Digital Business: Trends, Technology, and Challenges

This document discusses the key trends, advantages, and disadvantages of managing virtual business, the importance of technology in Alibaba.com and MakeMyTrip.com, comparison of native apps with web apps, the impact of ROI on PWA, emerging digital business models, and challenges related to security threat and ethics.

Digital Business

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
QUESTION 1..................................................................................................................................3
Key trends advantages and disadvantages of managing virtual business....................................3
Importance of technology and its impact on Alibaba.com and MakeMyTrip.com.....................4
QUESTION 2..................................................................................................................................5
Comparison of native apps with web apps..................................................................................5
Impact of ROI on PWA...............................................................................................................6
QUESTION 3..................................................................................................................................6
Emerging digital business models...............................................................................................6
Challenges related to security threat and ethics...........................................................................7
QUESTION 4..................................................................................................................................8
Different ways to deal with situation in both the companies.......................................................8
Impact of new collaborative relationships and strategic alliance on PWA.................................8
QUESTION 5..................................................................................................................................9
Comparison of digital business and e-commerce........................................................................9
E-commerce principles and their application on digital business.............................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFRENCES.................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Progressive web apps enable fast and application like experiences to the consumers with
the help of web. It enables user experience to be immersive and also loads instantly even if the
network conditions are poor. It is basically a mobile application on web browser without having
to download it from play store or App Store (Chaffey, Edmundson-Bird and Hemphill, 2019).
Progressive web apps were introduced in 2015 by designer France’s Berryman and Google
Chrome engineer Alex Russell since then there are a number of huge companies who have
adopted this technology in order to increase their return on investment. The following report
consist of 2 case studies on alibaba.com and make my trip.com in which it discusses about
various benefits brought to these businesses by use of PWA. There are also a number of
discussions made on digital businesses and how can these business make use of PWA in
changing external environment to gain maximum benefits.
QUESTION 1
Key trends advantages and disadvantages of managing virtual business
There are a number of key trends which motivate businesses to turn themselves into the
businesses. Digital businesses are driven by various market trends which are mentioned below:
Application adoption: There are a number of businesses which have adopted applications. There
are a number of businesses who are driving their model as per the demand of customers and
bringing hybrid enterprises applications which will help to compartmentalize their private as well
as professional device functions. It also increases communication and administrative processes in
business.
Virtual assistant becoming necessity: There are a number of different devices which are
flooding the market place. Due to this it has become important for organisations to use machine
learning as it helps in assisting exports in the business. It easily attains objectives of all
businesses and a tech savvy organisation integrate with people virtually as well as in market.
This change in external environment is leading trend for virtual businesses.
Messaging applications: It has been noticed in recent past that messaging applications have
surpassed a number of social media platforms (Xu and Koivumäki, 2019). There are more active
users on messaging applications then on social media platform. This also leads to decrease in

cost of development as a Les more use of artificial intelligence and business. There are a number
of businesses using chat bots in major streams. This is another trend leading business is to
manage their activities virtually.
Advantages:
 Managing business virtually helps an organisation to save their cost effectively. Once
investment is done in virtual business management organisation can save cost spent on
human resources and a number of other assets in business.
 Managing business virtually also provides flexibility to organisation as with the help of
virtual business management activities can be performed anywhere any time.
 Virtual management of business also helps organisations to relieve their employees from
workload. This helps in motivating and encouraging employees as well.
Disadvantages:
 Due to management of business virtually it is often seen that there is lack of cohesiveness
between employs an institution which might result in deviation from objectives.
 There are a number of potential communication issues which may arise in a business
when they are managing their activities virtually.
 Productivity of organisation can also reduce due to management of virtual business. This
is a result of more use of artificial intelligence and less use of human resource in
organisation.
Importance of technology and its impact on Alibaba.com and MakeMyTrip.com
There is a number of importances which technologies hold for businesses. With the help of
technology communication with customers can be easily conducted within a business
organisation. Operations are more effective when a business is effectively using technology in
every activity (Ziyadin, Suieubayeva and Utegenova, 20190. A number of businesses have
successfully expanded their activities throughout the globe with the help of technology in their
business. There are a number of a sets in organisation which are needed to be protected new
innovations effectively helps businesses to do so.
Benefits brought to alibaba.com by technology: Alibaba.com is effectively using technology in
order to implement its new retail strategy which is a blend of online as well as off-line world.
With the help of new instrumental strategy they are able to provide their customers with more

choices and also take benefit from traditional models of shopping. Use of technology in business
is helping Alibaba to enhance their offerings and lead innovation in retail sector throughout the
globe. They have specially designed computer models and various platform which helps in cost-
effective delivery of their products. Managing of logistics have also became easy for company
with the help of technology.
Benefits brought to MakeMyTrip.com by technology: makemytrip.com have excessively
increased their sales across different channels by providing personalised experience to all their
customers with the help of different technology solutions. They are significantly addressing all
the front end and back end capabilities successfully (Gray, 2019). They are effectively
developing website which will help in personalizing experiences for the customers and fulfill all
their specific needs.
QUESTION 2
Comparison of native apps with web apps
 Native apps are the applications which are working under a specific mobile device
whereas on the other hand web apps are usually internet enabled.
 Native apps can be easily download it on the web devices whereas when taking web apps
into consideration the excess two applications can be done by web browser present in any
device.
 When taking functionality of a mobile application into consideration it is integrated with
the features which are present in device in which it is used. On the other hand there is a
common code used in web applications which is working similarly in all different
platforms such as mobile-phones, desktops, personal computers etc.
 There are issues with web applications regarding security whereas while using native
applications users do not have to worry about the security similarly web applications to
not worry users about having to update the application and in native applications regular
updates are brought in which are to be carried on by users.
 There are a number of different versions present of mobile applications. Due to these
versions of native applications it might become troublesome for users to connect with
other users who are using the similar application. Whereas while using web application

user does not have to worry about any update and they can connect with any other user of
same application.
 Native applications are very easy to work with and convenient for the users whereas on
the other hand web applications are difficult to use and do not support all the mobile
browsers.
Impact of ROI on PWA
ROI is known as return on investment which is important key indicator of performance
for any business. It helps in determining the profitability which is brought in from any
expenditure on a business. It helps businesses to measure their success over time and also help
them in taking business decisions in future (Urbach and Röglinger, 2019). There are a number of
tools which helps in calculating ROI for a business. There are a number of importance which
ROI brings for PWA as well. There are a number of organisations who have effectively
developed and increase their return on investment by making use of progressive web application.
They are the middle ground between fully fledged native applications as well as mobile
applications. When looking into investment which is made for PWA are less in consideration
with other mobile applications. Very less investment they are effectively bringing benefits to the
organisation. In this way return on investment from progressive web applications is very high for
a number of companies. The case study also clearly describes how alibaba.com and
makemytrip.com have successfully increased their smartphone users when they recognises the
opportunity present with progressive web applications. Necessary for businesses to understand
the limitation of the network as well as users and build effective progressive web applications
which will help them to reach out to maximum customers increasing their return on investment
effectively. There are a number of companies such as Twitter who are effectively increasing their
ROI with the help of PWA developed instead of their native application.
QUESTION 3
Emerging digital business models
When taking digital economy into consideration there are three major dimensions which
helps in building base for business model framework. These are customer, product and services
as well as value chain. There are six type of emerging models or phenotypes which can be

different patterns explaining strategies of organisation which are combined to innovate different
approaches in these three dimensions. These include digital Efficienados, platform pushers, data
analyses, smart product innovators, customer centric and virtual developers. Any digital business
can choose one of these six and effectively run their business adopting these models. An example
can be taken for digital efficienados in which organisations are effectively using digital methods
to increase their digital efficiencies. Companies are using any two of the six in order to either
result in business growth or get digital efficiency. They also provide customer specific offerings
and an ecosystem or platform which will help in fulfilling traditional roles along with the
dramatically changing environment. There also effectively focusing on efficiency in order to
change a single driver which will help in providing a long-lasting competitive advantage for the
business. Necessary for online businesses to adopt one of these models which will help them in
specifying what kind of role are they fulfilling for market and how can they bring maximum
benefits for the customers.
Challenges related to security threat and ethics
There are a number of threats that can take place in digital market such as a threat of data
security. It is often seen that data security threat might occur due to internal as well as outsider
factors. There are a number of ways in which these threats may affect digital organisations such
as use of any unauthorized device, shadow information technology, data sharing outside the
company, social engineering, physical theft of company devices (Olbert and Werner, 2019).
These are some of the major reasons due to which threats of data security arises in digital
businesses. Therefore, it is necessary for organisations to work ethically and avoid any such
situation. When taking digital business into consideration transparency as well as integrity is
considered to be two major core values which will help in guiding professionals behaviour. It is
the duty of an organisation to use the date of their customers in ethical way. The data which is
collected by organisations through digital medium of their customers should never be
manipulated by the company. It is necessary that they are promoting trust within their customers
while using digital medium to provide them with products and services. It is ethical duty of
organisation to ensure that they are handling accountability for any damage that is brought to
consumers due to organisation.

QUESTION 4
Different ways to deal with situation in both the companies
When taking situations for both alibaba.com and makemytrip.com BWA was used by
organisations in order to satisfy all the requirements of the customer and make better use of
technology available to them. When taking other options into consideration there are a number of
other ways which can be used by companies to deal with such problems. Some of them is a
mention below:
The companies Alibaba and make my trip could have effectively used various
promotional tools in order to influence customers. There are a number of tools which allow
organisations to attract customers such as advertising through print media, social media, and
hoardings and so on (Stolyarov and et. al., 20190). There are a number of social media platforms
present which helps businesses to promote their products and services. This could have been
effectively used by Alibaba and MakeMyTrip to influence customers towards them if they could
not have brought changes in technology.
Alibaba and MakeMyTrip could also have opted to expand their business into different
countries taking into consideration cultures of them. It is an effective way to expand revenues of
organisation along with profitability. This helps organisation to increase their customer base with
the help of which brand value and goodwill of company in the competitive market can be
increased. There are a number of tools such as providing discount, various offers for loyal
customers which allow organisations to retain customers for a longer period of time. Using this
effectively both the organisations could have managed to make profit without bringing
technological changes in their business model.
Impact of new collaborative relationships and strategic alliance on PWA
Global strategic alliance usually means when a company is growing in new geographies
market with the help of a domestic company that is already set up in that area. These alliances
are found between two or more corporations one of which is based in the domestic country
where as other is based on some other part of world. With the help of these newly owned
ownership competition in the market could be decreased using the combined territories. When
looking for impact of strategic alliance and collaborations on PWA the business is not much
affected. There are a number of benefits which are brought by strategic alliance and

collaborations in business and those benefits can also be seen on PWA of an organisation.
However some modifications are required in PWA according to the internet usage of different
nations. With the help of collaborations and strategic alliance new skills and technology are
gained in organisation which will help in further development of PWA. The company also gains
knowledge about international culture and custom which will now be included in companies
website along with other changes. A company when going for a strategic alliance or
collaboration needs to make sure that the management of both the companies are working
together. This will help them to increase their skills and the effects can be seen on productivity of
organisation. There are a number of technological changes which company goes through is due
to collaboration in strategic alliance but when looking on progressive web applications there are
minor change in designs and development required which can be done hiring an expert designer.
QUESTION 5
Comparison of digital business and e-commerce
The terms e-commerce and digital business are usually used interchangeably. But both of
these are two different concepts. Below mentioned is a comparison between E commerce and
digital business.
Basis E-commerce Digital business
Meaning The e-commerce refers to
trading of merchandise over
an internet platform.
Digital business refers to
using internet in order to run
a business successfully.
Sets E-commerce is a subset. Digital businesses are
superset.
Monetary transactions E-commerce are only
limited to monetary
transactions.
Digital businesses are not
limited to only monetary
transactions.
Types of transactions They carry on commercial
transactions in the business
field.
In digital business a number
of business transactions are
carried out on a regular

basis.
Approach E-commerce make uses of
extrovert approach for its
business.
Digital businesses make use
of ambivert approach for
their business.
Requirements E-commerce only requires a
website to successfully run
their business.
Digital businesses require
website, CRM, ERP and so
on.
Network used An internet is sufficient to
run an e-commerce business.
In order to successfully run
a digital business internet,
internet, and extranet are
required.
E-commerce principles and their application on digital business
Digital business refers to use of technology in order to create new brand value for the
customers and support core operations of business to increase their internal capabilities. Digital
businesses include both digital only brands as well as various traditional players in market who
are transforming their business with different digital technologies. Some of the e-commerce
principles which can be applied on digital business are mentioned below:
Unique design elements: When taking competition in e-commerce into consideration it is
necessary for websites to stand out from their online rivals. In order to do so a number of
inventive design are developed to compel the visitors and impress them effortlessly. The same
principle can be used in digital business as they create their own online websites to communicate
their products and services (Kumar and et. al., 2020). Using unique designs and elements in
those websites will help them to stand out in competitive environment. It is necessary for digital
businesses to influence their customer and retain them with unique designs which can be
developed by taking help of experienced web designers.
Emphasis on security: E-commerce space major emphasis on security as it is necessary who
ever visit their website should feel safe to use their financial details on the site. Similarly digital
businesses can use this principle on their digital platform. Important for them to make sure that

payment gateway as well as various information about customers visiting their profile is not
shared with any third party. If they fail to do so this will definitely hamper their brand image and
goodwill in the market.
Responsive technology: It is often seen in e-commerce that heavy HTML coding, big flash files
and large sized images are used to make website look good. However it slows down the website
to load and e-commerce is working on responsive technologies. Similar responsive technologies
can also be used by digital businesses to run their websites effectively. It will help in loading
pages quickly so that visitors don’t have to wait for a long time.
CONCLUSION
With the help of above report it can be concluded that use of PWA in businesses
effectively bring in increase in ROI. It clearly explains how alibaba.com and makemytrip.com
used PWA in their business format to increase satisfaction of the customers. PWA enables
organisations to deliver smooth experience to their customers. There are also a number of e-
commerce principles which are used by evolving digital businesses in order to make use of
developing technologies. This helps them to effectively meet all the requirements of customers
and sustain for a longer period of time in competitive environment.

REFRENCES
Books and Journals
Chaffey, D., Edmundson-Bird, D. and Hemphill, T., 2019. Digital business and e-commerce
management. Pearson UK.
Xu, Y. and Koivumäki, T., 2019. Digital business model effectuation: An agile
approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 95, pp.307-314.
Ziyadin, S., Suieubayeva, S. and Utegenova, A., 2019, April. Digital transformation in business.
In International Scientific Conference “Digital Transformation of the Economy:
Challenges, Trends, New Opportunities” (pp. 408-415). Springer, Cham.
Gray, D.E., 2019. Doing research in the business world. SAGE Publications Limited.
Urbach, N. and Röglinger, M., 2019. Introduction to digitalization cases: how organizations
rethink their business for the digital age. In Digitalization Cases (pp. 1-12).
Springer, Cham.
Olbert, M. and Werner, A.C., 2019. Measuring and interpreting countries’ tax attractiveness for
investments in digital business models. Intertax, 47(2).
Stolyarov, N.O. and et. al., 2019, April. The digital reality of the modern economy: new actors
and new decision-making logic. In Institute of Scientific Communications
Conference (pp. 882-888). Springer, Cham.
Kumar, B. and et. al., 2020. Digital mediation in business-to-business marketing: A bibliometric
analysis. Industrial Marketing Management, 85, pp.126-140.