e-business

Examples of e-business in the following topics:

• E-Business Strategy

  • In the emerging global economy, e-business has become an increasingly necessary component of business strategy.
  • The term electronic business (commonly referred to as E-business or e-business) is sometimes used interchangeably with e-commerce.
  • In practice, e-business is more than just e-commerce.
  • While e-business refers to a strategic focus with an emphasis on the functions that occur using electronic capabilities, e-commerce is a subset of an overall e-business strategy.
  • E-business software allows the integration of intrafirm and interfirm business processes.

• Selling to Businesses

  • B2B e-commerce is the type of e-commerce that deals with relationships between and among businesses.
  • Business to business (B2B) e-commerce is simply defined as e-commerce between companies.
  • This is the type of e-commerce that deals with relationships between and among businesses.
  • About 80% of e-commerce is of this type, and most experts predict that B2B e-commerce will continue to grow faster than the business to consumer (B2C) segment.
  • Explain the impact of technological advances on business to business (B2B) commerce

• B2C Channels

  • A business-to-consumer market, or B2C, is the sale of goods and services from individuals or businesses to the end user.
  • There are two main channels for business-to-consumer selling.
  • The other main channel for business-to-consumer selling is e-commerce, or commercial activity conducted via the Internet.
  • Business-to-consumer e-commerce reduces transaction costs by increasing consumer access to information and allowing them to find the most competitive price for a product or service.
  • Examples of e-commerce stores are amazon.com, walmart.com, and barnesandnoble.com.

• B2B Channels

  • Business to Business (B2B) marketing refers to a market where other businesses, not end consumers, are the purchasers of the goods and services.
  • All these are considered business to business transactions.
  • Like Business-to-consumer marketing, business to business also employs different channels, such as e-commerce or physical stores.
  • One of the major differences between business-to-business (B2B) transactions and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions is the type of online (e-commerce) interaction.
  • This is also reflective of the types of products and services offered in a B2B e-commerce setting, which includes logistics, outsourcing, solutions software, and content management software.

• Selling to Consumers

  • Business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce, or commerce between companies and consumers, involves customers gathering information; purchasing physical goods (i.e., tangibles such as books or consumer products) or information goods (or goods of electronic material or digitized content, such as software or e-books); and, for information goods, receiving products over an electronic network.
  • It is the second largest and the earliest form of e-commerce.
  • Thus, the more common B2C business models are the online retailing companies such as Amazon.com, Drugstore.com, Beyond.com, Barnes and Noble, and Toys-R-Us.
  • This type of e-commerce is characterized by the growth of electronic marketplaces and online auctions, particularly in vertical industries where firms/businesses can bid for what they want from among multiple suppliers.
  • B2C e-commerce makes up a smaller portion of the market share of e-commerce compared to B2B, and appears to be shrinking in comparison.

• E-mail Sins and Salvation

  • Business people may do well to apply Daugherty's brand of skepticism to the use of e-mail.
  • Despite these dangers, which threaten just about any business, we Americans continue to love our e-mail.
  • A further sign of the centrality of e-mail in the business world is that many people say doing without e-mail for more than a week would cause them more trauma than a divorce.
  • Here are some tips for using e-mail as efficiently, productively, and safely as possible in business:
  • The same principle applies in business settings.

• It's not just big business

  • Small businesses are also calling for increased legislation with the expectation that they'll soon reap its benefits.
  • For example, an organization called Small Business California worked to support the state's Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), the passing of which imposes tough legislation to tackle global warming.
  • The program works like an interest-free loan: businesses are encouraged to exchange the profits they normally lose through wasted energy for energy-saving solutions (e.g. increased insulation, more efficient machinery, etc.) that quickly pay for themselves.
  • The irony is that environmental groups have been lobbying for such changes for years yet their efforts obtained fruition only after the local business community jumped on board.
  • (Kennard, Kenneth, ‘Businesses Get a New Voice')

• The wasteful practices inherent in businesses

  • According to the Cardiff Business School, only 5% of most business production operations are comprised of activities that directly relate to what customers want in a product or service.
  • (Cardiff Business School, ‘What is Lean Thinking?
  • ') This means that up to 95% of the activities in most businesses add no customer value at all.
  • The first, necessary, but non-value adding activities, constitutes as much as 35% of most organizational work and is comprised of actions that do not directly contribute to what customers want in a product (e.g. payroll, behind-the-scenes cleaning, the fulfilment of government regulations, and so on).
  • The second category, non-value adding activities, can comprise up to 60% of work activities, yet these activities add no value to customers in any way, shape or form (e.g. production line snags, waiting periods, unnecessary paperwork, end-of-line quality inspections, etc.).

• Defining Business Marketing

  • Business marketing includes all activities involved in communicating the value of a business's products and services to another business.
  • Like business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing, business-to-business (B2B) marketing, or business marketing, relies on product, price, placement, and promotion to competitively position the product offerings, promote the brand, and efficiently use company resources.
  • B2B marketing spans all types of businesses and industries.
  • For example, labels may be assigned to certain promotional elements (e.g., website, trade show) in the system to indicate where and how prospects converted to customers.
  • A trade show is a common promotional element in business marketing.

• Alternative Arrangements

  • The most common marketing channels are business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B).
  • These include business-to-government, consumer-to-consumer, and institutional markets.
  • This is also known as "public sector marketing" and is somewhat similar to business-to-business transactions.
  • Craigslist and eBay usually involve consumer-to-consumer transactions.
  • Institutional markets are very similar to typical business-to-business markets.