E-business or Online business means business transactions that take place online with the help of the internet. The term e-business came into existence in the year 1996. E-business is an abbreviation for electronic business. Therefore, the buyer and the seller do not meet personally.
E-business refers to all online business transactions including selling directly to consumers, dealing with manufactures and suppliers, and conducting interactions with partners.
- E-business includes e-commerce but also covers internal processes such as production, inventory management, product development, risk management, finance, knowledge management and human resources.
- E-business strategy is more complex, more focused on internal processes, and aimed at cost savings and improvements in efficiency, productivity and cost savings.
- E-Commerce has a narrower definition and only involves buying and selling goods and services over the Internet.
Nature of e-business:
In e-business again on the subject of trust, Daughtrey (2001) refers to the conditions of consumers expect purchasing from the Internet or when conducting business with:
- Generalized perception of supplier or reputation.
- Confidentiality and privacy, security for Customer expectations.
- Supplier provided by Assurances for example guarantees.
- Other customer’s reports. For example a history of prior transactions If the customer has, additional factors may be:
- Order fulfilment accuracy.
- Order fulfilment Timeliness.
- With customer relations Nature of any interactions.
- Any disputes Resolution.
- From the supplier Subsequent communications.
- With whom customer information was shared any communications from other suppliers.
Some of the features of Online Business are as follows:
- It is easy to set up
- There are no geographical boundaries
- Much cheaper than traditional business
- There are flexible business hours
- Marketing strategies cost less
- Online business receive subsidies from the government
- There are a few security and integrity issues
- There is no personal touch
- Buyer and seller don’t meet
- Delivery of products takes time
- There is a transaction risk
- Anyone can buy anything from anywhere at anytime
- The transaction risk is higher than traditional business.
Scope of E-Business
E-business in boarder in scope
- As information sharing is the major part of the corporate industries, networking has given boost to E-Business. This change in viewpoint has opened door for new opportunities.
- Selling can be focused to the global customer
- Pre-sales, subcontracts, supply
- Financing and insurance
- Commercial transactions: ordering, delivery, payment
- Product service and maintenance
- Co-operative product development
- Distributed co-operative working
- Use of public and private services
- Business-to-administrations (e.g. customs, etc)
- Transport and logistics
- Public procurement
- Automatic trading of digital goods
- Accounting
- Dispute resolution
Impact of E-business on business
- Direct sales to customers.
- Anytime access from anywhere.
- Customization of products.
- Quicker time to market.
- Flexible pricing, product portfolio and promotions.
- Price discrimination.
- Transfer of fund with efficiency.
- Lower stock outs.
- Automated and convenient process.