Introduction To E-Commerce

eCommerce is the buying and selling of goods and services online. The main root of the word
“commerce” is defined as the exchange of goods and services between businesses, people, or
entities. Add an e to the beginning of the word, and it simply refers to the same thing when it’s
done via the web.
Any time you make a purchase online, you’re participating in eCommerce. And if you sell items
or services through a website, then you have an eCommerce business.

History

The history of ecommerce started over 40 years ago, when the introduction of
early technology like Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and teleshopping in
the 1970s paved the way for the modern-day ecommerce store as we know it
today.
The history of ecommerce is closely intertwined with the history of the internet.
Online shopping became possible when the internet was opened to the public
in 1991. Amazon was one of the first ecommerce sites in the US to start
selling products online and thousands of businesses have followed since.
The convenience, safety, and enjoyable user experience of ecommerce have
improved exponentially since the inception of online shopping. In his article,
we will discuss some of the key players and milestones of ecommerce.

Types

1. Business-to-business (B2B)
The business-to-business eCommerce model is structured just like it sounds. It’s where
businesses sell products to other companies. Types of products include anything that enhances
another company’s business practices.
One of the best examples of a B2B business is a software company. Think Salesforce,
HubSpot, or SurveyMonkey. All of these products are for the benefit of a business, and it
wouldn’t make sense for the typical mom-and-pop consumer to invest in enterprise software.
2. Business-to-consumer (B2C)
The business-to-consumer eCommerce model is also straightforward. It’s when a business sells
products online, or via a mobile device, directly to consumers.
Business-to-consumer eCommerce companies are companies that you and I visit online every
day to purchase things like clothing, books, makeup, etc.
Top B2C eCommerce companies include giants like Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba.
It’s also critical to remember that B2C companies don’t have to exist solely online like Amazon
and eBay.
3. Consumer-to-consumer (C2C)
A consumer-to-consumer business model is when one consumer makes and sells a product to
another consumer.
One consumer may use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, or eBay to sell products to another
consumer.
With online eCommerce tools like WooCommerce, consumers can even set up a C2C store on
their personal website.

4. Social E Commerce

Shopping on the Web that is inspired by what others purchase or recommend.

Also called "social shopping," social e-commerce may be triggered by name
brands that people mention in postings on their social networking sites or from
group shopping sites that feature specials as well as user reviews. Favorable
user commentary online has persuaded millions of people to buy things,
because they feel current users are objective when compared to marketing
blurbs.

5. M-Commerce
Mobile commerce, also known as m-commerce or m-commerce, involves using wireless
handheld devices like cellphones and tablets to conduct commercial transactions online,
including the purchase and sale of products, online banking, and paying bills.

The use of m-commerce activity is on the rise. According to market research company Statista,
mobile commerce sales in the United States were an estimated $207.2 billion in 2017.

6. Local E Commerce

Local ecommerce (also known as hyper-local commerce) falls under the

umbrella of Offline-to-Online commerce (O2O). O2O means that retailers with
physical stores can (should) offer their inventory and sell to local online
shoppers in the same way online pure plays sell to online shoppers. The terms
don’t actually make sense any more because even a physical store is now online
and there are really no “offline” stores but we’ll use it since it’s a recognized
term. Actually P2O or Physical-Online is more accurate.
Benefits
Benefits to organization
Global Reach
Cost Reduction
Supply Chain Improvement
Extended time hours
Customization
Improved
Benefits to Customers
More products and services
Cheaper products and services
Instant delivery
Information availability
Participatio

Introduction to E commerce
E Commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services or transmitting of funds or data over
an electronic network, primarily the internet.
Electronic commerce, commonly known as E-commerce or e-commerce, is trading in products or services
conducted via computer networks such as the Internet. Electronic commerce draws on technologies such
as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online
transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated
data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at one
point in the transaction's life-cycle, although it may encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-
mail, mobile devices, social media, and telephones as well.
Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the
exchange of data to facilitate the financing and payment aspects of business transactions. This is an
effective and efficient way of communicating within an organization and one of the most effective and
useful ways of conducting business. It is a Market entry strategy where the company may or may not have
a physical presence.

Seven Unique Features of E Commerce

1. Ubiquity - E-commerce technology is available everywhere. A unique feature of e-commerce

technology. Example is if the user is at outstation, he also can through www.acer.com get the
information of the product.
2. Global Reach - The total number of users or customers an e-commerce business can obtain.
Example is www.acer.com is whole world also can browse it. Because the website have supplied
many language to let different language users understand it.

3. Universal Standards - Standards that are shared by all nations around the world. Example is
when you see the price of product in the website, that price is very fairly and standards.

4. Richness - Video, audio and text messages are possible. Example is the richness is can make
the websites become attract people to browse.

5. Interactivity - Technology that allows for two way communication between merchant and
consumer. Example is in the website we can contract the merchants, that have many way can
contract like: phone, e-mail, video call, and etc.

6. Information Density - The total amount and quality of information available to all market
participants. Example is we can get the clearly information in the websites.

7. Personalization/Customization - It allows personalized messages to be delivered to

individuals. Example of personalization is if have a new product, the website will send the email
flyer to the customer. Example of customization is customer can customize something in the
product like name, pattern, colors, and etc.

Digital economy
The digital economy is the worldwide network of economic activities, commercial transactions and
professional interactions that are enabled by information and communications technologies.

Importance of digital economy

Although some organizations and individuals use technologies to simply execute existing
tasks on the computer, the digital economy is more advanced than that. It is not simply
using a computer to perform tasks traditionally done manually or on analog devices.
Instead, the digital economy highlights the opportunity and the need for organizations and
individuals to use technologies to execute those tasks better, faster and often differently
than before.
Moreover, the term reflects the ability to leverage technologies to execute tasks and engage
in activities that weren't possible in the past. Such opportunities for existing entities to do
better, to do more, to do things differently and to do new things is encompassed in the
related concept of digital transformation.
Characteristics of the Digital Economy

Over the past decade there have been significant changes in how people and businesses connect. Building on
the popularity of social networks, enterprises have established their own business networks to connect
suppliers, customers and internal systems. The result is a growing global trade that is estimated to reach $65
trillion by 2020 (SAP Business Trends).  Add to this, the rise of the Internet of Things with an estimated 45
billion connections between devices by 2020, and you have a business environment of endless possibilities. To
successfully adapt, one must first understand the five main attributes of the digital economy:

Digitized and Tracked.  In a digital economy, analog objects generate digital signals that can be measured,
tracked and analyzed for better decision making. While the oil and gas industry has been ahead of the curve on
digitization for over 30 years, digitalized assets have been limited to high-value equipment and machinery. 
Now, however, lower costs for sensor technology are allowing operators to push more processing out into the
field. For example, companies could connect multiple oilfields to improve forecast accuracy and increase
profitability on a well level basis.

Connected. Linking assets, suppliers, workers and stakeholders by wireless communications allows people to
make data-driven decisions, thereby improving safety, efficiency, and visibility across the enterprise. By
connecting remote pipelines to each other and leveraging predictive maintenance, oil and gas companies are
eliminating unexpected failures, improving asset integrity, and increasing asset uptime.

Shared. The digital economy operates on sharing. Soon, companies will buy only what is needed and pay as
they go. Purchasing what is needed lowers inventory costs, while buying usage as a service allows companies
to pay only for the time used and value received.  Consider the possibilities of true collaboration among service
station operators, third-party carriers, refineries and terminals to consumers. Oil and gas companies could
automate the replenishment of tanks, use best-buy scenarios, and plan optimized truck routes for deliveries to
service stations.

Personalized. Another characteristic of the digital economy is customer personalization. Personalization

means customers get tailored products and experiences from their favorite brands when and where they want
them. Imagine delivering the specific type of fuel a gas station prefers at the exact moment it runs out. Or
providing fleet drivers with specific routes optimized to their personal preferences and driving habits.

Direct.  The digital economy also allows oil and gas companies to by-pass the middleman, eliminating
unnecessary intermediaries or channels and creating a more direct relationship between buyer and seller. A
simplified ecosystem has less friction and lowers the barrier to entry for players in another part of the value
chain. Remote service monitoring is a good example of more direct operations.  Leveraging remote
intelligence to track, monitor, manage, report, and resolve asset issues throughout the service lifecycle
eliminate the need to have full-time, local personnel.

B2B E-commerce
The business-to-business eCommerce model is structured just like it sounds. It’s where
businesses sell products to other companies. Types of products include anything that enhances
another company’s business practices.
One of the best examples of a B2B business is a software company. Think Salesforce,
HubSpot, or SurveyMonkey. All of these products are for the benefit of a business, and it
wouldn’t make sense for the typical mom-and-pop consumer to invest in enterprise software.

Types
Market Place
A marketplace is any location, whether in person or online, that facilitates the exchange of
goods between buyers and sellers. A marketplace business model differs from that of a retail
store, because transactions happen in both directions, not just one. Marketplaces may offer just
about any kind of product for sale, from car parts and athletic equipment to party supplies and
children’s toys. There are several types of marketplaces which we’ll break down in detail later in this
post.
Types

Horizontal Marketplace
Horizontal marketplace facilitates the need for a wide range of customers across a
different sector of the economy. It is not mainly focussed on a specific category of
items to sell but sells almost everything thus, reach a broader audience.

Vertical Marketplace
Unlike the horizontal marketplace model, vertical marketplaces aimed at a single
market sector to serve some specific category of products to the targeted audience.
Thus, becomes master in it.
Well! Vertical marketplaces do not offer a wide variety of products & services but
focus on a niche to offer a specific product category. Thus, in order to become a
master in a specific eCommerce sector, you need to integrate your eCommerce
business vertically.

Private Industrial Network.

A private industrial network, also known as a private exchange, links a firm to its suppliers, distributors, and
other key business partners for efficient supply chain management and other collaborative activities.

Net marketplaces, which are sometimes called e-hubs, provide a single digital marketplace
based on Internet technology for many different buyers and sellers. They are industry-
owned or operate as independent intermediaries between buyers and sellers. Net
marketplaces are more transaction oriented (and less relationship oriented) than private
industrial networks, generating revenue from purchase and sale transactions and other
services provided to clients. Participants in Net marketplaces can establish prices through
online negotiations, auctions, or requests for quotations, or they can use fixed prices.
Customers benefit from lower search costs, lower transaction costs, and wider selection.

E Distributor
E-distribution is a type of distribution that uses purely electronic media. It is often
interpreted as the buying or selling of services or goods over a public network
without the physical media; this is usually done by downloading from the Internet
to the consumer’s electronic device. This type of distribution is accessible to a large
number of customers and is more cost effective for businesses since there is no
need to provide a physical media.
B2B Service Provider

Just as e distributor provide products to other companies b2b service providers sell businesses to other
firms.

Traditional B2B service providers offer online equivalents to business services such as accounting
financial etc. Application services provider are the another type of B2B service providers. It is a company
that sells the access to Internet based software applications to other companies.

Match Maker

A Web site that refers buyers to a third-party Web merchant willing to sell a good or
service at the price specified by the buyer.

Infomedory

A major Internet business model, the infomediary model is

characterized by the capture and/or sharing of information. The
simplest form of an infomediary model is the registration model.
In this scenario, companies require users to register before
gaining access to information on their Web sites, even if the
information itself is provided at no charge. One possible
scenario for this example involves companies that offer white
papers, or expert articles containing valuable advice, to Web
site visitors. These white papers usually are written by the
company's experts, who are available as consultants.
Registration is a condition for viewing or downloading the
articles so the company can capture contact information and
other data from the interested party and use it to make sales
calls and potentially acquire new clients for its consultants.
Companies using an infomediary model also may be third
parties that provide products like free computers or services like
free Internet access to consumers in exchange for information
about themselves. This information is then sold to other
companies who use it to develop more sophisticated,
successful marketing campaigns. The information collected
commonly includes things like product and service preferences;
buying habits; and demographic details like age, sex, and
income level.

Industry Structure

Definition (1);

Industry structure means structural attributes i.e. the enduring features that give an industry its
different character.

Definition (2):

“An explanation of the operations and relationships within a given industrial sector (such as mining or
paper products).”

In 1979 M. Porter created a five forces model which is popularly known as Porter’s five forces model.
These 5 forces are as follows:

Threat of entry

Industry rivalry

Substitutes’ threat

Suppliers’ bargaining power and

Buyers’ bargaining power

These forces are the determinants of an industry structure and the competition level in that industry.

The threat of entry: It determines how difficult or easy it is to enter a specific industry. When an industry
is profitable but there are not many barriers to enter, new competitions arise easily. If more companies
compete for identical market share, profits begin to fall. Existing companies should develop high barriers
to enter to restrict new entrants.

Industry rivalry: It is the main determinant of how profitable and competitive an industry is. If an
industry is competitive, companies need to compete strongly for a market share resulting in low profits.
Substitutes’ threat: It is truly threatening when customers can easily get substitutes with affordable
prices or better quality and when customers can switch from one service or product to another with
little or the same cost.

Suppliers’ bargaining power: If suppliers have strong bargaining power, they can sell low quality or
higher priced raw materials to the buyers affecting the buying company’s profits.

Buyers’ bargaining power: A strong bargaining power allows the buyers to demand higher product
quality or lower prices from industry producers.

Search Engine
A search engine is a software program that helps people find the information they are looking
for online using keywords or phrases.

Search engines are able to return results quickly—even with millions of websites online—by
scanning the Internet continuously and indexing every page they find.

When a user enters a search term, the search engine looks at the website page titles, contents
and keywords it has indexed and uses algorithms (step-by-step operations) to produce a list of
sites—with the most relevant websites at the top of the list.

Companies use search engine optimization (SEO) to help search engines recognize their
websites as highly relevant to particular searches. Popular search engines include Google, Bing
and Yahoo.

Portal
Portals are online platforms that allow businesses to conduct interactions and transactions with
customers and suppliers instantly, facilitating a more intuitive and connected operation. An integrated
portal solution allows organisations in the agriculture supply chain to have one interface shared across
their business community.

benefits of portals
At a basic level, web portals make ordering easier and more reliable, with full visibility and 24/7 order
placement. Suppliers, for example, can receive orders via their online portal, offering automatic status
updates and other functionality as required. This allows businesses to make transactions more efficient
and effective, no matter the size of the order or the customer. Going beyond a simple eCommerce option,
a portal solution delivers a more professional and smooth business experience for all parties.
Notable improvements to business operations include:
Reduced errors – No more wasted time or correcting the fallout from simple mistakes. Portal solutions
remove the need to manually input data, eliminating errors and their resulting costs.
Ease of business – Smoother transactions and communications between businesses, with no need to make
radical changes to current Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.
Increased customer loyalty – Portals don’t just make the ordering process more reliable and robust.
Businesses seeking to remain competitive can offer attractive benefits via their portal, such as loyalty
schemes and seasonal offers.

Types
Vertical Portal:
These are web portals which focus only on one specific industry, domain or vertical. Vertical portals
provide tools, information, articles, research and statistics on the specific industry or vertical. As the web
has become a standard tool for business. There are innumerable possibilities for establishing special
vertical portals on the market. A vertical portal covers a particular market such as construction with news
and other services.

Horizontal Portal:
These are web portals which focus on a wide array of interests and topics. They focus on general audience
and try to present something for everybody. Horizontal portals try act as an entry point of a web surfer
into the internet, providing content on the topic of interest and guiding towards the right direction to fetch
more related resources and information.

Partners
ECommerce Partners is a Full Service Ecommerce Agency with experts spanning across the digital
business eco-system. We build brands and drive sales with a holistic cross-channel approach to
optimize our client’s ecommerce profitability. ECommerce Partners has offered comprehensive
solutions to growing businesses online since 1998, each delivered solution was designed to
maximize traffic and engagement while improving conversions. Whether you are building an
ecommerce store from scratch, re-platforming to Bigcommerce, or just want to enhance your existing
site, we can help. Our ecommerce Services include: Strategy, Implementation, Support, and
Marketing. Collaborating with ECommerce Partners means our team of ecommerce strategists,
developers, and marketing experts become an extension of your in-house team.

Alliance
A strategic alliance is an arrangement between two companies to undertake a mutually
beneficial project while each retains its independence. The agreement is less complex and less
binding than a joint venture, in which two businesses pool resources to create a separate
business entity.
A company may enter into a strategic alliance to expand into a new market, improve its product
line, or develop an edge over a competitor. The arrangement allows two businesses to work
toward a common goal that will benefit both. The relationship may be short- or long-
term and the agreement may be formal or informal.

Outsourcing
eCommerce outsourcing is the practice of using third-party companies, products and services to
create goods and provide services.
The term “outsourcing” typically refers to tasks usually performed by in-house staff. With an
eCommerce business, these tasks can include things like writing product descriptions, handling
support tickets, website development, technical support, marketing, and more – sometimes even
handing the complete responsibility of eCommerce to a third party.
Many e-commerce businesses outsource to cut current costs or save on new resources they want to
add to their workflows when they can’t afford or don’t wish to hire dedicated employees. Outsourced
labor can be domestic or international with both practices sparking debates on the ethics of
outsourced work.
Types
Save money

This is the biggest motivator for allocating tasks to companies and contractors outside of an in-house
workforce. Employees require a full salary, benefits, taxes and time to train. You may also need to
set up a new office or an entirely new department depending on the task that needs to be outsourced.
Without outsourcing, your options are to continue handling the task yourself, pass off the task to an
employee, which will only add to their workload and negatively impact their efficiency, or hire a new
employee.
Save Time
Outsourcing eCommerce tasks saves you and your employees time, as stated before. When you as the
business owner are able to outsource tasks, you’re able to focus more of your time on customer
research, development, outreach and other things that’ll help grow your brand’s influence.
When your employees are able to save on time, they’ll be much more efficient with the tasks they
were originally hired to do. You’ll see a boost in productivity and morale all around, which will
eventually turn into more sales and satisfied customers. Employees won’t be so quick to cut corners
as well, leading to fewer urgent support tickets and less support requests overall.

Choose from a Larger Selection of Candidates

When you only onboard in-house employees, you’re limited to a small pool of job candidates. This is
especially difficult when you’re looking for a particular skill or credential but can’t find a local job
candidate with either.
When you outsource, you’re able to open your search to a wider selection of candidates from all
around the world. You’ll be able to grow your store’s sales and marketing potential with candidates
experienced in SEO marketing, advertising, blogging, technical development and more.

Enjoy a More Flexible Hiring Process

You’ll mainly find yourself outsourcing tasks you need performed year-round but not often enough
to justify hiring new employees. However, there will be times where you’ll need short-term help as
well. This is the case for projects that have expiration dates and seasonal work.

Stay Competitive
The free market both craves and breeds competition, and the internet has only invigorated this
convention. You can work yourself and your crew around the clock all you want, but if you only
accomplish the bare minimum of your quota every quarter without expanding, you’ll fall behind.
Outsourcing allows you to complete tasks more efficiently and take on new projects while spending
less. This will allow you to keep up with competition without needing to hire new employees

Earn More Revenue

One of the first and most basic aspects of business you’ll ever learn is the need to spend money to
make money. After all, even if you own a dropshipping store that doesn’t stock and ship its own
inventory, you still needed to pay for the domain, website, hosting, marketing and other startup costs
when you launched the business.
This rule never changes no matter how successful you get. You’ll always need to spend money on
products, hosting, employees, marketing and advertising to keep the business running. However, if
you refer to that basic rule one more time, you’ll learn you need to spend more to earn more, which
means expanding the number of products you sell, the types of products you sell and launching new
marketing strategies, all of which cost, you guessed it, more money.
Outsourcing, as explained above, allows you to expand the business and take on more projects
without needing to spend money on recruiting new employees. This will allow you to earn more
revenue and a higher return on investment.

Start Projects Quicker

Recruiting and onboarding new employees is a long process. You need to find places to post job ads,
interview candidates, determine which ones are most suited for the job and your company, and train
them. This can be a long and arduous process if all you want to do is start a new project for your
marketing strategy or reshoot all of your product images.
Outsourcing cuts right through this process and gives you immediate access to qualified candidates
and agencies from around the world. You can get to work on your new project at a much more
efficient rate, all while spending less.

Build Staff Members’ Individual Skills

You may be able to outsource perpetually without needing to eventually turn contract work into full-
time jobs or outsource indefinitely. If you have employees work directly with outsourced labor, you
may be able to have them learn and develop the skills you typically need to outsource.
This can be done with onsite and offsite contractors but is most effective with onsite workers who
can teach employees new skills first hand.