E-commerce

Fall 2019

Engr. Dr. Amir Manzoor

Management Sciences Department
Bahria University, Karachi
Chapter 1
The Revolution Is Just Beginning
 E-business and E-commerce
 E-business refers primarily to the digital enabling of
transactions and processes within a firm, involving
information systems under the control of the firm. For the
most part, e-business does not involve commercial
transactions across organizational boundaries where value is
exchanged.
 E-commerce refers to the use of the Internet, the Web, and
mobile apps and browsers running on mobile devices to
transact business. More formally, digitally enabled
commercial transactions between and among organizations
and individuals.

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 E-commerce vs. E-business
E-business

Employees

External
Customers
Business
Suppliers

E-commerce

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 E-commerce vs. E-business

3 Differences between E-commerce and E-business

1) Scope of transactions
2) Level of integration
3) Level of Complexity

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 Forms of E-commerce Businesses
(Based on Use of Website)

Form Description
Brick­and­Mortar Website is used for marketing only. 
Sales occur through physical store.
Click­and­Mortar Selling of products occur through 
website and physical store.
Pure Play Selling of products occur through 
website only. No physical store.

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 Why Study E-commerce?
 E-commerce technology is different and more powerful than any
of the other technologies we have seen in the past century.
 Marketing and sale of goods is no longer mass-marketing and
sales force–driven process.
 Marketers can no longer view consumers as passive targets of
advertising campaigns and branding campaigns.
 Consumers are no longer trapped by geographical and social
boundaries.
 Information about prices, costs, and fees is no longer hidden
from the consumer.
 Changing prices in real-time is not expensive anymore.

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Eight Unique Features of E-commerce Technology

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 Eight Unique Features of E-commerce Technology

1. Ubiquity—available just about everywhere, at all times.

2. Global reach—permits commercial transactions to cross
cultural and national boundaries.
3. Universal standards—shared by all nations around the
world.
4. Richness—enables an online merchant to deliver
marketing messages in ways not possible before.

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 Eight Unique Features of E-commerce Technology

5. Interactivity—allows for two-way communication

between merchant and consumer.
6. Information density—is the total amount and quality of
information available to all market participants.
7. Personalization and customization—the increase in
information density allows merchants to target their
marketing messages to specific individuals.
8. Social technology—provides a many-to-many model of
mass communications.

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 Good/Service

A B

Payment

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 Major types of E-commerce
(Based on no. of parties involved in transactions)

 B2C e-commerce involves businesses selling to consumers

and is the type of e-commerce that most consumers are
likely to encounter.
 B2B e-commerce involves businesses selling to other
businesses and is the largest form of e-commerce.
 C2C e-commerce is a means for consumers to sell to each
other.

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 Major types of E-commerce
 Social e-commerce is e-commerce that is enabled by
social networks and online social relationships.
 M-commerce involves the use of wireless digital devices
to enable online transactions.
 Local e-commerce is a form of e-commerce that is
focused on engaging the consumer based on his or her
current geographic location.

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 Evolution of E-commerce
 E-commerce has gone through three stages: innovation,
consolidation, and reinvention.
1. Innovation Stage: The early years of e-commerce were a
technological success, with the digital infrastructure created
during the period solid enough to sustain significant growth in e-
commerce during the next decade, and a mixed business success,
with significant revenue growth and customer usage, but low
profit margins.

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Consolidation Stage: E-commerce entered
a period of consolidation beginning in 2001
and extending into 2006.

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 Reinvention Stage: E-commerce entered
a period of reinvention in 2007 with the
emergence of the mobile digital
platform, social networks, and Web 2.0
applications that attracted huge
audiences in a very short time span.

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 Major Themes Underlying Study of E-commerce
 E-commerce involves three broad interrelated themes:
 1) Technology
 2) Business
 3) Society

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 Some other Important Topics
 1) Web 2.0 and its examples
 2) Internet, Web and other technologies
 3) Limitations on the growth of E-
commerce

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 4) Disintermediation and friction-free
commerce
 5) Advantages and disadvantages of
being a first-mover
 6) Factors that will define future of e-
commerce

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