Module 6

E-COMMERCE , SOCIAL MEDIA, AND MOBILE

ANALYTICS.

INTER ORGANIZATIONAL- global information system

Interorganizational systems allow the flow of information to be automated

between organizations in order to reach a desired supply-chain
management system, which enables the development of competitive
organizations. This supports forecasting client needs and the delivery of products
and services.

Interorganizational system helps to better manage buyer-supplier relationships by

encompassing the full depths of tasks associated with business processes
company-wide. In doing these activities, an organization is able to increase the
productivity automatically; therefore, optimizing communication within all levels
of an organization as well as between the organization and the supplier. For
example, each T-shirt that is sold in a retail store is automatically communicated
to the supplier who will, in turn, ship more T-shirts to the retailer.

An Inter-organizational system is an information system shared by one or more

suppliers and customers

Organizations might pursue an interorganizational system for the following

reasons:

1. Reduce the risk in the organization

2. Pursue economies of scale
3. Benefit from the exchange of technologies
4. Increase competitiveness
5. Overcome investment barriers
 6. Encourage global communication

GLOBAL INFORMATION SYSTEM;

• A global information system (GIS) is an information system which is developed and
/ or used in a global context.
• A global information system (GIS) is any information system which attempts to
deliver the totality of measurable data.
Purpose of the Global Information System (GIS)
The four main purposes of GIS modern survey is:

1. Support for General Research

2. Collection, manipulation, and utilization of spatial data in database management

3. Standardization and Customisation of cartographic production

4. Supports the decision-making process based on spatial data.

Applications of GIS
The important applications of GIS are:

1. Extensively used in Business, government, and research which performs environmental

analysis, land use planning, tax appraisal, utility, location analysis, utility, and
infrastructure planning.

2. GIS is used for real estate analysis, marketing, and demographic analysis

3. Wide application in habitat and archaeological analysis.

4. Applied in Remote sensing, surveying, geodesy, civil engineering, artificial intelligence,

operation research.

5. Employed in Natural resource management for locating the underground pipes and cables,
planning facility maintenance, tracking energy use and balancing the loads in electrical
networks.

6. Modern GIS applications include address matching, location analysis or site selection and
development of evacuation plans.
Electronic data interchange;

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the computer-to-computer exchange of

business documents in a standard electronic format between business partners.

What is the purpose of Electronic Data Interchange?

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the computer-to-computer exchange of
business documents in a standard electronic format between business partners.
By moving from a paper-based exchange of business document to one that is
electronic, businesses enjoy major benefits such as reduced cost, increased
processing speed,

There are five key business benefits that EDI technology delivers through
automation and B2B integration:

• EDI technology saves time and money through automation of a process previously
manually executed with paper documents.
• EDI solutions improve efficiency and productivity because more business documents
are shared and processed in less time with greater accuracy.
• EDI data transfer reduces errors (PDF, 669 KB) through rigid standardization, which
helps to ensure information and data are correctly formatted before they enter business
processes or applications.
• EDI integration improves traceability and reporting because electronic documents can
be integrated with a range of IT systems to support data collection, visibility and
analysis.
• EDI automation supports positive customer experiences by enabling efficient
transaction execution and prompt, reliable product and service delivery.

Cost. Electronic exchange of information is much cheaper than traditional paper documents.
In fact, one study has shown that a purchase order using paper can cost $70 or more to process.
The same order costs less than a $1 to process using EDI.

Reliability. Electronic processing also reduces human errors, which can extend the time of
processing an order and cost you money.
Speed. Digital documents can also be processed much faster. For instance, paper orders can
take up to 10 days from start to finish, while EDI can take as little as one day.

Automation. By automating the ordering process, EDI can greatly minimize the manual
human power required, saving a business time and money.

e-commerce overview;

E-Commerce or Electronics Commerce is a methodology of modern business,

which addresses the need of business organizations, vendors and customers to
reduce cost and improve the quality of goods and services while increasing the
speed of delivery. Ecommerce refers to the paperless exchange of business
information using the following ways −

• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

• Electronic Mail (e-mail)
• Electronic Bulletin Boards
• Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT)
• Other Network-based technologies

Features

E-Commerce provides the following features −

• Non-Cash Payment − E-Commerce enables the use of credit cards, debit

cards, smart cards, electronic fund transfer via bank's website, and other
modes of electronics payment.

• 24x7 Service availability − E-commerce automates the business of

enterprises and the way they provide services to their customers. It is
available anytime, anywhere.
 • Advertising / Marketing − E-commerce increases the reach of
advertising of products and services of businesses. It helps in better
marketing management of products/services.

• Improved Sales − Using e-commerce, orders for the products can be

generated anytime, anywhere without any human intervention. It gives a
big boost to existing sales volumes.

• Support − E-commerce provides various ways to provide pre-sales and

post-sales assistance to provide better services to customers.

• Inventory Management − E-commerce automates inventory

management. Reports get generated instantly when required. Product
inventory management becomes very efficient and easy to maintain.

• Communication improvement − E-commerce provides ways for faster,

efficient, reliable communication with customers and partners.

e-commerce applications and used cases,

Most Common E-commerce Applications

1. Retail and Wholesale

E-retailing or online retailing refers to the transaction of goods and services

through online stores from businesses to consumers. It is achieved through means
such as virtual shopping carts and e-catalogues. The applications of e-commerce
in this sector is numerous.

2. Finance

Finance and e-commerce is more connected today than ever. Banks and stock
markets use e-commerce significantly in their operation. Online banking provides
provisions such as balance check, bill payment, money transfer, etc. Online stock
trading enables people to carry out trading electronically by giving information
about stocks such as performance reports, analysis, charts, etc. through websites.

3. Manufacturing

In manufacturing, e-commerce forms a medium for companies to execute the

electronic exchange. Combined buying and selling, sharing market status,
inventory check information, etc. enables groups of companies to fluidly carry
out their operations.

4.Auctioning

Applying e-commerce to auctions takes it to a more significant level where

people can participate without any geographical boundaries. That leads to more
participation, more negotiation, and helps to make auctions successful.

5. Marketing

Marketing activities such as pricing, product features, and building customer

relationships can be strengthened using e-commerce to provide users an enhanced
and customized shopping experience. Digital marketing strategies have become
a significant way to promote businesses.

6. Online Shopping

The shopping preferences of people have undergone a massive change in the last
few years. “Go online” has become a mantra for all businesses to succeed. Online
shopping is comfortable, convenient, and at most times, cost effective. The
prosperity of online shopping apps such as Flipkart, Amazon are proof of this.

7. Mobile and Web Applications

Popularly called mobile commerce or m-commerce applications, this is a subset

of retail e-commerce. Mobile or web application development has become a
staple for brands to showcase their business capabilities. The consumer carries
out purchases through mobile or web applications that are optimized for the
retailer. These applications also ensure payment security through safe e-payment
methods.

8. Online Booking

Travel and tourism is a thriving industry today, and online booking is an

ecommerce application that is growing as a result of it. Online booking helps
people book travel essential services like train/flight tickets, hotel rooms, tourism
packages, transportation services, etc. It makes travel very convenient and easy
for people as everything can be set from the tip of the fingers.

9. Online Publishing

Digital magazines and e-books are slowly replacing traditional printed books. It
has several advantages such as portability, lightweight, accessible from
everywhere, etc. They are also environment friendly as they help in reducing
paper and saving trees. Due to these reasons, online publishing or e-publishing
has been seeing a rise in popularity.

10. E-banking

E-banking or internet banking is an e-commerce application that has simplified

time-consuming and complex banking processes for people. It enables bank users
to perform transactions easily online without having to wait in long queues in
banks. Every major bank has its own online application today to provide virtual
banking services to its customers.

MOBILE COMMERCE,

Mobile commerce, also known as m-commerce or commerce, is the use of

wireless handheld devices like cell phones and tablets to conduct commercial
transactions online, including the purchase and sale of products, online banking,
and paying bills. The use of m-commerce activity is on the rise.
Applications of M-commerce

• Mobile Banking: Using a mobile website or application to perform all

your banking functions. It is one step ahead of online banking and has
become commonplace these days. For example, in Nigeria, the majority
of banking transactions happen on mobile phones.

• Mobile Ticketing and Booking: Making bookings and receiving your

tickets on the mobile. The digital ticket or boarding pass is sent directly
to your phone after you make the payment from it. Even in India now
IRTC and other services provide m-ticketing services.

• E-bills: This includes mobile vouchers, mobile coupons to be redeemed

and even loyalty points or cards system.

• Auctions: Online auctions having now been developed to be made

available via mobile phones as well.

• Stock Market Reports and even stock market trading over mobile
applications.
Advantages of M-commerce

• It provides a very convenient and easy to use the system to

conduct business transactions.

• Mobile commerce has a very wide reach. A huge part of the world’s
population has a mobile phone in their pocket. So, the sheer size of the
market is tremendous.

• M-commerce also helps businesses target customers according to their

location, service provider, the type of device they use and various other
criteria. This can be a good marketing tool.
 • The costs of the company also reduced. This is due to the streamlined
processes, now transaction cost, low carrying cost and low order
processing cost as well.
Disadvantages of M-commerce

• The existing technology to set up an m-commerce business is very

expensive. It has great start-up costs and many complications arise.

• In developing countries, the networks and service providers are not

reliable. It is not most suitable for data transfer.

• Then there is the issue of security. There are many concerns about the
safety of the customer’s private information. And the possibility of a
data leak is very daunting.
e governance;

E-governance, expands to electronic governance, is the integration of Information

and Communication Technology (ICT) in all the processes, with the aim of
enhancing government ability to address the needs of the general public. The basic
purpose of e-governance is to simplify processes for all, i.e., government, citizens,
businesses, etc. at National, State and local levels.

Benefits of E-governance

• Reduced corruption
• High transparency
• Increased convenience
• Growth in GDP
• Direct participation of constituents
• Reduction in overall cost.
• Expanded reach of government
Types of e-governance

• G2G (Government to Government): When the exchange of information

and services is within the periphery of the government, is termed as G2G
interaction.
• G2C (Government to Citizen): The interaction amidst the government and
general public is G2C interaction. Here an interface is set up between
government and citizens, which enables citizens to get access to wide
variety of public services.

• G2B (Government to Business): In this case, the e-governance helps the

business class to interact with the government seamlessly. It aims at
eliminating red-tapes, saving time, cost and establish transparency in the
business environment, while interacting with government.

• G2E (Government to Employees): The government of any country is the

biggest employer and so it also deals with employees on a regular basis, as
other employers do.

GRID COMPUTING,

Grid Computing can be defined as a network of computers working together

to perform a task that would rather be difficult for a single machine. All
machines on that network work under the same protocol to act like a virtual
supercomputer. The task that they work on may include analysing huge
datasets or simulating situations which require high computing power.
Computers on the network contribute resources like processing power and
storage capacity to the network.

A Grid computing network mainly consists of these three types of machines

1. Control Node:
A computer, usually a server or a group of servers which administrates
 the whole network and keeps the account of the resources in the
network pool.
2. Provider:
The computer which contributes its resources in the network resource
pool.
3. User:
The computer that uses the resources on the network.
Advantages of Grid Computing:
1. It is not centralized, as there are no servers required, except the control
node which is just used for controlling and not for processing.
2. Multiple heterogeneous machines i.e., machines with different
Operating Systems can use a single grid computing network.
3. Tasks can be performed parallelly across various physical locations
and the users don’t have to pay for it(with money).

MOBILE COMPUTING,

Mobile Computing is a technology that allows transmission of data, voice and

video via a computer or any other wireless enabled device without having to be
connected to a fixed physical link. The main concept involves −

• Mobile communication
• Mobile hardware
• Mobile software

Location Flexibility

This has enabled users to work from anywhere as long as there is a connection
established. A user can work without being in a fixed position. Their mobility
ensures that they are able to carry out numerous tasks at the same time and
perform their stated jobs.

Saves Time

The time consumed or wasted while travelling from different locations or to the
office and back, has been slashed. One can now access all the important
documents and files over a secure channel or portal and work as if they were on
their computer. It has enhanced telecommuting in many companies. It has also
reduced unnecessary incurred expenses.

Enhanced Productivity

Users can work efficiently and effectively from whichever location they find
comfortable. This in turn enhances their productivity level.

Ease of Research

Research has been made easier, since users earlier were required to go to the
field and search for facts and feed them back into the system. It has also made it
easier for field officers and researchers to collect and feed data from wherever
they are without making unnecessary trips to and from the office to the field.

Entertainment

Video and audio recordings can now be streamed on-the-go using mobile
computing. It's easy to access a wide variety of movies, educational and
informative material. With the improvement and availability of high speed data
connections at considerable cost, one is able to get all the entertainment they
want as they browse the internet for streamed data. One is able to watch news,
movies, and documentaries among other entertainment offers over the internet.
This was not possible before mobile computing dawned on the computing world.
Streamlining of Business Processes

Business processes are now easily available through secured connections.

Looking into security issues, adequate measures have been put in place to ensure
authentication and authorization of the user accessing the services.

Some business functions can be run over secure links and sharing of information
between business partners can also take place.

Meetings, seminars and other informative services can be conducted using video
and voice conferencing. Travel time and expenditure is also considerably
reduced.

MOBILE ANALYTICS-APPLICATIONS AND USED CASES,

ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES;

Mobile analytics captures data from mobile app, website, and web app visitors
to identify unique users, track their journeys, record their behaviour, and report
on the app’s performance. Similar to traditional web analytics,

mobile analytics are used to improve conversions, and are the key to crafting
world-class mobile experiences.

Applications and used cases

App Retention

The mobile app analytics metric helps to engage targeted users and retain your
targeted users. For every business owner, the most important factor is to track the
number of users who opened the app for the first time and constantly compare
that to the number that return to the app. This key metric lets you integrate the
pertinent app strategy to attain the targeted users’ attention and retain them by
implementing the engaging app features.
In-app Referrals

This mobile analytic strategy encourages and tracks the referral codes, which
leads to the app’s success. In-app referrals are such an important factor in the
overall success of your app that you should also track them separately. This
particular strategy spread the word of mouth publicity of your mobile app through
the digital mode.

App Performance Analytics

Even if your app has got a wonderful design and user experience, but its
performance is not praiseworthy, then the success rate of your mobile is destined
to be doomed. These analytics help you to monitor every time your app would
perform poorly, crash, give errors, and take slow load times. If not taken care of,
then the poor app performance would lead to user drop.

App Ratings and Review Analytics

When your users rate your app, it is the clearest indication of how efficient you
are to improve your app based on the user’s feedback and ratings. A review and
rating play a significant role in making a purchase decision. The app reviews help
in the overall success of your business. This feature would give the unbiased
approach of your mobile app to your potential users.

Targeted User

This mobile analytic is the most crucial for your app success. Users are not of one
particular type, the variety of users demand for an app, which can be used by all.
The multiple user types, require the different ways to engage them within the
same app. You can segregate the users based on their age, salary bracket, industry,
gender.
Advantages of mobile analytics

• Mobile app analytics act as a blessing for your app development

process;
• They develop an efficient mobile marketing strategy;
• Help you to understand the app features in terms of user experiences;
• You learn more about your targeted audience;
• You can learn and evaluate user behaviour;
• App analytics help drive ROI over every aspect of performance;
• Measure user-acquisition performance;
• Support direct, customized user messaging

Disadvantages of mobile analytics

• Lack of alignment, availability and trust

• Lack of Commitment
• Low quality of underlying transactional data
• Correlation Analysis
• Different Concepts of Business Analytics You Must Know
• Data Mining

• Experimental Design

social media analytics- applications & used cases

Social media analytics is the process of gathering and analysing data from
social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. It is
commonly used by marketers to track online conversations about products and
companies.
applications:

Natural language processing and machine learning technologies identify

entities and relationships in unstructured data — information not pre-formatted
to work with data analytics. Virtually all social media content is unstructured.
These technologies are critical to deriving meaningful insights.

Segmentation is a fundamental need in social media analytics. It categorizes

social media participants by geography, age, gender, marital status, parental
status and other demographics. It can help identify influencers in those categories.
Messages, initiatives and responses can be better tuned and targeted by
understanding who is interacting on key topics.

Behaviour analysis is used to understand the concerns of social media

participants by assigning behavioural types such as user, recommender,
prospective user and detractor. Understanding these roles helps develop targeted
messages and responses to meet, change or deflect their perceptions.

Sentiment analysis measures the tone and intent of social media comments. It
typically involves natural language processing technologies to help understand
entities and relationships to reveal positive, negative, neutral or ambivalent
attributes.

Share of voice analyses prevalence and intensity in conversations regarding

brand, products, services, reputation and more. It helps determine key issues and
important topics. It also helps classify discussions as positive, negative, neutral
or ambivalent.

Clustering analysis can uncover hidden conversations and unexpected insights.

It makes associations between keywords or phrases that appear together
frequently and derives new topics, issues and opportunities. The people that make
baking soda, for example, discovered new uses and opportunities using clustering
analysis.
Dashboards and visualization charts, graphs, tables and other presentation tools
summarize and share social media analytics findings — a critical capability for
communicating and acting on what has been learned. They also enable users to
grasp meaning and insights more quickly and look deeper into specific findings
without advanced technical skills.

Used cases:

Drive innovation

Social media analytics can be used to drive product/service innovation. People

use social media to talk about products and services they dislike. Analytics can
provide constructive information about what the customer needs, without
spending huge amounts of money on market research.

Build & maintain customer relationships

Good customer relationships are essential to the success of any business. There
are several advantages of establishing and maintaining strong relationships with
customers including a loyal clientele, positive word of mouth, and increased
revenue. Responding quickly to all direct customer concerns Listening to
untagged brand mentions

Measure brand health

Social media analytics can provide a good reflection of your brand health. You
can measure brand awareness by calculating the total volume of your mentions.
You can benchmark this with your competitors to get a holistic picture. You
should also look at the sentiment around your brand mentions and how it fares
against your competitors.

Optimize marketing spends

Social media analytics will help you optimize your digital marketing spends.
Analytics helps you measure campaign performance and allocate marketing
budgets to platforms and activities that drive maximum ROI.

Identify influencers

Identifying and developing relationships with the right influencers is important

to reach your target audience more effectively. While collaborations with
celebrities can generate buzz, digital content creators are more valuable to
brands. These content creators might have a smaller number of followers;
however, they impact their decision-making as they are seen as experts in their
niche.