Chapter 1

Question 1

Define E-commerce

Answer 1

Involves digitally enabled commerical transactions between and among organzations and individuals. Transactions that occur over the Internet, the Web and/or via mobile devices

Question 2

Define E-business

Answer 2

Refers to primarly the digital enabling of transactions and processes within a firm, involving information systems under the control of the firm

Question 3

What are the eight features of E-commerce technology?

Answer 3

1. Ubiquity - accessable everywhere
2. Global Reach - cross cultural and national boundaries more convinently and cost-effective
3. Universal Standards - shared by all nations around the world
4. Richness - enabling online merchants to deliver marketing messages not possible before
5. Interactivity - allow two communication between merchant and consumer
6. Information density - the total amount of information available to all market participants
7. Personalization/customization - allow merchants to create customized marketing messages to specific individuals
8. Social Technology - provides a many-to-many model of mass communication

Question 4

What are the 6 major types of E-commerce?

Answer 4

1. B2C - the type most consumers are likely to encounter. Amazon
2. B2B - the largest form of e-commerce. Go2Paper
3. C2C - eBay, AirBnB
4. M-commerce - tablets, computers and smartphones
5. Social e-commerce - Facebook
6. Local e-commerce - Groupon, offering subscribers daily deals from local businesses

Question 5

What are the three stages e-commerce has gone through (history of it)?

Answer 5

1. Innovation - 1995-2000 (experimentation, capitalization and hypercompetition), technology driven
2. Consolidation - 2001-2006, business driven
3. Reinvention - 2007 and onwards with the emergence of the mobile digital platform, social networks and Web 2.0 applications

Question 6

What is an incubator?

Answer 6

Helping businesses move from little more than a great idea to an established vibrant business. Example is Rocket Internet

Question 7

What are the three major themes underlying the study of e-commerce?

Answer 7

1. Technology - to understand e-commerce you need a basic understanding of the information technologies upon which it is built. Example, the Internet, the Web and mobile platforms
2. Business - technology provides the infrastructure while business create the interest and excitement of e-commerce
3. Society - need to understand the pressures that global e-commerce places on contemporary society. Primary societal issues are intellectual property, individual privacy and public policy

Question 8

What are the two primary approaches to e-commerce?

Answer 8

1. Technical - includes data mining, search engine design and AI
2. Behavioral - sociology, economics, finance and accounting, management and marketing implications

Question 9

What types of media are there?

Answer 9

1. Earned media (Public relations)
2. Owned media
3. Purchased media