Chapter Objectives:
Define electronic commerce (EC) and describe its various categories.
Describe and discuss the content and framework of EC.
Describe the major types of EC transactions.
Describe the digital revolution as a driver of EC.
Describe the business environment as a driver of EC.
Describe some EC business models.
Describe the benefits of EC to organizations, consumers, and society.
Describe the limitations of EC.
Describe the contribution of EC to organizations responding to environmental pressures.
Describe online social and business networks.
It's not all a garden of roses ya' know !
Some of the top E-Commerce challenges are:
- An increase in competition between businesses.
- Must have excellent support services otherwise you will loose business.
- Marketing and advertisement must be agressive to be able to attract clients and beat competitors,
- An E-business must be able to gain customers trust in order to get business because the seller and buyer do not get to meet each other.
- Must have a reliable supply chain so you can deliver goods to customers in a professional and timely manner.
- Must have good management practices in order to maintain good infrastructure
- Maintain inventory and distribution set up to meet initial demand.
E-Commerce in a world of evolving technology ....
There are constant technological breakthroughs, globalizations and social changes happening in the world, this fact forces organizations to respond accordingly and in a fast pase in order to keep up with the pase of changes. E-Commerce allows businesses to do that.
There are benefits too ...
E-Commerce saves exchange time as the business is always open (online stores) and therefore allows businesses to compete better, it relies on employees to provide excellent support in order to obtain business therefore it empowers employees , it allows companies to reduce costs because there are no "actual stores" that have to be maintained (no rent, no electricity bills etc' ) , it also decreases communication costs and allows customer to enjoy a vaster variety of products (no need for "actual space" – everything is online) .
How does EC facilitate customization of product and services?
EC allows clients to have a vaster variety or products online because there is no
Need for "actual space" to store goods, everything is virtual and presented online. It allows client to have more search options, more information about the product, and enables the client to find exactly what he / she is looking for, in a shorter period of time, without the hassle of browsing through shelves or going from store to store.
In a world of evolving technology - what are you ? - Brick & Mortar or Click & Mortar ?
Brick and Mortar organization is the old economy organization that sell physical products by means of physical agents, as oppose to Click and Mortar businesses that perform some e-commerce business , usually as an additional marketing channel.
Click and Mortar businesses get a larger exposure over the internet, can reduce costs and therefore compete better and offer cheaper rates than Brick and Mortar businesses.
Click and Mortar organizations have to aggressively market themselves in order to gain clients trust, while Brick and Mortar organizations build this trust face to face with the client.
Click and Mortar organizations can conduct more business because they operate online and therefore always open to business, while Brick and Mortar organizations are open during traditional working hours.
Some personal touch ...
I currently do some marketing work for a new company called "The Natural Gift Baskets LLC". http://www.thenaturalgiftbaskets.com/
This company, founded by a relative of mine in New Jersey, sells Kosher and Organic gift baskets. The target market is the American Jewish community but not only; the company's main office is in NJ, but - E-Commerce allows us to sell our products all over the US.
We can definitely see the advantages of E-commerce when it comes to our business:
Our store is open online all the time
We sell and ship quickly
we can sell to anyone, anywhere in the US
We save intermediator costs
We reduct general costs
Relevant business articles this week:
E-Bay CEO retires.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22782796/
Cool websites for this week:
FastCompany
http://www.fastcompany.com/
Ebusiness Mantra
http://www.ebusinessmantra.com/index.aspx
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