E COMMERCE

HISTORY OF E COMMERCE

Telegraph (demonstrated in 1844) spreadwith the railroads in the mid 1800’s– Coast-to-coast by 1861– Ordering goods and services remotely– Wire transfer of funds (backed by physicaltransit later on by Express)– The promise of goods and of paymentTransatlantic Cables – 1857-1866

WHAT IS E COMMERCE?

Electronic commerce or e-commerce refers to a wide range of online business activities for products and services. It also pertains to “any form of business transaction in which the parties interact electronically rather than by physical exchanges or direct physical contact.” 

E-commerce is usually associated with buying and selling over the Internet, or conducting any transaction involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods or services through a computer-mediated network. 

BUSINESS TO BUSINESS (B2B)BUSINESS TO CONSUMER (B2C)BUSINESS TO GOVERNMENT (B2G)CONSUMER TO CONSUMER (C2C)MOBILE COMMERCE (M COMMERCE)

DIFFERENT TYPES OF E COMMERCE

What are the Seven Types of

E Commerce Business and which are you?

the only way to see the products is onlineExamples: asos.com, lookfantastic.com, Made.com

* Online Only

a transactional website plus a printed catalogue, and possibly one or two physical storesExamples: Boden, House of Bath, Lands End

* Mail Order

lots of physical stores and an eCommerce websiteExample:Argos, Boots, Topshop

* Big Bricks and Clicks

just one or two physical locations plus the eCommerce websiteExample: Boswells, Burford Needlecraft, Brownsfashion.com

* Boutique Bricks and Clicks

using the likes of Amazon or eBay to market the products, with no website of their ownExample: Amazon, eBay

* Mainstream Piggy Back

where sellers of similar products come together to market more easily, usually retaining their own blog or eCommerce site elsewhere too. Example: The craft world (Etsy, Folksy), Hotels (hotels.com, laterooms.com), jewellery (Boticca), and Books (abebooks.co.uk) are good examples.

* Niche Piggy Back

Using multiple shops, catalogues, and eCommerce – by far the most complex and most difficult to achieve and run.Example: Bravissimo, Crew Clothing, Next

* Full Multichannel

E COMMERCE BUSINESSES USUALLY EMPLOY SOME OR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING PRACTICES;

PROVIDE ETAIL OR VIRTUAL STOREFRONT ON WEBSITES WITH ONLINE CATALOGS, SOMETIMES GATHERED INTO A VIRTUAL MALL

BUY OR SELL ON ONLINE MARKET PLACESGATHER AND USE DEMOGRAPHIC DATA THROUGH

WEB CONTACTS AND SOCIAL MEDIA.USE ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE, THE BUSINESS

TO BUSINESS EXCHANGE OF DATAREACH PROSPECTIVE AND ESTABLISHED CUSTOMERS

BY EMAIL OR FAX ( FOR EXAMPLE WITH NEWS LETTER).

USE BUSINESS TO BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS.ENGAGE IN PRETAIL FOR LAUNCHING NEW

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.