Question

Q84

Briefly discuss a conceptual framework for consumer-oriented e-commerce. [4 Marks]

Answer 1

Electronic commerce or as it called E-commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet. In practice, this term and e-business are often used interchangeably. For online retail selling, the term e-tailing is sometimes used. Laudon & Traver defined E-commerce as usage of internet and the World Wide Web for business transactions. In other words, digitally enabled commercial transactions between organizations and individuals.

Inception of companies like eBay and Amazon marked the harbinger of e-commerce. eBay and Amazon were among the first to establish prominent e-commerce brands in and around year 1994 and since then have become global giants with their presence in all the continents. Prominent ecommerce categories today are Books, Apparels, electronics, Industrial supplies, Groceries and many more.

Categories of e Commerce:

1. B2B – Business 2 business (Alibaba.com)
2. B2C – Businee to Consumer (Dell.com)
3. C2C – Consumer to Consumer (Ebay.com)
4. C2B – Consumer to business (Speakout.com)

Consumer oriented C2C e-commerce, business originates from consumer and end user is also consumer. This type of commerce is best suited for dealing in goods for which there is no established organized platform, for instance selling used books or clothe rental either on cash or in exchange. Etsy, TMall, Taobao are some prominent consumer-oriented eCommerce portals.

Web Auctions - Example

Online Auctions work on simple principal where purchaser puts an offer at a thing he/she plans sell, different purchasers (bidders) who take a glimpse at a similar product would need to put their offers also, at their best affordable costs. Online closeout normally has a time constrain, running anywhere from a couple of days to a fortnight. Then the item or the commodity or the service is sold to the highest or the lowest bidder as per the business and service model. Most sought after product/Service will bring out the most aggressive offers. Online sales-oriented organization like eBay, charges to a merchant when a product/Service is sold. A posting expense could possibly be levied upon the consumer who is posting the offer or opening the bid. The product is delivered to the purchaser by means of various modes of transportation and it takes anything from a day to a week depending upon the purchaser's area. Regardless of the purchaser dealer area in this plan of action, online platforms offer immense portfolio of items, from hand crafted item to top of the line developed electronics.