e-Business Applications

Name
Code

Date
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Answer 1

Private label

A private label is a business concept in which the products are manufactured by one company
and are selling under another company brand. These types of products are available mostly in the
food and cosmetics industry. Private label is advantageous as it gives an edge in competition by
focusing on marketing, control over the pricing of products and allows the company to build its
brand (Gómez Suárez, 2017). It is disadvantageous as it gives no control over quality.

White-label

White label products are manufactures by one organization, but another company works on to
rebrand it as it looks like made by it. It is advantageous as it is low in price than named brand
products while it is disadvantageous as it is hard to know about the original manufacturer of the
product (Molinillo, 2016).

Drop shipping

It is a business process in which the seller accepts the orders from customers but has no
inventory in its stores. It is easy to start as startup costs are much lower, and the seller has a large
variety of items to offer to the customers. It is disadvantageous as the processing system is
problematic and has large competition in the market.

Print on demand

On-demand printing is the process in which books or products are printed when the customer
order has a specific number of products. It reduces the inventory maintenance cost and no startup
investment is required to print a large number of products. It has the disadvantage of the
increased cost when a single product is being printed.

Wholesaling

Sale of goods to retailers in bulks for resale it in smaller quantities at a higher price. There is no
problem in the marketing of the products and has a fixed profit margin. It is disadvantageous as it
requires large capital to invest and also requires a lot of space for business purposes.
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Answer 2

Part A

Michael Porter, five main competitive forces has a great influence on market competition. The
three main forces that affect the upstream supply chain are the power of suppliers, competition in
the industry, potential entrants into the market. The power of suppliers affects the business as the
supplier has more influence on the input raw materials and can negotiate on its advantage.
Competition in the industry also affects the upstream supply chain by more demand for the
upstream resources which would add additional cost to the company for its products. Potential
entrants into the market are the third force that affects e-business by increasing competition for
the products and raw materials used in the manufacturing of products and personal working in
the upstream supply chain (Bruijl, 2018).

The power of customers and the threat of substitutes in the market are the two forces that affect
the business on the downstream side. With increase power of customers, the business would not
be able to sell the product on its terms but will relax its business terms in favor of the customer
and the profit margin for the business will be much lower (Karagiannopoulos, 2005). The
substitutes in the market would also increase the level of competition for the business and they
would always look to change its product portfolio by adding new products. It will increase the
selling cost for the company.

Part B

Amazon has both buy-side and sell-side business, as the company seller takes the inventory and
stores it nears the customer while labeling it. When the customer posts the order, the goods are
shipped to the customers by packing it. Thus amazon works on both upstream and downstream
of business. Amazon is said to practice anti-competitive strategies it sells the different products
under its common selling environment and also regulates the prices to keep it likely to be
equivalent.
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Answer 3

Distributor Selection

The best distributor can be selected for an overseas market through the following process. In the
first step, the business needs to identify which product they want to distribute in the overseas
market. This will help the organization in the selection process by selecting a related experienced
distributor. In the second step, the business needs to make an ideal distributor profile so that the
distributor can fulfill the criteria. This criterion includes the age, education, experience, location,
and brands in its portfolio, etc. are identified. The third stage is to contact the distributors and
introduced the company, its product, marketplace, and marketing objectives. In the fourth stage,
the business organization will prepare the interview question, so that they can achieve the
required information about the distributor. In the fifth stage, the business organization calls the
distributors for an interview to know about its experience, brands, and products distributed, etc.
and related it to the already established criterion for the selection. The physical or virtual
interview is being conducted. In the sixth stage, the organization analyzes the interviewed
distributors for its distribution purpose. This analysis will be conducted through the already fix
criterion established by the business organization for the selection of a distributor. The best
suitable candidate has been picked up for the distribution of the product. In the last stage, the
organization contracts the chosen distributors with certain terms and conditions related to the job.
On agreeing to the terms and conditions, the responsibility of distribution is handed over to the
selected distributed and then its performance is continuously monitored by the organization
(Govina, 2014).

Answer 4

Timing Error

The error is made in the planning process, generally in miscalculating in the timing of
implementation of a business process or strategy. When a business plans to launch its fashion
related product in the period of natural calamity, the people will not respond properly as it is not
a good time for the launching of the product.
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Lack of Creativity

Creativity is the phenomenon of adding something new or valuable is added or formed, while
lack of creativity is the absence of such features in the product or service. Lack of creativity is
harmful to business development and likely to lose its customers.

Offering free services

Offering free services is the business strategy in which the business organization offers some
services without charging any cost from its customer in this respect. These are mostly after-sale
services. Examples of such services are free to repair without any charges for a certain period,
replacement guarantee, and customer support by imparting useful information about the product.

Over-ambition

Over Ambition is a strong desire for the attainment of certain things or objectives. In this case,
the business organization has desires which they want to achieve and have fewer options to
change their desires. It is harmful in tough competition as alternative products and services are
offered by the companies and cope with this, the business needs to readjust its goals.

Implementation

Implementation is the process of put into use an application, a plan, model, standard, or policy.
The business has certain ideas and policies which they adapt to the change in circumstances by
establishing it and then put these ideas and policies into practical usage (Knoepfel, 2011).

Answer 5

Section 1

‘Is the Internet a typhoon force or a light breeze’

The Internet is a typhoon force for the business as it has altered the business concept and
techniques in a very short interval of time. A business that fails to adopt the developmental
changes that occurred due to the internet has failed down. Most of the business has got increased
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growth in its sales volume by converting its business into an online business, Todays; every large
company has a vast presence on the internet and keeping going with the new developments.
These forces have changed the old traditional model of business by implementing the
advertisement process of the businesses and business has started adopting an integrated digital
marketing strategy. The Internet has changed the customer service support process and has
speed-up the business processing process. It has also reduced the overhead cost for business
organizations. The internet has also speed -up the communication process in the business world
and has globalized the business by helping a customer from Australia to buy a certain product in
America, Europe, etc.

Section 2

Impact of Internet

The Internet has a large impact on business organizations and it can be evaluated through
analysis of business operations. In the recent era of Covid-19 Pandemic and lockdowns, the
business can analyze the impact of the internet by evaluating its sale volume, business
opportunities, competitive advantages, and remote staff. The online sales during these lockdowns
were increased as it as easy to order a certain product from its home without going to the market.
It has increased the online business opportunities due to the internet which gives access to the
business to find new customers and helps the customers to find out the new products by
searching it through the internet (Angelova, 2017). It also gives a competitive advantage to
online businesses over their rivals who have less or no operation on the internet. The Internet has
made it possible for the staff member to work form their homes during the lockdown to avoid the
spread of the virus and also keep going the business operations.

Section 3

Barriers

1. On the internet is not easy for the consumer to known about the real quality of the
product such as design, size, color, etc.
2. The consumer also sometimes faces the delivery issue and also the issue about the
right timing of the delivery.
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3. The consumer also has a security problem with online payments as there is a risk to
hack the credit card by a third party.
4. The availability of the internet and the computer system is also an issue for the
consumer. As most of the areas do not have internet coverage and a lot of people do
not have a computer or their operation knowledge (Almousa, 2013).

Measures counter these barriers

1. Assure the quality of the product by adopting standard features, providing product
visuals, ensure the size and color whiling dispatching the product.
2. Ensure to protect the customer information and gives them increased protection
concerning its confidential information.
3. Make available the internet and work to increase awareness in public related to online
shopping.

Answer 6

Case Study

Section 1

Through E-CRM, the organization would likely achieve a lot of benefits such as taken by Cisco
by implementing it in its system. It increases the relation between the customers and the
organization and helps the organization to provide enhanced services and technical support to its
customers. It also reduces the organization cost on the customer support services and instantly
helps out the customer through the internet. It also increased the satisfaction level of customers
and increases their loyalty. It increases business revenue by providing more and easy business
opportunities through this system. It also helps to reduce the cost of certain activities such as
Cisco's technical support cost was reduced by $125 million annually, $180 million saved in the
company distribution process. It also reduced the lead time for the organization as Cisco has
reduced its lead time from 4-10 days to 2-3 days. It increases the sale volume by saving time for
both the organization and customers such as 99 percent of orders were placed online to Cisco.
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Section 2

The online system would also help B2B customers by placing orders as it reduces the length
process for the business organization. The traditional ordering system was lengthy, slow, and has
prone to errors. The online system is more advance, quick, and easy to access to help the B2B
customers to place the order. It also reduces the technical and human errors in the
communication process as the online system has an automatic system to identify the errors
(Fauska, 2013). The intelligent online system gives feedback to both the customer and business
organization when process the order. The online system has also increased the ordering time as it
works 24/7. Through this system, the customer can place the order in his free time.

This system is risk and sometimes the company delivers the wrong product, quality, color, or
size. This system is prone to third party risk and can be hacked easily if there is no tight security
over the system.

Section 3

Cisco has achieved a lot of benefits from the implementation of an online connection system.
Some of the costs saving benefits of Cisco are the saving of $125 million annually due to an
increase in the efficiency of its technical staff as they were able to handle more than 90% of its
services through the online system. The system has increased the efficiency of its staff by 250%
annually. The company also being able to save $180 million in downstream processes as the
company was able to provide its software’s through an online downloading option. The cost
being saved was concerning duplicating, packing, and distribution. The company was also being
able to save $50 million in respect of printing, distributing catalogs, and marketing its materials
to customers. Through the online system, the company able to publish their products features and
it’s pricing on its website. This system was able to reduce the company operational cost and help
to increase its profitability.
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References
Almousa, M. (2013). Barriers to E-Commerce Adoption: Consumers’ Perspectives from a
Developing Country. . KSA: iBusiness. 05. 65-71. 10.4236/ib.2013.52008. .

Angelova, N. &. (2017). The great impact of internet of things on business. Bulgaria : Trakia
Journal of Science. 15. 406-412. 10.15547/tjs.2017.s.01.068. .

Bruijl, G. (2018). The Relevance of Porter's Five Forces in Today's Innovative and Changing
Business Environment. . Nelson, New Zealand: SSRN Electronic Journal.
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Fauska, P. &. (2013). The role of e-commerce in B2B markets of goods and services. . Vienna,
Austria : International Journal of Services Economics and Management. 5. 41 - 7.
10.1504/IJSEM.2013.051872. .

Gómez Suárez, M. &. (2017). Private Label Research: A Review of Consumer Purchase
Decision Models. Madrid: 10.1007/978-3-319-59701-0_17. .

Govina, S. &. (2014). Destination Distributor Selection and Relationship Management by SMEs
involved in Non-Traditional Exporting: A Case Study of Three SMEs in Ghana.
Developing Country Studies. 4. 206-216. . Ghana : Research Desk Consulting Ltd.

Karagiannopoulos, G. &. (2005). Fathoming Porter's five forces model in the internet era. .: 7.
66-76. 10.1108/14636690510628328. .

Knoepfel, P. &. (2011). Policy implementation. . University of Geneva:

10.1332/policypress/9781861349071.003.0009. .

Molinillo, S. &. (2016). Private Label Management: Insights and Research Directions. . Oxford
Brookes University, UK: 10.4018/978-1-5225-0220-3.ch001. .