Joaquin Chapar
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The article is basically an faq set about what Business to Consumer [B2C] Electronic-Commerce [E-commerce] is, a little about its history, transition and position in the business of today. First B2C differs from Business to Business [B2B] because as it is stated they are both different types of business. The hype about B2C is that it would take out brick and mortar sellers when it started in the 1990’s. Now B2C companies are being more team players with their IT department compared to before. The challenges of a B2C is to create/substitute/replicate the experience the customer gets when going to a physical store, they range from ease of use, personalization, fulfillment [as mentioned] and an enjoyable experience. Cutting the middleman is a problem in B2C because the web can bring the product to the consumer’s doorsteps, sometimes products online ‘sell them selves’ and this is a channel of conflict. B2C continues to be profitable and is expected to grow 10% by 2010. Rules and regulations still apply in B2C as a privacy policy but there are different taxation rules on the internet. In a sense B2C is ahead of its time because right now there are no rules that regulate it completely.
I think this article explains the ABC’s of B2C well, it does its job. It is very true that B2C e-commerce is strong and becoming more profitable. This can be seen in the many advertisements that companies make money from. An example and I am not sure exactly if these are B2C e-commerce but that nonetheless lead consumers to buy in other websites. Sites such as google, myspace, facebook that in fact do show you a look at the products in other sites and so they make revenue. This is all connected because in my opinion this is how the web has grown out of B2C, and now B2C are jumping on it even B2G or G2G because they see the channels that B2C has opened on the internet.
Eun Mi Kwon
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E-commerce was meaning of online transactions, B2C was “Business to consumer”. It’s not only online just shopping, but online banking, travel services, auctions and so on. And even though there were some problems about stocks, the expectation of increasing consumer number is quite positive. Actually, for many companies, developing web was hard, but now it? ?/SPAN>s getting easier.
The difference between B2C and B2B
B2B customers are companies and needs more security.
B2C customers are individuals.
Retailers don’t have to face with haggling, delivery and product specifications problems. Also they don’t have to communicate with human intervention.
As the stock prices of some of the early pure plays went through the roof, the surrounding B2C e-commerce was hyped a lot, at the beginning. Also, spun off companies couldn’t initial after Nasdaq dropped, and the over hype to B2C was also disappeared. Nowadays, the fastest growing sites are that they’ve put more value to their Internet operations.
In the early days, initiative of B2C was done by separate IT department. Increasingly, IT department are joining to companies.
The Major problem of B2C is
Focus on personalization
Creating easy application for customer service in more live way, like chat or phone
Focus on making your site easy to use
Fulfillment of the customers require
Channel conflict occurs when a manufacturer or service provider bypasses a reseller or salesperson and starts selling directly to the customer. But now, people aware websites are useful and companies devoted resources to retail as part of their branding and commerce.
B2C E commerce sites are really profitable, and it’s making money more and more. However, each of you should know their privacy policy. At least, not to put your company in bad lawsuits. Also, you should take care your tax on internet sales but there are moratorium.
I though there are just positive way in e-commerce, and it might be really easy to initiate but actually it was not, and I was still one of the person who has greatly hyped for e-commerce’s incoming. Actually it needs much more specific marketing, and especially for big company they should take care their brick-and-mortar companies. Also, tax problem is pretty complex, as every costumer live in different states, I thought it could be hard to make fair law for every customers. And as e-commerce developed well, I think privacy policy should be emphasized more. Also, whatever happen in there, I think e-commerce is really good way to earn money by the smallest invest.
15 comments:
What I liked the most about the article is That it was short and organized. It is also written in a way that makes it easy to understand the points by writing questions and answer them.
I believe that a key factor of a company's e-commerce success is balancing their stores. For example, I wouldn't buy from American Eagle's website if they had opend a traditional physical store here in Pullman.
The ABC's of eCommerce told me a lot of what I already knew about B2B and B2C, and definitions and stuff. But a couple things I didn't know was about taxation and channel conflict. I have always wondered why some sites charge for taxes and some don't, and it made sense that those companies that don't have a physical existence in a state shouldn't be taxed in it. Also, channel conflict is something I hadn't thought about before, but it makes sense that a retailer would get upset if the manufacturer started selling their products online direct to customers. Something that sparked my interest was the bit about the crash of the internet sites in 2000. I have heard about the internet bust for a long time, but never have heard or researched why it happened and what the implications were other than people losing money and divesting. I will look further into that.
This article helped me better understand more about business to consumer transactions. The thing I found most important for businesses to take away from this article would be trying to put a lot of efforts into personalizing their website. If I am a customer ease of use and a catchy website is the first step in grabbing my attention. I also foudn the idea of channeling through the internet to help your brick and mortar business to be very interesting. It is almost as if you are building another invisible location that people can go to to give you more sales. It is very interesting to see how much e-commerce has grown online and how much bigger it will get in the future.
As an accounting major we have talked about the last issue of companies not getting taxed on items when they have no physical presence in the state. However that is quickly changing and most if not all companies now require you to enter your zip code when you purchase a product. This is called the use tax and requires that company to pay taxes on items people purchase within that state. The company is required to pay taxes to the state for items people have purchased.
Seems like alot of ppl knew most of the information from the article except taxation. Pretty easy to understand and structured in a simple question & answer format.
Personally I got a better understanding that Negotiation & intergration were two named differences between B2B &B2C.
Also noted that the tone of the article seemed conservative regarding eCommerce.
As B2C e-commerce increases, companies need to become more and more creative and innovative in the way they set up their websites, in order to stay competitive. Amazon was the pioneer in B2C e-commerce, and still leads the pack today. Traditional merchants have learn by observing successful companies like Amazon, and now they are catching up in the market - fast.
Channel conflict is an interesting problem that I hadn't thought about occurring. I have often thought it was really odd why some manufacturers don't offer their product for sale on their own websites. the idea of resellers being hurt by that just didn't occur to me. Channel conflict explains that clearly.
Darcy Crowell
I like how Joaquin phrased the challenges to B2C; "the challenges of a B2C is to create, substitute, and replicate the experience the customer gets when going to a physical store, they range from ease of use, personalization, fulfillment and an enjoyable experience." I think that companies have done a very successful job in creating that experience. I think that e-commerce has come a long way and its very convenient for the average person who needs something from a retailer that is not in their area, ordering online is great (especially for me). You have to be careful with, for example, channel conflicts, a manufacturer starts selling a retailers products online direct to customers. Sometimes there are no boundaries or limits to how far people will go to make money.
I used to think that online shopping would completely take over the B2C. However, it seems that many people would rather shop in physical stores. With rising gas prices, it may start making more and more sense to shop online. I do a lot of my shopping online just because I can't stand going to malls.
This was one of the easier articles. The one thing that I was a little surprised at was some businesses willingness to limit their online activity to preserve sales jobs. It seems a company would want to cut costs anywhere it could. This new system of B2C seems to be making some retail stores obsolete. One thing I thought wasn't made clear in the article was the difference between B2C and C2C. I got the difference between B2B and B2C, negotiations being key. I will have to bring it up in class.
I found it interesting that the first year Amezon accually turned a profit was 2002. That's 7 years of "Knowing" your business model will work.
Companies like Amezon will be at the fore-front for a very long time because of their ability to see why previous ideas failed, in a time where there where many mistakes in the industry. They certainally have an advantage over other companies in this aspect.
I know that if I were a consumer I would seek out manufacturers websites first. I'm not certain why more manufacturers don't sell directly to the public. Set up a website, figure out your delivery system and push your product online.
-Brando
This article was interesting. The point that stuck out the most to me was the point that the companies that will grow and thrive are those which have integrated their online shopping with their physical stores. Ordering online and picking up at a local store is a huge convenience for cnsumers, as well as returns at the store.
Another part of the article that caught my eye was that if the store has a physical presence in the state you are in, any internet sale requires a sales tax. A teacher of mine told me a story about getting jewelty delivered to Moscow just to avoid such a tax.
Kim McNeely
I also already knew most of the stuff in this article about B2B and B2C eCommerce. However, something that I did learn was the two main differences between the two. B2B involves negotiating prices with other business, but with B2C that isn't necessary. Also, with B2B it is important that the two companies can communicate easily over the internet. With B2C, it isn't as important for retailers to communicate with their customers, but to fit their needs and what they are looking for.
this article was straight foreward. it seemed more appropriate for 2001 rather than 2007. By that i mean if business and online consumers or investors weren't already aware of b2c and b2b possibilities they are way behind. i think the most successful companies have already adapted to the web's technology and reaped the benefits of these business transactions.
Sara Supple- For the most part I think this article was an easy read, with a little bit of new information but mostly things about the internet and B2C ecommerce that people are already aware of. I agree with Brett in that I found the part about channel conflict to be somewhat interesting, especially how GM's plan to sell directly to consumers backfired- interesting that it works for some companies, but not others.
I like the idea of eCommerce because I don't always have the time to go out shopping. It definitely helps to try something on before you buy it, but if you know what size you are, it won't be a problem to shop online. With gas prices rising and the world becoming more innovated, I can see eCommerce becoming the first choice of shopping in the near future. This was a good easy to read article.
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