E-Business and its Rules - Essay Example

 lndividual Report Subject: E Logistics Course: Higher Diploma in Logistics & Management Name: Student lD: Date: Contents Introduction 3 E-Business Rules 3 E-commerce Trends 4 Customer buying trend and its Impacts 5 E service trend and it Impacts 6 Organizational trend and its impacts 6 Enterprise technology trend and its impacts 7 General technology trend and its impacts 7 Conclusion 8 Introduction E-commerce is application of technology or automation of the process of buying and selling or exchanging of products, services and information. This automation has led to improvement in customer services, cost reduction and ease access to the global markets. Dell Inc. is among the companies that have benefited from e-commerce. It operates by receiving orders placed by customers on their website, which are aggregated as inventory. Then PCs are assembled on customer demands and shipped-sufficed- in 5-10 days (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111).. Payments are also done online. This paper will seek to describe rules of e-commerce in light of Dell Inc and e-business current trends with their impacts on e-logistics. E-Business Rules Due to the need for companies to have wide, fast and flexible communications there has been the need to implement e-logistics. In the process of implementation of e-logistics there are some rules of e-business that are to be followed. To illustrate these rules let us consider Dell Inc. In e-business technology is no longer just used to create and offer products but also as a means to make their business more effective in delivering services and products to their clients. Dell in its quest to implement e-logistics has redesigned its business model from the physical retail stores to application of technology in an online supply channel. This enables it to conducts most of its transactions with customers with the aid of their website platform where customers can order PCs (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.16); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111). Secondly, in the implementation of e-logistics, it is important for companies to attentively listen to their customers. This leads to them recognizing avenues of reducing their costs and having the capacity to offer their clients customized services. Dell has succeeded in implementation of e-logistics as it is more customers centered. This has been achieved after it streamlined its supply chains and started selling PCs directly to customers. This has enabled Dell to collect their customer’s preferences and needs information, thus enhancing better personalized customer services (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.14); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111. Companies willing to implement e-logistics must create flexible grouping through integration. This will facilitate efficient customer service as well as reduce expenditures. Dell has benefited much through integrating its transactions on their website. This has led to reduction of costs outlay in terms of inventory as through the online website they can aggregate their inventories by geographical locations. Since there are no physical retail stores the company reduced its facility and information costs (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.24); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111. Firms willing to engage in e-logistics must be willing to do away with ineffective traditional business models which are detrimental to their success. This calls for business managers to reorganize and plan their business models all over again to succeed in the e-business. Dell Inc. in order to successfully implement e-logistics it had to leave its old retail supply chain model where it used to assemble PCs and store them waiting to be sold. Currently, it receives orders online from customers and then assembles PCs and ship them (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.10); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111). Although Dell Inc. has succeeded in implementing e-logistics, it still experiences hindrances. This is because customers after placing their order they have to wait for 5 to 10 days to receive PCs. E-commerce Trends Change is inevitable, and as a consequence it has been vital for several companies to keep abreast with the current trends of e-business in the market. This is attributable to the benefits that are derived from the new innovative applications of e-commerce. In addition there has been stiff competition and low sales revenue calling for innovativeness (Botha, 2004, p.16). Developments in the field of e-commerce can be categorized into the following areas, Customer buying trend, E service trend, Organizational trend, Enterprise technology trend, and General technology trend.  Customer buying trend and its Impacts Customer while purchasing are more inclined to efficient companies which have little or no time lags between ordering to receiving their products. Companies have indentified this customer incentive and have been working hard to make their customer services faster by relying on e-business. It has led to streaming of customer services process and introduction of self service to enhance customer satisfaction. Recently, companies have reinvented their old structures through business reengineering of the business value chains. Companies have resulted to E-commerce integrated systems to counter the customer service delays brought about by the traditional business systems. Customer service has become more efficient by service time reducing significantly. In addition, implementation of the self service has made customer service more convenient and cost effective. Moreover, the implementation of self service and online trading has reduced middlemen in e-logistics offering an all inclusive services to clients. Moreover, e business has made it easier for companies to offer wide variety of personalized products and services. The dire need for companies to reap from e-commerce has led to them seeking integrated solutions by implementing integrated business models (Kalakota and Robinson 2001pp.38-43). . E service trend and it Impacts Theses are the measures that companies are devising to improve their customer relationships and retention. Customer retention determines business and revenue growth. There have been shifts to sale/service assimilation by many companies to pick up on client’s retention. E-business offers companies an avenue whereby they can easily track the needs, behaviors, lifestyles, of their customers leading to more personalized services. Moreover, it has also facilitated efficient all inclusive customer solution oriented service, cross selling and up selling which has contributed to more satisfied customers. This enhances their customer retention. Companies have developed the capacity to provide their customers with tailored sale services by adopting e- service new trends. There has also been provision of precise and appropriate information about their orders, product and services pricing and their availability. It has contributed to reduction of the gap between sale and service to be offered. E-service trend has led to flexible execution and convenient service delivery especially through home delivery systems and automation of order process. This has transformed customer service to be more reliable and consistent (Kalakota and Robinson, 2001, pp.43-49). Organizational trend and its impacts E-business has been applied by companies lately since it creates opportunities for business process outsourcing facilitating flexibility and performance. In addition, manufacturing companies have resulted to e-commerce as it allows be virtual manufacturers. Through e-business it has become possible for firms to sum up technology, commerce, buyers and sellers to create efficient markets with virtual distribution lines. There has been tremendous money saving avenues and easier access to new markets by creation of virtual enterprises and outsourcing without the need for the large capital outlay facilitated by the BPO. Capital intensive companies are specializing on the business they are best at and can do cost effectively, due to the capability of outsourcing manufacturing. Creation of virtual distribution lines has led to companies dealing with customers directly in cost effective manner (Kalakota and Robinson, 2001, pp.50-52). Enterprise technology trend and its impacts E-business has transformed most companies from their traditional functional specialization to integrated enterprise in an attempt to be more customers centered. This has been achieved through internally customized or over the counter enterprise applications. Companies have gained the capacity to offer consistent and reliable customer services throughout their service channels, through multichannel service integration. Through enterprise applications such SAP companies have integrated most of their service multichannel services and thus operate as integrated enterprises. This is aimed at enhancing company’s competitive advantage and becoming more focused on the needs and preferences of the customers (Kalakota and Robinson, 2001, pp.54-58). General technology trend and its impacts There has been great advancement of business to the use of mobile web applications. Thus several companies aim to be integrated and mobile in the near future. Companies have been drawn to e-commerce due to the value added when mobile applications will be introduced. There has also been an advantage to companies which have adopted the wireless applications due to voice, data and video convergence. The use of the m-commerce has made companies using e-Logistics to increase their efficiency in their business tasks. This is attributable to reduced cost of wireless use and their efficiency. There has been shift to Netphones and auto phones which have made consumer s to conveniently access information (Kalakota and Robinson, 2001, pp.58-62). Conclusion It is imperative that companies adopt e-commerce though there must be determination to undergo complete business reengineering before its benefits are obtained. Despite the high cost of infrastructure required to implement e-logistics, the benefits outweigh the cost. The current developments in e-business will lead to companies being more effective and efficient in their operations. Due to the advancement in the wireless technology, the future of e business points out to the wireless e-business. This will ensure a higher degree of efficiency in terms of cost cutting and customer service. References Chopra, S. and Meindl, 2010. P Supply Chain Management : Strategy, Planning, and Operation. New Jersey: Pearson Education. Kalakota, R. and Robinson, M 2001 e-Business 2.0: Roadmap for Success. New Jersey: Pearson Education. Botha, J. 2004. E-Commerce. Cape Town :Juta and Company Ltd. Read More