E-Commerce
•Commerce:
–Process which includes 2 basic things:
•Selling:
–Done by an entity called:
»Seller OR
»Business (B)
•Buying:
–Done by an entity called:
»Buyer OR
»Consumer (C)
•Types of Commerce:
–Traditional Commerce:
•Done in a traditional or a conventional way.
•Example:
–Consumer going to a mall to buy something.
–E-Commerce:
•Done online or through electronic means.
•Example:
–Consumer buying something online.
•E-Commerce v/s E-Business:
–E-Commerce means:
•Shopping on the part of Internet called the world wide web.
•However it also includes many other activities such as:
–Business Trading with other businesses.
–Supporting activities to support buying and selling such as:
»Hiring & Managing People.
»Shipping Goods.
–E-Commerce in this broader sense is called:
•Electronic Business or E-Business.
Evolution of E-Commerce
•Main Reason for Dot Com Bust:
–Lack of analysis / though before moving a business online.
•Need to understand that all businesses are not suitable for E-Commerce OR
•Some innovations are required before some businesses can be moved online.
•Example:
–A grocery store cannot be easily moved online.
–Question: How to find out what type of businesses are suited to E-Commerce?
Suitability to E-Commerce
• Difficult to sell:
–Products that buyers prefer to touch, smell or examine closely.
•Example:
–Clothes, Shoes or Jewellery.
–Low denomination items.
•Low value transactions.
E-Commerce Advantages
– Increases sales & decrease costs for the seller.
• Can reach out to potential customers in every country in the world.
– Increases purchasing opportunities for the buyer.
• Buyer has wider range of choices than traditional commerce.
– Increases the speed and accuracy of the transactions.
• Reduces costs on both sides of transactions.
• No customer service representatives are involved.
– Available for consumers 24 hours a day, everyday.
– Some digital products can even be delivered through the Internet.
• Reduces the waiting time of the buyer.
• Reduces the cost and increase sales too.
– Reduces commuter-caused traffic and pollution.
– Products or services can also be made available in remote areas.
• Distance education is made possible.
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E-Commerce Disadvantages
– Some businesses / business processes do not work well with E-Commerce.
• Things that consumers like to touch, feel and examine before buying.
– Perishable food materials and grocery products.
– Clothes.
– Difficult to calculate ROI.
• Return On Investment.
• Hard to measure costs and benefits.
– Technologies are changing so rapidly.
– Difficult to integrate existing databases and systems into E-Commerce Website.
• Integrate Tally with E-Commerce Web site.
– Many businesses face cultural and legal obstacles to
conducting E-Commerce.
• Some consumers are still worried of giving their credit card numbers over the Internet.
– Merchants are unknown to them.
• Some consumers simply do not want to change their buying habits.
– No guide like a shopkeeper.
• Important that a web site is very user friendly.
– Not able to reach areas where Internet access is limited.
• Specially in Indian context.
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