Role of E-Commerce in Todays Business - Essay Example

Introduction Only few technologies have received as rapid recognition as the internet. Since, the tools and techniques offered by the internet are changing and improving the methods through which business operations are performed. In addition, these techniques and tools are also modernizing the traditional business arrangement on which a number of organizations are building and implementing their in-house or internal information systems. Additionally, at the present, many organizations/businesses are utilizing the internet techniques and applications to build a private domestic network which is known as intranet. However, several corporations are making use of these applications and methods to build protected business-to-business networks that are acknowledged as extranets. Thus, these technology movements have given birth to an imperative business approach that is electronic commerce. Since, the e-commerce encompasses carrying out both inside and outdoor business over Internet, intranets, and extranets. In addition, the e-commerce encompasses selling and purchasing of services, goods and products, the simplification of everyday business operations or processes, and the payments matters via digital communication. This paper presents a detailed analysis of e-commerce and its role in today’s business environment. This paper will discuss some of the important aspects associated with e-commerce, such as issues, advantages, and opportunities offered by e-commerce. This paper will also discuss some examples of industries where the use of the e-commerce has revolutionized the business environment. Discussion E-commerce: An overview In the past few years, we have seen a large number of developments in all the areas of life. These rapid developments and advancements in the field of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have provided considerable support for the establishment of an arrangement of organizations that divide with the larger suppliers and producers the tasks of product and service planning, design, suppliers’ and retailers’ communications, production, goods delivery and packaging, customer advertisement and marketing, and a number of other tasks that were in the past were disconnected, otherwise, concerted in a particular large firm (Scavarda et al., 2001; Tremblay, 1998). The majority of business organizations perceive electronic commerce as application of the Internet or the electronic platforms as a platform to sell and promote products, services and goods to the customers. However, this constricted description of the e-commerce only describes the Internet based commerce. In actual point of fact, e-commerce contains a wide variety of other aspects as well. In this scenario, e-commerce can be defined as the electronic transactions for trading information, products, services, goods and payments along with additional processes such as the development and protection of Web-based associations. In this scenario, it can be said that electronic commerce encompasses a number of attributes and entities and it is not limited to only some entities such as the Internet, extranets, intranets, electronic data interchange (EDI), and various others. Some of the well-known instances of e-commerce comprise communications and collaboration with business associates and customers like that inventory management, transaction processing by means of electronic payment, customer self-service like that allowing them to track order status as well as researching problem resolution, and making use of a business intranet for omnipresent information sharing[Ann00]. Until recently e-commerce has transformed into a completely new form of business. Internet has changed the way people think and carry out their daily routines everyone simply wants to shop and order from their home using their personal computer, all with a single click. Moreover the latest tools and gadgets which are available online have also made life easier and interesting. Presently most businesses have shifted their focus towards utilizing internet for which they are also making use of internal private domestic intranet. Moreover some organizations are trying to formulate methods to protect business to business networks which are regarded as extranets. All this communication infrastructure and business to business network is recognized as electronic commerce. In short e-commerce deals with internal and external services such as purchasing and selling of products and handling payment matters digitally along with smooth execution of business operations and processes (Khurana et al., 2011). Types of e-commerce Undoubtedly, e-commerce has transformed itself into one of the most powerful and easy to use instrument for executing daily business activities. However with the advancements and developments various forms or types of e-commerce have evolved which includes business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-administration (B2A). Business-to-Consumer (B2C) is a methodology introduced by e-commerce platform which allows business and organization to communicate with the potential customers. Moreover it can be regarded as a simpler means of marketing platform which does not require substantial investment and still it is an efficient and affordable means of marketing. Although it is cheap still it is so much powerful and influential that it can attract the attention of millions and millions of potential consumers just with a single click (sxccal.edu, 2010). The another similar mode of e-commerce is business-to-business (B2B) which has made it possible for business owners, partners and associates to communicate and collaborate with each other for establishing an effective supply chain cycle. Moreover it also helps in attracting new trading associates to know about a particular business. Hence it can be said that B2B is a powerful tool for organizations for establishing their business processes and delivering a range of services by utilizing a limited number of available resources. The third form of e-commerce which can be regarded as a more modernized approach is business-to-administration (B2A). This form of e-commerce is a versatile form of business operation which collaborates with other businesses and industries through public sector groups covering a wide range of business operations. The business related activities which are handled by e-commerce B2A includes tax returns, patent registration and other significant transactions and deals with the authorized authority of that particular area where business organization is situated or registered. Additionally, it is not merely designed for offering opportunities for initiating profitable between public sectors and the private sector for progressing association but it also provides an uncomplicated approach of performing fundamental deals that are made between the two business segments[Ken09]. Benefits of E-commerce for Business Many researchers have acknowledged the e-commerce as one of the most important tools for improving technological efficiency and performance. Without a doubt, e-commerce based platforms are developed using the latest technology and programming languages hence they allow the business organizations to minimize the costs associated with capital and labor power. Additionally, the impact of e-commerce on business efficiency and performance can be perceived in the form of, competitiveness, cost, optimization, and process automation. However, if an organization wants to conduct a systematic analysis of impact of e-commerce on the business, then they need to measure the business efficiency with respect to the implementation of their e-commerce decisions. If we talk about the cost reduction in supply chain management, it is obvious that in order to attain this goals a business organization must make use of up to date technologies. This aspect can be linked with the implementation of B2B e-commerce model, however it is an admitted fact that e-commerce is not simply the implementation of latest and innovative tools and technologies in order to support business operations however e-commerce is believed to be a new business idea that renovates the standard business practices. In addition, the majority of researches have revealed that supply chain management is the most important business sector where e-commerce can create a great optimistic revolution which can ultimately improve the business performance. Actually, in a business organization supply chain management is believed to be the most important e-commerce decision implementation that enables an organization to reach actual development of organization’s performance at the same time as minimizing the expenditures. The use of e-commerce brings benefits for all the stakeholders and users. Normally, these stakeholders are divided into three categories, which are outlined below[Pet08]: For Organizations: Without a doubt, e-commerce eases the business activities for business organizations such as performing transactions and other associated processes. These improvements in business processes have a straight impact on associated business expenditures and business performance. In addition, e-commerce makes it possible for the business organizations offer their products and services to a large number of customers from all over the world in a fashionable way, as the same time as minimizing the development cost and cycle, building and presenting new informational products and new post channels, and improving the process of information distribution[Pet08]. For Suppliers: The use of e-commerce gives equal opportunities to suppliers of the business. The use of e-commerce platform supported through improved communication channels improves the quality of communication with business associates and suppliers. In fact, the use of e-commerce allows business organizations to minimize the costs associated with communication; communication turns out to be more comfortable; the option comes into view to broadcast more and superior quality data and information that is much better than the traditional channels of communication such as post, fax or phone. Along with these advantages, the use of e-commerce platforms for business suppliers also facilitates with the decrease in the supply chain as a result minimizing cost associated with transaction[Pet08]. For Consumers: When the costs of business processes decrease then the final prices of company products and services are also decreased. In this way, consumers get high quality products in lower prices. In addition, it also improves ordering, searching and delivery of products if they are converted into digital format processes of products to final consumers[Pet08]. Drawbacks of E-commerce In view of the fact that the e-commerce is completely supported through the Internet hence it inherits all the problems that are present over the Internet. There are many problems associated with e-commerce however hacking is believed to be the most critical issue. Basically, hacking refers to illegal access to others’ transactions or personal data and information such as theft of passwords or credit card information. In this scenario, these nasty individuals known as hackers can make use of latest tools and techniques to get access to others’ bank accounts, e-mails and business transactions. The basic purpose of hacking is to distort others’ business transactions and information and create serious issues for the users of e-mails. Additionally, hacking can be due to various reasons. For instance, a competitor can hack a business’ web site to access its personal information or an individual can hack someone’s personal details[Gou11]. There is another issue in launching e-commerce platform and that is associated with cost. It is an admitted fact that preliminary expenditures for launching an e-commerce platform including the arrangement for computers, the Internet connection and devices and hiring skilled human resources is relatively high. In addition, there are also additional expenditures associated with this implementation for instance, there will be need for training in order to guide business employees how to use this latest platform, and hence simply a small number of business organization can manage to pay for it[Gou11]. It is an admitted fact that technology changes very quickly in today’s world and everyday there emerges new tools and technologies. In fact, some of the tools and computers may turn out to be out of date even prior to complete use. Hence, before deciding for the implementation of this latest platform an organization must carefully plan the entire implementation plan and it must develop this plan in such a way that it could accommodate the future changes. Many organizations especially their employees believe that the manual or paper based systems are more flexible and friendly than computer based systems for the reason that they can be modified over time with independently human hands and brain, even without hiring external expert[Gou11]. Sometimes, it is difficult for the business organizations to find expert or specific tool to address organization’s issues. In fact, there is a lack of expert programmers and analyzers, which makes it hard to place the computerized business processes[Gou11]. Every day, we perceive a latest security threat that discourages the people from using the Internet for carrying out business transactions. In this scenario, trust is believed to be the most important factors that affect the use of e-commerce. Benbasat, Gefen, Pavlou, & Editors (2008) outlined over the past decade, there have been major progresses in recognizing the background and penalty of trust in online marketplaces and electronic commerce (Benbasat et al., 2008). According to Kim & Kim (2003) trust has conventionally been harder to describe and determine. However, the researchers have defined the trust as a “confusing potpourri”, a “theoretical misunderstanding” as well as even a “conceptual mess”. Though a number of researchers have treated hope as a unitary idea, most now consent that trust is multidimensional. Though there is less agreement on the exact scope that make up trust as well as small research on how the scope interrelates. The fundamental conclusion in the entire of these areas is trust that is turning out to be progressively significant; however we yet cannot actually say what it accurately is. For years, researchers have known for conceptual clearness however they couldn’t get much success (Kim & Kim, 2003). According to Lee, Kim, & Rao (2005) this lack of precision is as well considered in the context of web trust, however, varied and conflicting definitions of trust make it hard to contrast results all through studies. A number of e-commerce researchers have described trust like a trust in a quality of the trustee, while others have described trust like a compliance to believe the trustee. Additionally, a number of researchers could not offer a theoretical definition. However, authentication in case of web based e-commerce is an instruments that includes value in numerous ways for example it carries additional inflexibility to research as well as permits research to be performed in an additional systematic way; next it “encourages supportive research efforts. This also facilitates in scenario of research results those are more interpretable as well as apparent. Furthermore, the web based commerce authentication guarantees that research outcome are suitable or “could be trusted”. Future of E-Commerce In the past few years, the majority of organizations have started making use of the Internet for only e-commerce processes. In fact, the word ‘e-commerce’ has turned out to be a very well-known and useful tool to everyone even for the people who do not have any knowledge about the business world. Additionally, a few years ago, the majority of people comprising businessmen had barely any knowledge or understanding of this term. With the passage of time, concentration and developments in e-commerce raised quickly with the developments and increasing use of Internet and computers. In fact, at the present, e-commerce has emerged as an ever-present fact in the business world. Various researches also conclude that in the coming years this innovative platform will turn out to be only way for carrying out business activities and transactions. In recent years, the amazing innovations and extensive use of desktops, laptops, palmtops, mobiles and other innovative devices have increasingly shifted the e-commerce businesses from the physical business environments to the computing environment in a stepwise approach first from physical environments to lap space and lastly to pocket space. In this scenario, one significant useful outcome of this movement appeared in the form of savings of the space at the present engaged by physical environments and to encourage a universal connection among business-minded people. In the future, the e-commerce will emerge as an only attractive choice for business organization and there are a number of reasons behind this extraordinary expansion, some of them are discussed below [Gou11]: In view of the fact that this era is known as the era of information and communication technology hence in order to survive in this ever-increasing competitive business environment business organizations need to make use of latest technologies. In fact, it is believed to be an essential tool for survival and growth in the face of competition. Without a doubt, the organizations that do not understand the value of information technology cannot compete in this environment [Gou11]. At the present, people are very busy and they do not like to waste their time in going into the markets for shopping. In fact, they like to buy everything using their computers by sitting at home. In this scenario, e-commerce provides excellent opportunities for both the customers and business organizations in the forms of time and labor saving [Gou11]. At the present, there have been developed latest and fast algorithms and programming languages that allow customers to look for and explore new products and services, which is a fundamental need in this age of quick obsolescence. Without a doubt, marketing and promotion are essential for business organizations in order to attract customers and promote their business products and services. In this scenario, at the present e-commerce is being used in every department and area of a business organization. For instance, e-commerce is also used to conduct marketing related tasks and activities where the Internet is used to promote business contents and data and distribute it to the customers directly. A web site is a most important e-commerce tool and marketing platform since on the Internet a customer can communicate with the business using its web site. The implementation of an e-commerce platform allows the business organizations to promote their business products and services within the country as well as establish global economic linkages [Gou11]. One of the most important advantages offered by the e-commerce is that it allows the business organizations to go beyond the local markets for the promotion and marketing of sales at a lesser rate of profit. As a result, it allows a business organization to increase its income and profits. In view of the fact that e-commerce platforms are developed using the latest tools and technologies and make use of modern communication channels in order to carry out business activities as a result it ensure the high quality results in the forms of improved performance of a number of business tasks such as purchase, sale, marketing and combining all these processes under one platform. The use of the Internet is not limited to only large size organizations but it also gives the equal opportunities to small size organizations. In this scenario, r-commerce facilitates not simply international business giants; however it equally gives attractive opportunities to smaller firms and allows them to contribute in worldwide business world. The research has shown that at the present, over two hundred nations are taken with to the Internet, as well as are spending recourses to support e-commerce at various stages of contribution[Gou11]. In upcoming years, e-commerce will certainly prove itself as a useful instrument for business. After the passage of time the rising and flourishing e-commerce will develop into an initiative totally inseparable from the web. Although there are some associated security issues but still it is apparent that that e-shopping has turned out to be a more and more well-known and accepted tool. Simultaneously strict competition in the field of online business and e-commerce services will reinforce their expansion. Therefore, the future developments and innovations in e-commerce will be the development of Internet sales as well as progression [Gou11]. Researchers and experts are of the opinion that e-commerce will be having a hopeful and wonderful future in the 21st century. In the anticipated future ecommerce will additionally substantiate itself as major instrument of sale. Moreover there will be a time when e-commerce will become an inseparable part from the web because e-commerce buying habits are transforming into a popular and easy to use medium. However the future is loaded with severe rivalry for the business individuals in the sphere of ecommerce which will require every business to focus more precisely on their services in order to increase their chances of development and expansion. Thus current future trends of ecommerce will be the augmentation of Internet sales and progress. Mobile commerce is the upcoming technology which is also on the rise and entrepreneurs from various fields are focusing on investing in this new area for yielding maximum profits (Esichaikul & Chavananon, 2001). Conclusion Business models are possibly the most talked about and slightest understood feature of the web. There is a huge amount of data available online involving web changes and traditional business models. But there is slight straightforward indication of precisely what this means. In simplest sense, an Internet business model is the technique of doing business by which a corporation can maintain itself and in turn produce substantial revenue. The business model defines how a business makes money by identifying where it is placed in the value chain. The emergence of the Internet has resulted in devising numerous ways through which business can be conducted online. An Internet business lets expert individuals to put forward their knowledge to others or to make money by advertising specific merchandise. An e-commerce business requires selling merchandise by means of the Internet. One common e-commerce enterprise involves recording merchandise for sale on auction websites, for instance eBay.com. Another process is drop shipping, where you work as a distributor for a company’s products by selling them at a raised price. E-commerce has been a foremost matter of internet for the last one decade. The concern in e-commerce has reached its zenith during the premature years of 2000. In this model there is a straight online transaction between the buyer and seller. The brokerage models fetch together the buyers and sellers but do not necessarily take part in any form of transaction. This model has seen the most advanced and is also anticipated to continue improvise in the coming years. This paper has discussed various examples of industries where the use of e-commerce has revolutionized the industry. This paper has also discussed a number of advantages offered by the e-commerce. This research concludes that the use of e-commerce is essential in order to endure and grow in this ever-increasing competitive business environment. Hence, in this cut-throat struggle, an interactive user friendly and determined website in the form of online shops can produce good business. E-commerce is an ideal platform for niche products. Customers for the same products are normally not many however in the huge marketplace. The everyday pressures of the market have played their role in reducing the chance for businesses to invest in improving their competitive place. References Barkley, D.L. & Markley, D.M., 2012. E-COMMERCE AS A BUSINESS STRATEGY. [Online] Available at: http://www.clemson.edu/uced/working_papers/uced_100702.pdf [Accessed 30 June 2013]. Ann00: , (Fruhling & Digman, 2000), Ken09: , (Laudon & Traver, 2009; Barkley & Markley, 2012), Pet08: , (Barsauskas et al., 2008), Gou11: , (Chatterjee, 2011), Gou11: , (Chatterjee, 2011; Summers et al., 2003), Read More