A PROJECT

REPORT

ON

RISING TREND OF E-COMMERCE

PLATFORM

A PROJECT
SUBMITTED TO
University of Mumbai for partial
completion of the degree of
Bachelor in Business Management
Studies (Finance)

Under the Faculty

of Commerce

By

MARIYA BASHEER AHMAD

MUKADAM

Under the
Guidance of
PROF.SHARAVATHI.C

MAHATMA EDUCATION
SOCIETY’S
PILLAI COLLEGE OF ARTS COMMERCE
AND SCIENCE,
PLOT NO 10, SECTOR- 16, NEW
PANVEL- 410206

2019-20

DECLARATION BY
LEARNER

I the undersigned Miss MARIYA BASHEER AHMAD MUKADAM

hereby, declare that the work embodied in this
project work titled “RISING TRENDS OF E-COMMERCE
PLATFORM”, forms my own contribution to the research
work carried out under the guidance of
PROF.SHARAVATHI.C is a result of my own research work
and has and has not been previously submitted to any
other Degree/Diploma to this or any other University.

Wherever reference has been made to previous works of

others, it has been clearly indicated as such and
included in the bibliography.
I, here by further declare that all information of
this document has been obtained and presented in
accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct.

Name and Signature of the Learner

Certified by

Name and Signature of the Guiding Teacher

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

To list who all have helped me is difficult because

they are so numerous and the depth is so enormous.

I would like to acknowledge the following as being

idealistic channels and fresh dimensions in the
completion of this project.
I take this opportunity to thank the University oh
Mumbai for giving me chance to do this project.

I would like to thank my Principal Dr (C.A) GAJANAN

WADER for providing the necessary facilities required
for completion of this project.

I take this opportunity to thank our Coordinator in

Charge Prof. SUNITA SAINI, for her moral support and
guidance.

I would also like to express my sincere gratitude

towards my Project Guide Prof. SHARAVATHI.C whose
guidance and care made the project successful.

I would like to thank my College Library, for having

provided various reference books and magazines
related to my project.

Lastly, I would like to thank each and every person

who directly or indirectly helped me in the
completion of the project especially my Parents and
Peers who supported me throughout my project.

INDEX
SR PAGE
NO. CHAPTERS NO.
 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction to E-Commerce

1.2 History/Background of E-Commerce

2 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHADALOGY
2.1 Objective of Study

2.2 Scope of Study

2.3 Limitation of Study

2.4 Significance of Study

2.5 Selection of Problem

2.6 Sample Design

2.7 Sources of Data Collection

3 CHAPTER 3: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

4 CHAPTER 4: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

5 CHAPTER 5: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

6 CHAPTER 6: FINDING, SUGGESTION AND

CONCLUSION
7 CHAPTER 7: BIBLIOGRAPHY

8 CHAPTER 8: APPENDIX
Questionnaire

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
 Booklet
 Magazines
  Economy Times Newspaper

WEBLIOGRAPHY:
 CHAPTER 1:
INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION TO E-
COMMERCE

E-commerce means using the Internet and the web for

business transactions and/or commercial transactions,
which typically involve the exchange of value (e.g.,
money) across organizational or individual boundaries
in return for products and services. Here we focus on
digitally enabled commercial transactions among
organizations and individuals.

E-business applications turn into e-commerce

precisely, when an exchange of value occurs.
Digitally enabled transactions include all
transactions mediated by digital technology and
platform; that is, transactions that occur over the
Internet and the web.

Hence, e-tailing is a subset of e-commerce, which

encapsulates all “commerce” conducted via the
Internet. It refers to that part of e-commerce that
entails the sale of product merchandise and does not
include sale of services, namely railway tickets,
airlines tickets and job portals.

The term electronic commerce or e-commerce refers to

any sort of business transaction that involves the
transfer of information through the internet. By
definition it covers a variety of business activities
which use internet as a platform for either
information exchange or monetary transaction or both
at times.
There are three types of destinations that cater to
retail sales:
i. Traditional retail- brick-and-mortar
ii. Corporatized retail- brick-and-mortar
iii. Corporatized retail- e-tailing

~1~

 MEANING OF E-COMMERCE:

E-Commerce or Electronic Commerce means buying and

selling of goods, products, or services over the
internet. E-commerce is also known as electronic
commerce or internet commerce. These services
provided online over the internet network.
Transaction of money, funds, and data are also
considered as E-commerce. These business transactions
can be done in four ways: Business to Business (B2B),
Business to Customer (B2C), Customer to Customer
(C2C), Customer to Business (C2B).

The standard definition of E-commerce is a commercial

transaction which is happened over the internet.
Online stores like Amazon, Flipkart, Shopify are
examples of E-commerce websites. By 2020, global
retail e-commerce can reach up to $27 Trillion. Let
us learn in detail about what is the advantages and
disadvantages of E-commerce and its types.

For example, the numbers of consumer brand retail

sites like information about products and also allows
monetary transactions to happen over the internet. On
the contrary there are the auctions sites like
Quickr.com and Ebay.com where the information about
certain listed products and services are provided but
the monetary transactions normally happen physically.

Apart from these two categories of e-commerce sites,

there are some sites which enable businesses to
exchange trading goods and also service between two
or more companies. All of these forms of internet
based business platforms are known as e-commerce.

Over the last decade the advent of e-commerce has

actually transformed the manner in which people used
internet. People now are not only just using internet
for gathering information, leisure or socializing
online but also at the same time they are seeking
measures to conduct business.

~2~

 OBJECTIVES OF E-COMMERCE:
1. Development of Business Relationship
2. Better customer service
3. Getting more customers

 KEY FEATURES:
Feature 1. E-Commerce is Technology-Enabled:
Traditional commerce is taking place since times
immemorial but E-commerce is result of integration of
digital technology with business processes and
commercial transactions. The technological
foundations of E-commerce are internet, WWW and
various protocols.
Feature 2. Technology Mediated:
In E-commerce buyers and sellers meet in cyber space
rather than physical place. Hence E-commerce does not
involve face to face contact.

Feature 3. Universality:
Buying and selling take place through websites in E-
Commerce. The websites can be accessed from anywhere
around the globe at any time therefore it possess the
feature of universality.

Feature 4. Intercommunication:
E-commerce technology ensures two way communications
between buyer and seller. On one hand by using E-
commerce firms can communicate with customers through
E-commerce enabled websites. On the other end,
customers can also fill order forms, feedback forms
and can communicate with business operating firms.

~3~

Feature 5. Delivery of Information:

E-commerce serves as the best channel of
communication. E-commerce technologies ensure speedy
delivery of information at very low cost and
considerably increase information density as well.

Feature 6. Electronic Completion of Business

Processes:
By using E- commerce we can perform business
transactions like accounting and inventory through
computers at global level.

Feature 7. Virtual Communities:

Virtual Communities are online communities created by
means such as chat rooms and specifically designed
sites like, where people can interact with each other
having common interest using the internet.

Feature 8. Inter-Disciplinary in Nature:

Implementation of E-Commerce needs a lot of knowledge
of managerial, technological, social and legal
issues. Besides this, understanding of consumer
behaviour, marketing tools and financial aspects is
as crucial as designing interactive E- Commerce
websites.

Feature 9. Customization:
With the use of E-commerce technology, the world is
moving from mass-production to mass-customization.
Product customization ensures that goods are tailor
made as per the requirements and preferences of
customers.
Like Dell Computers Website www(dot)dell(dot)com
enables the consumers to mention configuration of a
Computer and then the product is made available and
delivered as per the configuration ordered by the
customer.

~4~

 TYPES OF E-Commerce:
5 Major Types: Business-to-Business, Business-to-
Consumer, Business-to-Government, Consumer-to-
Consumer and Mobile Commerce.

The major different types of E-Commerce are:

I. Business-to-Business (B2B);
II. Business-to-Consumer (B2C);
III. Business-to-Government (B2G);
IV. Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C);
V. Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce).

Type I. Business to Business (B2B):

1. Business to Business or B2B refers to E-Commerce
activities between businesses.
2. In E-Commerce B2B, transactions are usually
carried out through Electronic Data Interchange or
EDI. EDI is an automated format of exchanging
information between businesses over private networks.
3. EDI is composed of standards that enable
businesses’ computers to conduct transactions with
each other, without human intervention.
4. For Example- Manufacturers and wholesalers are B2B
companies.

Type II. Business to Customer (B2C):

1. Business to Customer or B2C refers to E-Commerce
activities that are focused on consumers rather than
on businesses.
2. For instance, a book retailer would be a B2C
company such as Amazon.com.
~5~

Type III. Customer to Business (C2B):

1. Customer to Business or C2B refers to E-Commerce
activities, which use reverse pricing models where
the customer determines the price of the product or
services.
2. For example – tele workers and online auctions are
C2B processes.

Type IV. Customer to Customer (C2C):

1. Customer to Customer or C2C refers to E-Commerce
activities, which uses an auction style model.
2. Customers are also the business and C2C enables
customers to directly deal with each other. An
example of this is peer auction giant, E Bay.

Type V. M-Commerce (Mobile Commerce):

1. M-commerce (mobile commerce) is the buying and
selling of goods and services through wireless
technology i.e., handheld devices such as cellular
telephones and personal digital assistants. Japan is
seen as a global leader in m-commerce.
2. As content delivery over wireless devices becomes
faster, more secure and scalable, some believe that
m-commerce will surpass wire line e-commerce as the
method of choice for digital commerce transactions.
This may well be true for the Asia-Pacific where
there are more mobile phone users than there are
Internet users.
3. E-commerce stands for electronic commerce, wherein shopping is done
over the internet. ... M-commerce implies the use of mobile devices, so
people can do their business transactions anywhere they go as long as they
can access the internet on their smartphones and can perform transactions
with just a few taps on the screen.
4. M-commerce (mobile commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and
services through wireless handheld devices such as smartphones and
tablets.

~6~
 E-Commerce – Need in Modern Business Era:
Electronic commerce, known as E-Commerce, occurs
daily when sellers and buyers use the internet to
conduct business transactions. Technology makes it
possible for anyone to buy or sell practically
anything online.

The study of following factors show the need for E-

Commerce in modern business era:
1. Wider Audience- The internet provides businesses,
access to millions and millions of people. A 2010
survey by Internet World Stats showed there are
266,244,500 internet users in North America. On the
World Wide Web, companies move beyond geographic
limits to reach wider audience.

2. Cost Efficiency- At the beginning of the internet

age in the 1990s, creating websites was a costly
undertaking. As the years passed, building websites
became less and less expensive. In fact, small
businesses can now build their own sites.

3. Faster Information- The information superhighway

permits speedy exchange of data across the world,
which also means new information, is available
faster.
4. Enhanced Service- Development of E-Commerce
equipped domestic providers to offer more services to
clients.
Some of the other reasons for need of E-Commerce in modern economy is:
1. Wider audience reach.
2. Purchase decisions are influenced by E-Commerce
3. E-Commerce provides convenience
4. Store promotions becomes easy with E-Commerce

~7~
 Business Applications: Sale, Purchase of
Goods, Real Estate Market, Online Banking,
Delivery of Goods, Import and Export, E-
Tailing and a Few Others.

Following are the major business application areas

where E-Commerce is used widely:
1. Sale, Purchase of Goods:
By using E-Commerce, consumers can buy the various
products and services from the different
manufacturers. Industries can purchase raw materials,
components etc. using E- Commerce. Sellers can sell
their products by using E-commerce.

2. Real Estate Market:

Online real estate services are provided by websites
that show listing of houses, shops and flats put up
for sale and rent. Online real estate sites play
supporting role for property dealer. Now builders can
use virtual reality technology on their website to
demonstrate three dimensional floor plans to buyers.
This helps real estate companies to attract buyers.

3. Online Banking:
Online Banking is also known as electronic banking,
Net banking, virtual banking and internet banking
online banking is defined as automated delivery of
new and traditional banking products and services
through electronic and interactive communication
channels. Customers can access online banking
services by using electronic devices like laptop, ATM.

4. Delivery of Goods:
E-Commerce allows the delivery of products. For
example, the computer software is directly downloaded
by the software manufacturer on computer of the
customer.

~8~
5. Import and Export:
Electronic payments are playing a great role in
import and export business. The internet has
simplified the import and export business. By using
E-commerce importers can make enquiries about the
products, their manufacturers, price, quality, other
terms and conditions etc. Exporters
can also make enquiries about suitable customers.
Payments can be made by electronic modes including
digital means like internet.

6. Supply Chain Management:

A supply chain is a set of relationships between a
number of companies who have a symbiotic relationship
with each other in that one company supplies
commodities or services to other companies which, in
turn, supply commodities or services to other
companies, and so on.
An important point about an application such as this
one is that information should be kept confidential
as it flows across the internet.

7. E-Tailing:
E-tailing refers to retailing over the internet. Thus
an E-t is a B2C business that executes a transaction
with the final consumer. E-tailer can be pure play
businesses like amazon.com or businesses that have
evolved from a legacy business, Tesco.com.

 E-COMMERCE CHANNELS:
1. COMMERCIAL CHANNELS:
These channels provide information, news, libraries, education, travel,
sports and reference, entertainment, shopping services, dialogues
opportunities and e-mail etc.

2. THE INTERNET:
The Internet is a global web of computer networks that has made
instantaneous and decentralised global communication possible.
~9~
 Essentials and Procedures:
Product/Service, Processing Mechanism, Payment
Gateway, Delivery of Product, After Sale
Service and Reverse Logistics
E-commerce operates digitally. It has some unique ways to put a business
transaction in place.
Let’s see how this happens:
1. Product/Service:
For E-commerce to happen there should be a prod-uct or service that has
value and for which someone is willing to pay a price. If this criterion is
met, then you can sell anything on ecommerce websites—gadgets, books,
automobiles, grocery, toys, apparel, vegetables and digital goods such as
music, e-books, software, air tickets, magazine subscriptions and the like.

2. Processing Mechanism:
The ecommerce website of a company should put an easy process in place
so that the customer browsing through the site can place an order. The
software that makes this happen is called a shopping cart.

3. Payment Gateway:
Once the customer fills the cart with items that he or she has shopped, the
site should take the customer towards the payment gateway, which collects
money electronically. If the product is downloadable such as music, e-book
etc., the website must also provide for that after accepting payment from
customer.

4. Delivery of Product:
Once customers make the payment, the e-com-merce site must ensure the
delivery of product in good condition on time. Logistics is a specialized
function, so most sellers outsource it to third party logistics providers. Like
Amazon using the services.
~10~
5. After Sale Service:
Customers need to be serviced pre-sales as well as post sales. Before the
sale, customers might have queries about product features that are not
mentioned on the website. They might have ques-tions about
customization and accessories. After the sale, customers might have
queries related to the usage, repair or enhancement of the products or
services that they have already purchased.
6. Reverse Logistics:
There is no guarantee of supplying an error-free product. If products get
damaged or stop functioning after a while, or a wrong product is
delivered—the ecommerce seller must ensure the flow of products in the
reverse direction—known as reverse logistics—where goods flow from
customer to the seller.

 Internet Strategies for Business and Key Success Factors in

E-Commerce:
Internet users are better educated, better informed. As more and more
people find their way onto the internet, the cyberspace population is
becoming more mainstream and diverse

Younger users of Internet in general place a greater value in information,

entertainment, socialising etc. Old users are more likely to use Internet for
investment and more serious matters. In general, Internet users respond to
messages aimed at selling, and receive information about products and
services.

Internet ‘search engines’ such as “Yahoo” and “Google” give consumers

access to varied information sources, making them better informed and
more discerning shoppers.

~11~

 E-COMMERCE FOUR MAJOR MARKET SEGMENTS

E-commerce is a means of conducting business, where

the buying or selling of goods and services or the
transmitting of funds or data, occur via electronic
medium. There are no physical market places and the
entire process of marketing and selling of goods,
takes place on-line or electronically. This means,
the buyer and the seller do not often meet face to
face. It is a replica of a physical market place in
the virtual world.

E-commerce, also called e-trading, operates in all

four major market segments – Business to Business,
Business to Consumer, Consumer to Consumer and
Consumer to Business. Examples of E-commerce include
on-line shopping, electronic payments, on- line
auctions, internet banking, on-line ticketing etc.

(1) E-TAILING:
E-Tailing is the abbreviation of electronic retailing. It is the sale of goods
and services through the internet. E-tailing involves business-to-business
or business-to-customers transactions. It can be regarded as the internet
front of any traditional retailer.

E-tailing shops believe in building strong brands. The web sites they create
are easily understood by the visitors. They also provide discounts and
offers to engage the customers. The pricing, in E-tailing shops, is generally
lower than that of a traditional shop.

In this way the e-tailing shops lure the customers to make purchases on-
line. The customers also get benefited from the fact that he/she does not
need to physically visit the shop for making the purchase. The customers
are free to make their own decisions regarding the purchase, at their own
leisure time. However, e-tailing shops need to have a strong distribution
network in order to secure the delivery of the products.

~12~
(2) E-Advertising:
E-Advertising is the mechanism of promoting products or services on-line.
It is the process of gaining attention of the customers, through the digital
media.
The main purpose of e-advertising is to reach out to a wider range of
customers. It is more cost effective when compared to the traditional forms
of advertising. E-advertising also enables you to target the specific
customers.

On safeguard to be taken regarding E-advertising is that advertisement had

to be consistently monitored and controlled because if it is done poorly, it
can severely damage the image of the company.

3. E-Marketing:
Electronic marketing (e-marketing) is also known as
internet marketing, web marketing and digital
marketing on on-line marketing. It is the process of
marketing a product or service using the internet, e-
mail and wireless media. Unlike e-advertising, e-
marketing is very subtle. It is not always a direct
message of persuasion but rather it is something
which will educate the customers and convince them to
buy the product or service.

Digital marketing techniques include Search Engine

Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM),
content marketing, e-commerce marketing, social media
marketing, display advertisement, marketing through
SMS and on-hold mobile ring tones, etc.

When compared to the means of traditional marketing,

e-marketing offers several advantages. E-marketing
provides much better return on the investment made by
the marketer. It reduces the cost of marketing
campaign. The marketer can easily monitor and track
activities.
~13~
  IMPACT OF E-COMMERCE:
E-commerce has made a profound impact on society.
People can now shop online in the privacy of their
own homes without ever having to leave. This can
force larger brick and mortar retailers to open an
online division. In some cases, it can also force
smaller businesses to shut their doors, or change to
being completely online.

It also changes the way people look at making

purchases and spending money. E-commerce has changed
the face of retail, services, and other things that
make our economy work. Undoubtedly, it will continue
to influence how companies sell and market their
products, as well as how people choose to make
purchases for many years to come.

THE IMPACTS OF E-COMMERCE ON ECONOMY ARE AS FOLLOWS:

(1) Impacts on Directing
 Product promotion
 Customer service
 Direct savings
 Advertisements
 Customization

(2) Impacts on Organisation

 Technology and organisational learning
 Changing nature of work
 New product capabilities

(3) Impacts on Manufacturing

(4) Impacts on Finance
(5) Impacts on Supply Chain Management
 ~14~
 E-COMMERCE ADVANTAGES AND DIS-ADVANTAGES.

ADVANTAGES:
-commerce provides the following main advantages:
(1) Convenience –
Customers can order products or services 24 hours a day wherever they
are.

(2) Information –
Customers can find reams of comparative information about companies,
products, competitors and prices without leaving their office or home.

(3) Fewer Hassel –

Customers don’t have to face sales people or open themselves up to
persuasion and emotional factors, they also don’t have to wait in line.

(4) Quick Adjustment to Market Conditions by Marketers –

Companies can quickly add products to their offering and change prices
and descriptions.

(5) Lower Cost –

On-line Marketers avoid the expense of maintaining a store and the costs
of rent, insurance and utilities. They can produce digital catalogues for
much less cost than the cost of printing and mailing paper catalogues.

(6) Relatively Building –

On-line marketers can dialogue with consumers and learn from them.
Marketers can download useful reports or a free demo of their software.
~15~
(7) Audience Sizing –
On-line Marketers can learn how many people visited
their web site and how many of them shopped at
particular places on the site. This information can
help them improve offers and advertisements.

(8) On-line Marketing –

It is easy affordable by small firms, who otherwise
would not have been able to advertise in the print or
broad cost media.

(9) E-Commerce –
E-commerce through Internet and web site can access
and retrieve information very fast, compared to
overnight mail and even fax.

(10) Large and Medium –

These companies have designed their own websites to
automate corporate purchasing. The high cost on
invoices and purchase order copies including time are
saved a great deal due to E-Commerce and Internet phase.

(11) Internet newsgroups set up for commercial

purposes help companies place on-line advertisements
and thus save cost and time.

(12) New groups, Bulletins board systems (BBSs) and

Web committees help also buyers, sellers and people
in general to have access to valuable information on
diverse topics including information of cultivation
for farmers.

~16~

DIS-ADVANTAGES:
1. Security:
Security continues to be a problem for online
businesses. Customers have to feel confident about
the integrity of the payment process before they
commit to the purchase. Banks such as ICICI Bank,
HDFC Bank, State Bank of India have added secure
payment gateways to process online bank-ing
transactions quickly and safely.

2. System and Data Integrity:

Data protection and the integrity of the system that
handles the data are serious concerns. Computer
viruses are rampant, with new viruses discovered
every day. Vi-ruses cause unnecessary delays, file
backups, storage problems, and other similar
difficulties. The danger of hackers accessing files
and corrupting accounts adds more stress to an
already complex operation.

3. System Scalability:
A business develops an interactive interface with
customers via a website. After a while, statistical
analysis determines whether visitors to the site are
one-time or recurring customers. If the company
expects 2 million customers and 6 million show up,
website performance is bound to experience
degradation, slowdown, and eventually loss of
customers. To stop this problem from happening, a
website must be scalable, or upgradable on a regular
basis.

4. E-Commerce is Not Free:

So far, success stories in e-commerce have forced
large business with deep pockets and good funding to
invest in creating on-line web-sites. According to a
report, small retailers that go head-to-head with e-
commerce giants are fighting losing battle. As in the
brick-and-mortar environment, they simply cannot
compete on price or product offering. Brand loyalty
is related to this issue, which is supposed to be
less impor-tant for online firms. Brands are expected
to lower search costs.
~17~
5. Consumer Search is not Efficient or Cost-
Effective:
On the surface, the electronic marketplace seems to
be a perfect market, where worldwide sellers and
buyers share and trade without intermediaries.
However, a closer look indicates that new types of
intermediaries are essential to e-commerce. They
include electronic malls that guar-antee legitimacy of
transactions. All these intermediaries add to
transaction costs.

6. Customer Relations Problems:

Not many businesses realise that even e-business
cannot survive over the long term without loyal
customers. Building customer loy-alty to a specific
site is not an easy task. Customers are notoriously
fickle-minded, and do not minding visiting a
competing website just to avail even one-time
benefits or discounts.

7. Products-People Won’t Buy Online:

Imagine a website called furniture, com or
living.com, where venture capitalists are investing
millions in selling home furnishings online. In the
case of a sofa, you would want to sit on it, feel the
texture of the fabric etc. Beside the sofa test,
online furniture stores face costly returns which
makes the product harder to sell online.

8. Corporate Vulnerability:
The availability of product details, catalogues, and
other information about a business through its
web-site makes it vulnerable to access by the
competition. The idea of extracting business
intelligence from the website is called web framing.
And such threats are in-creasing day by day.

9. High Risk of Internet Start-Up:

Many stories unfolded in 1999 about successful
executives in established firms leaving for In-ternet
start-ups, only to find out that their get-rich dream
with a dot.com was just that – a dream.

~18~
1.2 HISTORY/BACKGROUND OF E-COMMERCE.

Early Development:
The history of E-commerce begins with the invention
of the telephone at the end of last century. EDI
(Electronic Data Interchange) is widely viewed as the
beginning of ecommerce if we consider ecommerce as
the networking of business communities and
digitalization of business information. Large
organizations have been investing in development of
EDI since sixties. It has not gained reasonable
acceptance until eighties. The meaning of electronic
commerce has changed over the last 30 years.

Originally, electronic commerce meant the

facilitation of commercial transactions
electronically, using technology such as Electronic
Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer
(EFT). These were both introduced in the late 1970s,
allowing businesses to send commercial documents like
purchase orders or invoices electronically. The
growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated
teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the
1980s were also forms of electronic commerce. Another
form of E-commerce was the airline and railway
reservation system.

Online shopping, an important component of electronic

commerce was invented by Michael Aldrich in the UK in
1979. The world’s first recorded business to business
was Thomson Holidays in 1981. The first recorded
Business to consumer was Gateshead SIS/Tesco in 1984.
During the 1980s, online shopping was also used
extensively in the UK by auto manufacturers such as
Ford, General Motors and Nissan. The systems used the
switched public telephone network in dial-up.

From the 1990s onwards, electronic commerce would

additionally include enterprise resource planning
systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing. An
early online information marketplace, including
online consulting, was the American Information
Exchange, another pre Internet online system
introduced-in 1991.

~19~
In 1990 Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web
and transformed an academic telecommunication network
into a worldwide everyman everyday communication
system called internet/www(dot)Commercial enterprise
on the Internet was strictly prohibited until 1991.

Although the Internet became popular worldwide around

1994 when the first internet online shopping started,
it took about five years to introduce security
protocols and DSL allowing continual connection to
the Internet. By the end of 2000, many European and
American business companies offered their services
through the World Wide Web. Since then people began
to associate a word “E-commerce” with the ability of
purchasing various goods through the Internet using
secure protocols and electronic payment services.

The Internet and the Web:

The Internet was conceived in 1969, when the Advanced

Research Projects Agency (a Department of Defence
organization) funded research of computer networking.
The Internet could end up like EDI without the
emergence of the World Wide Web in 1990s. The Web
became a popular mainstream medium (perceived as the
fourth mainstream medium in addition to print, radio
and TV) in a speed which had never been seen before.
The Web users and content were almost doubled every a
couple of months in 1995 and 1996.
Michael Aldrich. Michael Aldrich (22 August 1941 – 19
May 2014) was an English inventor, innovator and
entrepreneur. In 1979 he invented online shopping to
enable online transaction processing between
consumers and businesses, or between one business and
another, a technique known later as e-commerce.
History of ecommerce dates back to the invention of
the very old notion of "sell and buy", electricity,
cables, computers, modems, and the Internet.
Ecommerce became possible in 1991 when the Internet
was opened to commercial use. Since that date
thousands of businesses have taken up residence at
web sites.

~20~
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH
METHADALOGY
2.1 OBJECTIVE OF
STUDY

The objective of this study is to use of e-commerce domain companies and

consumers. This study is conducted to evaluate the perception and
attentive and secure recommending payment method based on analysis
and study. The results are expected to contribute significantly towards the
current thinking, security regarding e-commerce online transactions. The
main objectives are involved an attempt to determine the current
awareness and alert in the particular area in ecommerce like security
issues, Screening, Recommended payment method, Internal order
cancellations. This study provides best solution to e-commerce domain
companies/industries and alert and awareness to common man.

For safe and secure transaction consumers and e-commerce domain

companies should follow some basic rules and regulations with latest
technologies. Hacking is now a day’s very common so we consumers’ and
companies they should maintain their transaction more secure and safe in
this regards our study proposing and recommending best payment method
and discussing Internal order cancellation. This is an alarming sign for the
whole world.

(1) Vision Statement:

1. To meet the altering & challenging needs of society in the field of E-
commerce Online
transactions by innovation, problem solving, eradicating threats;
2. To make Cyber world safer, better managed and easy for the common
man, E-commerce
companies;
3. To STOP victimizing the innocent;
4. To promote the e-commerce transactions by making it Safe and Secure.
~21~
5. To enhance the confidence level of the common people to carry e-
commerce activities like online
transactions, purchases, auctioning;
6. To look toward a next generation approach to security engineering by
Research;
7. Safe and secure solution solutions in the payment method.
8. Simple and easy flow chart for Internal order cancellation to Companies.
Our driving vision is a networked world in which software and systems can
be understood far better and faster is possible today.

(2) Mission Statement:

To create and distribute knowledge through research, creative inquiry and
learning to make our contribution to the society to eradicate global cyber
crime. This awareness can be increased through a series of seminars to
make the common man in the society ‘ALERT & AWARE’ of issues of Cyber
attacks and solutions thereof. And SAFE & SECURE transactions through
online”
To transfer our intellectual findings to enhance society in meaningful and
sustainable ways. Main Mission of this study is to make the entire society
AWARE & ALERT, SAFE and SECURE transactions and knowledge on
security and safety. To give best solutions to E-commerce domain
companies in the area of different kinds of Screenings, safe and secure,
trusted payment method, internal order cancellations for solving placed
orders.
 OBJECTIVES (INDIAN MARKET)
(1) To study the online retail growth of market in India.
(2) To explore the online business of model of online business.
(3) To analyse the online feedback.
(4) To reveal the satisfaction level of consumer.

~22~
2.2 SCOPE OF STUDY

There is high scope of e-commerce in each aspect of business, at present it

is in the embryonic stage but in future e-commerce would be the part of
day to day activity of business firms.
SCOPE: (INDIAN MARKET. EG: FLIPKART)
1. Finding out the strength and weakness of Flipkart.
2. Finding the number of future purchases.
3. Finding the customer satisfaction and their means of awareness of
Flipkart.
4. Finding the perception among the competitors.
5. Finding out the perception of customers about Flipkart.

Following are the marketing areas where we seek scope of e-commerce:

 Marketing, sales and sales promotion.

 Pre-sales, subcontracts, supply.
 Financing and insurance.
 Commercial transactions – ordering, delivery, payment.
 Product service and maintenance.
 Co-operative product development.
 Distributed co-operative working.
 Use of public and private services.
 Business-to-administrations
 Transport and logistics.
 Public procurement.
 Automatic trading of digital goods like games, learning material,
songs and music etc.
 Accounting and financial management.
 Legal advice

~23~
2.3 LIMITATION OF STUDY

 IN INDIAN MARKET:

It is not possible for any market study to make it accurate due to

many hurdles in the collection of data. Some limitations of the study
are listed below,

1. The sampling frame to conduct the study has been restricted to

area near Kolkata.

2. Respondents show reluctance towards giving incorrect

information.

3. Findings of the study are based on the assumption that

respondents have disclosed in the questionnaire.

4. Time was a major constraint.

OTHER LIMITATIONS:
1. Security
2. Lack of Privacy
3. Tax issue
4. Fear
5. Product Stability
6. Cultural Obstacles
7. High Labour Cost
8. Legal issues
9. Technical Limitations
10. Huge Technical Cost

~24~
2.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF
STUDY
Today, we can see e-commerce is becoming a part of
study of almost all the courses in management and
commerce. It is an integral part of any book or
manuscript that is written on retailing, and it
claims a significant share in this text also. The
reason behind this lies in the fact that e-commerce
technology is different and more powerful than any of
the other technologies we have seen in the past
century.

While these other technologies transformed economic

life in the 20th century, the evolving Internet and
other ITs will shape the 21st century in many ways.
The foremost of these is the rise of a sizeable class
of Internet-habituated consumers, and then is the
creation of an ecosystem essential for e-tailing’s
growth. In India’s case, both these factors are poised
to fall into place rapidly.

Prior to the development of e-tailing, the process of

marketing and selling goods was a mass- marketing
and/or sales force-driven process. Consumers were
considered as passive targets of advertising
(promotional) “campaigns,” and branding blitzes were
intended to influence their long-term product
perceptions (brand positioning) and immediate
purchasing behaviour.

Selling was conducted in typical well-insulated

“channels.” Consumers were viewed to be trapped by
geographical and social boundaries, unable to search
widely for the alternatives with best price and
quality. Information about prices, costs, and tariffs
could be hidden from the customers to get the
resultant profitable “information asymmetries” for the
selling firm.

Here, information asymmetry means any disparity in

relevant market information among parties in a
transaction. E-commerce has challenged much of these
traditional retail business norms, assumptions, and
behaviour.

~25~
2.5 SELECTION OF PROBLEM

~26~
 2.6 SAMPLE DESIGN

When you’re selling online, you want to make sure

that your website represents who you are and what you
do. After all, it’s your chance to make an impression
on your customers. And if you do it right, you can
make a lasting one. That’s why, when running an online
business, website design is one of the more important
things to get right. There are plenty of other
business tips and tricks readily available for you.
But, in this article, we’ll go over ecommerce website
design.
 E-COMMERCE SAMPLE DESIGN IN 5 STEPS:
STEP 1: Design Effortlessly.
Drag and drop your ecommerce website to life. If you've coding experience,
you'll never need it.

STEP 2: Add Products.

Add or import your products, including descriptions, specifications, and
images.

STEP 3: Showcase them with care.

Organize your products into categories and collections. When you make it
easy for customers to find them, you make it easier to sell them.

STEP 4: Instantly live

Go online with one click and see updates reflected on your mobile-
optimized website, instantly.

STEP 5: Payments, taxes, and shipping

Include multiple payments gateways, and location-specific tax rates and
shipping options to your store.
~27~
2.7 SOURCES OF DATA COLLECTION
DATA COLLECTION METHOD:

 PRIMARY METHOD:

Meaning-
Primary data is data that is collected by a researcher from first-hand
sources, using methods like surveys, interviews, or experiments. It is
collected with the research project in mind, directly from primary
sources. The term is used in contrast with the term secondary data.

HOW IT WAS COLLECTED?

Primary method was collected through survey method
(questionnaire, observation and interview) from the respondents.
Observations regarding the rise of online shopping trends. The
questionnaire aimed at studying the customers preference and
feedback for the online shopping sites Flipkart. Unstructured
interview was conducted for some of the respondents to find out the
drawbacks of the online model of Flipkart.

 SECONDARY METHOD:

MEANING:
Secondary data refers to data that is collected by someone other than
the user. Common sources of secondary data for social science
include censuses, information collected by government departments,
organizational records and data that was originally collected for
other research purposes. Secondary data can save time that would
otherwise be spent collecting data, particular in case of quantitative
data.

HOW IT WAS COLLECTED?

Secondary data was collected through various websites and articles
available on the Internet.

~28~
CHAPTER 3: REVIEW OF LITERATURE.
A literature review is a comprehensive summary of previous
research on a topic. The literature review surveys scholarly articles,
books, and other sources relevant to a particular area of research. ...
It should give a theoretical base for the research and help you (the
author) determine the nature of your research.

The estimated internet penetration in Asia is by far the largest among

any continent accounting for 42% of the world usage. Being the
second largest country in Asia, India has an internet penetration rate
of 6.9% for the year 2010, and is ahead of China in e-readiness
(Vaithianathan, 2010). The potential for banking service is very high
in India 2 as compared to other countries, which is evident from the
comparative statistic of number of customers per traditional bank
branch among various countries (Marakarkandy and Daptardar,
2011) and the increase in internet usage.

In online buying the rate of diffusion and adoption of the online

buying amongst consumers is still relatively low in India. In view of
above problem an empirical study of online buying behaviour was
undertaken. Base on literature review, four predominant
psychographic parameters namely attitude, motivation, personality
and trust were studied with respect to online buying. The online
buying decisions are based on four parameters were designed after
statistical analysis. This models were integrated with business
intelligence, knowledge management and data mining to design
Behavioural Business Intelligence framework with cohesive view of
online buyer behaviour.

For better understanding the factors of internet and consumer

buying behaviour towards internet shopping, this chapter would
provide academic research reviews and relative ideas expressed in
the literature that is associated with this subject.
~29~

Furthermore, a number of hypothesis will be tested to answer the

research questions that is already mentioned in the introduction.
Due to recent research shows the internet shopping becomes a full
and effective business model, therefore there are several studies that
already investigated more or less related on internet shopping and
consumer behaviour. In the following chapters, some point of view
will be taken from literatures, and needs careful review to achieve
them as the basis of subsequent research investigation.

Also, in this study, a narrative literature review regarding culture and

e-commerce website design has been introduced. Cultural aspect and
e-commerce website design will play a significant role for successful
global e-commerce sites in the future. Future success of businesses
will rely on e-commerce. To compete in the global e-commerce
marketplace, local businesses need to focus on designing culturally
friendly e-commerce websites. To the best of my knowledge, there
has been insignificant research conducted on correlations between
culture and e-commerce website design. The research shows that
there are correlations between e-commerce, culture, and website
design. The result of the study indicates that cultural aspects
influence e-commerce website design.

CONSUMER EMOTIONS AND E-COMMERCE: LITERATURE REVIEW:

The purpose of this paper is to take a look at the current state of

the research related to consumer emotions in the context of
electronic commerce (e-commerce). As the popularity of online
shopping is constantly growing, the author performed an integrative
literature review of 66 journal articles on e-emotions (consumer
emotions visible in an online environment) and classified the articles
into four groups. According to the analysis of the groups, consumer
emotions are present at various points of the e-commerce
relationship from pre-purchase intentions to post consumption
behaviour. Based on this literature review, directions for future
research in e-emotions are also introduced.
~30~
As we all know, internet and e-commerce are entirely committed
towards every developed country. But we think it can be
accomplished and can make a remarkable benefit to developing
countries also if an ideal business purpose can be made. Ohidujja
man et.al [4] clearly discussed that E-commerce is a revolution &
turning point in online business practices and can make a huge
contribution to the economy and Hasan et.al [5] also indicated that
currently, e-commerce organizations have increasingly become a
fundamental component of business strategy and a strong catalyst
for economic development. A huge amount of research works has
been done on e-Commerce which is basically on online shopping. A
large group of researchers has found out and also pointed out the
necessity and possibilities of Online Shopping. On the other hand,
limitation of ecommerce is found and at the same time, they provided
essential suggestion and came to a prediction to make Online
Shopping more useful for the consumers. But the contribution of
traditional marketing is also inescapable but compare to online
shopping it is less effective we think. So on this basis, Mehrdad Salehi
et.al [17] found out distinguish between online marketing &
traditional marketing. Though most of the people of Bangladesh
especially the rural people are not enough capable of operating
internet to run the online business. For that reason, they need to be
dependent on traditional marketing.

Thus, a literature review discusses published information in a

particular subject area, and sometimes information in a particular
subject area within a certain time period. A literature review can be
just a simple summary of the sources, but it usually has an
organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis.
The literature review acknowledges the work of previous
researchers, and in so doing, assures the reader that your work has
been well conceived. It is assumed that by mentioning a previous
work in the field of study, that the author has read, evaluated, and
that work into the work at hand. A literature review creates a
"landscape" for the reader, giving her or him a full understanding of
the developments in the field.

~31~
LITERATURE REVIEW: THE INIDAN SCENARIO.
Firms across the globe have adopted e-commerce
(EC) in their operations and have reaped benefits
thereof. While firms in technologically developed
countries like US and UK has deployed EC to its
advantage, whereas firms in developing countries
like India failed to follow the suit. Though it
has been widely acknowledged by the researchers
that the adoption of EC by businesses in
developing countries is an important economic
indicator of growth; many firms in India still
have not realized the potential benefits of EC.
This study examines the existing status of EC in
India and reviews the available literature on E-
commerce adoption in India and puts forth
opportunities for future research. The study
might serve as a starting point for further
research in e-commerce in India.

Gupta (2014) in her paper “E-Commerce: Role of e-

commerce in today’s business”, presents a
comprehensive definition of e-commerce while
isolating it from e-business. The paper enlists
the different ecommerce models i.e. B2B, B2C, B2G
and C2C, narratively analysing the nitty gritty of
each. Rina (2016)also elaborates the different
applications of e-commerce in “Challenges and
Future Scope of Ecommerce in India”, at the same
time, defining the degree to which they are
operational in the country. Gunasekaran, Marri,
McGaughey, & Nebhwani (2002) give a broad outlook
of electronic commerce within organisational
systems in “E-commerce and its impact on
operations management”, defining it with
reference to e-trading and elaborating- how it
has permeated every field of business. The paper
identifies the revolutionary role played by
earlier internet applications like e-mail and
electronic data interchange and details the
revolutionary changes brought by the internet
technologies in manufacturing, marketing,
purchasing, design, production, selling and
distribution, warehousing and human resource
management. Internet based technologies have
enabled businesses to shorten development,
purchase and procurement cycles, maintain up to
date product and market information.
~32~
Also, it significantly increases the speed of
communications and increase the quality of
customer relationships by facilitating close
contact and constant communication. The paper
studies in depth, the significance of web based
technologies in different business operations,
thus, improving their efficiency through
effective B2B e-commerce.

Mishra & Kotkar (2015) trace the timeline and

development of B2C e-commerce in “A Study on
Current Status of E-Commerce in India: A
Comparative Analysis of Flipkart and Amazon”with
its inception in the mid 1990s through the advent
of matrimonial and job portals. However, due to
limited internet accessibility, weak online
payment systems and lack of awareness, the
progress was very slow. The Indian B2C e-commerce
industry got a major boost in mid 2000s with the
expansion of online services to travel and hotel
bookings which continue to be major contributors
even today. Das & Ara(2015) observe in “Growth of
E-Commerce in India” that though online travel and
hotel bookings still control the lion’s share of
e-commerce market, their share has comparatively
fallen over the years due to the recent
augmentation and consequent rise of e-tailing
services. There has been a tremendous surge in
the volume of investment in this sector. With the
e-commerce markets in the west reaching their
saturation, investors see tremendous potential in
the Indian market, in the light of which, many
start ups have received funding from venture
capitalists and private equity firms.

China's Alibaba Group and affiliate Ant Financial

became the largest shareholders of One97
Communications, the parent of Indian e-tailer
Paytm, by investing $680 million, in 2015
(Aulakh, 2015). To tap the potential of what it
regards as “underdeveloped internet economy” of
India, Japanese investment company and technology
powerhouse Softbank invested $627 million into
online retailing marketplace Snapdeal and $210
million in Ola cabs. (Mac, 2014). Similarly, New
York firm Tiger Global Management has funded
companies such MakeMyTrip, Flipkart, Myntra and
Quickr.

~33~

The availability of funds has presented a favourable

ecosystem and growth opportunities for big as
well as small companies. It has enabled local
start ups to survive in cut throat competition
against foreign giants and has facilitated the
penetration of e-commerce to every facet Growth
of E-commerce in India: An Analytical Review of
Literature DOI: 10.9790/487X-1906019195
www.iosrjournals.org 93 | Page of human life;
such that the differentiation between e-commerce
and traditional business is getting
blurred.(Aggarwal, 2014).

Through “Probles and Prospects of E-Commerce”,

Raghunath & Panga (2013) present a comprehensive
analysis of various nuances of e-commerce while
accentuating that, in present time every business
activity, be it advertising, ordering, payment
etc, can be performed in the digital ecosystem.
The paper also enlists numerous points on the
importance of e-commerce which are responsible
for its development as the new convention. It has
enabled the creation and exploitation of new
business opportunities, at the same time
increasing the say of customers in the
development of new products and services. E-
commerce has not only augmented the performance
of internal business management, but, has also
enabled better customer relationships by
promoting a business model that is essentially
based on information sharing. The accessibility
of internet connectivity and other online tools
herald a new revolution. SWOT analysis of e-
commerce conducted by Awais & Samin (2012)
highlights ubiquity, low operating cost, improved
customer interaction and time saving as the
unique strengths of e-commerce, but, at the same
time accentuates upon the necessity for the firms
to adapt themselves to the changing environment
and innovate constantly to come up with better
offerings for customers.
With an increase in the number of
players in the B2C segment, competition for the
first position is set to intensify, making it
imperative for the firms to enhance service
quality and to invest in logistics, so as to
derive benefits from increase in the disposable
income of households, rise in internet
subscriptions and infiltration of mobile commerce.

~34~
(Das & Ara, 2015). In the face of rising
competition, the survival of the firms will
depend upon how efficiently they are able to
bridge the existing gaps in e-commerce
transactions. The ubiquitous nature of internet
has enabled e-commerce to defy geographical
boundaries and permeate different markets, so as
to elicit demand from sub-urban and rural areas,
after having successfully tapped its potential in
metropolitan cities. In anticipation of
increasing demand from Tier 2 and 3 cities, many
e-commerce firms are undertaking efforts to widen
their reach by investing in better
infrastructure. In the light of growing number of
websites, offering similar goods and services,
greater significance is being attributed to
Internet Marketing, which shall play an
unparalleled role in audience acquisition for e-
commerce websites, by displaying the
advertisements on search engine result pages and
other portals. Internet Marketing shall not only
propel ecommerce but will also emerge as an
important support tool to brick and mortar
stores. (Gangeshwer, 2013).

Apart from Internet Marketing, Deshmukh,

Deshmukh & Thampi (2013) recognise another
important development: m-commerce, which they
identify as a subset of e-commerce.
“Transformation from Ecommerce to M-commerce in
Indian Context” reviews the current and potential
status of e-commerce and m-commerce in the Indian
market, while projecting the latter as the
potential future. The paper discerns ubiquity,
personalization, flexibility and immediacy as the
singular advantages of m-commerce. The authors
affirm the idea that smart phone penetration and
rise in internet user base, mostly driven by youth,
shall propel the growth of e-commerce.
Statistical data is used to emphasize that the
infrastructure requisite for m-commerce
development already exists, however, it is yet to
be properly deployed. With mobile penetration
providing a boost to digital downloads and
enabling cheaper monetary transfers, the need of
the hour is to enhance customer confidence by
providing them assurance of safety and privacy,
which shall accelerate movement towards a
cashless economy. Despite innumerable prospects,
the growth of e-commerce in India has not been up
to its full potential.
~35~
The growth of digital commerce in India is
impeded by inadequate infrastructure, logistics
failure, lack of tax uniformity and declining
margins. In the face of intense competition,
firms have to pamper the customers with huge
discounts, everyday offers and liberal returns
policy which proves detrimental to their profits.
As against the firms following inventory model,
e-market places are more adversely affected by
subsidies as they have to offer incentives to the
seller for listing their products on the website
in addition to the humungous discounts and wide
range of offers to the customers. The increasing
fulfilment costs (includes every cost incurred
from the point an order is placed till the time
its delivered to the customer.), lack of last
mile connectivity in many sub-urban and rural
areas and the rising reverse logistics also
hinder the growth of e-commerce firms by
resulting in huge loss.(Rina, 2016).

Also, Businesses use IT innovations to achieve

strategic objectives (Pandya, 2008). The use of
internet and other networking technologies for
conducting business transactions is called as
electronic commerce (Vaithianathan, 2010).
India's overall e-commerce potential is estimated
at 146.2 million or 61.3% of total consumer
households in the country for the year 2009–2010
(Internet and Mobile Association of India report,
2011).

India's overall e-commerce potential is estimated

at 146.2 million or 61.3% of total consumer
households in the country for the year 2009–2010
(Internet and Mobile Association of India report,
2011). The size of Indian business to customer
(B2C) segment in the e-commerce industry has been
growing tremendously over the last few years with
an annual growth rate of 30% (Vaithianathan,
2010). Internet is not considered as merely
information sharing resource but is increasingly
used as distribution channel (Kardaras and
Papathanassiou, 2001), to advertise financial
services (Birch and Young, 1997) and to carry out
financial transactions (Vijayageeta, 2011).

~36~
The estimated internet penetration in Asia is by far the largest among
any continent accounting for 42% of the world usage. Being the
second largest country in Asia, India has an internet penetration rate
of 6.9% for the year 2010, and is ahead of China in e-readiness
(Vaithianathan, 2010). The potential for banking service is very high
in India 2 as compared to other countries, which is evident from the
comparative statistic of number of customers per traditional bank
branch among various countries (Marakarkandy and Daptardar,
2011) and the increase in internet usage.

Keyword search on “E-commerce adoption in India”, “E-Business in

India”, “E-commerce and India”, “E-Business and India” in various
databases like EBSCO, ProQuest and Emerald Management Xtra
found the following E-commerce research articles done in Indian
context:
(1) Raven et al.
(2) Malhotra and Singh,
(3) Vishwanathan and Pick.
(4) Dasgupta and Sengupta.
(5) Tarafdar and Vaidya.

Also, in India a narrative literature review regarding

culture and e-commerce website design has been
introduced. Cultural aspect and e-commerce
website design will play a significant role for
successful global e-commerce sites in the future.
Future success of businesses will rely on e-
commerce. To compete in the global e-commerce
marketplace, local businesses need to focus on
designing culturally friendly e-commerce
websites. To the best of my knowledge, there has
been insignificant research conducted on
correlations between culture and e-commerce
website design. The research shows that there are
correlations between e-commerce, culture, and
website design. The result of the study indicates
that cultural aspects influence e-commerce
website design. This study aims to deliver a
reference source for information systems and
information technology researchers interested in
culture and e-commerce website design, and will
show less focused research areas in addition to
future directions.
~37~
CHAPTER 4: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK.

MEANING:

A conceptual framework is an analytical tool with several variations

and contexts. It can be applied in different categories of work where
an overall picture is needed. It is used to make conceptual
distinctions and organize ideas. Strong conceptual frameworks
capture something real and do this in a way that is easy to remember
and apply.
Isaiah Berlin used the metaphor of a "fox" and a "hedgehog" to make
conceptual distinctions in how important philosophers and authors
view the world.[1] Berlin describes hedgehogs as those who use a
single idea or organizing principle to view the world (such as Dante
Alighieri, Blaise Pascal, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Plato, Henrik Ibsen and
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel). Foxes, on the other hand,
incorporate a type of pluralism and view the world through multiple,
sometimes conflicting, lenses (examples include Johann Wolfgang
von Goethe, James Joyce, William Shakespeare, Aristotle, Herodotus,
Molière, and Honoré de Balzac).

Economists use the conceptual framework of "supply" and "demand"

to distinguish between the behaviour and incentive systems of firms
and consumers.[2] Like many conceptual frameworks, supply and
demand can be presented through visual or graphical
representations (see demand curve). Both political Science and
economics use principal agent theory as a conceptual framework.
The politics-administration dichotomy is a long-standing conceptual
framework used in public administration.[3] All three of these cases
are examples of a macro level conceptual framework.

A conceptual framework represents the researcher's synthesis of

literature on how to explain a phenomenon. It maps out the actions
required in the course of the study given his previous knowledge of
other researchers' point of view and his observations on the subject
of research.
~38~
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF E-COMMERCE:

Framework tells about the detail of how ecommerce can take place. It
defines actually how e-commerce implemented, how online trading
or business can be done. It defines important components that
should be present to do some transaction.
 PUBLIC,
Common Business Service Infrastructure.
POLICY AND Messaging and Information Distribution TECHNICAL
LEGAL STANDARD
PRIVACY System. FOR
ISSUES DOCUMENTS
Multimedia Content and Network , SECURITY
AND
Publishing System. NETWORK
PROTOCOL.

Network Infrastructure.

Network Infrastructure is called as “Information super highway” is

the path through which actual information flows and moves
between sender and receiver. The web allows small businesses and
individuals to develop content in the form of Hypertext mark up
language and publish it on a web server. Web provides a means to
create product information (content) and a means to publish it in a
distribution centre. Once contents has been created and stored on a
server, messaging and information distribution methods carry that
content across the network. Network Infrastructure includes the
different methods for facilitating online buying and selling processes.
Thus, Framework tells about the detail of how ecommerce can take
place. It defines actually how e-commerce implemented, how online
trading or business can be done. It defines important components
that should be present to do some transaction.
~39~
 EVOLUTION OF E-COMMERCE : A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK.
Before the 1990s, the digital exchange of information between
companies was achieved using electronic data interchange (EDI) and
needed agreement between the organizations. The early 1990s saw the
commercialization of the Internet and the advent of open computer
technology and connectivity became affordable for individuals as well as
businesses. The consequence was the World Wide Web. As e-commerce
activities extended across businesses, enterprises, and industries, a
genre of Web sites emerged allowing the integrative management of
business operations. Here, we provide an evolutionary perspective of e-
commerce Web sites. We posited that there have been four eras. To
chart the evolution of e-commerce Web sites, a conceptual framework
was developed to characterize such sites. Based on the framework, we
conducted a longitudinal study between 1993 and 2001. The result
showed that the proposed four eras were clearly discernible.

 ABSTRACT:
The recent boom in the new economy of internet based commerce has
created a large number of firms with a variety of business models that
aim to leverage the power of the internet to further their business goals.
In this paper we attempt to provide a conceptual framework for
understanding e-commerce business models on a number of important
dimensions - nature of consumer activity, nature of e-commerce activity,
target customers, targeting strategy, revenue generating modes,
delivery modes, payment collection modes, operating modes, market
places, advantage mechanisms and domination characteristics. We also
examine means of improving value proposition and net-friendliness for
e-commerce activities and identify areas where e-commerce models
have not been explored or fully exploited so far.
Since the range of economic activities on the internet is vast and
growing, newer models and opportunities are likely to emerge through
improvements in internet technologies as well as innovations in their
application to business contexts. Hence any conceptual framework on e-
commerce business models, including our own, can never be
comprehensive.
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 ELECTRONIC COMMERCE BUSINESS MODELS:

Introduction:
The recent boom in the new economy of internet based commerce
has spawned a large number of firms with a variety of business
models that aim to leverage the power of the internet to further their
business goals. This paper provides a conceptual framework for
understanding these business models and their characteristics. The
conceptual framework is shown in Figure 1.
Locating Electronic Commerce in the Internet Economy We define
electronic commerce as use of the internet medium for conducting
economic transactions. Electronic commerce is a part of a larger
internet economy. Conceptually, the internet economy can be divided
into four layers (Barua etal., 1999). Each layer of the internet
economy is listed below with descriptions of the types of companies
and names of some of the actual companies in each category.
(a) Layer One: The Internet Infrastructure Layer. This layer includes
companies with products and services that help create a network
infrastructure, a prerequisite for electronic commerce. The
categories in this infrastructure layer include: Internet backbone
providers (e.g., MCI); Internet service providers (e.g. AOL);
Networking hardware and software companies (e.g., Cisco); PC and
Server manufacturers (e.g. HP); Security vendors; Fiber optics
makers; Line acceleration hardware manufacturers (Barua, etal,
1999).
(b) Layer Two: The Internet Applications Layer: Products and
services in this layer build upon theabove IP network infrastructure
and make it technologically feasible to perform business activities
online. The categories in this applications layer include: Internet
consultants (e.g., USWeb/CKS,Scient, etc); Internet commerce
applications (e.g., Netscape); Multimedia applications (e.g., Real
Networks); Web development software (e.g., Adobe); Search engine
software (e.g., Inktomi);Online training; Web-enabled databases
etc.(Barua etal., 1999).

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c) Layer Three: The Internet Intermediary Layer: Internet
intermediaries increase the efficiency of electronic markets by
facilitating the meeting and interaction of buyers and sellers over the
Internet. They act as catalysts in the process through which
investments in the infrastructure and applications layers are
transformed into business transactions. The categories in this
intermediary layer include: Online brokerages (e.g., E-Trade); Online
 travel agents (ITN); Market makers in vertical industries; Content
aggregators (e.g., Cnet,); Portals/Content providers (e.g.,
Yahoo);Internet ad brokers (e.g., Double click); Online advertisers
(Barua et.al., 1999).

(d) Layer Four: The Internet Commerce Layer Internet commerce

involves the sales of products and services to consumers or
businesses over the Internet The categories in this Internet
commerce layer include: E-tailers (e.g., Amazon.com, eToys.com);
Manufacturers selling online (e.g., Cisco,Dell, IBM); Fee/Subscription-
based companies (e.g., WSJ.com); Airlines selling online
tickets(Southwest.com); Online entertainment and professional
services (Barua etal., 1999).Many companies operate at multiple
layers in the internet economy. For instance, Microsoft and IBM are
important players at the internet infrastructure, applications, and
internet commerce layers, while AOL (before the acquisition of
Netscape) is a key player in the infrastructure, intermediary and
commerce layers. Similarly Cisco and Dell are important players at
both the infrastructure and commerce layers. As suggested by Barua
etal. (1999), even though the four-layer internet economy framework
makes it difficult to separate revenues for multi-layer players, it
presents a more realistic view of the internet economy than a
monolithic conceptualization that does not distinguish between the
different layers. Further, this classification helps in analysing how
companies choose to enter one internet layer, choosing later to
extend their activities to the other layers (Barua etal., 1999).In this
paper we treat e-commerce firms as those that principally belong to
the fourth layer, but may include some from the third layer as well.

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REVENUE SOURCES:

Sale of goods and

PAYMENT services, Agent fees, PRICING:
COLLECTION MODES: Priced package
Buyer dominant,
information, Sale of
Physical, Virtual. Seller dominant,
aggregated
Parity relationship.
marketing
information.
 REVENUE ADVANTAGE
A A MECHANISIM:
ACTIVITIES:
C D
B2B FIRMS: V Fixed Price, Name
T
A your price, Buyer
B2C I  Pure E-commerce
N aggregation,
V  E-commerce
C2B T Auctions, Consortia,
I Portals
A Tender and
T
C2C G Request for
Y
E proposal.
PRODUCT

PRODUCT TYPES:
PRODUCT TARGET
(1) Sale of goods and
DELIVERY: MARKKET:
services.
1.PHYSICAL
1. NICHE
(2) Packaged marketing
2.VIRTUAL information. 2.BROAD