Application of digital technologies to business processes within the firm is called e-business. These technologies have deep impact on commerce more than e-commerce. E-commerce technology is powerful than any other technology which has left economic effect on the world. The evolving internet and other technologies are bound to shape the 21st century. The traditional process of marketing and sales was a lengthy process of selling and advertising. Branding required long term product observation of the customers. Selling was done through well-insulated channels in a traditional manner limited by social and geographical boundaries. Information about the product was not available everywhere, creating profitable information asymmetries. It was difficult to change the national or regional prices in traditional retailing. One national price was a norm and different regions had different prices for the same product. E-commerce has challenged this traditional thinking.
Some key Features of e-commerce are-
• Ubiquity- It is available everywhere at any time. The result is called a market space, a marketplace extended beyond traditional boundaries and removed from a temporal and geographic location. It saves transaction cost and time. In traditional commerce, you have to visit physically to a market place, in contrast, you do not have to visit anywhere for e-commerce market.
• Global reach- Due to e-commerce technology, commercial transactions has crossed all the cultural and national boundaries whereas traditional commerce are unable to cross-national boundaries.
• Universal Standards- E-commerce has become universal. It is shared by all the nations. While traditional technologies differ from one nation to the next. For the merchant’s market entry cost is same all over the world and it is lowered due to internet. For the customers price and product search is lowered. Prices are constant throughout the world and can be searched from any part of the world.
• Richness- Information about any product is easily available. Traditional markets, national sales forces and retail stores are able to provide the prompt audio and visual information, which makes it a powerful selling and commercial environment. Exchange of information and goods is not distance dependent. The richness of a message is spread evenly i.e. complexity and the content of the message is same throughout the world.
• Interactivity- It allows two-way communications between merchant and customer, no other commercial technology of the 20th century except telephone has this feature. E-commerce can be used using different websites for both giving and receiving the information from the net.
• Information Density- Information available on the web is more accurate and reaches the person fast in a timely manner. The information is complete and is available to all consumers, merchants and participants.
• Customization- E-commerce technologies allow personalization by targeting their marketing message to a specific person by adjusting a message to person’s name, interests, and past purchases. Technology also permits customization by changing the product according to the user’s requirement. A lot of information about the customer’s requirement, its past purchases can be stored due to information density.
Importance of e-commerce-
SETUP: The set-up of E-commerce is much easier than a physical setup including cost and everything.
MORE INFORMATION: Customers can get more information regarding the product they’re looking for like all the details regarding the product is given in the description column of a product.
REVIEWS: People while buying things online can also get reviews regarding the products so they can get the clear idea of the products whether it’s of use or not.
LESSER COST: If the inventory management of goods and services is an automated process then not only there will be a reduction in costs, but also in risk. Also, having e-commerce business is much more cost effective than a physical store as it saves your extra expenses like rent, electricity, etc.
Applications of e-commerce-
Marketing: E-commerce helps in marketing activities such as fixation of price, negotiation, product feature enhancement and relationship with the customer.
Finance: Nowadays, most companies use e-commerce to a greater extent. Customers can perform a lot of tasks through online banking or E-commerce such as- check balances or savings, pay bills and so on.
Manufacturing: E-commerce can be used in the chain operations of a company. Some company form an electronic exchange by providing both buying and selling of goods, trade market information and run-back-office information such as inventory control.
Online Publishing: It includes the digital publication of e-books, digital magazines, and the development of digital libraries.
Auctions: It also includes auctions that involve bidding. Bidding is a special type of auction that allows prospective buyers to bid for an item.