Page 51 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

28 1 Overview of Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

with technology, privacy issues, unrealistic management 6. E-commerce 2.0 and social media. This refers to the
expectations, training, reaching new customers, improv- use of social computing in business, often through the
ing customer ordering services, and finding qualified EC use of Web 2.0 tools (such as blogs, wikis) with its social
employees. Most of these issues are discussed throughout media framework, as well as the emergence of enter-
this book. prise social networking and commercial activities in vir-
tual worlds. Social and business networks attract huge
numbers of visitors.
SUMMARY 7. Describe social commerce and social software. Com-
panies are beginning to exploit the opportunity of con-
In this chapter, you learned about the following EC issues as ducting business transactions in social networks and by
they relate to the chapter’s learning objectives. using social software such as blogs. Major areas are
advertising, shopping, customer service, recruiting, and
1. Definition of EC and description of its various cate- collaboration.
gories. EC involves conducting transactions electroni- 8. The elements of the digital world. The major elements
cally. Its major categories are pure versus partial EC, of the digital world are the digital economy, digital
Internet versus non-Internet, and electronic markets ver- enterprises, and digital society. They are diversified and
sus company-based systems. expanding rapidly.
2. The content and framework of EC. The applications The digital world is accompanied by social busi-
of EC, and there are many, are based on infrastructures nesses and social customers.
and are supported by people; public policy and technical 9. The major EC business models. The major EC business
standards; marketing and advertising; support services, models include online direct marketing, electronic tender-
such as logistics, security, and payment services; and ing systems, name-your-own-price, affiliate marketing,
business partners—all tied together by management. viral marketing, group purchasing, online auctions, mass
3. The major types of EC transactions. The major types of customization (make-to-order), electronic exchanges,
EC transactions are B2B, B2C, C2C, m-commerce, intra- supply chain improvers, finding the best price, value-
business commerce, B2E, c-commerce, e- government, chain integration, value-chain providers, information bro-
social commerce, and e-learning. kers, bartering, deep discounting, and membership.
4. The drivers of EC. EC is a major product of the digital 10. Limitations of e-commerce. The major limitations of
and technological revolutions, which enables companies EC are the resistance to new technology, fear from fraud,
to simultaneously increase both growth and profits. integration with other IT systems may be difficult, costly
These revolutions enable digitization of products, ser- order fulfillment, privacy issue, unclear regulatory
vices, and information. A major driver of EC is the issues, lack of trust in computers, and unknown business
changing business environment. The rapid change is due partners, difficulties to justify EC initiatives, and lack of
to technological breakthroughs, globalization, societal EC skilled employees.
changes, deregulation, and more. The changing business
environment forces organizations to respond. Many
traditional responses may not be sufficient because of the KEY TERMS
magnitude of the pressures and the pace of the changes
involved. Therefore, organizations must frequently inno- Brick-and-mortar (old economy) organizations
vate and reengineer their operations. EC, due to its char- Business model
acteristics is a necessary partner for this process. Business-to-business (B2B)
Finally, EC is driven due to its ability to provide a Business-to-consumer (B2C)
much needed strategic advantage so organizations can Business-to-employee (B2E)
compete better. Collaborative commerce (c-commerce)
5. Benefits of EC to organizations, consumers, and soci- Consumer-to-business (C2B)
ety. EC offers numerous benefits to all participants. Consumer-to-consumer (C2C)
Because these benefits are substantial, it looks as though Corporate portal
EC is here to stay, and cannot be ignored. Also, organi- Digital economy
zations can go into remote and global markets for both Digital enterprise
selling and buying at better prices. Organizations can E-business
speed time-to-market to gain competitive advantage. E-government
They can improve the internal and external supply chain Electronic commerce (EC)
as well as increase collaboration. Finally, they can better Electronic market (e-marketplace)
comply with government regulations. E-tailing