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What is E-business?
Electronic business (also known as “online business” or “e-business”) refers to any type of industrial or business transaction that involves the exchange of information over the internet.
Commerce, on the other hand, is the exchange of goods and services between businesses, groups, and individuals. The scope of e-commerce is more than digital business. It is one of the most important activities of any business.
E-commerce concentrates on using information and communications technologies to enable the business’s external activities and relationships with individual people, groups, and other businesses. In contrast, e-business refers to business conducted via the internet.
Characteristics of Online Business
The following are some of the characteristics of online business:
It is simple to set up.
There are no geographical limitations.
Much less expensive than a traditional business.
There are flexible business hours available.
Marketing strategies are less expensive.
The government provides subsidies to online businesses. There are few security and integrity issues.
There is no personalisation.
The buyer and seller do not meet.
Product delivery takes time.
There is a transaction risk because anyone, at any time, can buy anything from anywhere.
Transaction risk is greater than in traditional business.
You are aware that business, as an activity, aims to create utilities or value in the form of goods and services that consumers and businesses buy to meet their needs and desires.
In an effort to improve business processes—whether purchasing and production, marketing, finance, or human resources—managers and business thinkers are constantly developing newer and better ways of doing things. Hence, the newer modes of business are not novel. These are simply new ways of doing business as a result of a variety of factors.
To help fulfil the competitive pressures and ever-increasing consumer demands for better quality, lower prices, faster deliveries, and better customer care, businesses must strengthen their capabilities in creating utility companies and delivering value. Furthermore, the pursuit of new technologies means that a company is constantly evolving.
Various Forms of E-Commerce
There are numerous types of e-Businesses available today. It all comes down to who the final consumer is. The following are some examples of e-commerce:
Business-to-Business (B2B) transactions are those that take place between two organisations. This type of electronic commerce is typically used by producers and traditional commerce wholesalers. It also significantly improves company efficiency.
Business-to-Consumer transactions (B2C) happen when a consumer purchases goods from a seller. People who shop on Flipkart, Amazon, and other online marketplaces are examples of B2C transactions. The final consumer purchases directly from the seller in such a transaction.
Transactions between consumers (C2C) happen when one consumer sells a product or service to another consumer. Such a transaction is referred to as a consumer-to-consumer transaction. People, for example, post ads for products they want to sell on OLX. C2C transactions are commonly used for used goods. The website only acts as a conduit and not as a provider of goods or services.
Consumer-to-Business/C2B is a complete 180-degree turn on the traditional concept of exchanging goods. Crowdsourcing projects frequently use this type of e-commerce. Many people are selling their products or services to business owners looking specifically for these services or products.
Consumer-to-Administration/ (C-to-A) (C2A), all payment systems between individuals and government are covered by the Consumer-to-Administration model.
Disadvantages of E-commerce
In contrast to traditional business, you cannot touch or feel the product in e-commerce. As a result, consumers cannot assess the product’s quality until the order has been delivered.
Traditional businesses have traditional contact with the salesperson, and as a result, there is a sense of humanity and trustworthiness. It also increases customer trust. An e-business paradigm will always be devoid of such characteristics.
Time of delivery becomes a major concern. In the world of e-commerce, product delivery takes time. Customers are frequently dissatisfied as a result of this lag time. However, these days, e-commerce companies are attempting to help solve such problems by promising a very short time frame. Amazon, for example, now guarantees one-day delivery.
There are serious security issues as well, as many people can conduct online business. Furthermore, attackers have an easier time acquiring a person’s financial information. It has a few security and integrity concerns. This raises potential clients’ scepticism.
The business world is changing. The two most visible manifestations of this change are e-business and outsourcing. The catalyst for the change results from both intrinsic and extrinsic factors.
Internally, the business firm’s desire for advancement and efficiency has catapulted it into e-business and outsourcing. Externally, the change has been driven by ever-increasing competitive pressures and ever-demanding customers.
The electronic mode of just doing business, also known as e-business, provides the firm with lucrative prospects for anything, anywhere, and at any time to its customers, thereby removing spacetime constraints on its performance.
Despite its high-tech nature, e-business suffers from the limitation of a lack of personal touch. As a result, customers are not treated on an individual basis. Furthermore, there are concerns about the security of e-transactions and the privacy of those who conduct business over the internet.
The benefits of e-commerce appear to have been distributed unevenly across countries and regions within a country. Apart from going digital, businesses are also moving away from the old ‘do it all yourself’ mentality. They are increasingly outsourcing manufacturing, research, development, and business operations, irrespective of if they are IT authorised or not.
India is on a roll in the global outsourcing industry, having made significant gains in terms of employment generation, capacity building, and the ability to contribute to exports and GDP.
Conclusion
The trends of e-business and outsourcing are reshaping how business is done and will be done in the future. Surprisingly, both e-business and outsourcing are still in the early stages of development. That is why they are referred to as emerging business models.
