e-commerce

Kenneth C. Laudon
Carol Guercio Traver

business. technology. society.
eighth edition
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter 1
The Revolution Is Just Beginning
What is commerce?
Commerce is the exchange of items of value
between persons or companies. Any exchange of
money for a product, service or information is
considered a transaction of commerce. The trading
of items for other items also is included in the
definition of commerce.
Commerce is concerned with the distribution of
goods & services. It does not deal with making
goods, but providing services that make the
exchange the goods and services more efficient.
Slide 1-3
Class Discussion
Facebook: The New Face of E-commerce?
Do you use Facebook, and if so, how often?
What has the experience been like?
Have you purchased anything based on an
advertisement on Facebook or by using a link
provided by a friend?
Are you concerned about the privacy of the
information you have posted on Facebook?
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-4
E-commerce Trends 20112012
Social networking continues to grow
Expansion of social e-commerce platform
Mobile platform begins to rival PC
platform
Localization of e-commerce (Groupon)
Explosive growth in online video viewing
Continued privacy and security concerns
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-5
The First 30 Seconds
First 16 years of e-commerce
Just the beginning
Rapid growth and change
Technologies continue to evolve at
exponential rates
Disruptive business change
New opportunities
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-6
What Is E-commerce?
Use of Internet and Web to transact
business
More formally:
Digitally enabled commercial transactions
between and among organizations and
individuals
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-7
E-commerce vs. E-business
E-business:
Digital enabling of transactions and processes
within a firm, involving information systems
under firms control
Does not include commercial transactions
involving an exchange of value across
organizational or individual boundaries in
return for products or services
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-8

Slide 1-9
E-commerce vs. E-business
Debate among consultants and academics
about meanings and limitations of terms e-
commerce and e-business
We use the term e-business to refer primarily
to the digital enablement of transactions and
processes within a firm, involving information
systems under the control of the firm
E-business does not include commercial
transactions involving an exchange of value
across organizational boundaries

Slide 1-10
THE PROCESS OF E-COMMERCE
A consumer uses Web browser to connect to the home page of a merchants
Web site on the Internet.
The consumer browses the catalog of products featured on the site and
selects items to purchase.
The selected items are placed in the electronic equivalent of a shopping cart.
When the consumer is ready to complete the purchase of selected items, she
provides a bill-to and ship-to address for purchase and delivery
When the merchants Web server receives this information, it computes the
total cost of the order-- including tax, shipping, and handling charges--and
then displays the total to the customer. The customer can now provide
payment information, such as a credit card number, and then submit the
order.
When the credit card number is validated and the order is completed at the
Commerce Server site, the merchants site displays a receipt confirming the
customers purchase. The Commerce Server site then forwards the order to a
Processing Network for payment processing and fulfillment.



Slide 1-11
E-commerce Activities: (Examples)
Electronic trading of goods and services
Online delivery of digital content
Electronic fund transfers
Electronic share trading
Commercial auctions
Collaborative design and Engineering
Public Procurement
Direct Consumer Marketing
After-Sales Services

Slide 1-12
The Difference between
E-commerce and E-business
E-Commerce primarily involves transactions that cross firm boundaries.
E-Business primarily concerns the application of digital technologies to business
process within the firm.
Why Study E-commerce?
E-commerce technology is different, more powerful
than previous technologies
E-commerce brings fundamental changes to
commerce

Traditional commerce:
Consumer as passive targets (Not Active means consumer only consumer but not as producer too)
Sales-force driven
Fixed prices
Information asymmetry (occurs when information is held by one, but not all, of the
parties to a transaction.)

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-13
Unique Features of E-commerce
Technology
1. Ubiquity
2. Global reach
3. Universal standards
4. Information richness
5. Interactivity
6. Information density
7. Personalization/customization
8. Social technology
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-14

Slide 1-15
Unique Features of E-commerce Technology
and Their Significance
Is ubiquitous (available everywhere, all the time)
Offers global reach (across cultural/national boundaries)
Operates according to universal standards: the standards that
are shared by nations around the world
(lowers market entry cost for merchants and search costs for
consumers)
Provides information richness (more powerful selling
environment)
Is interactive (can simulate face-to-face experience, but on
global scale)
Increases information density (amount and quality of
information available to all market participants)
Permits personalization/customization

Slide 1-16
Unique Features of E-commerce Technology
and Their Significance
User-centered applications and social
media technologies
User-generated content and communication
Highly interactive, social communities
Large audiences; yet mostly unproven business
models
e.g., Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Second Life,
Wikipedia, Digg
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-17
Types of E-commerce
Classified by market relationship
Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
Business-to-Business (B2B)
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)
Classified by technology used
Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
Mobile commerce (M-commerce)
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-18

Slide 1-19
Major Types of E-commerce
Table 1.3, Page 17
The Internet
Worldwide network of computer networks
built on common standards
Created in late 1960s
The Internet was invented in the United States by a group of researchers and scientists at the Advanced
Research Projects Agency (ARPA).
On the October 29, 1969, first message was sent from computer science Professor Leonard Kleinrock's
laboratory at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), after the second piece of network equipment
was installed at Stanford Research Institute (SRI) over the network then called ARPANET.
Services include the Web (invented by an English scientist Tim
Berners-Lee), e-mail, file transfers, etc.
Can measure growth by looking at number of
Internet hosts with domain names
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-20
The Growth of the
Internet, Measured
by Number of
Internet Hosts with
Domain Names

Figure 1.2, Page 23

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-21
SOURCE: Internet Systems Consortium,
Inc., 2011.
The Web
Most popular Internet service
Developed in early 1990s
Provides access to Web pages
HTML documents that may include text,
graphics, animations, music, videos
Web content has grown exponentially
Google reports 1 trillion unique URLs; 120
billion pages indexed
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-22
Insight on Technology: Class Discussion
Spider Webs, Bow Ties, Scale-Free
Networks, and the Deep Web
What is the small world theory of the
Web?
What is the significance of the bow-tie
form of the Web?
Why does Barabasi call the Web a scale-free
network with very connected super
nodes?
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-23
Origins and Growth of E-commerce
Precursors:
Baxter Healthcare
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
EDI is a document standard which when implemented acts as common interface between two or more
computer applications in terms of understanding the document transmitted. It is commonly used by big
companies for e-commerce purposes, such as sending orders to warehouses or tracking their order. It is more
than e-mail; for instance, organizations might replace bills of lading.

French Minitel (1980s videotex system)
The Minitel was a Videotex online service accessible through telephone lines, and is considered one of the
world's most successful pre-World Wide Web online services.
Users could make online purchases, make train reservations, check stock prices, search the telephone directory,
have a mail box, and chat in a similar way to that now made possible by the Internet
None had functionality of Internet
1995: Beginning of e-commerce
First sales of banner advertisements
E-commerce fastest growing form of commerce in
United States
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-24
The Growth of B2C E-commerce
Figure 1.3, Page 25

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-25
SOURCES: Based on data from eMarketer, Inc., 2011a; authors estimates.
The Growth of B2B E-commerce
Figure 1.4, Page 28

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-26
SOURCES: Based on data from U.S. Census Bureau, 2011b; authors estimates.
Technology and E-commerce
in Perspective
The Internet and Web: Just two of a long list
of technologies that have greatly changed
commerce. Others:
Automobiles
Radio
E-commerce growth will eventually cap as it
confronts its own fundamental limitations.
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-27
Potential Limitations on the Growth
of B2C E-commerce
Expensive technology
Sophisticated skill set
Persistent cultural attraction of physical markets
and traditional shopping experiences
Persistent global inequality limiting access to
telephones and computers
Saturation and ceiling effects
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-28
E-commerce: A Brief History
19952000: Innovation
Key concepts developed
Dot-coms; heavy venture capital investment
20012006: Consolidation
Emphasis on business-driven approach
2006Present: Reinvention
Extension of technologies
New models based on user-generated content, social
networks, services
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-29
Insight on Business: Class Discussion
Party Like Its 1999
What explains the rapid growth in private investment in
e-commerce firms in the period 19982000? Was this
investment irrational?
What type of Internet investments became popular in
late 2008 through early 2010, and why?
What is the value to investors of a company such as
Groupon, which has yet to show profitability?
Why do you think investors today would be interested
in investing in or purchasing e-commerce companies?
Would you invest in an e-commerce company today?
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-30
Early Visions of E-commerce
Computer scientists:
Inexpensive, universal communications and computing
environment accessible by all
Economists:
Nearly perfect competitive market;
friction-free commerce
Lowered search costs, price transparency, elimination of unfair
competitive advantage
Entrepreneurs:
Extraordinary opportunity to earn far above normal returns on
investmentfirst mover advantage
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-31
Assessing E-commerce
Many early visions not fulfilled
Friction-free commerce (Hold on to your wallet)
online commerce has been pushing us all farther and farther down the road of frictionless
commerce, where we can buy things without the botheration of actual cash.
Consumers less price sensitive
Considerable price dispersion
Perfect competition
Information asymmetries persist
Intermediaries have not disappeared
First mover advantage
Fast-followers often overtake first movers
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-32
Predictions for the Future
Technology will propagate through all commercial activity
Prices will rise to cover the real cost of doing business
E-commerce margins and profits will rise to levels more
typical of all retailers
Cast of players will change
Traditional Fortune 500 companies will play dominant role
New startup ventures will emerge with new products, services
Number of successful pure online stores will remain smaller
than integrated offline/online stores
Regulatory activity worldwide will grow
Cost of energy will have an influence
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-33
Understanding E-commerce:
Organizing Themes
Technology:
Development and mastery of digital computing and
communications technology
Business:
New technologies present businesses with new ways of
organizing production and transacting business
Society:
Intellectual property, individual privacy, public welfare
policy
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-34
The Internet and
the Evolution
of Corporate
Computing

Figure 1.8, Page 44

Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-35
Insight on Society: Class Discussion
Online Privacy: Is the Age of Privacy Over?
Why are social network sites interested in collecting
user information?
What types of privacy invasion are described in the
case? Which is the most privacy-invading, and why?
Is e-commerce any different than traditional
markets with respect to privacy? Dont merchants
always want to know their customer?
How do you protect your privacy on the Web?
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-36
Academic Disciplines
Concerned with E-commerce
Technical approach
Computer science
Management science
Information systems
Behavioral approach
Information systems
Economics
Marketing
Management
Finance/accounting
Sociology
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-37
Copyright 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-38