E-Commerce Flashcards
What is E-commerce?
Describes the process of buying, selling transferring or exchanging products, services and or information Dear computer networks, including the Internet.
The business refers to a broader definition of e-commerce, not just buying and selling of goods and services, but also servicing customers, collaborating with business partners, conducting e-learning, and processing electronic transactions
Explain pure vs partial e-commerce?
Electronic commerce can take several forms depending on the degree of digitisation
The degree of digitisation relates to:
The product sold
The process
The delivering agent
What are the benefits of e-commerce to organisations
Expand the company selling and buying opportunities to national and international markets with minimal capital outlay, a company such as a hotel in quickly locate more customers, the best suppliers and the most suitable business partners worldwide
Enables companies to procure materials and services from other countries, rapidly and at less cost
Helps small businesses compete against large companies
Enables very specialised niche markets to become viable
What are the benefits of e-commerce to customers/society
Frequently provides less expensive products and services by allowing customers to conduct quick online searches and comparisons. It also allows some merchandise to be sold at lower prices thereby increasing people standard of living
Facilitates the retrieval of relevant and detailed information in seconds
Facilitate electronic auctions which benefits buyers and sellers alike
Enables people in developing countries and rural areas to ensure products and services that otherwise I’m not available
What are the limitations of e-commerce?
Security
Lack of privacy
Tax issues
Fear
Product suitability
Cultural obstacles
High labour costs
Legal issues
Technical limitations
Internet access
Huge technological cost
Explain security
People fear to provide personal and financial information, even though several improvements have been made in relation to data encryption
Explain lack of privacy
Many websites does not have high encryption for secure online transaction or to protect online identity. Lack of privacy discourages people to use Internet for conducting commercial transactions
Explain tax issues
Tax is another issue when the buyer and seller are situated in different locations computation of tax poses problems When the buyer and seller are in different countries
Explain fear
People fear to operate in a paperless and baseless electronic world. Some of the business organisations do not have physical acceptance, people do not know with whom they are conducting commercial transactions. This aspect makes people to opt physical stores for purchases
Explain product suitability
People have to rely on electronic images to purchase products sometimes when the products are delivered, the product may not match with electronic images. Finally, it may not suit the needs of the buyers. The lack of “touch and feel” prevent People from online shopping
Explain cultural obstacles
E-commerce attract customers from all over the world. Habits and culture of the people differ from nation to nation. They also pose linguistic problems. Thus, differences in culture create obstacles to both the businesses and consumers
Explain high labour cost
Highly talented and technically qualified workforce are required to develop and manage the website of the organisation. Since Internet provides a lot of job opportunities, business organisation have two incur a lot of expenses To retain a talented pool of employees
Explain legal issues
The cyber laws that govern the e-commerce transactions are not very clear and may vary from country to country outside the EU. These legal issues prevent people from entering into electronic contract.
Explain technical limitations
Some protocols or not standardised around the world. It may not be possible to browse through a particular page due to lack of standardise software
Explain Internet access
Expensive and/or inconvenient Internet access ability for many would be users along with insufficient telecommunication bandwidth may also pose technical problems
