Question

1. Define e-commerce and describe its advantages, disadvantages, and business models

2. What are the advantages of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce?

3. Describe at least two categories of social networks and online media that collectively constitute social commerce.

Answer 1

Define e-commerce and describe its advantages, disadvantages, and business models

Definition of E-commerce = E-commerce ,an acronym of electronic commerce, means buying and selling of goods using the internet over the web. In this system, transactions are done online using online payment system and online data is used to execute the transactions.

Advantages of E-Commerce are :

• CaptureLarger Market - E-Commerce helps in capturing larger market as business is conduicted on web and web allows the user to purchase goods or services from anywhere and anytime.
• Lower Cost - Online business is done on web so there is relatively less need of infrastructure, thus helps in lowering cost. An affordable eCommerce store can be opened and maintained easily.
• Unlimited shelf space - The online business is not dependent on available space. There is no limit for products or goods, and the customer and market denmand can be achieved at its best.

Disadvantages of E-Commerce

• Lack of personal Touch - As dealings are done online, there is lack of personal touch. The role of salesman is important to make customers aware of charactyeristics of products or contents of services.
• Mechanical Failures - Unpredictable mechanical failures may create disturbances in processes andmay also lead to huge technical costs.
• Confusion in specifications and quality of products - As the customers cannot check the products physically, there may be confusion in buying the product or not.

Advantages of Business to Business Commerce

There are several advantages of B2B Commerce. some of them include

• Enhanced Reach - B2B portals allow to have wider reach o the customers, that helps in building better consumer awareness.
• Proper Management of Suppliers and Customers - The concept of B2B provides better management as clients can view the custom made portal showing the history of their records including personal details, shipping and tracking data etc.
• More Sales - With this business model not only new clients can be reached,but also helps in up-sell and cross-sell program of recommendation features.

Describe at least two categories of social networks and online media that collectively constitute social commerce.

There are mainly seven categories of Social commerce . Two of them are described below:

1)Social Network Driven Sales - Social network sales are occured when the buyers get the brand awareness and buy the product from social media platforms.

2)Peer-to peer sales - Peer to peer sales are made by offering products according to community vbased market place, where an individual can sell to one and other.