E- BUSINESS

Unit 1 INTRODUCTION TO e-BUSINESS

E-business or Online business means business transactions that take place online with the help of
the internet. The term e-business came into existence in the year 1996. E-business is an
abbreviation for electronic business. So the buyer and the seller don’t meet personally.

Features of Online Business

Some of the features of Online Business are as follows :

 It is easy to set up
 There are no geographical boundaries
 Much cheaper than traditional business
 There are flexible business hours
 Marketing strategies cost less
 Online business receive subsidies from the government
 There are a few security and integrity issues
 There is no personal touch
 Buyer and seller don’t meet
 Delivery of products takes time
 There is a transaction risk
 Anyone can buy anything from anywhere at anytime
 The transaction risk is higher than traditional business

Difference Between E-Commerce and E-Business

The differences between e-commerce and e-business are as follows:

Particulars E-commerce E-business

It refers to performing online

It refers to performing every type of business
Meaning commercial transactions and
activity through the internet.
activities over the internet.

It is a narrow concept and is a It is a broad concept and is a superset of e-

Scope
subset of e-business. commerce.

Commercial transactions are Business transactions are carried out in e-

Transactions
carried out in e-commerce. business.

Limitation E-commerce transactions are E-business transactions are not limited.

 limited.

It includes selling and buying It includes customer education, procurement of

Activities products, making monetary raw materials, supply activities, making
transactions, etc., over the internet. monetary transactions, etc., over the internet.

It requires using multiple websites, ERPs and

It mainly requires the use of only a
Operation CRMs, that connect different business
website.
processes.

It involves mandatory use of the It consists of the use of the internet, extranet or
Resources
internet. intranet.

E-commerce is appropriate in a
Business E-business is appropriate in a Business to
Business to Customer (B2C)
models Business (B2B) context.
context.

E-commerce covers
E-business covers internal and external business
Coverage external/outward business
processes/activities.
processes.

E-commerce and e-business are different. However, they are interrelated and support
businesses. E-commerce and e-business are emerging modes of business. They are continuously
reshaping and evolving the business world.

E- business models

E- business models can generally be categorized into the following categories.

 Business - to - Business (B2B)
 Business - to - Consumer (B2C)
 Consumer - to - Consumer (C2C)
 Consumer - to - Business (C2B)
 Business - to - Government (B2G)
 Government - to - Business (G2B)
 Government - to - Citizen (G2C)

Business - to – Business

A website following the B2B business model sells its products to an intermediate buyer who then
sells the product to the final customer. As an example, a wholesaler places an order from a
company's website and after receiving the consignment, sells the endproduct to the final
customer who comes to buy the product at one of its retail outlets.
Business - to – Consumer

A website following the B2C business model sells its products directly to a customer. A customer
can view the products shown on the website. The customer can choose a product and order the
same. The website will then send a notification to the business organization via email and the
organization will dispatch the product/goods to the customer.
Consumer - to – Consumer

A website following the C2C business model helps consumers to sell their assets like residential
property, cars, motorcycles, etc., or rent a room by publishing their information on the website.
Website may or may not charge the consumer for its services. Another consumer may opt to buy
the product of the first customer by viewing the post/advertisement on the website.

Consumer - to – Business

In this model, a consumer approaches a website showing multiple business organizations for a
particular service. The consumer places an estimate of amount he/she wants to spend for a
particular service. For example, the comparison of interest rates of personal loan/car loan
provided by various banks via websites. A business organization who fulfills the consumer's
requirement within the specified budget, approaches the customer and provides its services.

Business - to – Government

B2G model is a variant of B2B model. Such websites are used by governments to trade and
exchange information with various business organizations. Such websites are accredited by the
government and provide a medium to businesses to submit application forms to the government.

Government - to – Business

Governments use B2G model websites to approach business organizations. Such websites
support auctions, tenders, and application submission functionalities.

Government - to – Citizen

Governments use G2C model websites to approach citizen in general. Such websites support
auctions of vehicles, machinery, or any other material. Such website also provides services like
registration for birth, marriage or death certificates. The main objective of G2C websites is to
reduce the average time for fulfilling citizen’s requests for various government services.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 describes the current state of the internet, which has more user-generated content and
usability for end-users compared to its earlier incarnation, Web 1.0. Web 2.0 generally refers to
the 21st-century internet applications that have transformed the digital era

 Web 2.0 describes the current state of the internet, which has more user-generated
content and usability for end-users compared to its earlier incarnation, Web 1.0.
 It does not refer to any specific technical upgrades to the internet; it refers to a shift in
how the internet is used.
 There is a higher level of information sharing and interconnectedness among participants
in the new age of the internet
 It allowed for the creation of applications such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter),
Reddit, TikTok, and Wikipedia.
 Web 2.0 paved the way for Web 3.0, the next generation of the web that uses many of
the same problems differently.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Web 2.0

Advantages
The development of technology has allowed users to share their thoughts and opinions with
others, creating new ways of organizing and connecting with other people. One of the largest
advantages of Web 2.0 is improved communication through web applications that enhance
interactivity, collaboration, and knowledge sharing.

This is most evident through social networking, where individuals armed with a Web 2.0
connection can publish content, share ideas, extract information, and subscribe to various
informational feeds. This has brought about major strides in marketing optimization as more
strategic, targeted marketing approaches are now possible.
Web 2.0 also brings about a certain level of equity. Most individuals have an equal chance of
posting their views and comments, and each individual may build a network of contacts.
Because information may be transmitted more quickly under Web 2.0 compared to prior
methods of information sharing, the latest updates and news may be available to more people.

Disadvantages
Unfortunately, there are a lot of disadvantages to the internet acting more like an open forum.
Through the expansion of social media, we have seen an increase in online stalking, doxing,
cyberbullying, identity theft, and other online crimes. There is also the threat of misinformation
spreading among users, whether that's through open-source information-sharing sites or on
social media.

Individuals may blame Web 2.0 for misinformation, information overload, or the unreliability
of what people read. As almost anyone can post anything via various blogs, social media, or
Web 2.0 outlets, there is an increased risk of confusion on what is real and what sources may be
deemed reliable.

As a result, Web 2.0 brings about higher stakes regarding communication. It's more likely to
have fake accounts, spammers, forgers, or hackers that attempt to steal information, imitate
personas, or trick unsuspecting Web 2.0 users into following their agenda. As Web 2.0 doesn't
always and can't verify information, there is a heightened risk for bad actors to take advantage
of opportunities.

social commerce
Social commerce is similar to e-commerce. In this, buying and selling are done on social
networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. In simple words, social commerce is the
use of the social network to do e-commerce transactions.

Types of Social Commerce:

1- Video Commerce
2- Personalised buying options
3- Promotions or giveaways

Differences between E-commerce and Social Commerce

E-commerce Social Commerce

Trading scope Global trading scope Limited trading scope

Doesn't need daily
Monitoring Needs daily monitoring
monitoring
One-way
Communication Two-way communication
communication
 Time More time-consuming Less time-consuming
Customer Less comprehensive
More comprehensive customer engagement
Engagement customer engagement
Trust More trustworthy Less trustworthy
Amazon, Flipkart,
Offered by Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.
Alibaba, etc.
Similarities between E-commerce and Social Commerce
Fraud Credit card fraud has been observed in both cases.
Inability to The customer cannot touch the products until it is shipped to his/her
touch the preferred address. The products in both cases may not match customer
product expectations.
To order products or services from either of them, the consumer must have
Internet Acess
an internet connection.
Market Costs Both of them provides the products to the customers at discounted prices.

Market Trend Sellers can keep a check on market trends in both cases.
So, these were some of the differences and similarities between E-commerce and Social
Commerce.

m-commerce

Short for mobile commerce, m-commerce refers to any commercial transactions

that take place via apps or mobile sites. Mobile commerce can be understood
broadly as a subcategory of e-commerce, or as the mobile version of e-commerce.
The mobile commerce vertical is growing rapidly, with the percentage and share of
digital purchases that are taking place on mobile increasing each year. As making
purchases on mobile gets more convenient and as more people globally gain access
to smartphones and tablets, the capacity for mobile purchases to be made continues
to soar.

In short, the definition of m-commerce is: the buying and selling of items via
mobile devices.
M-commerce examples and types

Broken into three main categories (mobile shopping, mobile payments, and mobile
banking), the highest growth areas for m-commerce are:

 In-app purchasing (such as buying clothing items via a retail app)

 Mobile banking

 Virtual marketplace apps like Amazon

 Digital wallets like Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay

 Mobile ticketing