LEVELS OF E-COMMERCE, THE BENEFITS OF E-COMMERCE
There are five major segments under the broader category of e-business. However, the following are some popular e-commerce models used by companies engaged in e-commerce:-
- Business to business e-commerce (B2B)
- Business to consumers e-commerce (B2C)
- Consumers to consumers e-commerce (C2C}
- Business to employees e-commerce (B2E) and
- Consumer to business e-commerce (C2B)
Business to Business E-commerce (B2B)
E-business is the process of conducting business on the Internet. Its scope includes not only buying and selling but also services, fulfilling the needs of customers and collaborating with business partners.
Business to business e-commerce is smart business. The opportunity for business to business e-commerce is even greater.
A wholesaler may sell products to the retailer. There are advanced e-commerce software which support multi-tier pricing. This helps to set up online stores to offer preferred pricing to some vendors and shared price to others.
This includes internet-enabled initiatives of an enterprise to form commercial linkages with another enterprise, dealer, warehouse or manufacturer. In this form of e-commerce, e paperwork and time-to-market get vastly reduced. Throughout the world, this e-commerce mode is the biggest.
In a B2B transaction, the interaction is between businesses. For example, a website that is catching for the steel industry might have facility for buyers and sellers to list their requirements and post their products. It helps them in quickly closing the transactions and the buyer can get quality, material and can choose from different suppliers.
Business to Consumers E-commerce (B2C)
It is for the customers to buy stores from the web. The problem to be recognized in this is to secure payment, using encryption, transaction integrity, quick response, time and reliability.
B2C e-commerce involves selling of goods and services to consumers or end users. It allows them to browse the product catalogue, select products or services and complete the order online.
In a B2C transaction, the interaction is between a consumer and the preferred business. For example, the most popular site is amazon.com, which is the first online bookseller which has proved a potential competitor to the traditional bricks and mortar booksellers such as Barrens and Noble.
In this category of e-commerce, businesses use the internet to offer to consumers sales and services around the world 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year, The sites Amazon, Rediff and Uphar are among those belonging to this category. These websites are meant for selling goods directly to consumers through the internet. The two-way accessibility of the internet enables operating companies to directly ascertain customer preference and buying trends. Businesses are using these consumer insights to formulate marketing strategies and offer to the customers what they want and when they want.
Consumer to Consumer E-commerce (C2C)
Here interaction is between consumer to consumer. For example, in sites like e-Buy Bid or Buy.com, Baazi.com which are auction sites, one can virtually sell and buy any goods (either used or new ones).
This form of e-commerce is nothing but the cyber version of the good old auction houses. If anyone wants to sell anything, all one has to do is post a message on the site, giving details of the product and the expected price and wait for an interested customer to turn up and buy it. The buyer gets in touch with the seller through the Internet and the deal is crossed once the amount is finalised. Online message boards and barters are also examples of C2C e-commerce.
Consumer-to-Business E-commerce (C2B)
E-commerce, by empowering the customer, has been strategically redefining business. An example of C2B model of e-commerce is the site Price line.Com, which allows prospective airline travellers, tourists in need of hotel reservations etc. to visit its websites and indicate their preferred price for travel between any two cities. If an airline is willing to issue a ticket on the customers offered price, the consumer can then travel to the mentioned destination at his terms.
Business to Employees E-commerce (B2E)
This is concerned more with marketing a corporation's internal processes more efficiently. Customer care and support activities also hold ground. The requirement is that are all self-service with applications on the web that the employees can use themselves.
THE BENEFITS OF E-COMMERCE
Few innovations in human history encompass as many potential benefits as E-Commerce does. The global nature of the technology, low cost, opportunity to reach hundreds of millions of people, interactive nature, variety of possibilities, and resourcefulness and growth of the supporting infrastructure (especially the web) result in many potential benefits to organisations, individuals, and society. These benefits are just starting to materialize, but they will increase significantly as E-Commerce expands. It is not surprising that some maintain that the E-Commerce revolution is just 'as pro- found as the change that came with the industrial revolution.
Benefits to Organizations
The benefits to organizations are as follows:
• Electronic commerce expands the market lace to national and international market with minimal capital outlay, a company can easily and quickly locate more customers, the best suppliers, and the most suitable business partners worldwide.
• Electronic commerce decreases the cost of creating, processing, distributing, storing, and retrieving paper-based information. For example, by introducing an electronic procurement system, companies can cut the purchasing administrative costs by as much as 85 percent.
• Ability for creating highly specialized businesses. For example, dog toys which can be purchased only in pet shops or department and discounts stores in the physical world are sold now in a specialized www.dogtoys.com (also see www.cattoys.com).
• Electronic commerce allows reduced inventories and overhead by facilitating “pull” type supply chain management. In a pull-type system the process starts from customer orders and uses just-in-time manufacturing.
• The pull-type processing enables expensive customization of products and services which provides competitive advantage to its implementer.
• Electronic commerce initiates business processes re engineering projects By changing processes, productivity of salespeople, knowledge workers, and administrators can increase by 100 percent or more.
• Electronic commerce lowers telecommunication cost the internet is much cheaper than value added networks.
Benefits to Consumers
The benefits of E-Commerce to consumers are as follows:
• Electronic commerce enables customers to shop or do other transactions 24 hours a day, all year round, from almost any location.
• Electronic commerce provides customer with more choices; they can select from many vendors and from many more products.
• Electronic commerce frequently provides customers with less expensive products and services by allowing them to shop in many places and conduct quick comparisons.
• In some cases, especially with digitized products, E-Commerce allows quick delivery.
• Electronic commerce makes it possible to participate ate in virtual auctions.
• Electronic commerce allow customers to interact with other customers in electronic communities and exchange ideas as well as compare experiences.
• E-commerce facilitates competition, which results in substantial discounts..
Benefits to Society
The benefits of E-Commerce to society are as follows:
• Electronic commerce enables more individuals to work at home and to do less traveling for shopping, resulting in less traffic on the roads and lower air pollution.
• Electronic commerce allows some merchandise to be sold at lowest prices, so less affluent people can buy more and increase their standard of living.
• Electronic commerce enables people in third world countries and rural areas to enjoy products and services that otherwise are not available to them.
• Electronic commerce facilitates delivery of public services, such as health care, education, and distribution of government social services at a reduced cost and/or improved quality. Health care services, e.g., can reach patients in rural areas.
