E Business:

 e‐Business can be a very all‐encompassing term. The "e" part can cover all digital technologies

(mobile, computer, network (Internet & Intranet). The "business" part can mean business in
a very general sense; one that sees all organizations  –whether private, public or non‐
governmental  organization (NGO) sector – as having a business that they are in. 

 e‐business can be  defined as simply as "doing business electronically".

 e‐Business is a  way of  doing  business using electronic  media such  as the  Internet"

 "The transformation of key business processes (supply-chain planning, tracking, fulfillment,

invoicing, and payment. It includes buying and selling as well as serving customers and
collaborating with business partners. It combines the resources of traditional information
systems with the global reach of the Web) through the use of Internet technologies

 E-business includes e-commerce, all internal processes, and coordination with business partners
such as customers and suppliers.

E Business Strategy:

E‐business strategy is more  complex, more  focused  on internal processes, and aimed at cost  savings
and improvements in efficiency, productivity and cost savings.

Ecommerce:

E simply means anything done via the internet and commerce means buying and selling products,
services and information.

So, E-Commerce refers to the process of buying and selling or exchanging of products, services, or
information via computer networks including internet

E-commerce is the part of e-business that deals with the buying selling and paying of goods and
services over the Internet.

Difference between ecommerce and ebusiness:

While most believe that E-Commerce and E-Business can be used interchangeably, it is not so. While E-
Commerce may refer to conducting online transactions, E-Business encompasses all the business
activities and services conducted using the web.
Digital goods are also called soft merchandizer.

Digital market: In Digital market, consumers and suppliers can ‘see’ the prices being charged for
goods, and in that sense digital markets are said to be more ‘transparent’ than traditional market.

E commerce: A Brief history:

Understanding E-commerce: Organizing Themes

There are 3 main factors of commerce. They are

Technology:

 Development and mastery of digital computing and communications technology

Earlier ecommerce or e-business was only technology driven which just required a website thorough
which they can run business. But now a days it not only depends on technology.

 Mobile platform has made mobile e-commerce reality

Technology trends is growing as it requires very less time, search cost and travel cost.

Business:

 New technologies present businesses with new ways of organizing production and
transacting business

Now a days success of ecommerce not only depends on technology but also depends on proper business
model, Some business factors like product quality, discount or incentive facility, right time delivery are
also need to be integrated with faster technology.

e-business is growing rapidly. Now a days, traditional business are converting to e-business such as
Prothom alo has also introduced its e version.
Society:

 Society includes Intellectual property, individual privacy, public welfare policy

Social interaction is growing rapidly. Word of mouth strategy has become very important for e-business.
Community building through social network and fulfilling the demand of community now become a very
popular practice.

Now a days review, sharing has become quite important for business success.

Unique Features of ecommerce:

 Ubiquity

 Global reach

 Universal standards

 Richness

 Interactivity

 Information density

 Personalization/customization

 Social technology
By getting more information the merchants can discriminate price such as they can find the discount
preferred customers or who want to buy on weekend. Based on this they can customize their offer.
Social network like facebook, Instagram, twiter, whatsapp are used to promote business on the other
hand, business based on the social networking integrate the social networking system.

Category of Ecommerce:
Businesses typically sell products and services to consumers at E-commerce websites that provide
attractive Web pages, multimedia catalogs, interactive order processing, secure electronic payment
systems, and online customer support

Business-to-business (B2B): Sales of goods and services to other businesses. Business-to-business

applications of E-commerce involve electronic catalog, exchange, and auction marketplaces that use
Internet, intranet, and extranet websites and portals to unite buyers and sellers.
It involves online commercial interaction between two business entities – for example, a wholesale
buyer doing business negotiations with a garments manufacturer over the Internet. B2B application
already exists in the export sector of Bangladesh, especially in the Ready Made Garments (RMG)
industry.

Three main types of B2B e-commerce:

 Supplier-oriented marketplace – Supplier Company provides e-commerce capabilities

for other businesses to order its products.

 Buyer-oriented marketplace – buyer requests quotations or bids from other companies

electronically.

 Intermediary-oriented marketplace – acts as an intermediary between buyer and seller

Consumer to Consumer (C2C):

Individuals using the Web for private sales or exchange. Consumer selling directly to consumer
(eBay.com).

It involves commercial interaction between two private individuals –for example, auction sites. If a
person wants something to sale, then he can get it listed at an auction site, and others can bid for it.

Mobile ecommerce (M-commerce):

Mobile e-commerce (m-commerce), which refers to the use of wireless digital devices to enable online
transactions. The use of wireless devices, such as smartphones or tablets to conduct both business-to-
consumer and business-to-business e-commerce transactions over the Internet. All main three types of
e-commerce transactions can take place using m-commerce technology

Forty seven percent of top U.S. retailers now have m-commerce websites— simplified versions of their
websites that enable shoppers to use cell phones to shop and place orders. Virtually all large traditional
and online retailers such as Sephora, Home Depot, Amazon, and Walmart have apps for m-commerce
sales.

Social Ecommerce:

 Social e-commerce, which is commerce enabled by social networks and online social
relationships.

 Social e-commerce is commerce based on the idea of the digital social graph, a mapping of all
significant online social relationships. The social graph is synonymous with the idea of a social
network used to describe offline relationships.

 You can map your own social graph (network) by drawing lines from yourself to the 10 closest
people you know. If they know one another, draw lines between these people. If you are
ambitious, ask these 10 friends to list and draw in the names of the 10 people closest to them.
What emerges from this exercise is a preliminary map of your social network. Now imagine if
 everyone on the Internet did the same and posted the results to a large database with a
website. Ultimately, you would end up with Facebook or a site like it.

Local Ecommerce:

 Local e-commerce, which is e-commerce that is focused on engaging the customer based on his
or her geographical location.

 Local e-commerce can be described as the application of electronic means and technologies for
the sales of local goods. Local e-commerce comprises of purchase, service and information of
commerce including within business, business-to-business and business-to-customer
interactions.

Interaction among local, social and mobile ecommerce:

Social, mobile, and local e-commerce are connected. As mobile devices become more powerful, they are
more useful for accessing Facebook and other social sites. As mobile devices become more widely
adopted, customers can use them to find local merchants, and merchants can use them to alert
customers in their neighborhood of special offers

Other Types of Ecommerce:

Other types of e-commerce are

 Consumer-to-government (C2G)

 Business-to-government(B2G)

 Government-to-government(G2G)
  eBay is a C2C marketplace, but also functions as a B2C market maker, and in addition, has an
m-commerce business model.

 It is difficult to categorize e-commerce business models because the number of models is

limited only by the human imagination, and new business models are being invented daily.

 Even within the broad-based generic types there are overlaps, and fundamentally similar
business models may appear in more than one.

Clicks and Bricks:

Bricks-and-clicks is a business model by which a company integrates both offline (bricks) and online
(clicks) presences. It is also known as click-and-mortar or clicks-and-bricks, as well as bricks, clicks and
flips, flips referring to catalogs.

For example, an electronics store may allow the user to order online, but pick up their order
immediately at a local store, which the user finds using locator software. Conversely, a furniture store
may have displays at a local store from which a customer can order an item electronically for delivery.

The benefits of disintermediation to the consumer:

This graphic illustrates how disintermediation reduces prices to consumers. It also allows manufacturers
to earn more profit for the product by eliminating the middle man. The typical distribution channel has
several intermediary layers, each of which adds to the final cost of a product, such as a sweater.
Removing layers lowers the final cost to the consumer.

Benefits of Ecommerce:

For Suppliers:

For customers:

 Reduced Price
 Global marketplace/choice
 24 hour access
 Larger Purchase per transaction
 Reduced time/Rapid response to needs
 Quality of service
 Personalized production or service
  Substantial price reduction’
 New products and services

For Business
 Eliminate Middleman
 Reduced paperwork
 Advice from experts and peers
 New business opportunity
 Improved market analysis

Disadvantages of Ecommerce:

For Consumers:

 Unable to examine products personally

 Security
 Credit card fraud
 Trust
For Business:

 Hardware and software

 Maintenance of Website
 Intellectual property
 Taxation
 Limited market place
 Training and maintenance

Essential Ecommerce Process:

Essential e-commerce processes required for the successful operation and management of e-commerce
activities. There are nine key components of an e-commerce process architecture that is the foundation
of the e-commerce initiatives of many companies
 Fig: Ecommerce architecture

Access Control and Security:

E-commerce processes must establish mutual trust and secure access between the parties in an e-
commerce transaction by authenticating users, authorizing access, and enforcing security features.

There should be features like sign in or OTP. It’s quite sensitive. For instance oversee people shouldn’t
get access in local ecommerce sites.

Profiling:

Processes that gather data on you and your website behavior and choices, and build electronic profiles
of your characteristics and preferences. These profiles are then used to recognize you as an individual
user and provide you with a personalized view of the contents of the site, as well as product
recommendations and personalized Web advertising.

For instance, customers prefer to pay by VISA cards so need to make sure for visa card as payment
option. It’s also used to find out the discounted customers. So it can be also used in customer
segmentation.

Profiling is mainly used for two purposes

1. Personalization
2. Behavior tracking
Search Management:

Efficient and effective search processes provide a top e-commerce website capability that helps
customers find the specific product or service they want to evaluate or buy.

It ensures that customers can get to find their desired products at earliest as possible. There can be
three types of search

1. Content based search

2. Parametric based search
3. Role & Rule based search

Content Management:

Software that helps e-commerce companies develop, generate, deliver, update, and archive text data
and multimedia information at e-commerce websites.

It mainly works in two ways

1. Dynamic content generation:

Dynamic content (aka adaptive content) refers to web content that changes based on the
behavior, preferences, and interests of the user.

2. Data repository:
A data repository is a data library or data archive. It may be referred to as a large database
infrastructure or several databases that collect, manages, and store data sets for analysis,
sharing, and reporting.

Catalog Management:

Software that helps generate and manage catalog content

Catalogue management mainly showcases below 3 functions

1. Pricing calculation
2. Product configuration
3. Catalogue generation

Workflow Management:

Software that helps employees electronically collaborate to accomplish structured work tasks within
knowledge-based business processes

It does mainly 3 tasks

1. Buying process automation

2. Document management
3. Rule and role based content routing
Event Notification:

Software that notifies customers, suppliers, employees, and other stakeholders of their status in a
transaction based on events initiated by one of the parties.

For instance, transaction completed confirmation, option for status check

Transaction message can be provided in 3 places

1. Email
2. Message boards
3. Newsgroup

Collaboration and Trading:

Processes that support the vital collaboration arrangements and trading services needed by customers,
suppliers, and other stakeholders.

Collaboration tasks include

1. Mediation
2. Negotiation
3. Bidding/Auctioning
4. Collaborative Buying
5. Creating online community

Ecommerce Success Factors:

There are some key factors which determine success of an ecommerce website.

Selection and value:

Attractive product selections, competitive prices, customer support after the sale, satisfaction
guarantees.

For instance perishable products like fish, meat shouldn’t be chosen as ecommerce products.

Performance and service:

Fast, easy navigation, shopping and purchasing, quick shipping and delivery.

Look and feel:

Multimedia product catalog pages, shopping features, website shopping area.

Advertising and Incentives:

E-mail promotions, discount and special offers, Advertising at affiliate sites.

Personal attention:

Personalized product recommendations, Web advertising.

Community Relationship:

Virtual communities of customers, suppliers, and others via newsgroup, chat room and links to related
sites.

Security and Reliability:

Security of customer information and website transactions, reliable order fulfillment

Problems of ecommerce in Bangladesh:

 Enterprise managers lack of initiatives and leadership in taking advantages of e-commerce.

 Lack of sufficient Infrastructure

 Lack of General awareness about e-commerce

 Lack of awareness at government level of e-commerce issues

 Poor number of users of web sites

 Mistrust

 Bandwidth

 Small number of Credit card users

 Limitations of supportive legal system

 Absence of cyber law

How to overcome ecommerce problems:

 Infrastructure development

 Legal framework

 Skilled manpower

 Ensure proper security about customers’ information (i.e Credit card number) by cyber law.

 Development of proper educational institution to create efficient IT professionals

 To increase the use of computers and internet facilities, government should withdraw all taxes
from computers and its accessories.

 Proper banking infrastructure for issuing debit/credit card and online money transaction facility.

 Government should create an image of e-commerce awareness and leadership, and

demonstrate to business community the importance of e-commerce.

 Relax foreign exchange control on travel and for business and allow issuance of international
credit cards.

 Establish sufficient number of cyber café through private entrepreneurs.

 Make business Association and organizations aware of the benefit of e-commerce. BGMEA can
play a significant role in this respect.

 Political commitment to improve governance and institutional strengthening are essential for
successful of e-commerce.