What is eCommerce?
eCommerce revolves around setting up your business in a way that enables you to trade on the Internet. This means allowing your clients to access your website, view a virtual catalogue and when they are interested in what you have to offer from products and services they can simply add it to a virtual shopping cart allowing them to pay for it online via the means of electronic transactions to include credit cards and direct debit.
What is eBusiness?
eBusiness relates to any commercial activity that is conducted in an electronic format. This includes commercial transactions conducted via the Internet, telephone and fax, electronic banking and payment systems, electronic purchasing and restocking, etc.
eBusiness is not limited to certain type of business or technology related products and services. One of the uses of eBusiness is networking allowing sales and marketing activities to take place. Other eBusiness activities include purchasing and logistics, production, educations, design and engineering. The most effective use of eBusiness is when a business combines several of these activities allowing information to flow from sales, to purchasing and production.
eBusiness can certainly be used in:
- Communication, e.g. e-mail,
- Promotion, e.g. web pages, keeping clients informed about products, services and developments, facilitation of market research via asking clients to participate in online surveys, or providing customer service,
- Linking, e.g. Internal Linking between departments known as Intranet and External Linking with suppliers known as Extranet, and
- Creating new business models, e.g. sharing resources with new partners.
eBusiness vs. eCommerce?
eCommerce is actually a subset of eBusiness. It means using the Internet to order and pay for products and services, while eBusiness covers a broader range of activities that could take place via eMail or the web. The latter describes the information systems and applications used to support and drive business processes using web technologies.
eBusiness allows for more efficient and effective linking between departments, development of a closer relationship with suppliers and partners and better meet the needs and expectations of clients, leading to improvements in the overall business performance.
While having a web presence is the most common form of eBusiness, it is much more than that. There is a vast number of Internet technologies all designed to help businesses work smarter rather than harder. To name a few mobile and wireless technologies, CRM, CMS, etc.
Benefits of eBusiness
The benefits of eBusiness are vast. To name a few:
- eMarketing – improve external product promotion and internal communications
- eCommerce – increase sales
- eMeeting – reduce communication and travel cost utilising online meeting tools
- CRM – maximise lead conversion, track and monitor interactions with clients
- Collaborative Tools & Virtual Workspace – Improve supplier relations and productivity
- Integrated Back Office Systems – streamline business processes
- Cost – technology is not always expensive. There are many ways to implement eBusiness with modest costs or virtually no cost using Open Source solutions. Some businesses were successful by putting web access and e-mail to good use. The question is what solution is right for you?
- Security – security online is an issue so is your physical operations. Implanting the right practical and effective security solutions reduces online threats if it does not eliminate them.
- Technical Expertise – smart decisions about technology do not require a guru. Just the same way you employ professional expertise in legal matters and accounting you can find smart and profitable use of technical expertise available. eBusiness is not a technical decision it is a business decision.
- Return on Investment (ROI) – here is the key issue. What is your gain from an eBusiness initiative? Starting with a clear-headed view of eBusiness as a question of business strategy will make sure that you are on the right track.
The real risk
The real risk to small business is NOT getting involved. Not putting eBusiness solutions into place will force you to face the real threat that is competition and declining business. Not having eBusiness in place will squeeze you out of the supply chain, whether a buyer or a supplier, by those who do business online.
Some large industry firms require their suppliers to be connected to their network! Internet business is booming and as a local business you don’t want an internet business to take market share off or displace you in your local area. Most importantly you may not be able to keep up with your competitors without the innovation that comes with eBusiness affecting your costs, sales and eventually, revenue and profit.