E-Commerce

e- Commerce

• Electronic Commerce – encompasses the entire

online processes of developing, marketing, selling,
delivering, servicing and paying for products or
services transacted on internetworked, global
marketplaces of customers, with the support of a
worldwide network of business partners.
• Rely on the resources of the internet and many other
information technologies to support every step of
the process.
E- commerce involves accomplishing a range of business
processes to support electronic buying and selling of goods
and services.

Market /Discovery Transaction Processing Service

and Support

Selling
Process

Buying
Process
 Categories of e-Commerce
• Business –to- Consumer (B2C) e-Commerce
– business must develop attractive electronic
marketplaces to sell products and services to
consumers.
• Business –to – Business (B2B) e-Commerce
– involves both electronic business
marketplaces and direct market links
between businesses.
• Consumer – to- Consumer (C2C)
e-Commerce – huge success of online
auctions like ebay, where consumers (as well
as businesses) can buy and sell with each
other in an auction process an auction
website, makes the e-commerce model an
important e-commerce business strategy.
Essential e-Commerce Processes
1. Access Control and Security – e-commerce
processes must establish mutual trust and secure
access between the parties in an e-commerce
transaction by having an access control,
authentication and security measures.
2. Profiling and Personalizing – profiling processes
can occur that gather data on you and your website
behaviour and choices (Profile management), and
build electronic profiles of your characteristics
(Personalization) and preferences (Behavior
tracking).
3. Search Management – efficient and effective
search processes provide a top e-commerce
website capability that helps customers find
the specific product or service they want to
evaluate or buy.
4. Content and Catalog Management – content
management software helps e-commerce
companies develop, generate, update, and
archive text data and multimedia information
at e-commerce websites.
5. Workflow Management – e-business
workflow systems for enterprise collaboration
help employees electronically collaborate to
accomplish structured work tasks within
knowledge-based business processes.
6. Event Notification – most e-commerce
applications are event driven systems that
respond to a multitude of events-from a new
customer’s first web access, to payment and
delivery processes, and to innumerable
customer relationship and supply chain
management activities.
7. Collaboration and Trading – support the vital
collaboration arrangements and trading
services needed by customers, suppliers, and
other stakeholders to accomplish
e-commerce.
 Electronic Payment Processes
• Web Payment Processes - most
e-commerce systems on the web involving
business and consumers (B2C) depend on
credit card payment processes. But many
B2B e-commerce systems used complex
payment processes with the used of
purchased orders.
• Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT) – a major
form of electronic payment systems in
banking and retailing industries. EFT systems
use a variety of information technologies to
capture and process money and credit
transfers between banks and businesses and
their customers.
Example:
PayPal, BillPoint for cash transfer
CheckFree, Pay Trust for bill payment
e-Commerce Applications and Issues
• B2C – moved from merely offering multimedia company
information at corporate websites, to offering products and
services at Web storefront sites via electronic catalogs and
online sales transactions.
– Interactive Marketing – provide a personalized shopping
experience
– Integrated Web Store – supports a variety of customer
shopping experience.
– B2C Portal – moving toward a self-service model where
customers configure and customize the products and
services they wish to buy, aided by configuration software
and online customer support is needed.
• B2B – started as website support to help business
customers serve themselves, and then moved toward
automating intranet and extranet procurement systems.
– Customer Self-service –
– Procurement Automation – configuration and
customization capabilities.
– Extranets and Exchanges - extranets connecting
partners
– B2B Portal – e-commerce portals that provide catalog,
exchange, and auction markets for business customers
within or across industries.
– E-business Empowerment – capabilities like customer
relationship management and supply management, which
are the hallmarks of the customer-focused and
internetworked supply chains of a fully business-enabled
company.
 e-Commerce Success Factors
1. Selection and value – attractive product selections,
competitive prices, satisfaction guarantees and customer
support after the sale.
2. Performance and Service – Fast, easy navigation, shopping,
and purchasing, and prompt shipping.
3. Look and Feel – Attractive Web storefront, website shopping
areas, multimedia product catalog pages, and shopping
features.
4. Advertising and Incentives – Targeted Web page advertising
and e-mail promotions, discounts and special offers,
including advertising at affiliate sites.
6. Personal Attraction – Personal Web pages, personalized
product recommendations, Web advertising, and e-mail
notices, and interactive support for all customers.
7. Community Relationships – Virtual communities of
customers, suppliers company representatives, and others
via newsgroups, chat rooms, and links related sites.
8. Security and Reliability – Security of customer information
and website transactions, trustworthy product information,
and reliable order fulfilment.
 Web Store Requirements
1. Developing a Web Store
– Build – Website design tools, Ste design templates, Custom design
services, Website hosting
– Market – Web page advertising, e-mail promotions, Web advertising
exchanges with affiliate sites, Search engine registrations
2. Serving your customers
– Serve – Personalized Web pages, Dynamic multimedia catalog,
Catalog search engine, Integrated shopping cart
– Transact – Flexible order process, Credit card processing, Shipping
and tax calculations, e-mail order notifications
– Support – Website online help, Customer service e-mail, Discussion
groups and chat rooms, links to related sites
• 3. Managing a Web Store
– Manage – Website usage statistics, Sales and
inventory reports, Customer account
management, Links to accounting system
– Operate – 24x7 website hosting, Online tech
support, Scalable network capacity, Redundant
servers and power
– Protect – User password protection, Encrypted
order processing, Encrypted website
administration, Network firewalls and security
monitors.
1. One to many – Host one major supplier, who dictates product catalog
offerings and prices. Examples: Cisco.com and Dell.com.
• Many to one – Attract many suppliers that flock to these exchanges to
bid on the business of a major buyer like GE or AT&T.
• Some to many – Unite major suppliers who combine their product
catalogs to attract a larger audience of buyers. Examples: VerticalNet
and Works.com.
• Many to some – Unite major buyers who combine their purchasing
catalogs to attract more suppliers and thus more competition and lower
prices. Examples: auto industry’s Covisint and energy industry’s Pantellos.
• Many to many – Auction marketplaces used by many buyers and sellers
that can create a variety of buyers’ and sellers’ auctions to dynamically
optimize prices. Examples are ebay and FreeMarkets.
 Clicks and Bricks in e-Commerce

Separation Integration

- greater focus - established

brand
- more flexibility
Spin-off Strategic Joint In-House - shared
- access to Partnership Venture Division
information
venture funding
- Purchasing
leverage

- Distribution
Efficiencies