電子商務概論淡江大學資訊管理系所侯永昌 ychou

電子商務概論

淡江大學資訊管理系所侯永昌

http://mail.im.tku.edu.tw/~ychou ftp://mail.im.tku.edu.tw/Prof_Hou

教科書︰ Turban, King, Lee, Liang and Turban, Electronic Commerce: A Managerial Perspective 2012, Pearson Education, Inc.華泰文化代理

Chapter 2

E-Commerce: Mechanisms,

Infrastructures, and Tools

淡江大學資管系所侯永昌 4

章前故事： Blue Nile 改變了珠寶產業Blue Nile Inc. (bluenile.com), a pure-play online

e-tailer that specializes in diamonds and jewelry , capitalized online diamond sales in 1999

Using the B2C model, knocking out expensive stores and intermediaries and then slashing prices (up to 35% less than rivals), Blue Nile captured a high market share and making a sizable profit in a short time

Blue Nile offers a huge selection of diamonds and more information on diamonds than a jewelry expert offers in a physical store


章前故事： Blue Nile 改變了珠寶產業 It features educational guides in plain English and

provides independent (and trusted) quality rating for every stone

A customer can look over a rating scale for cut, clarity, color, and so on and then conduct a price comparison with Diamond.com and other online stores

Most important is the 30-day money-back guarantee. This provides customers a comfort level against fraud and give Blue Nile a competitive edge against stores that take the stones back but charge a fee to do so


章前故事： Blue Nile 改變了珠寶產業Blue Nile bypasses the industry’s tangled supply

chain. It became the eighth-largest specialty jewelry company in the United States and went to public in 2004

In 2006, sales exceeded $210 million. Blue Nile does it with one 10,000-square-foot warehouse and 115 staffs. A traditional retail chain needs 200 stores and close to 1,800 employees to do so

This is one reason why in the United States some 465 small jewelry stores closed in 2003. The survivors specialize in custom-crafted pieces


從 Blue Nile 個案中我們得到的經驗Blue Nile is a pure-play online store that

uses electronic catalogs, virtual shopping carts, and superb customer services to sell diamonds and jewelry

Because of low operating costs and global reach, Blue Nile and other online jewelers quickly conquered an impressive share, driving hundreds of small traditional jewelry retailers out of business


EC Activities and Support Mechanisms


Sellers, Buyers, and Transactions


The Purchasing Process


電子市集 (E-Marketplace)An online market, usually B2B, in which

buyers and sellers exchange information, goods or services; the three types of e-marketplaces are private, public, and consortia


Major Components and Players CustomersSellersProducts and services

Digital products: Goods that can be transformed into digital format and delivered over the Internet

Infrastructure Electronic networks Hardware Software


Major Components and Players Front end

The portion of an e-seller’s business processes through which customers interact, including the seller’s portal, electronic catalogs, a shopping cart, a search engine, and a payment gateway

Back end The activities that support online order-taking.

It includes order fulfillment, inventory management, purchasing from suppliers, payment processing, packaging, and delivery


Major Components and Players Intermediary: A third party that operates

between sellers and buyers They provide relevant information about

demand, supply, prices, and requirements and help match sellers and buyers

They provide value-added services such as transfer product, escrow, payment arrangements, consulting, or assistance in finding a business partner

Physical intermediaries may be eliminated or their job be computerized


Disintermediation and Reintermediation


Private E-MarketplacesOnline markets owned by a single

company; which are frequently open only to selected members and are not publicly regulated

Sell-side e-marketplace A private e-marketplace in which a company

sells either standard or customized products to qualified companies

Buy-side e-marketplace A private e-marketplace in which a company

makes purchases from invited suppliers


Public E-Marketplaces

B2B marketplaces, usually owned and/or managed by an independent third party (not a seller or a buyer) or by a group of buying or selling companies (a consortium), that serve many sellers and many buyers; also known as exchanges

They are open to the public and are regulated by the government or the exchange’s owners


Customer Shopping MechanismsWebstore (storefront)

A single company’s website where products or services are sold; usually has an online shopping cart associated with it

Many Webstores target a specific industry and find their own unique corner of the market

E-mall (online mall) An online shopping center where many online

stores are located


Types of Stores and MallsGeneral stores/mallsSpecialized stores/mallsRegional versus global storesPure-play versus click-and-mortar stores


商店與商場的服務Most common mechanisms are:

Electronic catalog Search engine Electronic cart E-auction facilities Payment gateway Shipment court Customer services


Customer Shopping MechanismsWeb (information) portal

A single point of access, through a Web browser, to critical business information located inside and outside (via Internet) an organization

Types of Portals Commercial (public) portals Corporate portals Publishing portals Personal portals Mobile portal: accessible via a mobile device Voice portal: accessed by telephone or cell phone


How a Portal Works


Roles and Value of Intermediaries Brokers: a person or company that facilitates

transactions between buyers and sellers Infomediaries: Electronic intermediaries that

provide and/or control information flow in cyberspace, often aggregating information and selling it to others

E-distributor: An e-commerce intermediary that connects manufacturers with business buyers (customers) by aggregating the catalogs of many manufacturers in one place—the intermediary’s website


Infomediaries and Information Flow Model


Merchant Solutions: Catalogs Electronic Catalogs (e-catalogs) The presentation of product information in an

electronic form; the backbone of most e-selling sites

Online Catalogs Versus Paper Catalogs Paper catalogs probably will not disappear in the

near future. However, in B2B, paper catalogs may disappear more quickly


Paper Catalogs vs. Online Catalogs


Merchant Solutions: Searching EC Search Activities Internet/Web Search: It involves any documents

on the Web Enterprise Search: The practice of identifying and

enabling specific content across the enterprise to be indexed, searched, and displayed to authorized users

Desktop Search: The emphasis is on finding all the information that is available on the user’s PC, including Web browser histories, e-mail archives, and word-processed documents, as well as in all internal files and databases


Merchant Solutions: Searching Search Engine A computer program that can access databases of

Internet resources, search for specific information or key words, and report the results

Software (Intelligent) Agents Unlike a search engine, it can do more than just

“search and match.” It has capabilities that can be used to perform routine tasks that require intelligence


Merchant Solutions: Searching Questions and Answers Online Intelligent search engines can answer user

questions Voice-Powered Search To ease searching, especially when using a

smartphone, it allows you to skip keyboard altogether

Visual Shopping Search Engine Using computer vision and machine learning

technology, it provides visual search that focus on shoes, clothes, jewelry, and decor


Merchant Solutions: Shopping Electronic Shopping Carts It is an order-processing technology that allows

customers to accumulate items they wish to buy while they continue to shop

Product Configuration Product configuration systems support the

acquisition of customer requirements while automating the order-taking process, and they allows customers to configure their products by specifying their technical requirements


Auctions A competitive process in which a seller

solicits consecutive bids from buyers (forward auctions) or a buyer solicits bids from sellers (backward auctions); prices are determined dynamically by the bids

Dynamic Pricing Prices that change based on supply and demand

relationships at any given time Electronic Auctions (e-auctions) Auctions conducted online


Limitations of Traditional Off-line Auctions

The rapid process may give potential buyers little time to make a decision

Bidders do not have much time to examine the goods

Bidders must usually be physically present at auctions

Difficult for sellers to move goods to an auction site

Commissions are fairly high


Types of auctions (1)One Buyer, One Seller

The resulting price will be determined by each party’s bargaining power, supply and demand in the item’s market, and (possibly) business environment factors

One Seller, Many Potential Buyers Forward auction

An auction in which a seller entertains bids from buyers. Bidders increase price sequentially


Types of auctions (2)One Buyer, Many Potential Sellers

Reverse auction (bidding or tendering system)Auction in which the buyer places an item for bid (tender) on a request for quote (RFQ) system, potential suppliers bid on the job, with the price reducing sequentially, and the lowest bid wins; primarily a B2B or G2B mechanism

“name-your-own-price” modelAuction model in which a would-be buyer specifies the price (and other terms) he or she is willing to pay to any willing and able seller. It is a C2B model that was pioneered by Priceline.com


The Reverse Auction Process


Types of auctions (3)Many Sellers, Many Buyers

Double auction

Auctions in which multiple buyers and their bidding prices are matched with multiple sellers and their asking prices, considering the quantities on both sides

Penny Auction A formal auction in which participants pay a

nonrefundable small fee for each bid; bid level changes by small increments


Benefits to Sellers Benefits to Buyers Benefits to E-AuctioneersIncreased revenues from

broadening bidder base and shortening cycle time

Opportunity to bargain instead of selling at a fixed price

Optimal price setting determined by the market (more buyers, more information)

Sellers can gain more custom dollars by offering items directly (saves on the commission to intermediaries; also, physical auction are very expensive compared with e-auctions)

Can liquidate large qualities quickly

Improved customer relationship and loyalty (in the case of specialized B2B auction sites and electronic exchanges)

Opportunities to find unique items and collectibles

Entertainment. Participation in e-auctions can be entertaining and exciting

Convenience. Buyers can bid from anywhere, even with a cell phone; they do not have to travel to an auction place

Anonymity. With the help of a third party, buyers can remain anonymous

Higher repeat purchases. Jupiter Research found that auction sites, such as eBay, tend to garner higher repeat-purchase rates than the top B2C sites, such as Amazon.com

High “stickiness” to the Web site (the tendency of customers to stay at sites longer and come back more often). Auction sites are frequently “stickier” than fixed-priced sites. Stickier sites generate more ad revenue for the e-auctioneer

Easy expansion of the auction business

Benefits of E-Auctions


Limitations of E-AuctionsMinimal security

Some C2C auctions conducted on Internet are not secure because they are done in an unencrypted environment

High possibility of fraud Because buyer cannot see the items, the buyer may get

defective products Buyer can commit fraud by receiving goods or services

without paying for them

Limited participation Some auctions are by invitation only; others are open to

dealers only. Limited participation may be a disadvantage to sellers, who usually benefit from as large a pool of buyers as possible


Impacts of AuctionsAuctions as a social mechanism to

determine a priceAuctions as a highly visible distribution

mechanismAuctions as an EC component in a business

modelAuctions for profit for individuals


BarteringThe exchange of goods or services, is the

oldest method of trade; today, it is done primarily between organization

The problem is that it is difficult to find trading partners

Bartering Exchange: A marketplace in which an intermediary arranges barter transactions

Intermediaries may be helpful, but they are expensive (20~30% commission) and very slow


Online BarteringE-bartering (electronic bartering)

Bartering conducted online, usually by a bartering exchange

E-bartering can improve the matching process by attracting more partners to the barter, better matches can be found, and matching can be done faster

Frequently bartered items online include office space, storage, and factory space; idle facilities; and labor, products, and banner ads


Online Bartering

How it works? The company tells the bartering exchange what

it wants to offer The exchange then assesses the value of the

company’s products or services and offers it certain “points” or “bartering dollars”

The company can use the “points” to buy the things it needs from a participating member in the exchange


Online NegotiatingDynamic prices can be determined by negotiation

Negotiated pricing commonly is used for expensive or specialized products

Negotiated prices also are popular when large quantities are purchased

Negotiation also deals with non-pricing terms, such as the payment method, timing, and credit

In case where there is no standard service or product to speak of, customization and bundling of products and services often are necessary to negotiate both price and terms


Social Software Tools Social Software A software product that enables people to

rendezvous, connect, and collaborate through computer-mediated communication

Blog A personal website that is open to the public to

read and to interact with; dedicated to specific topics or issues

Vlog (or video blog) A blog with video content


Social Software Tools Commercial Uses of Blogs An excellent method for public relations

Potential Risks of Corporate Blogs Reveling trade secrets by insiders Making statements that are or could be

considered as libel or defamation Bloggers can be biased against a company and

tint it reputation


Social Software Tools Microblogging A form of blogging that allows users to write

messages (usually up to 140 characters) and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group that can be chosen by the user; these messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, e-mail, MP3, or just on the Web

Twitter A free microblogging service that allows its users to

send and read other users’ updates


Essentials of Twitter for Business The Major Benefits of Twitter Give you the chance to communicate informally

and casually with customers on their terms Create friendly relationships along the way, it

shrinks the emotional distance between your company and your customers

Examples of Twitter as Enterprise Tools http://business.twitter.com/twitter101


Social Software Tools Wiki (wikilog) A blog that allows everyone to participate as a peer;

anyone may add, delete, or change content Tag A nonhierarchical key word or term assigned to a

piece of information. This kind of metadata helps describe an item as a key word and allows it to be found by browsers when searching


Social Software Tools Folksonomy (collaborative tagging, social

tagging) The practice and method of collaboratively creating,

classifying, and managing tags to annotate and categorize content

Tags are generated not only by experts but also by creators and consumers of the content


Social Software Tools Mashup Combination of two or more websites into a single

website that provides the content of both sites (whole or partial) to deliver a novel product or service to consumers

The most popular type of mashup relates to map, which can be combined with other data sources to produce interesting results


Social Software Tools Social Bookmarking Web service for sharing Internet bookmarks; the

sites are a popular way to store, classify, share, and search links through the practice of folksonomy techniques on the Internet and intranets


Virtual CommunitiesA group of people with similar interests who

interact with one another using the InternetTypes of Communities

Associations Affinity portals Ethnic communities Gender communities Catering to young people Communities of practice Neighborhood communities Social networks sites Virtual worlds


Business-Oriented Social NetworksA social network whose major interest is

business topics and whose members are professional people; such networks are used mostly for creating contacts, providing requirements, and enlisting members’ support for problem solving and knowledge sharing

Linkedln.com Xing.com


Virtual Worlds as an Electronic Commerce MechanismVirtual World

A user-defined world in which people can interact, play, and do business; the most publicized virtual world is Second Life

Avatars Animated computer characters that exhibit

humanlike movements and behaviors Aim at making the human-computer interface

more natural


Business Activities and Value in Virtual WorldsCollaborationResearch and MarketingVirtual ShoppingTrading Virtual Properties


The Future: Web 3.0 and Web 4.0Web 3.0

A term used to describe the future of the World Wide Web; it consists of the creation of high-quality content and services produced by gifted individuals using Web 2.0 technology as an enabling platform

Web 4.0 The Web generation after Web 3.0 that is still an

unknown entity; however, it is envisioned as being based on islands of intelligence and as being ubiquitous


The Future: Web 3.0 and Web 4.0Semantic Web

An evolving extension of the Web in which Web content can be expressed not only in natural language, but also in a form that can be understood, interpreted, and used by intelligent computer software agents, permitting them to find, share, and integrate information more easily


Evolution from Web 1.0 to Web 4.0


Managerial Issues (1)1. Should we use auctions for selling?

• Auctions do have some limitations, and forward auctions may create conflicts with other distribution channels

• If a company decide to auction, it needs to select an auction mechanism and determine a pricing strategy.

• Auctions also require support services. Decisions about how to provide these services and to what extent to use business partners are critical to the success of high-volume auctions


Managerial Issues (2)2. Should we barter?

• Bartering can be an interesting strategy, especially for companies that lack cash, need special material or machinery, and have surplus resources

• The valuation of what is brought or sold may be hard to determine, and the tax implications in some countries are not clear

3. How do we select merchant software?• Small businesses should consider offers from Yahoo! Or

eBay since the software is combined with hosting and offers exposure to the vendor-managed e-market

• The functionalities of the software must be examined as well as the ease of building webstores


Managerial Issues (3)4. How shall we start using Web 2.0 tools?

• Start small: Determine whether a collaborative tool would benefit a team or group working on a specific project

• People in marketing department are often good first targets for information sharing with others because they are usually the ones tasked with sharing corporate information

• Try establishing a wiki for a team’s collaborative project. Some wikis are hosted on an internal server, whereas others are available as open source or via hosted service


Managerial Issues (4)5. How can we use Facebook and other social

networks in our business?• Any progressive organization should examine and

experiment with social networking, especially in marketing and advertising

6. Shall we take part in virtual worlds?• For many companies and applications, the technology is

still immature and cumbersome• A good strategy is to observe what other companies,

especially in the same industry, are doing in Second Life

7. How should we deal with Web 2.0 risks?• To protect the security, get some outside legal advice• Use a risk expert for large projects to examine and

evaluate the risks


Summary (1)1. E-marketplaces and their components

E-marketplace is a virtual market that does not suffer from limitations of space, time, or borders

Its major components include customersSellersProducts (some are digital)InfrastructureFront-end processesBack-end activitiesElectronic intermediariesOther business partiesSupport services


Summary (2)2. The role of intermediaries

Some will be eliminated (disintermediation), others will change their roles and prosper (reintermediation)

New value-added services that range from content creation to syndication are mushrooming

3. The major types of e-marketplaces In B2C area, there are storefronts and e-malls In B2B area, there are private and public e-

marketplaces, which may be vertical (within one industry) or horizontal (across different industries)


Summary (3)4. Electronic catalogs, search engines, software

(intelligent) agents and shopping carts These mechanisms facilitate EC by providing a user-

friendly shopping environment

5. Types of auctions and their characteristics In forward auctions, bids from buyers are placed

sequentially, either in increasing (English or Yankee) mode or in decreasing (Dutch and free-fall) mode

In reverse auctions, buyers place an RFQ and suppliers submit offers in one or several rounds

In “name-your-own-price” auctions, buyers specify how much they are willing to pay for a product or service, and an intermediary tries to find a supplier to fulfill the request


Summary (4)6. The benefits and limitations of auctions

The major benefits for sellers are the ability to reach many buyers, to sell quickly, and to save on commissions to intermediaries; buyers have a chance to obtain bargains and collectibles while shipping from their homes

The major limitation is the possibility of fraud

7. Bartering and negotiating Electronic bartering can greatly facilitate the swapping

of goods and services among organization, thanks to improved search and matching capabilities, which is done in bartering exchanges

Software agents can facilitate online negotiation


Summary (5)

8. The role of m-commerce Mobile commerce is emerging; it also creates new

location-related applications

9. Competition in the digital economy Competition in online markets is very intense due to

The increased power of buyers The ability to find the lowest price The ease of switching to another vendor More global competition


Summary (6)10. The impact of e-markets on organizations

Direct marketing and one-to-one marketing and advertising are becoming the norm

Mass customization and personalization are taking off Production is moving to a build-to-order model, change

supply chain relationships and reducing cycle time Virtual manufacturing is also on the rise Financial systems are becoming more efficient as they

become networked with other business functions Human resources activities of recruiting, evaluation,

and training are being managed more efficiently due to employees’ interaction with machines

電子商務概論 淡江大學 資訊管理系所 侯 永 昌 ychou

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電子商務概論淡江大學資訊管理系所侯永昌 ychou