eCommerce and eBusiness
For common people, eCommerce and eBusiness may mean only one thing but technically speaking, these two terms have different meanings. Although, both of these concepts utilizes electronic medium of transactions, the way they are used are two different things. eCommerce refers to the transactions that can be done online. This includes the buying and selling of goods and services and all the processes that are involve with it like the marketing or taking orders and procurement of raw materials. eCommerce can be done either through vertical integration, cross-business integration or technology integration. (Bartels, 2000) eBusiness on the other hand is a broader concept as it has a broader scope. In fact, eCommerce is just one aspect of eBusiness. It is complex because it covers all the internal processes that are involved in a business which is the focus of the concept. Since eBusiness is more complex, it follows that its execution is harder compared to the execution of eCommerce. eBusiness can be integrated either vertically, laterally, horizontally or downward. Although, eCommerce has several advantages, eBusiness has higher payoff since the improvement in processes will lead to a greater profits.
The battle whether who will thrive more in the future between brick and mortar businesses and ecommerce is continuously haunting businessmen. Although, there have been several reports as to the importance of the co-existence of these two types of business strategies, some predict that brick and mortar businesses will soon be replaced by the ecommerce considering the easy access of people with ecommerce today. 70% of online sales is attributed to the use of mobile phones today. (Anderson, 2013) The solution businesses found with the new business strategy is to integrate their brick-and-mortar business with ecommerce. Take for example big stores like Target and Walmart. Although they still have their physical stores as they believe that most shoppers still want to do online shopping, they also expand their e-commerce capabilities.
Accordingly, there are 3 big differences between brick and mortar businesses and ecommerce. First, a good location is very important for a brick and mortar business. Likewise, the online location of an ecommerce is as important as that of a brick and mortar store. Location in ecommerce refers to how easily they are to be located online. They need to invest in social media to “spread the news” that yes, this company is selling something online. They have to have the right keywords such that if someone searches for a product their chance to reach the top result will increase as most online shoppers do not look at the second pages of search results. The second difference is in terms of product interaction. With brick-and –mortar store, one can actually fit the jeans that he is about to buy. However, in an online store, shoppers depend on the description given and there is a big chance that the product will not meet the taste of the user once delivered. The last big difference lies on the overhead costs. Of course in an online store, there are reduced overheads. You need not rent a big store to display your products and one can manage the business anywhere however, if a brick and mortar store needs a good display area, ecommerce needs a decent and interactive website that is capable of catering to the clients. (nine.com)
Let’s take the case of target.com and analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the online store. Target is one of the largest online stores that exists today which is capable of delivering on several countries.
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References:
Anderson, Scott (2013). Bricks-and-mortar vs. online commerce” – the battle has ended.. Retrieved from http://blog.bazaarvoice.com/2013/02/25/bricks-and-mortar-vs-online-commerce-the-battle-has-ended/
Bartels, Andrew (2000). The difference between e-business and e-commerce. Retrieved from http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/53015/The_difference_between_e_business_and_e_commerce
Nine.com (2013). Bricks and Mortar vs. Ecommerce – 3 Big Differences. Retrieved from http://www.wearenine.com/guides/bricks-and-mortar-vs-ecommerce-3-big-differences/
