Page 88 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

Retailing in Electronic Commerce: 3
Products and Services

Contents Learning Objectives

Opening Case: Amazon.com—The King of E-Tailing .............. 67
Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:
3.1 Internet Marketing and B2C Electronic Retailing ........ 69
1. Describe electronic retailing (e-tailing) and its charac-
3.2 E-Tailing Business Models ................................................ 71 teristics.
3.3 Online Travel and Tourism (Hospitality) Services ......... 74 2. Classify the primary e-tailing business models.
3. Describe how online travel and tourism services operate
3.4 Employment and the Online Job Market ....................... 77
and how they influence the industry.
3.5 Online Real Estate, Insurance, and Stock Trading ........ 79 4. Discuss the online employment market, including its
3.6 Online Banking and Personal Finance ............................ 80 participants and benefits.
3.7 On-Demand Delivery of Products, Digital Items, 5. Describe online real estate services.
Entertainment, and Gaming ............................................ 83 6. Discuss online stock-trading services.
7. Discuss cyberbanking and online personal finance.
3.8 Online Purchasing Decision Aids .................................... 85
8. Describe on-demand delivery of groceries and similar
3.9 The New Face of Retail Competition: Retailers perishable products and services related to them.
Versus E-Tailers................................................................. 88
9. Describe the delivery of digital products such as online
3.10 Issues in E-Tailing and Lessons Learned ........................ 91 entertainment.
Managerial Issues ......................................................................... 92 10. Discuss various online consumer aids, including price
comparison sites.
Closing Case: Etsy—A Social-Oriented B2C Marketplace ...... 97
11. Describe the impact of e-tailing on retail competition.
References ..................................................................................... 98
12. Describe disintermediation and other B2C strategic
issues.

OPENING CASE: AMAZON.COM—THE KING
OF E-TAILING

The Problem

In the early 1990s, entrepreneur Jeff Bezos saw an opportu-
nity rather than a business problem. He decided that books
were the most logical product for selling online. In July
1995, Bezos started Amazon.com (amazon.com) and began
selling books online. Over the years, the company has con-
tinually improved, expanded, changed its business model,
and expanded its product selection, improving customer
Electronic supplementary material: The online version of this chapter
(doi:10.1007/978-3-319-50091-1_3) contains supplementary material, experience, and adding new products and services and busi-
which is available to authorized users. ness alliances. The company also recognized the importance

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 67
E. Turban et al., Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce,
Springer Texts in Business and Economics, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-50091-1_3