1) What is E-Commerce? How is it different from traditional Commerce?
Ans: Electronic commerce is a way of doing business where buyer and seller com- municate through electronic media such as fax, telephone-mail etc…
- Traditionally human being was exchanging goods to meet their needs.
- Currently, an Internet facility business organization to reach more consumers across the globe. To do the e-business, there are 3 essential services that must go hand- in hand promptly.
i) Communication ii) Data management iii) Security capabilities.
2) Explain e-commerce environment?
Ans: – The virtual corporation: Electronic commerce goes hand in hand with changes that occurring in the corporate world. The 1990’s have seen the rise of a new form of industrial organizations – the networked firm; sometimes know as the virtual organization.- We have in fact reached a stage where the corporation has become the network. Rather than being based on an inflexible, hierarchical model characteristic of the traditional organization.
- Use of communication mechanisms enables the virtual firm to focus on core com- petencies, to engage outsourcing of noncritical administrative functions and to make use of pools of specialised subcontractors.
- The electronic marketers: electronic marketers are defined as companies that market their products and services to other businesses or consumers through private on-line networks, commercial online services such as America Online (AOL); the internet, CD-ROMs telecommunications – enhanced CDROMs, interactive televi- sion and Web TV.
The catalyst of electronic and web commerce: The growth of the Internet in terms of people accessing it is now being viewed as one of the greatest transforma- tion in society in the last couple of decades. The growth of Internet access 100 per- cent a year.
3) Explain Applications of E-commerce?
Ans: – Electronic commerce combines the advantages of computer – based processing (speed, reliability and relatively high volume of data) with the advantages of people – based insight (creativity, flexibility, adaptability).- Electronic commerce enables people to review, analyse, add value, and sell a variety of products that are represented electronically such as reference material, textbooks and training materials, entertainment, and software.
Applications of electronic commerce can include following:
Electronic funds transfer
Enterprise integration
Computer supported collaborative work.
Govt regulatory data interchange.
4) Explain the Benefits of e-commerce.
Ans: Benefits of electronic / web commerce
Electronic commerce increases the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of business and personal transactions. Business-to-business electronic commerce (eg. EDI) is already being used for cutting cost related to the purchasing process; commerce over the internet is relatively inexpensive. The benefits of the electronic commerce include the following:
- Reduced costs to buyers and suppliers.
- Reduced errors, time and overhead costs in information processing by eliminating requirements for re-entering data.
- Reduced inventories, as the demand for goods and services, are electronically linked through just-in-time inventory and integrated manufacturing techniques.
- Reduced overhead costs through uniformity; automation and integration of management processes which enable flatter, wider and more efficient processes.
- Creation of new markets through the ability to easily and cheaply reach potential customers.
- Optimisation of resource selection as businesses builds cooperative teams to better tailor capabilities, to work opportunities to increase chances of success.
- Improved product analysis as businesses is able to perform product analyses and comparisons and report their findings on the Internet and on-line.
5) What are the elements of the successful electronic market?
Ans: – (i) Utilises an existing customer base: Magazine and newspaper pub- lishers are examples of electronic marketers that have capitalised on the relation- ships that exists with their customer bases to build loyalty and add value to their traditional products through electronic products.
(ii) Makes an existing market place more effective: Consumers tend to be time-deprived; the electronic market places must be convenient, ordering must be fast, and delivery of the purchase must take place within 24 to 48 hrs.
(iii) Brings together communities: The services must bring together buyers & sellers who are physically scattered.
(iv) Offer decision – support information: Customers are comfortable with the manual way the current shop.
(v) Ability to close the sale: – customers need to be able to buy the advertised product through the electronic medium.
6) Explain Electronic marketplace technologies?
Ans: Electronic Marketplace Technologies:
- Electronic Data Interchange: EDI is the exchange of well-defined business transactions in a computer-processable format. EDI provides a collection of stan- dard message formats to exchange data between organizations’ computers via any electronic service. The limitation of EDI is that only B2B transactions are accom- plished due to the high volume of the consumer base, and low per-consumer trans- actions.
On-line networks and services: – On-line services provide access to informa- tion, entertainment, communications and transaction services. In general, this term refers to networks by companies such as America Online (AOL), Compuserve, etc – The on-line environment presents challenges as well as opportunities to a variety of markets
- The Internet: Web commerce: The Internet is the most popular commercial domain for business marketers due to low-cost commercial point and clicks Internet software and WWW browsers. The Web’s ease of access as well as its multimedia capabilities and downloadable applications (eg. with Java)
- Screen Phones: Screen phones are similar to regular telephones but have ad- vanced features such as credit card readers, small screen, and keypads that can be used for a variety of interactive, transactional and information services.
- Kiosks: Kiosks are displays used to provide merchandise information in a remote location, such as a retail store or a shopping mall.
7) Explain about the security issues related to web-commerce.
Ans: – Many of the concerns about electronic commerce development, particularly
over open networks, deal with risks of possible fraud, security infractions & with consumer privacy issues.
- Consumer demand for secure access to electronic shopping & other service is high.
- Merchants seek simple, cost- effective methods for conducting electronic transac- tions.
- SEPP, STT, S-HTTP encrypted/secure e-mail credit card numbers are some of the methods available currently.