Chapter 14: E-BUSINESS

E-Business

The Internet is a powerful channel that presents new opportunities for an organization to:

• Touch customers.
• Enrich products and services with information.
• Reduce costs.

Difference between e-commerce and e-business.

• E-commerce - the buying and selling of goods and services over the Internet.
• E-business - the conducting of business on the Internet including, not only buying and selling but also serving customers and collaborating with business partners.

Industries using E-Business

E-Business Models

E-business model - An approach to conducting electronic business on the Internet.

Business-to-Business (B2B)

Eloctronic marketplace (e-marketplace) - interactive business communities providing a central market where multiple buyers and sellers can engage in e-business activities.

Business-to-Consumer
Common B2C e-business models include:

• e-shop - A version of a retail store where customers can shop at any hour of the day leaving their home or office.
• e-mall - Consists of a number of e-shops, it serves as a gateway through which a visitor can access other e-shops.

Business types:

• Brick-and-Mortar business - Operates in a physical store without an Internet presence.
• Pure-play (virtual) business - A business that operates on the Internet only without a physical store. 
• Click-and-Mortar business - a business that operates in a physical store and the Internet. 

Consumer-to-Business (C2B)

• Priceline.com is one of the example of a C2B a business-model.
• The demand for C2B e-business will increase over the next few years due to customer's desire for greater convenience and lower prices. 

Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)
Online auctions:

• Electronic auction (e-auction) - Sellers and buyers solicit consecutive bids from each other and prices are determined dynamically.
• Forward auction - Sellers use as a selling channel to many buyers and the highest bid wins.
• Reverse auction - Buyers use to purchase a product or service, selecting the seller with the lowest bid.

C2C communities include:

• Communities of interest - People interact with each other on specific topics, such as golfing and stamp collecting.
• Communities of relations - People come together to share certain life experiences such as cancer patients, senior citizens and car enthusiasts.
• Comunities of fantasy - People participate in imaginary environments such as fantasy football teams and playing one-to-one with Michael Jordon. 

E-Business Benefits and Challenges
E-Business benefits include:

• Highly accessible.
• Increased customer royalty.
• Improved information content.
• Increased convenience.
• Increased global reach.
• Decreased cost.

E-Business challenges include:

• Protecting consumers.
• Leveraging existing systems.
• Increasing liability.
• Providing security.
• Adhering to taxation rules.

There are numerous advantages and limitations in e-business revenue models including:

• Transaction fees.
• License fees.
• Subscription fees.
• Value-added fees.
• Advertising fees.

Mashups

Web mashup - A Web site or Web application that uses content from more than one source to create a completely new sercvice.

• Application programming interface (API) - A set of routines, protocols and tools for building software applications.
• Mashup editor - WSYIWYGs (What You See Is What You Get) for mashups.