All about e-business

E-business is not synonymous with electronic commerce (also called e-commerce). It goes beyond e-commerce to include other activities such as supply management, online recruitment, coaching, etc. E-commerce, on the other hand, essentially concerns the purchase and sale of goods and services.

In e-commerce, transactions take place online, the buyer and seller do not meet face-to-face. The term "e-business" was coined by IBM's Internet and Marketing team in 1996. In this article I give you the BA BA of e-business.

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?? The characteristics of e-business

E-business is the conduct of business processes on the Internet. These e-business processes include the buying and selling of goods and services, customer service, etc. They may also relate to payment processing, production control management, and others.

E-business can include a range of functions and services. They range from the development of intranets and extranets to the provision of electronic services over the Internet by application service providers.

In today's world, we are exposed to various forms of e-business. Since its emergence, it has grown by leaps and bounds. Some are predicting that it could completely overtake brick and mortar stores very soon.

Although that remains to be seen, we cannot ignore the immense role it plays in today's global economy. Some of the features of e-business are:

• It is easy to install
• There are no geographical boundaries
• Much cheaper than traditional business
• There are flexible opening hours
• Marketing strategies cost less
• Online businesses receive government subsidies
• There are some security and integrity issues
• There is no personal touch
• Buyer and seller do not meet
• Product delivery takes time
• There is a transaction risk
• Anyone can buy anything from anywhere at any time
• Transaction risk is higher than traditional business

?? The different e-business models

Now, there are actually many types of e-commerce. It all depends on who the final consumer is. Some of the types of e-commerce are:

The business-to-consumer (B2C) model

In this model, sellers offer products and services directly to consumers online, and the buyer purchases them through the Internet. When a consumer purchases products from a seller, it is a business-to-consumer transaction.

People who buy from Flipkart, Amazon, etc. are an example of a transaction between businesses and consumers. In such a transaction, the end consumer himself buys directly from the seller.

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The model business-to-business (B2B)

In B2B, businesses use the Internet to transact with each other. Unlike B2C transactions, B2B transactions typically involve multiple online transactions at each stage of the supply chain. Transactions that take place between two organizations fall under Business to Business.

Traditional trade producers and wholesalers usually operate with this type of e-commerce. Also, it greatly improves business efficiency.

The consumer model to Business (C2B)

The C2B model defines a type of e-business in which consumers create their own value and demand for goods and services. In C2B, there is a complete reversal of the traditional meaning of commodity exchange.

This type of e-commerce is very common in crowdsourcing-based projects. A large number of individuals make their services or products available to companies looking for precisely these types of services or products.

The Consumer to Consumer (C2C) model

In the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) e-commerce model, consumers are both buyers and sellers through online marketplaces facilitated by third parties, such as eBay. A consumer selling a product or service to another consumer is a C2C transaction.

For example, people post ads on OLX of products they want to sell. C2C type transactions usually occur for used products. The website is only the facilitator and not the provider of the goods or service.

The consumer-to-government (C2A) model

The C2A model encompasses all electronic transactions carried out between individuals and the public administration. Some example applications include:

• Education – dissemination of information, distance education, etc.
• Social security – through the dissemination of information, payments, etc.
• Taxes – filing tax returns, payments, etc.
• Health – appointments, disease information, payment for health services, etc.

The Business to Administration (B2A) model

This part of e-commerce encompasses all transactions carried out online by businesses and public administration or the government and its various agencies. Furthermore, these types of services have increased considerably in recent years thanks to investments in e-government.

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?? The challenges of e-commerce

The level and types of e-commerce challenges vary from organization to organization, depending on a multitude of factors – from whether they use digital services to enabling e-commerce in only certain parts of their operations, or whether digital services power their core value proposition, i.e. whether they have a legacy technology infrastructure or whether they were born digital.

However, some common challenges exist. These challenges are:

• Securing e-business services against cyberattacks;
• Scale services fast enough to meet demand without compromising performance;
• Evolve their technologies fast enough to keep pace with changing market dynamics;
• Find and train workers who can keep pace with skills that must constantly evolve; and
• Keeping pace with e-commerce capabilities which, by their electronic nature, are always-on.

Additionally, many businesses are struggling to move from siled instances of e-commerce within their organization to integrating e-commerce services and using them to transform into digital operations, where the various elements of e-commerce converge and work seamlessly together.

?? E-business vs. e-commerce

E-business and e-commerce are similar, but not synonymous. E-commerce narrowly refers to the buying and selling of products online. E-business defines a wider range of business processes including aspects such as supply chain management, electronic order processing.

Customer relationship management designed to help the business run effectively and efficiently takes that away. Thus, e-commerce should be considered a subset of e-business.

E-business processes can be handled in-house through a company's own network or outsourced to vendors who specialize in those specific aspects of the transaction. In contrast, the definition of e-commerce is much clearer and basically describes any part of the processes by which online orders are placed and paid for.

For example, a customer who places an order online but picks it up at the physical store is an example of an e-commerce transaction.

?? The advantages of e-business

The benefits of e-commerce are in fact myriad, the most obvious being the ease of doing business. Some of the main advantages of e-commerce are:

• Easy to configure. It is easy to create an e-commerce. You can start an online business even while staying at home if you have the required software, a device, and the internet.
• Cheaper than traditional trade. E-commerce is much cheaper than traditional commerce. The cost of setting up an e-business is much higher than that required to create a traditional business. In addition, the transaction cost is effectively lower.
• No geographical borders. There are no geographical boundaries for e-commerce. Anyone can order anything from anywhere at any time. This is one of the advantages of e-commerce.
• Government grants. Online businesses are enjoying government benefits as the government tries to promote digitalization.
• Flexible opening hours. Since the Internet is always available. E-commerce is breaking down the time barriers faced by location-based businesses. As long as someone has an internet connection, you may be able to reach and sell your product or service to those visitors to your company's website.

?? The limitations of e-business

But it's not all good news. E-commerce has some disadvantages compared to the traditional way of doing business. Some of the limitations of e-commerce are:

Lack of personal touch.

E-commerce doesn't have a personal touch. You cannot touch or smell the product. It is therefore difficult for consumers to verify the quality of a product. Moreover, the human touch is also absent.

In the traditional model, we are in contact with the seller. This gives him a touch of humanity and credibility. It also builds trust with the customer. An e-Business model will always lack such attributes.

The delivery time

Product delivery takes time. In traditional business, you get the product as soon as you buy it. But that doesn't happen in online business. This delay often discourages customers.

However, e-businesses try to solve these problems by promising very limited delivery times. For example, Amazon now provides one-day delivery. This is an improvement but does not completely solve the problem

Security concerns

There are many people who commit fraud through online business. Additionally, it is easier for hackers to obtain your financial information. It has some security and integrity issues. It also causes distrust among potential customers. However, if you are a beginner, I advise you to know the 11 lies of e-business