E -business

E-business is defined as, "the application of information and communication technologies

(ICT) in support of all the activities of a business"
E-business refers to the use of internet and Information and Communication Technology
ICT), in the business activities to get efficiency, transparency and effectiveness in its
operations.
Features
[Link]: It is an important feature of e-business, Ubiquity means the technological
features are available anywhere and, it is possible to communicate with the Internet at any
time, because they are web-based.
[Link] reach: There is no geographical boundary for internet application. E-business
allows the business transactions all over the world and it becomes more effective and
efficient as compared with the traditional business.
[Link] Standards: E-business activities are carried on with universal standards The
universal standards help to simplify the interactions over internet. An individual can see
these standards while shopping online.
[Link] Richness: Information provided on the web can be made rich and attractive, by
adding different colour to the textual information, and adding audio bits and video clips.
Users can access and utilize text messages, video and audio components to send and
receive the information.
5. Interactivity: E-business technologies are interactive and it allows two way communication
between the merchant and the customer.
[Link] Density: Information density means the total quantity and quality of information
available online to all the market participants, consumers and merchants alike.
7. Personalization: E-business technology allows for introducing personalization Business
can be adjusted for a person, his taste, demand and interests on various items.
8. Support: E-business provides various ways to provide pre-sales and post-sales
assistance to provide better services to customers.
9. Inventory Management: E-business automates inventory management Reports get
generated instantly when required. Product inventory management becomes very efficient
and easy to maintain.
10. Communication Improvement: E-business provides ways for faster, efficient, reliable
communication with customers and partners.
Advantages
1.E-Business Saves Money: The e-business owners can save a good amount of money to
startup. In e-business the business man do not have to pay for a storefront, building
maintenance, etc and can save time by not having to manage those things.
2. Better Communication and Faster Decision-Making: E-business allows for communication
to happen quickly, leading to quick decision making. Faster decision- making saves time and
money in business. It also helps to capture favourable opportunities instantly.
[Link] business: An e-business owner can work anywhere in the world. Without being
tied down to a physical location, he can create a healthy work-life balance Any device that
connects to the internet can be used as a valuable e-business tool.
[Link] Marketing: Traditionally, companies had to rely on advertising agencies to
promote their brand and educate people about it. In e-business, numerous low cost
marketing tools are available online.
[Link] time business: No longer do people have to wait for stores to open. They can shop
whenever they want and arrange for shopping or delivery of goods Information can be
accessed at any time and at everyone's leisure, which makes for a more pleasant
experience overall, for both the owners of e-business and the customers
[Link]: Electronic business is cheaper than traditional business. The cost incurred to run
an e-business is much lower than the cost required to carry on a traditional business and the
transaction cost is also effectively less.
[Link] to operate: Many small businesses flourish due to the convenience and options
that the technology has granted. An e-business provides a variety of freedom to the
entrepreneurs, like freedom of location, freedom to dictate the hours to work, and the
freedom to push the company where he want it to go in ways that best suit his lifestyle, goals
and needs.
[Link] service to the customers: In an e-business the customer service can be completed
in a better way It is possible to collect the taste, demand and feedback from the customers
easily on online and the same can be utilized to make necessary changes or additions on
the products or services put up for sale by them.
[Link] business: This is an important benefit of e-business. The potential of global market
can be easily tapped in e-business. There are no geographical borders for e- business.
Anyone can order for anything from anywhere, at any time
[Link] Avenues for business: Existing businesses can be expanded into e-businesses. or
entrepreneurs can establish new e-businesses quickly, with less cost than earlier
Limitations
[Link] Market Share Loss: In e-business quicker market share loss may happens due to
stiff competition. There is the danger of market share loss due to competition from home and
abroad.
[Link] Start-up Costs: E-business commonly has high start-up costs especially with
infrastructure and marketing.
[Link] of Personal Touch: E-business lacks personal touch. One cannot touch or feel the
product in e-business. So it is difficult for the consumers to check the quality and substance
of a product.
[Link] of friendly websites: Sometimes the website of online business, do not give accurate
description of goods and services dealt with. These websites may create confusion in the
minds of users.
[Link] of personal details: The data that a customer enters into a website at the time of
his registration, like phone number, mail ID etc may be misused by the company.
[Link] Time: The delivery of the products in e-business may take more time. This time
lag frequently discourages the customers to adopt e-business.
[Link] and Shipping: Some important factors such as high exchange rate, taxes and cost of
shipping might sometimes make the product costly and unaffordable for those consumers
living in another geographical location.
[Link] issues: In e-business, there are a variety of issues in connection with cyber
security. Internet is not always a secured medium of communication.
Types of E-business
1.E-banking: E-banking or Internet banking is the system that provides the facility to the
customers to conduct the financial and non-financial transactions from his bank account,
with the help of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
2. E-insurance: E-insurance is the insurance equivalent of a demat account with an
insurance repository. It offers a reliable facility to keep all your insurance policies in an
electronic/ dematerialised form. It is a single platform that allows the user to make changes
in the insurance policy with utmost convenience.
3. E-tourism: E-tourism is the digitalization of the whole tourism industry and infrastructure. It
is a combination of management, ICT and tourism. The use of the Internet has changed the
structure and the principles of the tourism industry.
4. E-procurement: E-procurement or electronic procurement is an e-business activity intents
to procure raw materials to the business people in time at lesser price. It is the
business-to-business or business-to-consumer or business-to-government purchase and
sale of supplies, work, and services through the Internet. E-procurement works with other
modern information and networking systems,
5. E-hospitality: E-hospitality is a generic term that incorporates the entire range of the
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the hospitality sector. The ICT
integrates various operations in hotel, like reshaping the marketing function, improving total
efficiency, providing tools for making marketing research and enhancing customer services.
6. E-airline: E-airline is the application of ICT on the operations of airline services. The airline
industry in particular has promoted a dependency on technology for their operational and
strategic management. The airline industry is using ICT tools to improve its distribution
networks and reduce the cost of operation.
7. E-travel agents: E-travel agents are working with the backing of the Information and
Communication Technology, to provide assistance to the tourists to plan, select and arrange
their tour programmes, with the help of electronic media and internet in particular. They are
generally working by setting up business links with numerous tour companies and hotels.
8. E-tour operators: E-tour operators are generally offering a variety of package tours online,
to cater their needs of different type of travelers. The ICT enabled booking system helps
them to achieve the competitive advantage, as this is a highly competitive business.
9. E-Retailing: E-retailing is an important type of e-business. The e-retailing (e-Tailing or
online retailing) is the concept of selling goods and services in small quantity using electronic
media and the internet.
10. E-marketing: E-marketing is a process of planning and executing the production,
distribution, promotion, and pricing of products and services in a computerized environment
with internet, to facilitate exchanges and satisfy customer needs and wants.
11. E-grocer: An online grocer or e-grocer is either a supermarket or convenience store, sell
the grocery items through online. They are usually adding an amoun along with the price of
the product, for meeting their delivery expenses.
12. E-advertising: E-advertising or online advertising is a marketing strategy that involves the
use of the Internet as a medium to deliver the marketing messages to the right customers.
E-advertising is a set of tools for delivering promotional messages to people all over the
world, using the Internet as global marketing platform.
13. E-learning: E-learning, is another important sector of e-business where learning process
is carried on through internet. It has been effective to the people who understood its real
value and effectiveness. It provides the chance to achieve learning activity at lower costs.
14. Online entertainment: The online entertainment is the activity that attracts the attention
and interest of large number of audience by giving joy and pleasure through various online
and digital avenues. It involves accessing material such as music, games, videos and films
over the internet.
15. Online real estate: Online real estate means buying and selling, renting or exchanging
the property using the internet. They allow the users to post their advertisements with
respect to the property that they possess and at the same time it helps to identify the people
who are willing to buy the property, or for taking on lease or rental.
16. Electronic publishing: Electronic publishing is another type of e-business. It is aiming to
integrate the whole process of editing and publishing the books, journals and magazines in
the digital world. Many tools were put in place to promote sharing and collecting content.
17. E-services: E-services (electronic services) are the generic term used for describing
about the services availed through the Internet. E-services include e-commerce transaction
services for handling online orders, application hosting by Application Service Providers
(ASPs) and all potential services that is available on the internet.
E-business Models
The business model, like any business model, describes how a company operates, how it
provides a product or service, how it generates revenue and how it will create and adapt to
new markets and technologies.
1. Storefront Model
This model is a basic form of e-business in which the buyer and the seller interact directly.
This model provides a combination of transaction processing, security, online payment,
information storage and the dealers to sell their products online.
2. Auction Model
An auction model is one in which sellers offer products in an on line auction and buyers bid
on what they want to buy. The buyer with the highest bid wins the product Auction sites are
usually acted as forums through which Internet users can assume the role of either seller or
bidder. These sites make their money by taking a percentage of the selling price.
3. Portal Model
A portal content business model is a free subscription website that aggregates content from
multiple sources. Portal sites help the users to find almost everything they are looking for in
a single place. The portal sites sometimes provide news, sports, weather information and the
ability to search the web. The portals may be either horizontal or vertical. Horizontal portals
are the portals that aggregate information on a broad range of [Link] are more
specific, offering a great deal of information pertaining to a single area of interest Such
portals are called vertical portals.
4. Name-Your-Price Model
The name your price business model supports the customers by allowing them to specify
the price they are willing to pay for products and services. Many e-business sites that offer
this service have formed partnerships with leaders of various industries, such as travel,
lending and retail.
5. Comparison-Pricing Model
The comparison-pricing model allows the customers to identify various merchants in search
of the lowest price for a desired product or service. Comparison-pricing sites often generate
revenue from partnerships with dealers. It automatically searches the prices of products of
many different online stores to locate the most affordable rates for customers.
6. Bartering Model
Bartering model is another popular e-business model that is based on bartering, which
means offering one product in exchange for another. To conduct most transactions using this
business model on the web, potential customers send their pricing preferences to the
traders.
7. Shopping-Cart Model
A shopping cart is software used in e-business to assist buyers to make purchase online.
The software calculates the total price of the order, including shipping and handling charges
and taxes.