CS28310 Ecommerce An Introduction
Background Web –Growing sector –Successful method EDI –Early but well established non Internet system
Web-based Ecommerce Types of Business –Retail Marks and Spencer –Digital Content iTunes –Auctions ebay –Travel Expedia –Financial Moneysupermarket.com
Unique Features Ubiquity – available most places Universal Standards Richness – audio and video Interactivity – user interaction Information Density – costs drop, quality rises Personalisation
Types Business to Business B2B –Airbus Business to Consumer B2C –Debenhams Consumer to Consumer C2C –eBay
New markets Ebay – on line auctions Friends Reunited – text based database system Google – search engine (Advertising Giant) Youtube - video Facebook – image based database system Affiliate marketing/contextual advertising
New problems Internet Security Distribution Support of products
Processes Purchaser gives credit card Merchant passes on to gateway Gateway passes to issuing bank Issuing bank authorises and passes money to merchants bank Merchant ships goods
UK market Estimates put online consumer sales to £10.3 billion (excluding travel and finance) Retailing increasing by 25-30% per annum 42,000 cars on Ebay UK Amazon to ship average of 500,000 parcels per day over festive season Amazon to take on 1000 students over same period
Problems After sales service High rate of product return Pressure to make web site visit more exciting Internet sales rising leading to closure of shops Could cap Internet retail at 10% of total retail trade
Opportunities Online retailing is accelerating Broadband allows a better online experience More people spending more time online Growth in online advertising Consumers more confident about purchasing online
Latest phase of growth High street retailers winning on web PC World sells 50% online Tesco sold over £1bn in groceries over the net in Tesco £2.5bn 2017 Tesco £5.0bn
Internet only companies Fighting out their corner –Amazon has just moved into clothes and has moved into jewellery –Lovefilm has over 60,000 titles with 450,000 subscribers.
Issues Customer not in –Tell customer when delivery is to take place Customer returns –Size –Texture –Misleading advertising etc –Ask customer reasons
Customer Service IKEA stayed away from online shopping Concerns about customer service Starting slowly and now nationwide
Some facts eBay UK has more people fully employed earning on ebay that employees at M&S (68,000 v 65,000) eBay has sales of $8.7 billion last financial year