Electronic commerce, most commonly referred to as e-commerce, is a term used to describe business transactions which involve the transfer of information and goods using the power of the computer networks such as the internet and the World Wide Web. E-commerce is classified into five different categories depending on the relationship among the participants; the most common examples are business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), or business-to-government (B2G). (Schneider, 2015) E-commerce has evolved drastically over the past years and this has dramatically changed the way businesses are run today. While there have been constraints and barriers which companies such as Amazon have had to be overcome, currently e-commerce is a key …show more content…
With the power of the internet, consumers are no longer are limited to shopping locally and with the introduction of mobile devices, consumers now have the world in the palms of their hands. According to Nielsen’s Global Connected Commerce Survey Report, online sales are set to “double between 2015 and 2019 and account for more than 12% of global sales by 2019”. Domestic shopping still holds a large portion of B2C commerce the landscape is shifting and international e-commerce is a growing at increasingly rapid rates. This provides retailers with both great opportunity and great challenges. Retailers now have access to consumers they never had to before and must now learn to adapt their marketing, logistics, technology in order to meet new customer cultural and local needs as well as country’s regulatory requirements. This means communicating with shoppers in their own language, providing various payment options as well as offering delivery …show more content…
However, with the third wave of electronic commerce where mobile phones and other handheld devices are introduced to the market B2C is quickly becoming the key to being successful in today’s economy. According to Internet Retailer’s Global 1000 report, in the United States alone, consumers spent roughly $1.74 trillion on Internet sales in 2015. (Zarogan, 2016) with the development of mobile devices, consumers now have the ability to access the internet in a ubiquitous manner which now allows businesses to have nonstop engagement with consumers through the use of a website, email, social media, surveys, and many other venues. One company that has figured out the importance of mobility is Teleflora. Teleflora is a company that built its company on the time-honored tradition of sending flowers mixed with the modern technology of mobile technology. Realizing that their initial business strategy of ordering on-line was cumbersome for their customers who were using mobile devices the company established a new organizational structure in order to support the emphasis on mobility. This shift in business practices, although still new, has shown some significant results. According to Beth Monda Vice President of E-commerce at Teleflora, “year-to-date mobile traffic is up 10% year-over-year, and their mobile
In the last decade, wireless communications technology has grown rapidly in the global business community. The convergence of two key wireless technologies- mobile wireless communications and the internet has presented a plethora of opportunities for organizations through mobile business hereinafter referred to simply as m-business. M-business is a new business model which utilizes the internet for data/voice transmission through the deployment of wireless devices like smart phones, tablets and e-purses (Gartner, n.d. ). According to Picoto, Belanger and Palma-dos-Reis (2013) m-business has revolutionized the way organizations conduct business as customers are increasingly resorting to m-business. This pragmatic shift can be explained by the reliance on mobile devices for example smart phones to shop online. Undoubtedly, the market for m-business is on an upward growth curve with forecasts establishing higher global uptakes in coming years (Picoto, Belanger, & Palma-dos-Reis, 2013). With such high growth potential, one cannot help but ask what value m-business holds for contemporary organizations?
Key Issues The growing popularity of online retailing is attracting competition from traditional and online multi-retailers such as Wal-Mart and Amazon, which are gaining considerable market shares in many of the product segments included in the specialty retail sector. Currently, the majority of revenue is generated by store sales, but online sales from the stores’ websites are increasing. With the US dollar getting weaker, international sales from these US based websites are increasing too. This creates a significant positive outlook for the large incumbent players but also acts as a significant barrier of entry for new players.
Amazon.com operates in the Online Retail Industry. The sector is one of the fastest growing globally and is outperforming the ordinary retail marketplace. It was created after 1995 and it was only the Internet that made it possible for such an industry not only to be established but to become one of the most flourishing sectors in the business environment. What is interesting is that Amazon.com, together with eBay is the pioneer in the field. Both companies were launched in 1995 and are still extremely successful. The creation of e-mail in 1996 had a huge impact on the development of online retail by introducing a fast and easy way to communicate with customers. For this two-year period Internet usage doubled annually, thus, allowing for the expansion of the industry. Google is launched a year later, in 1998, only to become the most used search engine in the world and an essential partner for the online retailers by helping them tailor their websites to customer’s personal preferences and by advertising. After that, more and more people see the opportunity in the growing industry and enter it. By 2001 there are more than 513 million Internet users globally, which calls for action in terms of creating regulations and laws to protect the users and personal property. In 2003, Apple launches iTunes, and provides a platform for low-cost digital downloads. Another major change is the appearance of social media from 2004, which is one of the biggest influencer on the state of the industry. With the launch of iPhone in 2007, this trend strengthens as people get to enjoy the Internet anywhere they want to. From then on, technological advancements have made it extremely easy and fun to shop online, making it ...
Laudon, Kenneth C. Traver, Carol. E-commerce: Business. Technology. Society 3th ed. Pearson Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle NJ, 2007.
Telecommunications gained mainstream attention in the early 90’s; however the initial key market was business men and women, who used their phones whilst being on the move and so allowing them to communicate with their companies with ease. Though in the modern era, telecommunication went through segmentation in the market trends, and now in this day and age it would be difficult to find someone who does not own some form of mobile technology. Many phone providers battle to provide the best service for their customers (Figure 1).
Based on these concerns, retailers in the international marketplace have their work cut out for them. But through proper education of consumers, and the ever-expanding growth of the infrastructure in many countries, the future seems to be leaning heavily towards using the Internet for many needs.
University of Phoenix (Ed.), (2003). Introduction to e-Commerce [University of Phoenix Custom Edition e-text]. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. Retrieved April 5, 2005 from University of Phoenix, Resource, EBUS/500.1 E-Business Principles and Practices Making Web site: https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/resource/resource.asp
The Internet is rapidly becoming widespread and widely used as a tool for globalization across the world. As the Internet became more easily accessible by most people in the world, the web is bringing significant implications and changes to the way we live, including the way we shop. There is a rapid growth with e-commerce and moving businesses onto the web and retail success is no longer about stores and shopping centers. In developed countries, about two thirds of the population have access to the Internet making the option of online shopping is easily accessible to most people (Valerio). With the ease of shopping in your own home there are many benefits of doing your shopping online. Consumers can easily compare prices online, there is a larger range of products on the web, you can save time by having your shopping delivered right to your doorstep and it also overcomes physical barriers. Over the last decade online shopping has challenged and replaced the traditional means of physically going into shops as the digital world has provided customers with further convenience, flexibility and comfort from shopping from your own home.
The Information revolution is changing our daily lives. With the rapid development of computers and the internet, online commerce has become quite common and plays an important role in the modern world. Online business has been booming in recent years. US online retail sales rose an average of 11% in the first three months of 2009 (“US Online Sales Up,” 2009). The growth of online sales may be due to the growing number of consumers who shop online.
In today’s era “INTERNET” is playing a significant role in our daily life. People can walk through the internet to one who is actually living on the different side of the planet, can send mails round the clock, search information & even buy things online. With this invention of internet there is a shift in traditional way of shopping. Now there is no need to open a physical store. One can be active at any time and place and purchase products and services. The number of users of internet is increasing day by day which means that online shopping is increasing. Various characteristics of online shopping is making it more convenient for the customers, as compared to traditional way of shopping such as the ability to view and purchase goods and
E-commerce application is a platform where there is buying and selling of products and services which are done by businesses and consumers via an electronic medium, mostly without using any paper documents. “E-Commerce applications support transactions between businesses and their customers. They provide 24/7 customer support, allowing customers to order products, check orders and track shipping, review previous orders, reorder products, and manage their accounts.” (Auburn SeeWolf llc , 2009-2012)
The global economy has enabled customers to enjoy a buyer’s market where the company with the most competitive price possible for a product or service receives orders from customers around the world. The burgeoning world ...
E-commerce is about two decades old, yet due to its fascinating dimensions, it remains a challenging area for researchers and professionals.
E-business and e-commerce are terms that are sometimes used interchangeably, and sometimes they are used to differentiate one vendor’s product from another. In both cases, the e stands for "electronic networks" and describes the application of electronic network technology - including Internet and electronic data interchange (EDI) - to improve and change business processes (Bartels, 2000)
As the author of the article concedes, the online shopping has flourished in the past years. Many customer have seen the advantages of e-commerce in the ways of time and money saving. Whit a simple click on the keyboard the goods are uploaded in a virtual cart and from there are delivered to the customer address. Also, the online stores have the opportunity to create a customer database and a customer profile. The customers receive periodic reminders of the new offers and sales via email or mobile phone messages. In the meantime, many classic stores have struggled to maintain the business keep up. According to the article, the brick and mortar stores will implement new features that conduct customers to an easy and pleasant shopping. For instance, the retailers will use the customer mobile phone as a concierge application. The customer will be informed about latest products and their availability. Furthermore, the customer will have the possibility to track needed items inside the store with the help of store mapping and products locations. If the customer will change the shopping list, the app will provide the route to the new item. Also, when a customer will passing a store the app will remind the last customer visit into the store and