Page 114 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

Summary 93

tries, facilitating mobile strategies. In addition, because category of business intelligence (BI); they range from
the younger generation prefers the mobile platform, strat- data and Web mining to several other analytical tools.
egies for the younger generation need to be considered.
Offering mobile shopping might not be simple or appro-
priate to all businesses, but it certainly will be dominant SUMMARY
in the future.
3. Do we have ethics and privacy guidelines? Ethical In this chapter, you learned about the following EC issues as
issues are extremely important online, just as they are off- they relate to the chapter’s learning objectives.
line. In traditional systems, people play a significant role
in ensuring the ethical behavior of buyers and sellers. Will 1. The scope and characteristics of e-tailing. E-tailing,
online ethics and the rules of etiquette be sufficient to the online selling of products and services, is growing
guide behavior on the Internet? Only time will tell. For rapidly. Computers, software, and electronics are the
example, as job-applicant information travels over the major items sold online. Books, CDs, toys, office sup-
Internet, security and privacy become even more impor- plies, and other standard commodities also sell well.
tant. It is management’s job to make sure that information Even more successful are services that are sold online,
from applicants is secure. Moreover, e-tailers need to such as airline tickets and travel services, stock trading,
establish guidelines for protecting the privacy of custom- and some financial services.
ers who visit their websites. Security and privacy must be 2. Classify e-tailing business models. The major e-tailing
priorities. business models can be classified by distribution chan-
4. How will intermediaries act in cyberspace? The role of nel—a manufacturer or mail-order company selling
online intermediaries has become more and more impor- directly to consumers, pure-play (virtual) e-tailing, a
tant. In the banking, stock trading, job market, travel click-and-mortar strategy with both online and tradi-
industry, and book sales sectors, the Internet has become tional channels, and online malls that provide either
an essential service channel. These intermediary services referring directories or shared services. Social com-
create new business opportunities for sellers and merce facilitates group buying and location shopping.
intermediaries. 3. How online travel/tourism services operate. Most ser-
5. Should we try to capitalize on social networks? Many vices available through a physical travel agency also are
organizations and individuals began advertising or selling available online. However, customers can get additional
products and services on Facebook and other social net- information more quickly using online resources.
works. Although large companies currently are concen- Customers can even submit bids to travel providers (e.g.,
trating on advertising, some are experimenting with B2C using the C2B business model). Finally, travelers can
sales (see Chapter 7). Social commerce may become an compare prices, participate in online activities, read
extremely important marketing channel and should be at other travelers’ recommendations, and view user-
least experimented with by retailers. generated videos. Lately, social travel is becoming pop-
6. How should we manage multichannel marketing to ular, with travelers learning from each other and
avoid channel and/or price conflicts? Managing multi- organizing trips accordingly.
channels requires a strategy on handling different types of 4. The online employment market and its benefits. The
transactions in the most appropriate and cost-effective online job market is growing rapidly. The major benefits
way. Changing channels needs to be done together with for employers are the ability to quickly reach a large
appropriate conflict management. number of job seekers at a low cost, conduct remote
7. What are the major potential limitations of the growth video interviews, and even conduct pre-employment
of B2C EC? First, the limitations depend on market qualification tests. Finally, résumés can be checked and
demands for online products. The saturation effect may matched against job requirements. Millions of job offers
be strong. Second, the cost and availability of Internet posted on the Internet help job seekers, who also can
access may influence growth. Third, cultural differences post their résumés for recruiters. Recruiting in social
and habits may deter or slowdown e-shopping. Fourth, networks, especially LinkedIn and Facebook, is growing
the ease of B2C shopping is important, and fifth, the rapidly.
availability of payments and order fulfillment infrastruc- 5. The electronic real estate marketplace. In most cases,
ture are critical success factors. the online real estate marketplace supports traditional
8. How to deal with “big data”? A large amount of data is operations. However, both buyers and sellers can save
collected in B2C and is growing rapidly. It is necessary to time and effort by using the electronic markets. Buyers
extract valuable information and knowledge from this can purchase properties in several locations much more
data. The technologies that are used belong mostly to the easily than without the Internet, and in some situations