Concepts & characteristics of E

Commerce
• Eft
• Edi
• E-commerce improves the value chain.
• E-commerce provides an effective tool for
building, managing and enhancing these
relationships
 Digital Phenomenon
• What do you think?
• What are the drivers of e-commerce?
Data networks
Intense competition
DIGITAL
Globalization
Information age
Technologies
Automation
Low cost high quality
products/services
 What is E-commerce
• Distributing, buying, selling and marketing
products and services over electronic systems
• E-business for commercial transactions
• Involves supply chain management, e-marketing,
online marketing, EDI
• Uses electronic technology such as:
- Internet
- Extranet/Intranet
- Protocols

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 Definitions
• Internet:
- A collection of computers that speak a common
language – protocol
• Intranet:
- Private version of the Internet
- Main purpose to share company information
and computing resources among employees
• Extranet:
- Private network that users outside the company
can access
- Requires security and privacy
- Collaborate with other companies
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• Compete in real time rather than in
“cycle time”
• Operate in a world characterized by
low barriers to entry,
• Manage better relationships with
customers through technology
• Four basic business processes:
- information dissemination
- data capture
- promotions and marketing
- transacting with stakeholders
 Appeal of E-commerce
• Lower transaction costs - if an e-commerce site is
implemented well, the web can significantly lower
both order-taking costs up front and customer
service costs
• Larger purchases per transaction - Amazon offers
a feature that no normal store offers
• Integration into the business cycle
• People can shop in different ways. The ability to
build an order over several days
– The ability to configure products and see actual prices
– The ability to easily build complicated custom orders
– The ability to compare prices between multiple
vendors easily
– The ability to search large catalogs easily
• Larger catalogs
• Improved customer interactions - company.
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 Limitations of E-commerce
• To organizations: lack of security, reliability,
standards, changing technology, pressure to
innovate, competition, old vs. new
technology
• To consumers: equipment costs, access costs,
knowledge, lack of privacy for personal data,
relationship replacement
• To society: less human interaction, social
division, reliance on technology, wasted
resources, JIT manufacturing
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 Business Opportunity

• Entrepreneurs found ways to exploit

market failures and earn economic rents
• New businesses were created that were
not feasible earlier

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 Benefits to Consumers

Convenience

Buying is easy and private

Provides greater product access and selection

Provides access to comparative information

Buying is interactive and immediate

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 Benefits to Organizations

Powerful tool for building customer relationships

Can reduce costs

Can increase speed and efficiency

Offers greater flexibility in offers and programs

Is a truly global medium

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 Benefits to Society

More individuals can work from home

Benefits less affluent people

Third world countries gain access

Facilitates delivery of public services

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 The 7C’s of Website design
Context Content

Site’s layout and design Text, pictures, sound and video

that web pages contain

Commerce Community

Site’s capabilities to enable The ways sites enable user-to-

commercial transactions user communication

Connection Customization

Degree site is linked to other Site’s ability to self-tailor to

sites different users or to allow users
to personalize the site

Communication

The ways sites enable site-to-

user communication or two-way
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