E-commerce is a modern phenomenon, which highly gaining popularity in the era of technology while changing the perception of marketing and retailing (Schneider, 2015). Nonetheless, it could be said that its functioning mechanism is still unclear due to the novelty of this singularity and complexity of its principles. In this case, it has to be stated that planning is a critical element to assure the functioning of this instrument and enhance the achievement of the goals (Schneider, 2015).
In this case, the primary aim of this paper is to assess and evaluate the planning of electronic commerce activities while addressing this topic by using practitioner and scientific viewpoints discussed in various publications and articles. In the end, the conclusions are drawn to summarize the findings of the paper.
Analysis
In this case, the overall planning process implies the establishment of the objectives with the linkage to the business strategies and selection of the particular stages, which will support the overall development (Schneider, 2015). Meanwhile, the absence of planning is the primary driver for the companys failure in e-commerce (Kao & Decou, 2003). In this case, the strategy e-commerce planning model should be prioritized, as it implies paying vehement attention to the organizational tactics and approach (Kao & Decou, 2003, p. 238).
Consequently, in the context of the presented paper, it is critical to analyze issues associated with the planning of e-commerce activities and various external factors, which have a tendency to affect the flow of the related processes.
Additionally, the lack of planning can increase the barriers related to intensifying competition and the vulnerability of SMEs (Stockdale & Standing, 2004). Meanwhile, the e-market is full of controversies, which might be a potential cause of unpredictable fluctuations resulting in the loss of market share and the decrease in revenues. In this instance, compliance with the initial strategy of the company and constant risk assessment will contribute to the clear identifications of the planning stages and avoid the threats (Schneider, 2015).
Furthermore, it remains apparent that a well-established framework is the principle element of e-commerce scheduling, as it outlines the structure and timeframe of the required stages and processes (Alghambi, Drew, & Alkhalaf, 2011). Nonetheless, despite the necessity to emphasize a profoundly designed network, various externalities affect the planning and growth in the e-commerce sector such as governmental support since e-commerce activities are not progressing at the same speed (Alghambi, Drew, & Alkhalaf, 2011, p. 772).
It could be said that the interest of the authorities in the development of this process might be a key driver for the enlargement of the segment due to the easiness of planning and extended availability of the financing to increase the speed of the forecasting process.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it was revealed that e-commerce is an essential part of the modern marketing due to continuous technological development. It was depicted that profound planning is a critical attribute of this business activity due to an extended variety of barriers in e-commerce. The overall stages have to comply with the initial strategy, as, otherwise, the firm will not be able to reach the required goals. In this case, planning will help minimize the risks while decreasing the influence of barriers on SMEs related to increased vulnerability and intensified competition. Meanwhile, the role of the government cannot be underestimated, as its involvement can contribute to the development in this segment.
References
Alghambi, R., Drew, S., & Alkhalaf, S. (2011). Government initiatives: The missing key for e-commerce growth in KSA. World Academy of Science, Engineering, and Technology 77, 772-775.
Kao, D., & Decou, J. (2003). A strategy-based model for e-commerce planning. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 103(4), 238-252.
Schneider, G. (2015). Electronic commerce. Stamford, CT: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Stockdale, R., & Standing, C. (2004). Benefits and barriers of electronic marketplace participation: A SME perspective. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 17(4), 301-311.
The growing popularity of smartphones and the Internet in India has become the perfect background for the development of the e-commerce market. Bearing in mind that e-commerce sales amounted to $16 billion in 2015, and this figure is forecasted to be seven times bigger by 2020, companies strive to enter the market and win leading positions ( Online Retailing in India: The Great Race par. 3). This paper will study the most influential companies in the e-commerce segment of the Indian market and speculate on the possibility of coming into it.
The Indian e-commerce market is an emerging one. The history of its development is short. Starting from 2012, the rates of sales are increasing fantastically from $2,3 billion to the current 16 billion ( Statistics and Facts About E-Commerce in India par. 2). As for now, the leaders of the Indian e-commerce market are such companies as Flipkart, Myntra, Snapdeal, Amazon India, and Paytm. It should be mentioned that the top three online retailers (Flipkart, Snapdeal, and Amazon India) have surpassed the top ten offline retailers in their revenues in 2015 (Maheshwari par. 8).
The primary reason for such spectacular growth of this segment is the rapid introduction of the newest technologies to the everyday life of common citizens and the transition towards online shopping.
The leader of the market is Flipkart launched in 2014 including Myntra acquired in 2014. The companys market share is 45% (Maheshwari par. 8). It is an online retailer offering more than 20 million products across 70 categories such as accessories, baby care, laptops, clothes, books, footwear, home, and kitchen, etc. (Khanna and Sampat 70). The key to the companys success is its presence outside the biggest cities, i.e. nationwide coverage of deliveries, 30-day return policy, various payment methods, and offering the same-day guarantees for their products. The second biggest company is Snapdeal with 26% of the market (Maheshwari par. 8).
It is also an online marketplace. Its success is devoted to the website translated into seven languages, which attracts more customers, and has its own mobile payment company ( Statistics and Facts About E-Commerce in India par 18, 22). Amazon India with 12% of the market share in the third leader (Maheshwari par. 8). It is the branch of the international company, Amazon. Except for being the online retailer, it is the platform for e-commerce relations offering various financial services to other companies (Khanna and Sampat 71). Finally, Paytm is a company specializing in e-wallet services. Its market share in the sector of online payments is nearly 70% (Shu par. 10).
The primary idea behind creating it was the desire to eliminate the cash element in the e-commerce market. So, the Indian e-commerce market is characterized by different business models adopted by the leading companies, which realize that being unique is the key to attracting new customers.
Another e-giant is Alibaba. Just like Amazon, it is an international company. However, it comes from China ( E-Commerce in Emerging Market: India Online par. 2). The primary difference of Alibaba from the companies mentioned above is its focus on integrating the remote areas into a national e-commerce network by building regional service centers for making orders, picking up deliveries, and paying for them ( Online Retailing in India: The Great Race par. 8). However, the company is only planning to enter the Indian market. As for now, it is an investor in big Indian companies such as Paytm (Kochar par. 4).
In conclusion, it should be said that Alibabas strategy is the best one for entering the Indian market. The service is already popular in India because it offers cheap products. So, if the company decides to develop the e-commerce infrastructure in the most distant areas, it will lead to success because other firms concentrate on bigger cities. Another way to enter the market is to acquire one of the leaders. So, there are only two strategies for coming into this segment either merge a leader or become one by focusing on the customers.
Khanna, Preeti, and Brinda Sampat. Factors Influencing Online Shopping During Diwali Festival 2014: Case Study of Flipkart and Amazon.In. Journal of International Technology and Information Management, 24.2 (2015): 65-III. Print.
Evaluating the efficacy of websites is crucial to the improvement of the marketing tools efficacy (Scobey and Lingras 18). Although the connection between the two factors may seem rather loose, a closer consideration of the phenomena in question will show that a user-friendly interface creates premises for attracting an increasingly large number of customers. For these purposes, two key types of tests can be used (MacFarland 7). A detailed overview of the Yahoo! E-Commerce site ( Yahoo Stores Pricing and Plans par. 1) has displayed that the application of a multivariate testing system is strongly suggested due to a large number of details and the need to address a range of aspects of its functioning.
One must give credit to the A/B test as an analysis tool. According to the existing definition and the numerous pieces of evidence, it works perfectly as the means of assessing two versions of the same web page and, therefore, coming to a conclusion regarding their efficacy as far as the traffic flow is concerned: a simple way to test changes to a website page against the current design in order to determine which design produces positive results (Frick & Eyler-Werve 200), the specified test can be viewed as a tool for choosing between two existing alternatives. Therefore, for the sites with a simplistic design and a small array of elements, the A/B test can be considered the ultimate analysis tool.
However, in the cases that involve a detailed analysis of numerous changes made to a web page, the valuation of several elements thereof, of the consideration of three or more versions of the current web page, the application of the A/B testing tool becomes impossible. In the specified instances, the adoption of the multivariate tool is strongly recommended. The latter, in its turn, is typically identified as the a process by which more than one component of a website (or, a campaign in the offline environment) may be tested in a live environment (Bally 85). Seeing that the Yahoo! page in question has a large number of items, which require testing and, perhaps, certain changes in their design and usability, the adoption of the multivariate testing should be considered as an adequate step to be taken.
The multivariate test seems to be a much more appropriate choice for the site in question, as the evaluation of its efficacy presupposes assessing a range of variables. While the A/B test can be deemed as one of the most useful tools and elegant methods of assessing the performance of a site as well as its popularity rates among the target denizens of the population, it is still restricted in terms of the variables number. Particularly, only two of them can be assessed with the help of the A/B test (Siroker and Koomen 71). The Yahoo! e-commerce web page, in its turn, offers a much larger number of elements, each of them requiring a separate evaluation. Herein the significance of the multivariate test lies; unlike the A/B testing system, it offers the tools, which will help consider every single item. For instance, the web page in question has a header, a sign-in form, a link to the personal mailbox, a pricing table, and a link for a paid subscription. The items listed above are far too numerous to be handled with the help of an A/B test. Thus, the use of the multivariate tool is highly recommended.
Works Cited
Bally, Sven. Conversion Marketing. New York City, NY: Lulu.com. 2015. Print.
Frick, Tim and Kate Eyler-Werve. Return on Engagement: Content Strategy and Web Design Techniques for Digital Marketing. New York City, NY: CRC Press, 2014. Print.
MacFarland, Coin. Experiment!: Website Conversion Rate Optimization with A/B and Multivariate Testing. Berkeley, CA: New Riders, 2012. Print.
Scobey, Porter and Pawan Lingras. Web Programming and Internet Technologies: An E-Commerce Approach. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2012. Print.
Siroker, Dan and Pete Koomen. A/B Testing: The Most Powerful Way to Turn Clicks into Customers. New York City, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 2013. Print.
Available literature demonstrates that the adoption and use of e-commerce can provide businesses with a multiplicity of benefits that allow them to reach more customers, reduce costs, and enhance productivity (Chang, Magobe, & Kim, 2014).
Additionally, the use of e-commerce solutions in the business domain has been associated with enhanced flexibility as well as faster time-to-market and speed-to-market capabilities in the increasingly competitive environment (Demirkan, 2015). However, despite all these benefits, the adoption and use of e-commerce have lagged behind in some contexts and countries due to a variety of reasons embedded in structural and technological barriers, customer perceptions and preferences, as well as lack of awareness (Goswami, 2012). The present paper looks into the topic of e-commerce adoption with the view to delineating customer-specific barriers that hinder optimal use and outlining what needs to be done to address the challenges.
E-Commerce and Adoption Barriers
E-commerce has been defined in the literature as any economic or business activity that uses information communication technology (ICT)-based applications in its transactions (Chang et al., 2014, p. 53).
Although most of the transactions revolve around marketing, selling, and buying over the Internet, e-commerce can be used in business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) contexts to share data and information, conduct marketing research, undertake communication activities and retain customers (Goswami, 2012). E-commerce provides businesses with the leverage to use low-cost information delivery avenues to enhance their performance, improve coordination of activities with business partners, reduce operation costs, increase inventory efficiency, and expand markets across borders (Chang et al., 2014).
However, it is evident that many businesses in the developing world are yet to obtain these benefits due to low adoption and use levels. Available literature shows that the effect of new technology on firm performance depends on the extent to which the technology is used in the organizations key value chain (Chang et al., 2014, p. 56). As such, it is difficult for businesses to reap maximum benefits from the use of e-commerce solutions if adoption and use levels remain low. Using the learning curve theory, it can be argued that most customers in developing countries are yet to learn and internalize the immense benefits of e-commerce, leading to projected behaviors of aloofness and uncertainty in the online environment (Goswami, 2012).
One of the customer-specific barriers to e-commerce adoption relates to the fact that many individuals are yet to realize the immense benefits associated with e-commerce applications, and are therefore unwilling to take the risk of transacting over the Internet (Mirmiran & Shams, 2014). For example, many people in developing countries are yet to realize that conducting banking transactions over the Internet is more cost-effective and time-saving than visiting their local bank branches to transact. As demonstrated in the literature, having the knowledge of perceived benefits has a positive effect on the scope of e-commerce adoption and use, implying that more people are likely to use e-commerce platforms if they understand the benefits involved (Chang et al., 2014).
Another e-commerce adoption barrier relates to confidentiality and security concerns, where customers desist from using online communications for fear of losing critical personal information or finances (Mirmiran & Shams, 2014). For example, although it is easier and convenient to use the PayPal service to receive global financial transfers, many people are yet to buy this proposition for fear of losing their hard-earned cash to fraudsters. Consumer characteristics (e.g., gender, age, income, and educational level) have also been documented as a major barrier to the adoption and use of e-commerce (Goswami, 2012).
Here, researchers have noted that young and highly educated people are more likely to use e-commerce applications than the elderly and less educated (Mirmiran & Shams, 2014). Additionally, it is clear that the adoption of e-commerce is related to the level of disposable income among the population, implying that economically stable people are more likely to adopt and use e-commerce than poor individuals (Goswami, 2012). Lastly, it is evident that a substantial number of customers are not satisfied with initial online shopping experiences due to technical issues and other structural or relational concerns (Mirmiran & Shams, 2014).
Addressing the Barriers
Businesses using e-commerce platforms need to undertake comprehensive marketing campaigns to create awareness of the benefits associated with the use of online applications to transact business. Such marketing initiatives need to convey information about the security of online transactions to allay fears that limit the adoption and use of e-commerce. It is also possible for governments in the developing world to address some of the barriers related to consumer demographic characteristics by not only developing policies that encourage the elderly to use e-commerce applications but also ensuring equitable distribution of resources to address high poverty levels (Mirmiran & Shams, 2014).
Lastly, organizations need to ensure that they develop intuitive, responsive, and customer-friendly Web applications to minimize unwanted experiences and, in turn, enhance customer satisfaction levels.
Conclusion
This paper has discussed e-commerce, with a focus on identifying customer-specific adoption challenges and outlining some of the ways that could be used to address the issues. Overall, it is evident the e-commerce has immense benefits for customers and businesses alike, though optimal advantages are not being realized by both parties due to the discussed challenges. As such, it is important to use the challenges espoused in this paper to address the challenges and hence encourage e-commerce adoption and use in contemporary business contexts.
References
Chang, B.Y., Magobe, M.J., & Kim, Y.B. (2014). E-commerce applications in the tourism industry: A Tanzania case study. South African Journal of Business Management, 46(4), 53-63.
Demirkan, H. (2015). Special section: Enhancing e-commerce outcomes with IT service innovations. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 19(3), 2-6.
Goswami, S. (2012). Measuring impact of consumer and product features on e-commerce adoption in India: An empirical study. XIMB Journal of Management, 11(2), 81-94.
Mirmiran, S.F., & Shams, A. (2014). The study of differences between e-commerce impacts on developed countries and developing countries, case study: USA and Iran. New Marketing Research Journal, 5(3), 79-100.
Most businesses operate to make profit in the society. Apart from the profit-making objective, businesses should ensure that their operations bring positive changes in the society. The positive changes can be through job creation and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
The latter does not exclude non-corporate businesses since any act on the environment affect all businesses irrespective of size (Supporting Corporate Social Responsibility 2012).
A business that creates wealth, offer products that satisfy the needs of customers and employs members of a society is dubbed a responsible business. Moreover, a responsible business strives to uphold the principle of equity and fairness to its entire stakeholders and the local community in general.
The essay will analyze the principles of responsible commerce in light to the utilitarianism theory and the learning trend that I have experienced in this course. In addition, the essay will analyse the Hewlett Packard Case Study and compare it to the theory of utilitarianism in an ethical dimension.
In CSR, businesses have to align their objectives with the societal requirements. For example, businesses can engage in ethical practices through participating in environmental protection in the community, which they operate.
Companies always engage in CSR as an ethical practice and not a legal requirement (Supporting Corporate Social Responsibility 2012). On the other hand, organizations can decide not to engage in CSR, but does not imply that they have gone against a legal requirement.
In the journey of learning this course, I have learnt that not all ethical practices are lawful. In essence, principles of responsible commerce involve engaging in ethical activities that may affect the stakeholders.
Another example involves a situation where a driver may notice an accident while driving and decides to drive away from the scene. Ethically, he should have stopped and offered help to the victims; however, his/her action has not violated the law.
Again, if a business decides to take care of the poor in the community by offering educational scholarship programmes, it becomes an ethical practice.
Conversely, a business that has the capability of supporting a local community, but decides not to do so has not violated the law, but its negligence results to an unethical practice. It becomes unethical since it has the potential to do so but opts to avoid it.
An ethical practice involves what is right or wrong while law deals with what is unlawful or lawful (Njoka 2012). The two terms do not have direct implications on each other. In business perspectives, businesses outline their acceptable conducts that they consider fit to guide their operations.
Responsible businesses consider the needs of all participants hence they lay their foundation on trust and confidence that forms the core of ethical practices (Njoka 2012). Social enterprises are the main practitioners of these principles as their goals and objectives gear towards social responsibility.
However, business enterprises that are profit making in nature ought to understand that their ethical practices directly affect human needs. For instance, if there are lapses in integrity on the employer or employees side, the consumers are the final group that bear the consequences.
According to Njoka 2012, such incidences of integrity lapses lower consumers trust and confidence in the business. Businesses should realize that the consumers that they feel should purchase their products in order to maximize profit require due attention, which only come from ethical engagements.
If businesses neglect the interests and needs of their customers, the market can become unsustainable hence leading to business failure.
Noticeably, organizations that desire to survive in this global and competitive market should instil ethical leadership in their management systems in order to attract and maintain their customers (Njoka 2012).
Therefore, it is the role of the Human Resource Management (HRM) to ensure that the employees adhere to the set out ethical procedures. Moreover, business survival in the competitive market requires a high level of morality and responsibility.
This aspect touches on giving back to the community in order to improve their living standards.
Some of the activities that support ethical behaviours include offering sponsorship programmes for needy and bright students, training the local community how to engage in agricultural practices and even subsidising the cost of farming.
Businesses that participate in these activities acquire high societal approval for their services (Corrales 2011).
Even though other businesses may view CSR as an additional expense, the benefits that arise after the process are numerous; they include increased profitability hence assurance on continuity and the sustainable economic development.
For example, activities like environmental conservation programmes assist businesses to minimize their costs of production since they can mitigate the effects of climate change. An effect of climate change like drought has a direct impact on the costs of production for organizations that rely on agricultural products.
In addition, the consumers will experience a low standard of living, which results to low purchases of goods and services that businesses offer. Moreover, environmental conservation will give the businesses opportunities to exploit their potentials in the present and even assure them of the same in future.
Sustainable economic development offers businesses potentials both at present and in the future; therefore, it ensures that businesses survive into the future (Corrales 2011). Notably, businesses are only assured of sustainable economic development if they inculcate ethical practices in their operations.
Distinctly, a responsible business should engage in CSR since the major beneficiary is the business and not the surrounding community.
The utilitarianism theory conceives that an act is moral if the results create a positive impact to several individuals (Moreland 2009). It believes that no moral act or regulation is right or wrong; one can only determine their rightness or wrongness of an act by studying the consequences.
This theory deals with the philosophy of the end justify the means. This theory analyzes all the courses of action that are available and the possible effects that can occur owing to the action before deciding on a course that is morally right and the situation that one may find himself.
The possible effects include the benefits and harms that may result from such an action. In the final part, a course of action that presents highest benefits is chosen after considering the costs (Andre & Velasquez 2010).
It does not matter whether the means that one uses is right or wrong provided the results are beneficial to many people. For example, a person can break into a chemist and steal a drug that can assist a patient to recover if they cannot afford to purchase the drug.
According to the utilitarianism theory, the whole process is ethical since the drug helped in saving life. Clearly, the theory oversees the unethical behaviour of stealing. In this aspect, the theory may encourage some acts, which are unethical in the business environment since they may result to positive feedbacks.
As a result, the theory analyzes the morality of any effect. If the effect is good, the process is acceptable. From the above scenario, stealing produced a good and not an evil effect-rescuing life. The theory supports some acts that the societal norms consider as unethical practices.
However, the theory does not consider whether the doctor has received justice for the act that made him lose his drug and experience destruction of property or not.
In the business point of view, the benefits that the utilitarianism theory defines are the satisfaction levels and the number of stakeholders that will receive the benefits. The theory expects managers to make decisions that have greatest benefits to the majority of the stakeholders in order to ensure their satisfaction.
Human Resource Managers should treat consumers as ends not as means; they should not involve consumers in the whole process of management, but must ensure that the results of the management process benefit a majority of them (Andre & Velasquez 2010).
From the above example of rescuing life, responsible businesses should consider the life of a human being as the most important parameter. For instance, if a business realizes that it will spend heavily in order to produce healthy products, it should do so since unhealthy products will negatively affect the lives of consumers.
Even if the action of producing healthy products will result into losses, human dignity still overrides it. It is the responsibility of a business to provide high quality products to its customers and not for purposes of making profit.
A responsible business will view apt employees remuneration as its responsibility and not a means of attracting skilful employees (Moreland 2009).
The Hewlett Packard Case involved pretexting where a person pretended to be the owner of some information. This action made the private investigator access phone records of different individuals within the company.
The act reveals information leakage to third parties, which were putting the company at risk of stakeholders withdrawal hence creating low trade values for their shares. Moreover, other drivers were leaking vital personal information to the press. Some board members could access data of the companys customers at will.
The company after investigating the issue had to reconstitute the Board of Directors in order to salvage the companys reputation from other stakeholders (Sebastian 2011). In this manner, the company made a risky decision, which proved to be best alternative after analysing the overall costs and benefits of the consequences.
This incident saw most board members resign from their posts as others tarnished their reputations. On the issue of legality, the issue of pretexting was presumed not illegal (Sebastian 2011). However, this does not imply that the act is ethical.
The board members presumed that the legality of pretexting was all that could affect the operations of the company hence neglecting the ethical dimension. Despite the fact that the board members did not break any law, their acts could have affected the entire group of shareholders, stakeholders, and employees.
In this dimension, the board members failed to analyse the effects of this deceptive practice in relation to the interests of the stakeholders. The pretexting ethical dilemma discloses a management system that is short-sighted, unprofessional, and egocentric in their operations.
In relating the HP case and the utilitarianism theory, the decision by the company to lay-off some board members was an option that saved the reputation of the company as it considered the majority beneficiaries in the whole aspect.
The interests of the stakeholders, shareholders, and employees overrode that of the few board members. The consequences of the companys action on the pretexting incident affected the few board members negatively but benefited the stakeholders of the company.
Hewlett Packard was experiencing organisational challenges at the time when the incident took place thereby giving loopholes on the ethical practices.
During this time, the companys shares had fluctuated in the market. Therefore, the case study supports the need for applying the principles of responsible commerce in all business operations irrespective of the legality.
Businesses ought to act ethically when making decisions on their course of actions since the consequences may either protect or destroy the image of the businesses.
This reflective essay has revealed that businesses that adhere to their ethical practices in order to improve their reputation among their stakeholders and shareholders hence obtaining the survival assurance in the present dynamic market.
Businesses have to consider their decisions in a longsighted and humane manner. For example, they must include the interests of the local community since the community offers both social and operational security to the business (Corrales 2011).
A responsible business should strive to prevent pollution and use proper waste disposal techniques. The Hewlett Packard case study and the utilitarianism theory have also analysed the need for businesses to make professional and long-sighted decisions that benefit the majority in the mix.
This proposal outlines the model of developing research paper on the assessment of e-commerce barriers, which prevent the advance of information technologies in the countries of the Third World. Thus, the proposed research paper will deal with the problem of infrastructural, socio-cultural, socioeconomic, and political barriers to e-commerce in developing countries. The significance of such a project lies in its contribution to a comprehensive understanding of the problem, and the outcome of the research will help determine the best strategies for barrier elimination as to promote economic and technological development in the Third World countries.
Given the nature of the problem, the following research approach and method appear to be most appropriate. The investigation is rooted in the critical analysis of professional literature and follows a qualitative research design. The primary aim of the study is to evaluate the possibilities for eliminating the basic barriers to e-commerce implementation in the developing states.
The introductory part of the research study identifies the similarities between the countries of the Third World in terms of political and economic principles that stop technology development. The data serves as a background for outlining the principle reasons for e-commerce hindering. Mainly, such signs of needy countries as authoritarian institutions, governance crisis, and poverty are discussed (Lawrence & Tar, 2010).
The body part of the work focuses on listing the direct barriers to e-commerce implementation. Thus, the categories of infrastructural, socio-cultural, socioeconomic, and political preventions are analyzed. Within these groups, the research investigation may differentiate specific subgroups, which pertain to certain reality domains. For instance, the category of infrastructural barriers concerns technology limitations, poor telecommunication and Internet connection, and the expensiveness of Internet access.
Socio-cultural barriers pertain to the low level of technology trust, personal contacts limitation, and illiteracy. Socioeconomic challenges of e-commerce may include low country income, the crisis of educational and payment systems, etc. Finally, the domain of political barriers, which stem from ideological perceptions and governance types, pertains to the absence of technology policies. Finally, the third part of the study outlines recommendations and expert opinion on the possible elimination of e-commerce barriers.
References
Lawrence, J., & Tar, U. (2010). Barriers to e-commerce in developing countries. Society and Justice, 3(1), 23-35. Web.
Electronic commerce describes the buying and selling of products, services, and information via computer networks, primarily the internet. Business conducted electronically fits into three categories. The opening case shows an example of business-to-consumer in which companies sell directly to consumers over the internet. Business-to-consumer sales may have been done by a company that has been specifically created to do business on the internet or by an exciting company that opens its own online business. The major benefits of business-to-consumer are increased revenues, the creation of new sources of revenues, and the elimination of costly intermediaries.
The second category is business-to-business, in which two businesses make transactions electronically. In business-to-business, the major benefits include reduced cost, reduced cycle time, increased customer base and sales, and improved customer service.
The third category of electronic commerce into business in which transactions take place within an organization, in an attempt to increase productivity, speed, and quality and so cut cost.
The term commerce is viewed by some people as describing transactions conducted between business partners.
The term electronic commerce seems to be fairly narrow, and many use the term e-business instead.
It refers to a broad definition of electronic commerce, not just buying and selling but also servicing customers, collaborating with business partners, and conducting electronic transactions within an organization.
According to Lou Gerstner, e-business is all about time cycle, speed, globalization, enhanced productivity, reaching new customers and sharing knowledge across institutions for competitive advantage.
Electronic commerce is a very diverse and interdisciplinary topic, with issues ranging from technology addressed by computer experts.
Benefits of electronic commerce
First for organizations
Expands companys marketplace to national and international markets. With minimal capital outlay, accompany can easily and quickly locate more customers, the best suppliers, and the most suitable business partners worldwide.
Allow a vendor to reach a large number of customers anywhere around the globe at a very low cost.
Enables companies to procure material and services from other companies rapidly and at less cost.
Shortness or even eliminates marketing distribution channels, making products cheaper and vendors profit higher.
Decreases the cost of creating, processing, distributing, storing, and retrieving paper-based information.
Allows lower inventors by facilitating pull type supply chain management, which starts from customer orders and uses just-in-time production and delivery processing. This allows product customization and reduces inventory costs.
Lowers telecommunications costs because the internet is much cheaper than value-added networks.
It helps small businesses compete against large companies.
Enables a very specialized niche market.
The consumers
Provides less expensive products and services by allowing consumers to shop in many places and conduct online quick comparisons.
Give consumers more choices they can select from many vendors and many more products than they could easily locate otherwise.
Enables customers to help or make other transactions 24 hours a day, year round, from almost any location.
Delivers relevant and detailed information in seconds rather than in days or weeks.
Enables consumers to get the customized product from PCs to cars at competitive prices.
Make it possible virtual actions in which consumers can find unique products and collectors items that might otherwise require them to travel long distances to a particular auction place at a specific time.
Allows consumers to interact with other consumers in electronic communications and exchange ideas as well as compare experiences.
The society
Enables more individuals to work at home and to do less traveling resulting in less traffic on the roads and lower air pollution.
Allows some merchandise to be sold at lower prices, so less affluent people can buy more and increase their standard of living.
Enables people in less developed countries and rural areas to enjoy products and services that otherwise are not available to them. This includes opportunities to learn professions and earn college degrees or to receive better medical care.
Facilitates delivery of public services such as government entitlement, reducing the cost of distribution and fraud, and increasing the quality of the social services, police work, health care, and education.
Limitation of electronic commerce
EC has some limitations, both technical and nontechnical, which have slowed its growth and acceptance.
Technical limitations
There is a lack of universally accepted standards for quality, security, and reliability.
The telecommunications bandwidth is insufficient.
Software development tools are still evolving.
There are difficulties in integrating the internet and EC software with some existing applications and databases.
Special web servers in addition to the network servers are needed.
Internet accessibility is still expensive and inconvenient.
Nontechnical limitations
Many legal issues are as yet unresolved.
National and international government regulations are lacking and standards for many circumstances are missing.
It is difficult to measure benefits of EC such as web advertising.
Many sellers and buyers are waiting for EC to stabilize before they take parts.
Customers are resistant to the change from real to a virtual store.
There is a perception that electronic commerce is expensive and unsecured so many do not want to even try it.
There is an insufficient number of sellers and buyers needed for profitable EC operations.
Business-to-consumer application
There are many potential applications of Ec that will foster trading between businesses and individual customers. the projected 750 million internet users within 10 years could generate a huge volume of business-to- consumer transactions.
Business-to-business application
It covers a broad spectrum of applications that enable an enterprise to form electronic relationships with its distributors resellers, suppliers, customers and other partners.
Business-to-business applications offer enterprises access to these types of information:
Product (specification, prices, sales history).
Customer (sales history and forecast).
Product process (capacities, commitments, product plans).
Transportation (carries, led times, cost).
Inventory (inventory levels, carrying cost).
Conclusion
An electronic market is an information system that links together many buyers and sellers to exchange information, products services and payments. Through computers and networks, these systems function like electronic intermediaries, with lowered costs for typical marketplace transactions, such as matching buyers and sellers, establishing prices, ordering goods, and paying bills. buyers and sellers can complete purchase and sale transaction digitally, regardless of their location.
Electronic commerce: the process of buying and selling goods and services electronically, involving transaction using the internet, networks and other digital technologies.
References
Angell and Smithson S. Information Systems Management. accessed on 2003.
Article published by Kenneth C. (professor of information systems at New York university) on 2000.
Jean-Pierre Kuilboer e-Business and e-Commerce Infrastructure accessed on (2002).
Jan Price Laudon Managing Information Technology in the Internet worked Enterprise accessed on 1999.
Krishnamurthy, E-Commerce Management accessed on 2003.
Miller Roger The Legal and E-Commerce Environment Today .
Paul Timmers, Electronic Commerce published on 2000.
How the internet, through e-commerce, supports global competition
The emergence of digital and online technologies has paved the way for new opportunities and trends in global trade. In particular, the Internet has provided businesses with new communication channels that have sharpened the competition and introduced new commercial activities at a global level (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, 2001). The development of such digital devices as I-phones, web conferences and mass mailing has accelerated marketing activities and has put less technologically savvy businesses beyond the competition.
E-commerce: emphasis on quick innovation and diminishing the value of a business
Quick innovation has a positive impact on global business because it allows people to easily purchase products from all over the world. Information flow is also facilitated and provides consumers with valuable facts about price fluctuations and new products at the market (Hanly, n. d.). However, because the Internet has made it possible to conduct meetings online, the importance of face-to-face communication has been diminished. Lack of physical presence also decreases communication and brainstorming. Also, monitoring software established in the workplace does not contribute to employees trust and respect and, as a result, it does not foster their productivity. The increased popularity of e-market negatively influences traditional retail stores that face rigorous competition on the part of Internet businesses.
References
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. (2001). E-Commerce and Competition Issues under the Trade Practices Act: Discussion Paper. Web.
My project is to create a B2B/B2C e-commerce platform where marketers of design outfits will market their services and ensure transparency of payments and conversations with their clients. It will also address complaints and review suggestions on marketing and the items. There are various items in the fashion and design world that include dinner dresses, jumpsuits, sweaters, and sportswear, among many other varieties. This project uses algorithms in three different ways: price, material, and type of fashion design. Algorithms help identify customer preferences, payment methods, and client feedback in terms of review. The application of these algorithms will be helpful to the client when choosing to purchase items, while the sellers will be able to access the complaints to make adjustable changes; the audience of this project will be both the sellers and buyers. This project is worth it because clients dissatisfaction can either bring down a company or a business, making the e-commerce website safe for traders and consumers.
The e-commerce will be a web-based platform that can be accessed from any browser on both computers and mobile devices. The website will have an interactive and user-friendly interface that will enable sellers and buyers to operate efficiently. The platform allows users to create their user profiles and attach identification documents for verification. The purpose of verifying identity is to get rid of ghost users whose motive is to defraud genuine users. Apart from proofing identity, identification documents will provide the physical location, which will be helpful when pursuing sensitive matters, if any, that demand users presence in person. The website will enable designers to showcase their products by uploading images and descriptions of services, charges, delivery, and promotions. An AI system will be incorporated into the website to verify the standards and the decency of the images uploaded. This will enhance the sanity while using the e-commerce website.
The e-commerce website will provide texting and calling features to facilitate easy interaction between designers and clients. The conversations will be recorded for consideration later if there arises a conflict. The project will partner with the most preferred payment agents to facilitate payment services, enabling easy and swift payment. Moreover, the project will seek partnerships with reputable common delivery agencies and attach them for customer consideration.
The e-commerce will provide a secured payment method that ensures a transaction is completed as agreed between the client and the designer. The website will partner with escrow to secure payments once the client has received, verified, and is content with the item. This method will eliminate the rampant cases of people losing their hard-earned money (Alabi, 2017). The clients will also be able to negotiate and make requests for their desired designs with ease over the messaging feature on the website (Kanojiya et al., 2021). This feature will facilitate a close designer-client relationship which is healthy for building rapport, loyalty, and growing business.
The projects main focus before and after launching will ensure there optimize on visibility; this will attract clients and designers to the e-commerce site. Using influencers, running website ads, and boosting posts on social media will help popularize products and generate traffic to the website to check on the product or services being offered. The e-commerce website will use cookies to develop personalized information about users and share tailor-made services and ads. The data collected by the cookies includes browser history on fashion design, prices, and material used. These services will create a crucial role in linking fashion designers to their clients, which is the primary goal of this project. The other issue that the project is focused on is promoting business ethics between the designers and clients by providing a common conversation platform on why they negotiate and agree. The project will also restore the deteriorating trust between fashion designers and their clients when making payments or delivering, ensuring the smooth completion of transactions and delivery.
The main purpose of the set of algorithms used in this project is to reach and create a broad client base while minimizing the cost of achieving this. The algorithm will help deliver personalized ads to prospective customers based on their preferences, common method of payment, and client feedback. The algorithm would reduce the extra cost that could have otherwise been incurred if this was to be done arbitrarily. Personalized ads have higher customer conversion rates, unlike random ads and thus increase the general turnover.
The e-commerce project will target artists fashion tastes and requirements for their performance on stage. It will be critical to dress their backup team and dancers since a specific design can be placed together and delivered on time. Event organizers are another target group who needs designer services for branding. E-commerce will save the hassle of looking for the best designers since the website will provide ratings of each individual based on previously completed orders.
We are a digital marketing company, and we are looking forward to establishing a fashion design e-commerce website that will help link designers to their clients. We have an elaborate marketing plan to reach our potential users, making it a potentially lucrative venture that will return investments within two years. The website will enable users to create and update accounts, post their services, negotiate, and utilize a secure payment system. We shall also use cookies, promote ads, and influence to generate traffic. We are looking for partners to finance our project and achieve this big dream.
In the recent times the internet has emerged as a powerful communication tool dominating all spheres of our lives from education, spirituality, health, romance and economic spheres. According to a research by Nielsen as cited by PayPal (3) over 200 million Americans use internet. According to statistics at the internet world stats website (1) the internet use penetration in the world stood at 28.7 percent. This translates to about 1,970,000,000 internet users.
Due to the huge number of internet usage, the internet is vast becoming an attractive business platform. The widespread use of internet, the information superhighway, has spurred a new form of business; electronic commerce. This is a business platform that has hugely become attractive to the mostly young emerging entrepreneurs. The market for e commerce is also huge. According to a research by Nielsen as quoted by Pay Pal, in 2003 the American online shoppers spent 17.2 billion dollars in the last three months of the year.
Background of e commerce
Electronic commerce, often shortened to e commerce, simply refers to commerce over electronic systems. However complex scholarly definitions do exist for E commerce. The government of South Australia defines e commerce as &any form of business in which the parties interact electronically over the internet rather than physical exchange or conduct (1). Andam (6) defines e commerce as &use of electronic communication and digital information processing technology in business transactions to create, transform, and redefine relationships for value creation between or among organizations, and between organizations and individuals .
In the past the term e commerce and e business were used interchangeably and were understood to imply the same meaning. However scholars have in the recent past sought to differentiate the two by offering a more detailed definition for e business. While e commerce has been taken to the buying and selling over digital media, e business on the other hand has been taken to be the enhancing of the traditional brick and mortar business through electronic means.
The common telecom networks via which the e commerce takes place include emails, electronic data interchange, faxes, radio, Short Message Services etc. The payment methods for e commerce do vary and include plastic cards, electronic funds transfer, and electronic cash. Plastic cards include both the credit and debit cards though credit cards are widely used.
The major advantage of e commerce over the traditional brick and mortar means of commerce is the reduction of the cost of doing business and the significant expansion of business. The e commerce reduces several business costs. It reduces transportation costs of looking for information on different suppliers of various components of business. This is done through e procurement sites, brokering sites and infomediary websites. These sites have already compiled vast information available at the click of a mouse. The online stores also reduces the costs associated with putting up or renting physical structures for shops and other costs associated with them such as security, water bills and electricity bills etc.
The e commerce further reduces the costs associated with the middlemen as the buyers and sellers can interact directly. This translates into cheaper prices for the goods and services being offered. The e commerce also harnesses the power of mass market in a way that the traditional commerce wouldnt be able to achieve. The prices for the commodities are easily available to all making it difficult for the sellers to charge differently to different buyers. The e markets can also push the prices down by mobilizing a large number of buyers into demanding for a discount.
The e commerce greatly expands the market reach of the online businesses in various ways. For the digital goods such as music, movies and software the goods can easily be delivered to any part of the world to a buyer with a computer and internet connection. The online seller displays his goods in his online kiosk of which the buyer pays through credit cards or any either ways and downloads the content. In instances where the goods being sold are not digital goods, the use of courier services is employed to deliver the goods.
E commerce industry
In order to have an in depth understanding of the e commerce, it is critical to examine the different forms of e commerce in general. After this examination I will briefly explain where my website for the class, revered designs falls into.
There are several types of e commerce categorized into business to business (B2B) e commerce, business to consumer (B2C) e commerce, business to government (B2G) e commerce, Consumer to consumer (C2C) e commerce, consumer to business (C2B) e commerce, and mobile commerce.
The business to business (B2B) e commerce involves the e commerce between one business to another as opposed to a business to the end consumer of the product or service. The businesses involved maybe between manufacturers and wholesalers or distributors or between wholesalers and retailers. The different websites under business to business e commerce can be grouped into company websites, e procurement sites, information sites or infomediary sites, and brokering sites.
Company websites are websites developed by specific companies giving information on the company and its services and products. Some of the information on the company sites may be targeted to corporate clients. The e procurement sites serve as product supply and procurement exchanges for purchasing agents of specific industries. The sites are set up to enable purchasing agents source their products from several vendors over the net. On the other hand, the Information sites or infomediary sites are sites set to provide information on specific industry for example banking industry. The sites would compile information on the specific industry for industry players and other interested parties. These sites are mostly directories and search engines. The last category of business to business e commerce sites are the brokering sites. These sites act as link between suppliers of a product or services and consumers of those products or services.
The business to Government (B2G) e commerce refers to the type of e commerce between the government and the different companies.The e commerce in the context of B2G may involve e procurement sites, legislative sites etc. On the other hand, the consumer to consumer (C2C) e commerce is the type of commerce between consumers. This largely functions as the online equivalent of on print classified advertisement and auctions for example e bay. The Consumer to business (C2B) e commerce empowers the consumer to negotiate his price, mode of delivery and the business that may supply the product or service at the set parameters bid for the same. For example the job seeker may post his curriculum vitae with a set of qualifications in which interested companies would hire him. The Mobile commerce often shortened to M commerce, is a form of e commerce that is strongly gaining currency especially in Africa. This is the form of business that involves commerce over handheld devices such as cell phones.
My website revered designs which have been created specifically for this class falls under the business to consumer (B2C) e commerce business model. This will be discussed under revered designs business model later in the paper.
Revered Designs business strategy and objectives
The business objective of revered designs is to provide a range of services in the interior designs and custom events creation. Revered designs hope to offer complete professional interior designs, which exceeds the expectations of the clients. It markets the end interior design product as signature interior designs of your house. This would imply that the end product is customized to the clients personal preferences. Revered designs also involved in custom event creations. This service is ideal to the party goers and hosts. The service is expected to create exciting environments where people can party at another level.
The business strategy of revered designs is a simple psychological trick. Customers are most likely to but a product or services that they have previously interacted with. This is what creates great brands. They are often afraid to experiment on new products or services. This creates a major headache for new businesses entering the market. When faced with an option between a known brand and a new one, customers would be more willing to buy the known brand. One way to go round the issue is offer free sample of your product or services to the potential customers. Businesses such as revered designs, may also demonstrate capability to undertake similar works or offer comparable services as those required by the potential customers. The way to demonstrate this capability is by listing comparable projects that have been successfully undertaken.
Revered designs use this strategy to achieve its business objective. It achieves this through use of illustration photography and use of testimonials. It can be said that the high definition and eye catching photography is the biggest strategy for revered designs. Thorough this photography, the potential customer is meant to get a rough sketch of the creative capabilities of revered designs. The photography may also indicate to the potential customers on the scope of the projects that can be undertaken.
Testimonials are usually given by your past clients detailing their satisfaction with your services. This is a powerful business strategy as the testimonials give your business some level of credibility. Testimonials may be from past clients who were in a similar position as your potential clients and how you helped them achieve their objectives. Revered designs have provided a testimonial for each of the two categories of the services offered.
Technology used to achieve revered designs business objectives
In the context of computer hardware needed for the successful running of revered designs business objectives, a standard desktop computer would serve the purpose. It is critical to note that the website will be hosted at Yola.com and as such the revered designs management will require a basic computer with internet connection.
A typical desktop computer may have the following specifications in terms of processor, memory, hard drive and network interface. The computer will have a processor of three gigahertz Intel dual core, two gigabyte memory, one hundred and sixty gigabyte hard drive, and 10/100/1000 megabyte Ethernet card for network connection. An internet modem may also be useful for internet connection.
The revered designs business model
The revered designs business model falls under the business to consumer (B2C) e commerce. The goods and services in this model are sold directly to the consumer in what can also be considered as electronic retailing or e tailing. In the context of revered designs, the services sold professional interior designs and custom events creation. Customers can therefore enjoy a range of services in the interior designs and custom events creation.
The dynamics involved in B2C e commerce involve information sharing (marketing), ordering, payment, fulfillment, and service and support. Information sharing refers to the different mediums in which electronic retailing uses to communicate to the targeted consumers such as advertisement emails, newsletters etc.
Revered designs marketing
Revered designs uses various ways to communicate to the target market including an about us page, a services page and a testimonials page. The use of photography has been creatively used throughout the website and forms part of marketing for the site. It is notable that the website has also included a Google map of its location. This is critical in indicating its offline presence. It may further give a confidence boost to clients who may be jittery on transacting online.
Ordering and payments are a critical component of any e commerce business. In the context of revered designs, it is notable that the business requires an offline interaction between the clients and the service providers. This is unlike contexts in which the exchange of services and money can be a wholly online activity.
The main way in which the revered designs clients can order for the provided services is through contacting the business owners. This is adequately provided for in the contact us link. This is very critical for a business that requires an offline presence. Thorough talking with the clients, revered designs would be in a position to understand their clients needs and tailor their services to suit his preferences. It is at this juncture that the client would be informed on the payment methods and when they fall due.
In the context of after sales service and support, it is relatively easy for the revered designs.This is so because they do have an offline physical location that is open to customers and is provided. Customers can always pay revered designs a visit.
Ethical and Social issues
Photography has been used extensively through out the website. This gives the potential client that these photography are a testimony of the revered designs capability. One would also expect that the designs featured are some of their own works. However the photographs could be sourced from other peoples designs through use of photographs available in the net. One could also photograph great designs in his home or work environment. When other peoples designs are used without their consent and in a manner that be construed to imply that they are the revered designs own work, then there are potential grounds for legal issues.
Conclusion
The viability of e commerce as a business model is continually going to be clear, even in developing countries, with the increasing internet usage and safety of online payments methods.
References
Andam, R. E Commerce and E Business. 2003.
Government of South Australia. Electronic Commerce. 2011.