process of buying, selling, transferring, serving, or exchanging products, services, or info via computer networks, including the Internet

aka e-business

product, process and delivery agent are all digital (whereas traditionally were all physical)

conduct some e-commerce, yet primary business is in the physical world (ex: Godiva)

                -many people expect traditional / physical companies to offer some forms of EC

                                -ex: your bank, airline, Godiva online

also known as e-tailing

-electronic retailing: direct sale of goods and services through electronic storefronts → designed around electronic catalog format and/or auctions

consumers make a need for a product or service known, and suppliers compete to provide it (ex: Priceline.com: customer names product/service and price → Priceline tries to find a supplier to fulfill stated need)

competitive process in which seller solicits bids from buyers of buyer solicits bids from sellers

                -prices are determined by competitive bidding

                -increase revenues for sellers by broadening customer base and shortening cycle time

                -benefits for buyers: opportunity to bargain for lower prices and not having to travel

                                -Internet allows for lower admin costs, more buyers and sellers

auctions that sellers use as a selling channel to potential buyers

                                                -buyers bid continuously → highest bidder wins

                                                -Ebay.com conducts mostly forward auctions

- type one: one to liquidate existing inventory → customers seek lowest price on widely available goods or services

-type two: increase marketing outreach and efficiency: customers seek access to unique products or services

retailing online

-provides ability to offer customized p and s to individual customers at a reasonable price and fairly past

                                -reduces costs 20 – 40% by conducting a lot of the business electronically

                                -resolving conflicts within click-and-mortar organizations

-conflict with offline operations when established company decides to sell direct online

-pricing p and s, allocation of resources, logistics

resolving channel conflict

                                -resolving conflicts within click-and-mortar organizations

                                -organizing order fulfillment and logistics

                                -determining viability and risk of online e-tailers

                                -identifying appropriate revenue models

organizations attempt to buy needed p or s electronically

                -reverse auction

indirect materials for one industry are purchased on an as-needed basis (spot sourcing)

                -buyers and sellers may not even know each other

                -prices constantly change based on supply and demand

many-to-many e-marketplaces for indirect materials used by any industry

                -quantities usually not very large

                -prices are fixed or negotiated

needed services such a temp help or extra space are traded on an as-needed basis

use of Internet technology and e-commerce to deliver information and public services to citizens, business partners and suppliers of gov’t entities, and people who work in the public sector

exploding on auction sites

                -also through classified ads and personal services (lawyers, dating services, investment advisors)

                -support services: PayPal.com helps prevent fraud

an organization refers customers to the selling company’s website

-also: search engine ads, viral marketing, newspaper ads, advergaming (using games to advertise)

wallet stores financial info so it does not have to be reentered

-if wallet is stored on the vendor’s site, it does not have to travel on the Net for each purchase → more secure

shop with an ID number and password instead of a credit card number 

-ethical and legal issues in e-business

-privacy

                -web tracking

                -loss of jobs

3G and 4G

                -the Centrino chip

-connection device to WLAN

                                -low usage of electricity → more work on a single battery charge

                                -high level of security

any e-commerce or e-business done in a wireless environment

intangible

provides convenience and efficiency benefits

                -can also lead to core competencies and competitive advantage

-location: determining the position of a person or thing

                                -navigation: plotting a route from one location to another

                                -tracking: monitoring movement of person or thing along the route

                                -timing: determining the precise time at a specific location

latitude and longitude inserted onto a digital map

                -integrates GPS data onto digitized map displays

integration of computers and wireless connections in order to improve information flow

-using mobile telemetry technicians can diagnose from a distance maintenance problems in equipment

-issues holding back location-based commerce

accuracy

                -cost-benefit justification

                -bandwidth of GSM networks

                -invasion of privacy

virtually every object has processing power with wireless or wired connections to a global network

technology that uses radio waves to identify items

                -consists of a RFID tag and a RFID reader

networks of interconnected, battery-powered, wireless sensors called motes

composed of motes,, where each mote “wakes up” or activates for a fraction of a second when it has data to transmit then relays data to nearest neighbor

                -data is moved instead of transmitted

advanced internet technology and applications including blogs, wikis, RSS, etc

-ability to tap into collective intelligence of users

                                -making data available in new or never-intended ways

                                -user-generated and controlled content

                                -presence of light-weight programming techniques

                                -digital democracy

                                -major emphasis on social networking

                                -new business models are rapidly and continuously being created

companies that facilitate person-to-person lending → change to lending business

                -disrupt and reorder markets or even industries

                -people can now be both publishers and consumers of content with disrupts traditional media

user-defined 3D world in which people can interact, play, and do business with the help of avatars

                -ex: Second Life

social relationships in terms of nodes and ties

                                -nodes: individual actors with the networks

                                -ties: relationships between actors

-social marketplace acts like an online community harnessing the power of one’s social networks for introducing, buying, and selling of products, services, and resources, including people’s own creations

new generation of business applications

                -faster connectivity

                -richer ways of interacting

                -more powerful search engines

                -10 MB of bandwidth

                -more uses of 3D and virtual worlds

                -larger utilization of wireless

evolving extension of the Web

-web content can be expressed not only in natural language but in a form that can be understood and interpreted by intelligent computer software agents → info can be found, shared, and integrated more easily

-security concern

                -lack of net neutrality

                -copyright complaints

                -choppy connectivity