Contemporary Issues in E-

Comm.
 Key issues to be discussed
• Digital Markets

• Digital Goods

• Crowdsourcing

• Social E-Comm. and Social Marketing

• Mobile Commerce

B.S. GULE 2
 Digital markets
• Are a result of the internet.
• The Internet has created a digital
marketplace where millions of people all
over the world are able to exchange massive
amounts of information directly, instantly, and
for free.
• As a result, the Internet has changed the way
companies conduct business and increased
their global reach.

B.S. GULE 3
 Digital Markets
• Digital markets provide many opportunities
to sell directly to the consumer, bypassing
intermediaries, such as distributors or retail
outlets.

• Eliminating intermediaries in the distribution

channel can significantly lower purchase/
transaction costs.

B.S. GULE 4
 Digital Markets
• These new digital markets may either reduce
or increase switching costs, depending on
the nature of the product or service being
sold, and they may cause some extra delay in
gratification.

B.S. GULE 5
 Key things to note about Digital
Markets
• Information asymmetry
• Search costs
• Transaction costs
• Gratification
• Switching costs
• Network effects (i.e. important it is for E-
Comm. businesses/organisations to be
connected with other organisations)
B.S. GULE 6
 Digital Goods
• Digital goods are goods that can be delivered
over a digital network.

• Music tracks, video, movies, software,

newspapers, magazines, and books can all be
expressed, stored, delivered, and sold as
purely digital products.

B.S. GULE 7
 Digital Goods
• In general, for digital goods, the marginal cost of
producing another unit is about zero (it costs
nothing to make a copy of a music file).

• However there is a cost associated with

producing the original product.

• The overall costs are relatively low, e.g. given

that there is no need for inventory, less delivery
costs etc.

B.S. GULE 8
 Crowdsourcing
• This is when companies use digitally connected
individuals to solve business-related problems
or tackle business-related opportunities.
• Crowdsourcing must not be confused with online
movements that pursue social agendas.
• Examples of crowdsourcing activities could be
planning out an event, getting
marketing/promotions ideas, product redesign
etc.
B.S. GULE 9
 Social E-Comm.
• Based on the idea of digital social graph

• The digital social graph is a mapping of all

significant online social relationships.

• The social graph is synonymous with the idea

of a “social network” used to describe offline
relationships
B.S. GULE 10
 Social E-Comm.
• Basically what it means is:
– The products and services you buy will influence
the decisions of your friends, and their decisions
will in turn influence you.
– Therefore, as a marketer trying to build and
strengthen a brand the implication is clear: take
advantage of the fact that people are
intertwined in social networks, share interests
and values, and communicate and influence
one another.

B.S. GULE 11
 Features of Social E-Comm.
Social sign-on Web sites allow users to sign into
their sites through their social
network pages on Facebook or
another social site.
This allows Web sites to receive
valuable social profile information
from Facebook and use it in their
own marketing efforts.

Collaborative Creating an environment where Businesses can identify opinions

shopping consumers can share their shopping about their brands / brand image
experiences with one another by
viewing products, chatting, or
texting. Friends can chat online about
brands, products, and services.
Network Creating an environment where Businesses begin to understand
notification consumers can share their approval how being “good” to one customer
(or disapproval) of products, services, can lead to many customers.
or content, or share their geo-
location, perhaps a restaurant or club,
with friends.
B.S. GULE 12
Mobile Commerce Applications
• Location-Based Services

• Banking and Financial Services

• Mobile Advertising and Retailing

• Games and Entertainment

B.S. GULE 13