Chapter 1 Summary and Questions

Summary of chapter 1

Chapter one of our book gives us a broad summary of e-commerce. It begins by defining e-commerce as the involvement of digitally enabled commercial transactions between and among organizations and individuals. It also explains how this differs from e-business. The chapter then continues to explain e-commerce by presenting eight features of e-commerce technology. These features are; ubiquity, global reach, universal standards, richness, interactivity, information density, personalization and customization, and social technology. The chapter then continues by giving the five major types of e-commerce which are; business to business, business to consumer, consumer to consumer, peer to peer, and M commerce. The chapter then provides a brief history of e-commerce and continues after this by explaining factors in the future that will continue to shape it. Three interrelated themes that are present in e-commerce. These themes are technology, business, and society. The chapter concludes by explaining the academic disciplines that affect both the behavioral and technological approaches to e-commerce.

Question 1:

On your own, please do a quick search of the web and find examples of the five major types of ecommerce described in chapter 1. Explain why it fits the criteria. Provide a link to the url as well.

The five major types of ecommerce are business to business, business to consumer, consumer to consumer, peer to peer, and M commerce. Some examples of these can be found at the following websites:

B2B: Embion, Inc.- http://www.embion.com/
This company sells medical equipment to businesses.

B2C: Amazon- http://www.amazon.com/
This company provides consumer products to retail customers.

C2C: Ebay- http://www.ebay.com/
This site allows consumers to sell used or new items to other consumers.

P2P: Limewire- www.limewire.com/
This music software allows people to share music over the internet.

M commerce: Thumbplay- www.thumbplay.com/
This company provides ring tones and games for cell phones.


Question 2

On your own, choose a popular ecommerce web site, or at least popular with you, and assess it in terms of the eight unique features described in chapter 1. (p. 13) Which parts of these unique features could the site do a better job on?

The eight unique features of e-commerce are; ubiquity, global reach, universal standards, richness, interactivity, information density, personalization and customization, and social technology.

Amazon- http://www.Amazon.com/


Ubiquity- This site is accessible from anywhere with internet access.

Global reach- Amazon allows the purchase and shipment of goods to multiple countries.

Universal standards- Amazon has several international sites that are designed to fit the specific needs of those areas.

Richness – This is one feature that is difficult to assess due to the nature of the site. They are more based on selling products rather than delivering messages.

Interactivity- The site allows consumers to contact the help department if needed and also relays messages regarding products and purchases through text.

Information density- The quality of information present is suffiecient for the purpose of this site. Information is easily and clearly provided to consumers that wish to purchase items.

Personalization and customization- Amazon makes suggestions for individuals based on their past purchases, showing other items that are similar to the customers previously purchased items.

Social technology- Many users are able to access the information provided on this site at the same time. Amazon provides a many-to-many model of mass communication.

Amazon may be able to improve on the richness of the site however the current design allows for adequate communication from the business to consumer.