Chapter 1 (Slides)

Question 1

What were the 8 “emerging technologies” back in 2020?

Answer 1

1. IOT (Internet of Things)
2. AI (Artificial Intelligence)
3. AR (Augmented Reality)
4. VR (Virtual Reality)
5. 3D Printing
6. Blockchain
7. Drones
8. Robots

Question 2

Define E-commerce

Answer 2

Use of the internet to transact using the browser, mobile etc. Or Digitally enabled commercial transactions between organisations/individuals

Question 3

Difference between E-Commerce & E-business

Answer 3

E-business: Digitally enabling transactions and processes within a firm invading systems under the firm. Basically all business being done online.

E-commerce: Buying/Selling online.

Question 4

What are some unique features of E-commerce technology?

Answer 4

1. Ubiquity: It is available everywhere (Mobiles, websites, home) etc.
2. Global reach: Audience can be reached around the world
3. Universal standards: There is one set standard across the world for the technology.

4.Richness: Audio, Video and messaging is a possibility.

5. Interactivity: Allows and is done through interaction with users.
6. Information density: Reduces information costs and improves quality.
7. Personalisation: Allows personalised messages/offers to be delivered to people around the world.
8. Social technology: User generated content etc can be shared on social channels.

Question 5

What are the different types of E-commerce ?

Answer 5

1. B2C: Business sell directly to customers through web shops or other mediums.
2. B2B: Businesses transact by selling their services or products to each other.
3. C2C: Consumer to Consumer allows customers to sell/list items directly for other consumers eg on : Ebay, Craiglist etc.
4. M-commerce: Mobile devices/Tablets are used to conduct transactions.
5. Social E-commerce: Social platforms used to buy/sell products and services eg: Instagram/Facebook.
6. Local E-commerce: Groupon offer subscribers daily deals from local businesses once enough customers have agreed to purchase something.

Question 6

What are the three different period in E-commerce history?

Answer 6

1. Invention: 1995 - 2000
   
   • Limited bandwidth and media
   • Dot com crash
2. Consolidation:
   
   • focus on business driven approach
   • business web presence expands/startup funding shrinks
   • mixed online online and offline presence of business.
   • imperfect markets
3. Reinvention:
   
   • Rapid growth due to web platforms and on-demand service economy.
   • transformation of marketing
   • extensive government surveillance.

Question 7

What are the organising themes of E-commerce?

Answer 7

Technology: Development and mastery of digital computing and communications technology.

Business: New tech present business with new ways of organising production and transacting business.

Society: Intellectual property, individual privacy, public welfare policy.

Question 8

What were some major “Business Trends” ?

Answer 8

1. Covid pandemic fuelled a surge in retail e-commerce and m-commerce.
2. New business models such as Dropshipping were heavily adopted and successful.
3. Startup funding was at a high
4. Mobile ad spending accounts for almost 70% of all ad spending.

Question 9

What were some major “Technological Trends” ?

Answer 9

1. Use of E-payment increased dramatically due to covid eg: Apple Pay, G pay and Paytm in India.
2. Cloud computing completes the transformation of the mobile platform by storing consumer content and software on cloud servers making it available to any consumer connected device from the desktop to a smartphone.
3. IOT is growing exponentially.
4. Big Data has become very crucial along with developments in AI.

Question 10

What were some major “Societal Trends” ?

Answer 10

1. User generated continues to grow at a fast rate
2. Privacy concerns for social platforms were under scrutiny like Facebook.
3. Spam remains a significant problem
4. On-demand service e-commerce produces a flood of temporary, poorly paid jobs without benefits.