4.8 E-commerce

Question 1

What does “E-commerce” refer to?

Answer 1

Buying of goods and services online

Question 2

What is “Business-to-Consumer” (B2C)?

Answer 2

In a Business-to-Consumer E-commerce environment, companies sell their online goods to consumers who are the end users of their products or services. Usually, B2C E-commerce web shops have an open access for any visitor.

Question 3

What is “Business-to-Business” (B2B)?

Answer 3

In a Business-to-Business e-commerce environment, companies sell their online goods to other companies without being engaged in sales to consumers. In most B2B E-commerce environments entering the web shop will require a log in. B2B web shop usually contains customer-specific pricing, customer-specific assortments and customer-specific discounts.

Question 4

What is “Consumer-to-Consumer” (C2C)?

Answer 4

In a Consumer-to-Consumer E-commerce environment consumers sell their online goods to other consumers. A well-known example is E-Bay.

Question 5

What are some advantages of E-Commerce to Consumers?

Answer 5

• easier pay
• convenience (deliveries)
• reviews
• lots of information
  –> easier to compare to other
• almost unlimited variety of choices
• can do it from anywhere at anytime
• often less expensive products and services

Question 6

What are some advantages of E-Commerce to the Business?

Answer 6

• Increased customer base
• Cost effective - save on staffing a physical shop
• Services - eg. accountancy

Question 7

What are some disadvantages of E-Commerce to Consumers?

Answer 7

• misleading (product isn’t what you expected) + fraud
• damage in shipping
• delivery costs
• no human interaction
• returning goods can be inconvenient

Question 8

What are some disadvantages of E-Commerce to the Business?

Answer 8

• Increased competition - competition once limited to other local shops is now on an international scale
• New comers - consumers may be reluctant to buy from a company they haven’t heard of
• Slow adoption - companies whose competitors already have an online presence may find it hard to gain market share
• Expense of setting up and maintaining the website (staff has to be trained to run the site)