e commerce master thesis topics

E-Commerce Dissertation Topics

As technology grows to be a bigger part of today’s society, the amount of people benefiting from e-commerce is increasing. There has been an influx of online retailers over the years which indicates society’s acceptance of ecommerce. There is however, still a great amount of progress happening both in terms of the technology being developed as well as in terms of the market penetration and methods of employment. If you are thinking of completing your dissertation in an area of e-commerce, we have come up with some relevant topics to help stimulate your research. The dissertation topics have been split into a number of different key areas to give you a broad range of topics to choose from:

Strategy for E-commerce Dissertation Topics

Marketing/Advertising for E-business and E-commerce Dissertation Topics

Security and Trust Dissertation Topics

Legislation dissertation topics, usability dissertation topics, mobile e-commerce dissertation topics, law and e-commerce dissertation topics.

E-commerce has become an essential way for business to trade with the necessity and ability of an organisation to promote their service/ product. It has become one of the quickest growing technologies in the retail industry. Various strategies can be employed to the development of e-commerce, yet a gap is still presented in the technology which is used for ecommerce. One of the most important things in any business is the unique selling proposition. This is no different in e-commerce. The ability to identify the USP is the ability to install a productive and profitable e-commerce strategy. The platform alone (i.e. the Internet) may sometimes contribute to the USP, such as supermarkets allowing people to purchase goods online and provide delivery to their doors. It is also important that the consumer feels that they can shop at their leisure without the problems of going to a physical location. However, as the number of online retailers increases this may erode the USP that depends greatly on the platform. Possible e-commerce dissertation topics in this area are:

An analysis of e-commerce strategies for traditional organisations (Migration)
An analysis e-commerce strategies for new organisations
An analysis of e-commerce strategies for traditional organisations moving on to the Internet (Migration)
E-commerce strategies – Accident or design?
What are the components of a good e-commerce strategy?
An analysis of Internet branding strategies
How to obtain competitive advantage using technology
How to obtain competitive advantage using service in e-commerce
Internal business process and organisational strategy for change management
Business Process Reengineering – Myth or medicine?
An analysis of Internet business value creation strategies
Performance measurement of an e-business strategy (Case study)
E-business strategies for knowledge management – An analysis and evaluation
E-business strategies formulation techniques – Proposal for a new technique
An e-business strategy for an educational institution (Case study/Project)
An e-business strategy for an SME (Case Study/Project)
An e-business strategy for a B2B business.
An analysis of payment processing models
How effective is social media to the process of e-commerce?
How can e-commerce strategies build a better customer relationship?
How important is the unique selling point to the customer and the development of e-commerce?

Marketing/Advertising for E-businesses and E-commerce Dissertation Topics

The establishment of a brand or organisation is a necessary feature in the development of e-commerce. This is done through the marketing and advertising mediums which are available to an organisation. Marketing or advertising for an e-business is a very important part of the overall strategy for e-businesses. There are many challenges to the development of the marketing and advertising to an organisation and it is necessary that the organisation is still visible to the consumer. The development of Internet marketing techniques such as paid advertisements for keyword searches, banner advertisements and also the use of Web 2.0 applications that make use of social networks for advertisements, have all changed the way marketing and advertising operates. Developing the platforms to better engage with the customers is important to the development of customer and brand loyalty through e-commerce which can be done through the creation of the promotional strategies which are available. The amount of information available today has made it possible to carefully target customers based on profiles, networks, etc. A good knowledge of the mechanisms of the technology is required in order to take full advantage of the opportunities available. In developing strategies through social media, it is appropriate to understand that this digital word of mouth version is extremely valuable to the organisation and costs nothing. The internet and social media also allows organisations to reach customers on a greater scale. Suggested topics for your e-commerce dissertation include:

The importance of search engine rankings for e-commerce
Search engine advertisement strategy
Marketing strategy on the Internet
E-commerce Marketing Mix – Wholly online, or one foot in both worlds?
Pay-per-click vs. Pay-per-impression – A comparison
An advertising strategy for an e-business (case study)
Critical evaluation of an e-commerce company’s advertising strategy (case study)
Analytical Issues and empirical evidence of marketing strategies in e-commerce
Measuring e-commerce advertising success (case study)
Measuring e-commerce advertising success (proposal of a new technique/algorithm)
Measuring customer retention for e-commerce portals
Analysis of customer behaviour as an input for marketing strategy
What draws repeat customers to an online retailer?
Internet marketing for traditional retailers
Internet marketing for new (born on the Internet) retailers
Internet marketing – new strategy proposal
How can social media be used to market and advertise to the customer?
Digitalised word of mouth, how important is this to marketing an organisation online?
Brand loyalty, the development of the internet on marketing and e-commerce

Security and trust are extremely important issues in e-commerce. One of the major perceived threats of e-commerce is the issue of security. Security and trust threats come from two areas in e-commerce – threat from third party attacks on legitimate transactions between a retailer and the customer and threat from fraudulent retailers to customers. It has become important for organisations and their online presence to identify the risks and threats to security in order to promote a safer security environment. Customers have become more aware of the issues involved in security particularly in the banking industry and on the development of secure networks to shop online.

Third party attacks Dissertation Topics

The threat of third party attacks is an ever-present one. Hackers may try to gain access to sensitive information stored in the web servers, such as credit card information, bank account details and even personal details for identity theft. This threat has become more prevalent with the introduction of new digital technologies. Retailers have a legal responsibility to keep any personal details they collect safe. Technology such as SSL, firewalls, intrusion detection etc. are all used to secure the website from unauthorised access. Third party attacks are also facilitated by lax security from customers. Some e-commerce dissertation topics in this area are:

Critical evaluation of current technology enabling e-commerce security
Analysis of previous attacks and vulnerabilities that led to those attacks
Security vulnerabilities and possible attacks methods – firewalls
Security vulnerabilities and possible attack methods – SSL
The effectiveness of current intrusion detection technology
Critical evaluation of security policies of a website
Critical evaluation of the firewall policies of a website
Perception of security among the lay public
Educating the public about security
Encryption – State of the Art.
How effective is today’s encryption to prevent spying/snooping?
Customer confidence and how they perceived their data is being handled
Security limitations and challenges in the online environment
How much more can online retailers, banks etc do to provide more security to online transactions?

Trust in e-commerce Dissertation Topics

There is a great deal of benefits to e-commerce, yet there is still some hesitation from customers when it comes to using online shopping. Trust is an important issue in e-commerce, because unlike real world transactions, the retailer is not present in person during the transaction. Hesitation is apparent due to the lack of trust in the perception of the online environment. It is much easier for an entity to set up a website and an electronic payment processing system than a real-world storefront. It is also much more difficult for customers to determine the authenticity of websites. This makes it very difficult to trust that the retailers are who they claim to be. Online hacking has also become an issue for the online consumer as they fear that their personal information will be compromised. Some of the topics you could research for your e-commerce dissertation in this area are:

Digital certificate, encryption and public key infrastructure weakness analysis
Trust models in e-commerce
Analysis of the effectiveness of trust-building mechanisms
Analysis of public perceptions of trust
Data privacy issues in e-commerce
Data Protection Act 2002 – Implications for e-commerce
Managing reputations online
How important is trust in e-commerce and how it can be built up?
Trust in e-commerce – Myth or Reality?
The antivirus business
The protection business – how effective is today’s antivirus software?
Adware vs. spyware – where is the line drawn?
Impact of trust on consumer behaviour
Comparing tradition commerce to e-commerce and the understanding of trust for the consumer
How can online retailers build trust in potential and existing customers using security and risk management strategies?

Legislation has also been enacted in countries throughout the world in an effort to ensure that computer networks are safe from external threats and that any ‘attackers’ are brought to justice swiftly. By way of illustration, in the UK, legislation including the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and the Police and Justice Act 2006 has been enacted and implemented to help both prevent and punish computer security breaches. With this in mind, in view of the sheer breadth of this area of law, here are a number of dissertation topics that you may wish to consider in this area:

The Computer Misuse Act 1990 – Scope, definition, reach and effectiveness.
The Police and Justice Act 2006 – Scope, definition, reach and effectiveness.
Legislation protecting computer security in the UK – Adequate or not fit for purpose?
An examination of international legislation in protecting computer security.
How effective has domestic and international legislation proved to be as a deterrent to computer attacks?
What impact will the pending Brexit have upon the application of the law related to keeping computer networks safe from external threats and ensuring that any ‘attackers’ are brought to justice?
How effectively has the law in this area kept up with the external threats to computer networks technological advancements?
In view of the pending Brexit, what lessons can UK policy makers learn from countries’ legal systems outside the European Union, with a view to guaranteeing computer networks are kept safe from external threats?

Website usability is important for online retailers because their ‘shops’ are not physically manned and consumers abandon sites that are poorly designed, if they need to make too many clicks, or if they have to look too hard for what they want. Customers don’t return if the content is hard to use. Websites therefore have to be very user-friendly; the layout and design should strive to achieve the balance between simplicity and presentation of all information because higher usability is a competitive advantage in today’s market. Technology has also been employed to provide effective customer service, such as having 24/7 support over the phone, and live chat on the e-commerce website. The new generation of Internet applications, such as the semantic web and natural language search (collectively termed Web 3.0), holds great promise for progress in customer service in e-commerce. Some of e-commerce dissertation topics in the area of usability are:

Critical analysis of current technology employed for e-commerce customer service.
Potential Web 3.0 applications for customer service.
Developing a new Web 3.0 application for customer service.
Emerging semantic web applications in marketing.
Effectiveness of principles of usability of e-commerce websites.
Do W3C standards help promote usability?
Analysis of any one major e-commerce website (such as Amazon) from the usability point of view.
The monetary impact of low usability of retail e-commerce websites.
Quantifying usability for e-commerce.
Evaluating the key aspects of usability of e-commerce websites based on users’ preferences.
Usability survey for one or more e-commerce website(s).
Applying business processes refactoring to improving usability in on e-commerce websites.
The role of usability in customer satisfaction with and commitment to a fashion retail website.
Usability and user experience with mobile geo-referenced apps in the travel and tourism industry.

Mobile e-commerce, mobile commerce, or m-commerce is the next frontier in e-commerce. An increasingly networked and mobile world means that the Internet is no longer shackled to the desktop and a landline. It is now available in many mobile devices including smartphones and tablets. Savvy retailers have been quick on the uptake, providing content and delivery mechanisms more suited to the m-commerce platform. There are various opportunities for m-commerce, from profit-seeking through customers’ calls and texts to custom-designed applications for mobile platforms. Some m-commerce dissertation topics are:

Wireless security for m-commerce.
Exploring geographical boundaries of m-commerce.
Payment processing methods for m-commerce.
Custom e-commerce applications for m-commerce.
Analysis of m-commerce business models.
Usability of m-commerce applications.
Mobile client technology problems and bottlenecks.
Mobile networks technology problems and bottle necks.
User interface design for m-commerce.
Wireless networks capacity problems: Issues facing m-commerce.
E-commerce application with wireless to wired interface.
User identification for m-commerce.
Data security in m-commerce.
Differences in customer decision-making across e-commerce and m-commerce platforms.
What are the barriers to more extensive adoption of m-commerce in developing countries?
Does the reputation of the payment provider affect consumers’ willingness to undertake m-commerce transactions?
Using m-commerce to achieve strategic business objectives: A John Lewis case study.

Governments in individual countries around the world have proved to be somewhat slow in practice to react to advancements in technology and, in particular, e-commerce. In brief, it is arguable that the laws in this area are generally proved to have been made at the behest of lobby groups that sit behind large profit-making organisations so that customers are then generally left to suffer. Some of the examples to have arisen in this regard include:

The continued extension of the Copyright Act in the US, with a view to benefitting the Disney Corporation, having been enacted at their behest.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) which serves to all too clearly benefit the Recording Industry Association of America.

Some e-commerce dissertation topics that you may wish to consider finding out more about in this area are:

The geographical boundaries of legislation affecting e-commerce.
The impact of the DMCA on e-commerce.
The impact of the American Copyright Act extensions on e-commerce.
The impact of the Berne Convention on e-commerce.
A review of UK legislation affecting e-commerce.
Borderless crimes – can a computer crime be committed outside the jurisdiction of any country?
Sealand – a digital utopia?
Geographical boundaries – is a hacker safe in Sealand?
Legislation P2P networks – killing a few legitimate businesses to save the majority of other businesses?
P2P networks and e-commerce.
Software patents – Repeatedly making money off the golden egg?
Pornography and e-commerce.
What impact will Brexit have upon the law related to e-commerce in the UK?
What are the main lessons that policy makers in the UK can learn from other countries with a view to improving the law regarding e-commerce domestically?
How can the most significant flaws to have been recognised with regard to UK laws related to e-commerce be most effectively redressed through new legislative enactments?

Data mining and E-Commerce

Data mining is another area which is likely to have a significant impact upon e-commerce. This is because it has come to be recognised that, since a huge amount of information is made available through digital systems, and that this information can be collated from various sources so as to then glean significantly more information than the individual would expect, customer privacy issues have come to the fore in recent years. With this in mind, legislation, including the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000, has been aimed at protecting the interests of the lay citizen. Some e-commerce dissertation topics that you may wish to consider finding out more about in this area are:

The Data Protection 1998 – Implications for e-commerce.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 – Implications for e-commerce.
Data mining – Legal and Ethical Issues.
Data mining technology – the next frontier.
What impact is Brexit likely to have upon the law as it relates to data mining in the UK?
How successful has the law regarding data mining in the UK proved to be to date?
What lessons may be learned from other jurisdictions with regard to the development of the law as it relates to data mining in the UK?