Page 402 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

390 12 Implementation Issues: From Globalization to Justification, Privacy, and Regulation

special content. Europcar (europcar.com), for example, has Breaking Down the Barriers to Global
a global presence in over 150 countries, each with an option E-Commerce
for one of ten languages. The company has a free iPhone
app, which is available in eight languages. A number of international organizations and experts have
offered suggestions on how to break down the barriers to
Payments in Global EC Trades global EC. Some of these suggestions are:
The issues facing global payments vary from fraud to banking
regulations. Some solutions were discussed in Chapter 11.
Companies such as Elavon (elavon.com) provide global EC • Be strategic. Follow the entire strategy life cycle. A
gateway solutions. company must consider what countries to target and
which languages, and how the users in the target
countries will react. These considerations need to
Economic and Financial Issues
be included in the strategy.
• Know your audience. Consider cultural issues and
Economic and financial issues encompassing global EC
legal constraints, which vary around the world.
include government tariffs, customs, and taxation. In areas
subject to government regulation, tax and regulatory agen- • Localize. Websites need to be localized. In certain
countries (e.g., Japan, China, Russia), local lan-
cies have attempted to apply the rules used in traditional
commerce to e-commerce, with considerable success. guages are essential (e.g., Yahoo! has a specific
website for Japan: “Yahoo! Japan;” yahoo.co.jp);
Exceptions include areas such as international tariff duties
and taxation. Software shipped in a box would be taxed for products are priced in local currencies; and local
terms, conditions, and business practices are based
duties and tariffs upon arrival. However, software down-
loaded online may rely on self-reporting and voluntary pay- on local laws and cultural practices.
• Think globally, act consistently. An international
ment of tax by the purchaser, something that does not happen
very often. Note that Amazon.com and other e-tailers have company with country-specific websites should be
managed locally and must make sure that areas
started charging sales tax in many U.S. states for digital down-
loads (see taxes.about.com/od/statetaxes/a/sales-tax-for- such as brand management, pricing, ad design, and
content creation and control are consistent with the
digital-downloads.htm).
A major financial barrier to global EC is electronic pay- company’s strategy.
• Value the human touch. Human translators are
ment systems. To effectively sell online, EC firms must have
flexible payment methods that match the ways people in dif- preferred over machine translation programs. The
quality of translation is important because even a
ferent countries pay for their online purchases. Although credit
cards are used widely in the United States, many European slight mistranslation may drive customers away.
• Clarify, document, explain. Pricing, privacy poli-
and Asian customers prefer to complete online transactions
with off-line payments. Even within the category of off-line cies, shipping restrictions, contact information, and
business practices should be well documented,
payments, companies must offer different options depending
on the country. For example, French consumers prefer to pay located on the website, and visible to the customer.
• Offer services that reduce trade barriers. It is not
with a check, Swiss consumers expect an invoice by mail,
Germans commonly pay for products only upon delivery, and feasible to offer prices and payments in all curren-
cies, so provide a link to a currency exchange service
Swedes are accustomed to paying online with debit cards.
Pricing is another economic issue. A vendor may want to (e.g., xe.com) or to a currency conversion calculator.
In B2B e-commerce, integrate EC transactions with
price the same product at different prices in different coun-
tries based upon local prices and competition. However, if a the accounting/finance information system of the
major buyers.
company has one website, differential pricing will be diffi-
cult or impossible. Similarly, what currency will be used for
pricing? What currency will be used for payment?

E-Commerce in Developing Countries SECTION 12.2 REVIEW QUESTIONS
Economic conditions determine the degree of the develop-
ment of countries. Some developing countries are using EC 1. Describe globalization in EC and the advantages it presents.
as a springboard to improve their economies (e.g., China, 2. Describe the major barriers to global EC.
Malaysia, India). Other developing countries are making 3. What can companies do to overcome the barriers to global
strides. For a story, see Pittaway (2016). For a case study about EC?
Thailand, see bangkokpost.com/tech/local-news/884152/ 4. Discuss the pros and cons of a company offering its
e-commerce-set-to-flourish-in-five- years. website in more than one language.