(09.12.

20202)

E-Commerce

Meaning:
The term E-commerce stands for “Electronic Commerce” and refers to the Buying & selling of
goods and services through the internet. It involves the use of Internet technologies for business
transactions. In a broader sense, E-commerce encompasses the entire online process of
developing, marketing, selling, delivering, serving & payment of products and services.

E-Commerce vs. E-Business:

Basis of
E-Commerce E-Business
Comparison

E-Business refers to
E-Commerce refers to the
performing all types of
Meaning trading of goods and services
business activities through
over the internet.
the internet.

E-Commerce is a narrow E-Business is a broad

Concept/Scope concept and it is considered as a concept and considered as a
subset of E-Business. superset of E-Commerce.
Type of Commercial transactions are Business transactions are
transaction carried out in e-commerce. carried out in e-business.

It includes activities like

procurement of raw
It includes activities like buying
materials/goods, customer
and selling products and
education, supply activities,
Activities services, making monetary
buying and selling products,
transactions, etc over the
making monetary
internet.
transactions, etc over the
internet.

It requires the use of multiple

It usually requires the use of only websites, CRMs, ERPs that
Requirement
a website. connect different business
processes.

It involves mandatory use of the It involves the use of

Network
internet. internet, intranet, or extranet.

Approach E-Commerce has an Extroverted E-Business has a more

approach as it covers only the ambiverted approach as it
 covers internal as well as
outward/external business
external business
processes.
processes/activities.

Features of E-commerce:
1. Ubiquity:
2. Global reach: across culture, across nation seamlessly.
3. Universal Standard:
4. Interactivity: Participative, two-way communication.
5. Information Richness: can be explained by VAT. Video, Audio & Text enabled.
6. Information Density: can be explained by CAT. Currency, Accuracy & Timeliness.
7. Personalization / Customization

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Traditional Market & Digital Market:
Traditional Market: The marketplace where buyers & sellers gather to exchange (buy & sell)
their products.
Digital Market: Virtual market. The transactions are carried out over the Internet.

Dimension & Aspects:

Dimension & Aspects Digital Market Traditional Market

1. Search cost Lower Higher

2. Information asymmetry Lower Higher

3. Transaction cost Lower Higher

4. Delayed gratification Higher & Lower both Lower

5. Dynamic Pricing Instant Delayed

(Change/Effect in
global price)

6. Price Discrimination Lower Higher

7. Market Segmentation Lower/Moderate Higher

8. Switching cost Higher & Lower both Usually High

9. Network effect Strong Weak

10. Disintermediation Possible Not possible

Categories of E-commerce:
1. B2B: The Business sites which offer products & services to other Businesses Online.
Dell.com, Cisco.com

2. B2C: The Sites which offer products & services to Customers Online. Amazon, Ali Baba,
Daraz, Rokomari.com

3. C2C: The Sites where Customers gather to buy & sell products & services online. eBay,
Auction market, DSE.com

Technologies of E-commerce:

1. Server Technology - Windows, Linux.

2. Network Technology - Network software: CICS (Customer Information Control System),
Network hardware: Modem, Switch, Router.
3. Security Technology - Anti-virus software (AVAST, AVG, Comodo), Anti-hacking
devices/software (Windows Defender, McAfee)
4. Database management Technology - Big data management, Hadoop, Oracle, IBM DB2,
Microsoft Access.
5. Other hardware & software technologies - Mobile, Laptop, bkash app, Rocket app.

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E-commerce process:
1. Access control and security - The objective is to establish Mutual trust and confidence
among parties (Customer, Supplier, Worker, Govt., Communities). Through
authenticating, authorizing the access, enforcing security features ( anti-hacking
softwares).
2. Profiling and Personalizing - Customer details. Easier marketing (one-to-one marketing)
& access to customers’ preferences and choices. Indiscriminate promotion /
Indiscriminate advertisement can be avoided. Tools and techniques: User registration
software, website behavior software, Cookie file, Feedback.

What is a cookie file (COOKIES.TXT)?

 A tiny file sent by the merchant’s server to the user harddisk server so that the merchant
Have the information about the user. 2 way. Merchant info to user. User info to
merchant.
Cookie files gather information about where you go and who you visit on the World Wide
Web. Originally, cookie files allowed Webservers the ability to customize a website on
person by person basis, without filling up the server's hard drive space. A cookie file is
text file that Webservers ask for and then add their own information to and store on your
hard drive. If you have never been asked whether you want to accept a cookie, I am sad
to report that your browser is set to automatically give and receive cookie files. Cookie
files let the Webserver know the date and time you visited their site and any other
information that they think they need. In general, they are used to both store and retrieve
information on you, the visitor.

3. Search management - Efficient and effective search processes provide a top e-

commerce website capability that helps customers find the specific product or service
they want to evaluate or buy. Google search engine, Yahoo search engine, Requisite.
There are 2 types of search engines: 1. Content-based: get the result as a description, 2.
Parameter-based: Feature-based - product color, date, manufacture name.

4. Content and catalog management - Software that helps e-commerce companies

develop, generate, deliver, update, and archive text data and multimedia information at
e-commerce websites. It also lets the customers get the product according to their
configured way. Retrieve data from other sites through other sites even though you are
not connected to those sites. Story server, Centra

5. Workflow management - Ensures that proper transactions, decisions and work activities
are routed to the right people in the right way at the right time.

6. Event notification - E-commerce site notifies it whatever event takes place through msg,
mail, etc. Like transaction notification, order received notification. Better customer
satisfaction, anxiety-free transaction.

7. Collaboration and trading - Does through Matchmaking, Negotiation and Mediation.

 Sell your used product and get another product, a product within 10k with specified
features, Reduced price but better service. 10% cashback in bkash.

8. Electronic payment (Web payment) - Includes 3 major things. 1. Web payment process,
2. EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer), and 3. Securing electronic payment.

● Product selection
● A shopping cart is a virtual basket where selected items are stored for checkout and
processing. Zen cart, 3D cart, X cart cloud, pinnacle cart - some of the shopping cart
providers.
● Several methods of Electronic payment: 3 Major methods - Pay by phone (bKash,
Nogod), debit card-credit card, web based fund transfer (PayPal, Ali pay, ten-cent).
● Snipper (kind of hacker) is a program that covertly searches/filters the packets of data as
they pass through the internet to capture valuable information.
● Encrypt the data passing between the customer and credit card
● SET (Secured Electronic Transaction), SSL (Secured Socket Layer), Digital wallet.

Issues of electronic payment process:

1. Payment nature. Nearly anonymous nature of transaction.
2. Security issues.
3. Wide variety of Debit & credit card that the e - commerce site has to manage.
4. Wide variety of financial institutions and intermediaries.

eBay, amazon, cisco, ali baba, rokomari, chal dal - feedback taking process, type - 2 to 3
slides.

E-Commerce Business Model:

How it produces, delivers, and serves (PDS), at the same time how it generates revenue.
Revenue generation for the company as well as creating value for customers.