selects to buy from the website before proceeding to the checkout. An

online shopping consist of three parts which product catalogue, shopping list and checkout system.

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The product catalogue is made up of all the information needed to present my product to the

customer and to complete a sales transactions online. Information to be included in the product

database generally includes the price, identification number image or other multimedia product

options or choices. A shopping list of selected products allows users to track the items to purchase.

A shopping cart is generally used to show what items the shopper has selected to purchase. In

order for the shopping cart to function properly the user’s computer must be set to allow cookies.

The checkout system allows customers to select by clicking and add items to cart button and the

enables to pay for these products. The diagram below shows the form which is used by customers

when they want start the process of getting our services example is when one wants to sign up for

motor vehicle insurance

Source: http://www.zimselector.com/zms/motor-insurance-policy

Security The system was designed under compliant with the regulation of Zimbabwe Reserve Bank and

Zimbabwe insurance and pension commission. The system was deployed in a world class data

center customers can be assured of highest availability of data some of the major security issues

which were noted on the system was issue to do with privacy and confidence. The vulnerable

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spots in both cases are the endpoints that is customer computer and or network and the business

servers or network. To counter security risks the ecommerce site must be constantly revived and

appropriate counter measures devised.

Having Multiple Security Layers Layering security is an essential deterrent to cybercrime according ti internet security expert Allen

Grayson an Engineer at Symantec. Grayson notes that this starts with firewalls which stop

attackers gaining access to the ecommerce site. From there you add layers of security on contact

forms secure passwords for logins and search queries. These various layers are some of the best

ways to protect from application level attacks such as cross-site scripting and SQL injections

Secure Server The secure server helps provide against the loss or modification of clients important data and

personal information. Secure Socket Layer was used in the design of the database to secure the

online payment to selected customer products it encrypts or codes all data between the online

shop’s server and customer computer. This makes it very difficult for third parties to decode any

information used such as credit card numbers. The diagram below shows how a secure server can

protect information passed between the consumer and the merchant

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Source: Ecommerce and Online Purchase Page 10

Ensure DDoS protection with cloud-based services Distributed Denial of Service attacks have grown in frequency and are increasingly sophisticated.

In response companies can sign up to cloud-based services that “scrub” any unwanted traffic.

Some of the higher end services offer managed DNS services to provide transaction capacity and

make it more difficult for DDoS attacks to be successful. For cloud-based DDoS protection to

work, you need to send your traffic through a good DDoS protection service that has scrubbing

nodes that filter legitimate traffic back to your site.” explains Richard Elder, chief executive at

SwitchVPN. This move alone can eliminate a significant cost for companies which try to mitigate

against this common attack on their own. What’s more, a cloud approach can also help deliver to

online business a 100% DNS resolution, which improves the availability of internet system as well

as the communications between your site and your customers.

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Install security patches on system regularly The system will be updated on daily to install a security patch after its release a point to note

almost all breached sites have in common is that they are generally found running old versions of

software and code,” says Susan Watkins, chief strategist at search engine www.optimisation.org.za

.Watkins believes that you should install patches on all software, paying particular attention to

Word Press, Joomla, and other web apps, like OSCommerce and Zen Cart. These are particular

targets of attackers and should be regularly checked for updates.

Return on Investment Return on investment (ROI) is the benefit to the investor resulting from an investment of some

resource. A high ROI means the investment gains compare favorably to investment cost. As a

performance measure, ROI is used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the

efficiency of a number of different investments. In purely economic terms, it is one way of

considering profits in relation to capital invested. From the above definition we can tell there are

more benefits which can be derived from investing in ecommerce in Zimbabwe since it is new

field in Zimbabwe to calculate the exact dates and figures involved seemed to be a challenge but

there some benefits which can be noticed which I will list down though they cannot be quantified

in terms of value. All things being equal, a site that is effective for twice as long has twice the

ROI. A great site will produce results for five years or more. A bad site will need to be redesigned

within two years or less.

Better Customer Services- Checkout and billing are automated, and online shoppers can easily

create accounts, check the status of their orders, and quickly find the information they need

online—without having to make a phone call to customer service. For more complex inquiries,

customer service employees can help callers without requesting assistance from the IT department.

Extended Market Reach, Better ROI -It increases its market reach by exposing its products to

hundreds of millions of shoppers on www.zimselector.com itself. With Zimselector Product Ads,

we are reaching more shoppers, generating more revenue at a lower cost-per click, and earning a

much higher ROI.

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A More Efficient Online Store- By building their ecommerce site on the Zimselector team built

a website that is easy to manage, maintain, and update with minimal IT support.

Marketing Opportunities from the Zimselector Initiative With increasing the need of ecommerce industry, every businessman is looking to have an online

store where they can sell their range of products and services. One can get a lot of benefits by

opting for ecommerce as it delivers a comprehensive range of benefits to retailers and merchants.

Some of the opportunities derived are

Offer Product Datasheets: Consumers can also get description and details from an online

product catalog. For your customers, it is very much important to get information about the

product no matter whether the time of day and day of the week. Through information, your

customers and prospects are making decision to purchase your products or not.

Selling Products across the World- If you are running a physical store, it will be limited by the

geographical area that you can service, but with an e-Commerce website, you can sell your

products and services across the world. The entire world is your playground, where you can sell

your complete range of products without any geographical limits. Moreover, the remaining

limitation of geography has dissolved by mcommerce that is also known as mobile commerce.

Stay open 24*7/365- One of the most important benefits that ecommerce merchants can enjoy is

store timings are now 24/7/365 as they can run e-commerce websites all the time. By this way,

they can increase their sales by boosting their number of orders. However, it is also beneficial for

customers as they can purchase products whenever they want no matter whether it is early

morning or mid-night.

Expand Market for Niche Products- It is difficult for buyers and sellers to find each other in the

physical world, but it becomes very easy for them with the inception of e-store. Customers can

search their required products on the web and can purchase it from any corner of the world. No

matter what kind of product customers are looking, they can find all types of products without any

hassle.

Decrease Costs-One of the most positive things about ecommerce is that you can decrease the

costs of your business. Below are some of the costs that you can reduce by opting for ecommerce:

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Advertising & Marketing Cost: If you opt for ecommerce, you don’t have to spend your money

on advertising and marketing. However, organic search engine traffic, social media traffic and

pay-per-click are some of the advertising channels that are cost-effective.

Personnel: A complete automation of check-out, billing, inventory management, payments and

other type of operational costs lower the total number of employees that you require to run your

ecommerce business.

Eliminate Travel Cost: Now, customers do not have to travel long distances to reach their

desired stores as ecommerce allows them to visit the e-store anytime without traveling. With few

mouse clicks, customers can make their purchase and have wonderful shopping experience.

Recommendations After careful study of the system I have come up with the following recommendations which I

believe will be helpful to the organization growth and progress in Zimbabwe

E-Commerce features-evolve the website into an e-commerce tool and an international website

which can be tailored for global markets such as Europe, America and Asia. This will involve

adding features such as corporate information, information on products and services, Frequently

Asked Questions (FAQs), useful non-product information such as the weather, privacy and

security statements, online enquiries, online reservations, reservation tracking and online payment.

Customer relationship management (CRM)- Evolve the website to employ effective electronic

CRM components to encourage customers to keep coming back and this will create an impression

consistent with the organizations’ desired image. CRM components that could help capture

customers’ preferences, needs and requirements, could include contact details, e-mail, an online

feedback form, an electronic newsletter, promotions, special offers and other loyalty schemes, a

callback service, and personalization through customized content.

Website promotional campaigns - The Internet can be used to promote products and services as

it provides, at modest cost, an unprecedented level of connectivity and the ability to communicate

efficiently and effectively directly with customers. The websites should contain facilities that will

attract new customers as well as retain old ones, such as an electronic newsletter, Frequently

Asked Questions (FAQs), loyalty systems, callback services, a privacy policy statement,

promotions and special offers, customer feedback, an information/brochure request, electronic

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postcards, and reciprocal links to other websites. The organizations should also employ offline

techniques, such as displaying the URL on billboards, newspapers, press releases, television,

tourism products, and all other advertising.

Knowledge transfer facilities- Evolve the website to produce an interactive environment that can

transfer knowledge from the customers to the organizations and from the organizations to the

customers. This exchange of knowledge should be used by the organizations to provide better

products and services. For the organizations to gain knowledge from the customers, include

features such as data gathering of customer transaction for customer profiling, customer surveys,

an electronic guestbook or user review facility, and possibly instant messaging facilities. With the

knowledge obtained, the site can then provide loyalty systems, personalized content and a

recommendation engine to help customers make decisions. For customers to gain knowledge from

the organizations, include features such as electronic newsletters, bulletin boards and online

tracking of orders and reservations

Increasing website traffic- to generate meaningful business the organizations need to increase

traffic to the website. The organizations should include on their websites facilities which attract

more visitors. In addition, the organizations should also use such techniques as doorway pages,

customer accounts, effective Meta and title tags, and registration of websites on major search

engines They should also aim to host their websites on their own servers to have direct control on

the maintenance of the websites and to enable them to update their websites regularly.

Web content accessibility- Ensure that website content is accessible and usable by all people,

including those with disabilities. To achieve this, the organizations need to follow the Web

Content Accessibility Guidelines (World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), 2005) when designing

and developing their websites. The organizations will also need to use qualified website designers,

ensure web content cohesion and minimize website load time.

Overcoming security and legal barriers Customers’- sensitive data, such as credit card details

and other personal information that is entered into an e-commerce system, must be protected. For

an e-commerce system to be successful it needs a high level of security. The organizations should

make use of the technologies such as a firewall, proxy server, encryption, user accounts, anti-

spyware, audit logs, entrapment server, anti-virus software, Internet usage policy, virus email

updates, secure electronic transaction, secure socket layer, digital signatures, digital certificates,

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prepayment systems, user accounts, disaster recovery plans, trust seals, privacy and security

statements, and a security payment link to make the e-commerce website secure and reliable. If the

organizations’ employees do not trust e-commerce technology then techniques such as using trial

versions of e-commerce systems or running dual systems can be used to reassure them.

Overcoming the technological barriers-Use the appropriate technology to setup a fully-fledged

e-commerce system. For the organizations to setup e-commerce systems they need modern

payment infrastructure and a high speed, reliable Internet connection. To ensure the organisations

use the appropriate technology they should setup e-commerce divisions, employ external technical

expertise, equip their own technical staff with appropriate expertise, subscribe to e-commerce

journals or

Overcoming behavioral barriers- For adoption and usage of e-commerce to be seamless, the

organizations must obtain co-operation from its employees. Some people are likely to resist any

change. The organizations need to avoid resistance from employees by assuring personnel of job

security, convincing employees of e-commerce value and sending employees on courses and

seminars on e-commerce techniques. To reduce the risk of key staff leaving after being trained,

organizations need to ask employees for commitment before they are sent for training, train more

people than required and increase salaries of key e-commerce staff. To generate management

support, organizations need to involve top management in decision making for key issues in the e-

commerce project so that they feel part of it and are committed to its success.

Conclusions From the above we can conclude that ecommerce in Zimbabwe it’s a field with great potential

but lots of effort need to be put in place from both government and private sector. For the

Zimselector team I believe they have taken a good root which just needs a lots of education so

that it will be a success and if they implement the discussed recommendation we will reap good

things as a country

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Bibliography 1. http://www.zimselector.com/zms/motor-insurance

2. https://www.facebook.com/ZimSelector

3. http://www.theindependent.co.zw/2015/04/17/sponsored-zimselector-saving-money-on-

the-wrong-things-can-cost-you-dearly/

4. http://www.techzim.co.zw/2013/11/financial-services-aggregator-zimselector-introduces-

internet-payments-feature/

5. https://disqus.com/home/discussion/newsdzezimbabwee/online_financial_mall_for_zim_

newsdzezimbabwenewsdzezimbabwe/

6. http://www.k-ecommerce.com/roi

7. http://www.brainsins.com/en/blog/analysing-your-e-commerce-roi/1478

8. http://www.sitepoint.com/5-security-essentials-ecommerce-sites/

9. http://www.businessballs.com/business-process-modelling.htm

10. http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/JIBC/2009-04/JIBC-Ganesan%20R.pdf

11. https://www.linkedin.com/company/3071426?trk=tyah&trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Aco

mpany%2Cidx%3A2-1-2%2CtarId%3A1433852289871%2Ctas%3Azimsele