E-commerce and How It Drives Business Success: A Comprehensive Analysis

This research delves into the multifaceted impact of e-commerce on business success. Through a combination of primary and secondary research, it explores how e-commerce facilitates customer engagement, enhances marketing strategies, and optimizes business operations. The study analyzes the advantages and challenges of e-commerce adoption, providing valuable insights for businesses seeking to leverage its potential for growth and profitability.

RESEARCH PROJECT PART 2

CONTENTS
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................................2
DATA COLLECTION...................................................................................................................................2
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................................4
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS......................................................................................................................7
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................................8
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION...........................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................................................................10
TASK 4........................................................................................................................................................11
REPORT..................................................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................17
1

TASK 2
DATA COLLECTION
This research consists of primary and secondary research. In this report, the method for
conducting primary research is interview process (Hewson and Stewart, 2016). Interview with
stakeholders, business owners, employees, and the customers associated with the E-commerce
business is done to gather information related to E-commerce and business success. In this
research, five questions were asked to the industry related persons. The overall data is
collected by asking these five questions to thirty individuals that are associated with E-
commerce retail industry. In this report, the conclusions based upon of the answers of the
participants of the research are presented. The primary research helped to find the impact of E-
commerce on the business development process, it also helped to find the impact of E-
commerce in recent times on the business operations.
The secondary research has been conducted by studying different journals and articles
published on the topic of E-Commerce. The secondary research was done by studying the
abstract of forty journals and articles that are written by scholars on this topic. Out of the forty
journals, twenty researches were selected for detail study on the topic E-commerce and how it
helps to drive the business success (Taylor, et al., 2015). The secondary research helped to
perceive the finding of scholars on this topic. It also helped to understand E-commerce and its
advantages to business in detail, in addition to this it also helped to explore the link between
the different researches conducted by the researchers on the E-commerce.
The advantage of primary research is that the details are collected personally and the findings
are directly related to the topic of research (Taylor, et al., 2015). The primary research also
helps to undertake help of relevant data related to the subject and the findings of the primary
research are new. This helps to make sure that the research more relevant and beneficial. The
disadvantages of primary research are that data is collected from a limited group of participates
which is likely to affect the quality of research. The primary research is subject to incomplete
information provided by the sources of research. The merits of secondary research are that the
2

availability of data and information is easy for the researcher (Flick, 2015). In addition to this, it
helps to add new information and knowledge to the research. The findings of the secondary
research are less likely to be false as they are the conclusion derived from the research of
scholars on the subject (Flick, 2015). The demerits of secondary research are that the
information may not be very relevant to the research that is been conducted. The secondary
research is also time dependent as the period in which the research conducted is older and the
recent changes in the subject may affect the final conclusion on the topic.
3

LITERATURE REVIEW
How E-commerce drives business to the success?
According to Turban, et al. (2018), E-commerce is a process in which the activity of buying and
selling of goods done with use electronic media. The electronic media in E-commerce are online
shops and mobile application; this acts as a platform for buyers and sellers to perform trade
actions. Zang, et al. (2011), added that the E-commerce has been successful in adding new
dimensions in the business-to-customer trade. Through E-commerce, many customers have
found it easy to the make the purchase of the business they like. This has helped the business
to add new customers that are beyond the geographical boundaries of business. This
independence has helped the companies to reach a larger number of the customer at less cost,
as the cost of setting and maintaining a new physical shop is observed to be higher than that of
E-commerce. This helps the business to become successful and it improves the profit of the
business.
Laudon and Traver (2013), added that E-commerce also helps the companies to improve the
profit by enhancing the quality of service that the companies provide to the customers. This is
because the E-commerce stores are is available for the customer throughout the day. In
addition to this, the customers can request about the services of the business even during
holidays. This has helped to improve the relationship between the business and the customers
and improved profits for the business.
Ghobakhloo, et al. (2011), added that the overall cost of business operation that has been
observed to reduce with the use of E-commerce. The operational cost of business is depended
on several factors such as human resource cost, rental cost and maintenance cost of the
business. This costs are low for the E-commerce business thus it helps to improve the overall
profitably for the business. In addition to this, the long-term cost is also less for E-commerce,
which improves the profit form the business.
Oglive, et al. (2016), suggested that certain customer engagement strategies of E-commerce
help improve the profits for the business. The customers are likely to purchase more products
4

as they get customised suggestion with digital platforms. In addition to this, the E-commerce
provides facilities for coupons and discount vouchers. This helps to improve the profits for the
business. E-commerce the customer gets relevant information about the products and service
of the business easily; this feature improves the customer engagement.
Zilincan, (2015), added that the E-commerce advertisement is more influential and help to
reach the target audience. The use of social media advertisement and search engine
optimisation are relatively less costly than the conventional marketing methods. Lewis, et al.,
(2015) added that the overall effect of having an E-commerce business helps to improve the
profits of the business by reducing the cost of the advertisement.
Park, et al. (2015), added that the brand image of the company improves with the use of E-
commerce platform. Park, et al. (2015), also said that having an online store for business help to
support the impulse buying marketing strategy. These strategies have been used by many
global brands to achieve excellent sales in short interval of time. Duttagupta and Southworth
(2016), added that having an E-commerce store could provide add-on feature such as flash
sales. This feature helps to get global attention for the business and improve the profitability of
the business. This strategy that is delivered through online stores has helped many businesses
for proper inventory management, as they can offer discounts to sell products that are adding
inventory cost for the business.
Kian Chong, et al. (2010), added that having an E-commerce store for business add an
advantage to facilitate business-to-business relationships. With the help of E-commerce store,
the business can get bigger orders to form a small and large business that is globally present.
This helps to improve the profit for the business. The advantage of having an E-commerce store
is very relevant to maintain the business contracts as all the data is saved and managed
effectively through a computer system (Turban, et al. 2018). Due to this, the cost of
maintenance of data reduces significantly for the business. This improves the profits for the
business.
Stavrulaki, et al. (2010), suggested that use of make to order strategy is very profitable for
business, as it helps to reduce the inventory cost and storage maintenance cost of products
5

significantly. With E-commerce, business companies can implement the strategy of make to
order. They can get this advantage as they can process the requirement for the products after
they receive the order form the customer. This feature is very profitable for industry such as
machinery and luxury products. Make to order as well as other relevant business strategies are
easy to implement with the use of E-commerce, as the business gets orders to form the
customers through the product catalogue that is displayed on the website.
Wang, et al. (2016), suggested that the E-commerce business has been successful to attain
customer trust throughout the world. This is because they provide the customer with various
facilities such as the return of delivered products, cash on delivery and customised customer
support. This trust has helped many businesses operating through E-commerce to get more
customers and improve their profits.
Chaffey, (2015), added that the management of E-commerce is easy and faster for the business.
This effective business management has helped many businesses to expand the reach of their
business. Along with this, it has also helped the business to save cost that is engaged in the
management of the business. Both of these factors have helped to improve the profits for the
business. Chaffey, (2015), also added that the E-commerce business is growing with a rapid
phase globally, now more and more customer is engaged in business activity through E-
commerce business and the scope of it is also expanding rapidly (Kirby-Hawkins, et al. 2018).
This improvement in the scope of E-commerce business will help the business that is lined with
it to grow and improve theirs profitably.
6

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
To conduct this research in an ethical manner some standards that are required to consider are
as follows:
 Individuals who have participated in the research have not been exposed to any kind of
risk (Recker, 2012)
 The individuals who have participated in the research well told and aware about the
objectives of the research, no information was kept hidden with them (Flick, 2015)
 No Intellectual property right has been violated during accomplishment of this project.
 All the privacy and confidentiality was maintained during this assignment and best care
have been taking that no violation of privacy or confidentiality is conducted during the
research work (Recker, 2012)
 To maintain the effectiveness of the research the objective level has been maintained
 The findings and the conclusions of the research are solely for academic purpose
 The finding of the research will not be used for commercial purpose (Recker, 2012)
7

TASK 3
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Interview method was used to conduct the primary research related to the topic “How E-
commerce drives business success”. In this interview, six questions were asked of the
participants. The question was asked of the business owners, employees and the other persons
associated with E-commerce were as follows:
 How has E-commerce helped to develop your business?
 Why did you decide to come into E-commerce business?
 Has E-commerce business helped you to improve profits?
 How has E-commerce helped you in the marketing of your business?
 How has E-commerce helped your business by cross-selling and upselling of your
business products?
The first question that was asked of the participants in the interview was "How has E-commerce
helped to develop your business?” Most of the participants answer positively to the question by
telling that through E-commerce they were able to reach new customers. This has helped them
to improve the profits of the business by improving sales. In addition to this participates also
added that though E-commerce the brand image of their business has grown, which have
helped them to appeal to new customers. In addition to this participates also said that the
through E-commerce they are able to take orders to form the customers at any time. This has
also been an important factor to improve the business profitability. The second question that
was asked of the participants was “Why did you decide to come into E-commerce business?” In
response to this, question participants answered that they saw the potential of improving
profits earned from the business by entering into E-commerce (Turban, et al., 2018). Some of
the participants also told that it was the call of the time and to address the completion they
entered into E-commerce. Some of the participants also answered that they had customers,
which required their business services, but could not come to the shop due to distance. To
addresser this issue they stated an E-commerce solution, which enables provided logistics
8

support to their business and improve the income of the business. The third question that was
asked to participants was “Has E-commerce business helped you to improve profits?" the
response to this question was a combination of opinions. Many participants said that an initial
phase the cost of establishment and marketing of their E-commerce was high and the response
they got slow from the market. Many of the participants told that the payback time for the E-
commerce for their business was higher than they accepted. In addition to this, participants
told that after the initial phase of the launch was completed, the revenue they earned from E-
commerce improved and they were able to generate profits. Some of the participants told that
during the peak time of their business, the profits they earned from E-commerce was much
higher than the conventional method (Chaffey, 2015). In response to the fourth question “How
has E-commerce helped you in the marketing of your business?” most of the participants were
positive about the support they got in marketing form E-commerce. They told that they were
able to reach the number of customers and even the native customers were able to know
about their business. They also told that the marketing through E-commerce is more
convenient and the impact of it positive for the business. The participants also added that
through internet traffic concentration on the E-commerce they have, they were able to collect
more customer database. This database helped them to upsell and cross-sell their products,
which improve the profits for the business. In response to the fifth question that was “How has
E-commerce helped your business by cross-selling and upselling of your business products?”
participants told that with the help of E-commerce store they were able to suggest the
customers regarding the products that they have easily. The participants also added that the
smart options on the E-commerce portal that helped the customer to find the right product
according to his needs helped to impose the profits of the business by upselling and cross-
selling of products. Participants also told that E-commerce facility provided them with a
customer database, this database supported to improve the business as it helped to make it
easy to communicate with them and cross-sell the products. In addition to this, they were also
able to identify regular customers and the participants were able to offer them discounts on
products and services. This helped to improve the revenue collection of the business and
improve the profits (Chaffey, 2015).
9

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
From the above research, it can be concluded that E-commerce has many positive impacts on
the business success. It is recommended to the business to initiate the E-commerce facility as it
helps to improve the profits. The E-commerce facility helps the business owners to get to the
new customer that is beyond the geographical reach of the shop and ensure safe and secure
business with them. The E-commerce is also recommended to the business because it helps the
business to improve the brand image. Through E-commerce facility, the retail business can look
trustful and it helps to give a positive image to customers (Kim and Peterson, 2017). It is
recommended to the business owners to initiate E-commerce because it helps them to take
orders of their business irrespective of time, which helps to improve the incomes for the
company.
It can be concluded from the above research that E-commerce help to improve the revenues of
the business. In addition to this, the E-commerce facility helps the business to up-sell and cross-
sell their products (Scarborough, 2016). Through E-commerce, the business can take orders
from the customer irrespective of their location and the management of the business is easy
through the portal. E-commerce also helps the business in marketing and customer support, as
the business can run the marketing campaign online for the E-commerce. The initial phase of
the E-commerce may not be profitable for the business, as the information about it does not
reach to larger customers easily. Due to it, the business may not be able to earn profits from
the starting.
10

TASK 4
REPORT
SECTION CONTENT
Title page Title: E-commerce and how it drives business success
Student name/student number
Course/subject
Date due
Table of contents Abstract
Introduction
Methodology
• Data collection methods
• Literature review
• Ethical deliberation
Data analysis using the Interview method
Conclusions and recommendations
Abstract E-commerce is a practice of in which the business translation is
conducted with the help of electronic media. With the
development of internet and the computer facilities E-commerce
business have been adopted by many businesses worldwide
(Turban, et al., 2018). The E-commerce business is safe and secure
and it is easy to manage than the conventional business. The E-
commerce businesses are also less costly to maintain and install. E-
commerce also provides an advantage to reach new customers and
help the business to display the catalogue of products and service
they have with ease (Scarborough, 2016). Due to all this advantage,
11

the E-commerce business is profitable for the retail and other types
of business.
Introduction In this research, supports of E-commerce on business success have
been analysed. It also helps to find out the impact of various
factors, which are supported by the E-commerce on the business
activity.
Methodology This research has been conducted with the help of quantitative
methods of research. In-depth analysis has been conducted in this
research to identify the different aspects how the E-commerce is
beneficial for the success of the business.
Two methods have been used to conduct this research that is
primary and secondary research. Both of them are very useful to
find out important conclusion on the interrelationship of E-
commerce and business success.
The primary research has been conducted by asking five questions
to individuals who are connected to E-commerce business (Hewson
and Stewart, 2016). These questions helped us to study the impact
on E-commerce in business success through different viewpoints
and opinions.
The secondary research has been conducted by collecting different
journals, magazines and articles on the topic after which study of
abstract of forty researches related to the topic E-commerce. Out of
these forty journals, twenty were selected for detail study. This
helped to gain information about the influence of E-commerce on
business success.
Results The outcomes that are derived from the research suggest that E-
commerce have great utility for the business to become successful.
They can also help the business the business in different aspects by
supporting the revenue generation.
12

The results of the research as follows:
The E-commerce helps the business to maintain better business to
customer commerce by making the service of the business available
throughout the day and irrespective of the location of the business.
The E-commerce also helps the business to provide better customer
engagement by providing offers and coupons to the customers.
Customer engagement is also strengthened as the customers can
have assessed of the all the products and services of the business
through the E-commerce portal (Oglive, et al., 2016). E-commerce
also acts a better marketing and advertisement tool for the
business (Scarborough, 2016). The business can use various tools
such as digital marketing and search engine optimization to reach
maximum customers. These tools are less expensive than the
conventional marketing methods and help to reach targeted and a
higher number of customers. Reduction in cost of advertisement
helps the business to save money and increase the revenue
generated through sales of products. Business can also take help
and support of different business strategies such as flash sales and
make to order, this will help the business to improve the revenue
generation. In addition to this use of such business strategies also
help to reach more customers and improve the brand image. E-
commerce also helps to create a better brand image for the
business (Park, et al., 2015).The customers are likely to views
business associated with E-commerce as a modern and customer
oriented business (Scarborough, 2016). The management of E-
commerce is easy and swift, as all the records related to the
products, customers and the services are kept in an E-commerce
support portal. The effective management helps the business to
13

save money and the time that is associated with other management
services. The cost of the business is also saved with the help of the
E-commerce facility as it helps to save the cost of rent, staff, and
maintenance of the physical shop. In addition to the long-term cost
associated with the E-commerce business is also less than that of
conventional shops. In the recent times, the trust of the customer
has increased on the E-commerce business due to various facilities
that are provided. Most of the E-commerce business provides the
facility of cash on delivery, the return of products and customer
care that has to improve the trust in the business practice that has
helped the business associated with the E-commerce to grow
rapidly (Kirby-Hawkins, et al., 2018). The trust of the customers on
E-commerce has also improved which helps the business associated
with it to success (Kim and Peterson, 2017).
Furthermore, the results of the research tell that having an E-
commerce have helped the business owners to provide better
customer service, improve the profits. However, the initial phase of
the E-commerce was not profitable enough for the business as the
cost was high and the customer reach was less.
Discussions Through primary research it can be concluded that the E-commerce
provides many advantages to the business, they help the business
to reach the number of customers and improve the profits of the
business. The E-commerce facility also helps in better management
of customer data and improves the brand image of the business.
Through secondary research, it can be derived that E-commerce has
helped business to take orders all the time of the day. It has helped
the business to improve the profits and customer base. E-
14

commerce the management of the customer data is easier and then
the business can reach targeted customers. It also helps the
business to up-sell and cross-sell the products and services (Goyal,
2017). Furthermore with the help of the E-commerce facility the
marketing of the business have become influential not only beyond
the geographical boundaries, but also it has been promising
advertisement medium customer to know about the business. The
business know about their customer well through the effective
customer management systems of the E-commerce business, this
has given the business an opportunity to identify valuable customer
for their business (Chaffey, 2015). The other advantage of the E-
commerce for the business is that it helps the business to overcome
the influence of competition. As the customer can know about the
products and the service that is offered by the business effectively
this helps the business in customer retention. The research also
suggested that use of E-commerce business also calls of time and to
stay updated and it is very essential for the business to use the
facility of E-commerce. The E-commerce facility also helps them in
improving the business sales during the season of the business, as
customers find it convenient to reach to business and do sales
(Jiang, et al., 2016). The various advance computer options that
business gets through the E-commerce facility also helps to improve
the profits for the business. E-commerce facility also helps to
improve the customer satisfaction as the customers find it
convenient to execute business translation. This is because the
customer gets the bill related to the purchase on through the email
and then the item is delivered to the customer by the logistics. In
addition to this the customer can return or ask for the replacement
for the products that he ordered and the customer gets sufficient
15

time to cancel or decide upon the selection of the product or serve
that he wishes to buy.
Conclusion The research conducted provides sufficient support to the fact that
the E-commerce helps the business to gain more profits, customer
satisfaction and improve the brand image. It can also be concluded
that the E-commerce facility has certain advantages that the
conventional business practice do not offer such as independence
of geographical location, cost saving and better management of the
business (Chaffey, 2015). Through the research, it can also be
established that the E-commerce helps the business to improve
trust in business and establish effective communication with the
customers. The research also highlights certain difficulties of E-
commerce for the business such as fewer profits during the initial
phase of launch, due to less customer awareness and a high cost of
the facility of E-commerce.
Recommendation Through the research, it is recommended for the business to initiate
the E-commerce facility. This will help the business to improve the
profits and customer satisfaction. It is also recommended to the
business because it helps them to reach to the new customer and
improve the business-to-business facilities (Chaffey, 2015). The
recommendation of E-commerce is done for the fact that it helps
the business to stay up to date with time.
16

REFERENCES
 Chaffey, D., 2015. Digital business and E-commerce management. Pearson Education
Limited.
 Duttagupta, A. and Southworth, S.S., 2016. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Luxury
Flash Sale Websites' Customer Service.
 Flick, U., 2015. Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a
research project. Sage.
 Ghobakhloo, M., Arias-Aranda, D. and Benitez-Amado, J., 2011. Adoption of e-
commerce applications in SMEs. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 111(8),
pp.1238-1269.
 Goyal, L., 2017. Leading Digital Strategy: Driving Business Growth through Effective E-
commerce. Vikalpa, 42(2), pp.128-130.
 Gregory, G.D., Ngo, L.V. and Karavdic, M., 2017. Developing e-commerce marketing
capabilities and efficiencies for enhanced performance in business-to-business export
ventures. Industrial Marketing Management.
 Hewson, C. and Stewart, D.W., 2016. Internet research methods. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
 Jiang, L., Jun, M. and Yang, Z., 2016. Customer-perceived value and loyalty: how do key
service quality dimensions matter in the context of B2C e-commerce?. Service Business,
10(2), pp.301-317.
 Kian Chong, W., Shafaghi, M., Woollaston, C. and Lui, V., 2010. B2B e-marketplace: an e-
marketing framework for B2B commerce. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 28(3),
pp.310-329.
 Kim, Y. and Peterson, R.A., 2017. A Meta-analysis of Online Trust Relationships in E-
commerce. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 38, pp.44-54.
 Kirby-Hawkins, E., Birkin, M. and Clarke, G., 2018. An investigation into the geography of
corporate e-commerce sales in the UK grocery market. Environment and Planning B:
Urban Analytics and City Science, p.2399808318755147.
 Laudon, K.C. and Traver, C.G., 2013. E-commerce. Pearson.
17

 Lewis, R., Rao, J.M. and Reiley, D.H., 2015. Measuring the effects of advertising: The
digital frontier. In Economic Analysis of the Digital Economy (pp. 191-218). University of
Chicago Press.
 Nica, E., 2015. Satisfaction and trust in e-Commerce. Psychosociological Issues in Human
Resource Management, 3(1), pp.107-112.
 Ogilvie, J., Lindsey, K., Reynolds, K. and Northington, W.M., 2016. Examining Reactive
Customer Engagement Strategies in Online Shopping Cart Abandonment: A Regulatory
Fit Perspective. In Rediscovering the Essentiality of Marketing (pp. 755-756). Springer,
Cham.
 Park, E.J., Sung, H. and Kim, E.Y., 2015, June. THE ROLE OF ONLINE STORE SERVICES IN
ONLINE IMPULSE BUYING OF APPAREL PRODUCTS. In 2015 Global Fashion Management
Conference at Florence (pp. 612-613).
 Recker, J., 2012. Ethical considerations in research. In Scientific Research in Information
Systems (pp. 141-147). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
 Scarborough, N.M., 2016. Essentials of entrepreneurship and small business
management. Pearson.
 Stavrulaki, E. and Davis, M., 2010. Aligning products with supply chain processes and
strategy. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 21(1), pp.127-151.
 Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research
methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
 Turban, E., Outland, J., King, D., Lee, J.K., Liang, T.P. and Turban, D.C., 2018. Marketing
and Advertising in E-Commerce. In Electronic Commerce 2018 (pp. 361-401). Springer,
Cham.
 Turban, E., Outland, J., King, D., Lee, J.K., Liang, T.P. and Turban, D.C., 2018. Intelligent
(Smart) E-Commerce. In Electronic Commerce 2018 (pp. 249-283). Springer, Cham.
 Wang, W.T., Wang, Y.S. and Liu, E.R., 2016. The stickiness intention of group-buying
websites: The integration of the commitment-trust theory and e-commerce success
model. Information & Management, 53(5), pp.625-642.
18

 Zhang, Y., Fang, Y., Wei, K.K., Ramsey, E., McCole, P. and Chen, H., 2011. Repurchase
intention in B2C e-commerce—A relationship quality perspective. Information &
Management, 48(6), pp.192-200.
 Zilincan, J., 2015. Search engine optimization. In CBU International Conference
Proceedings... (Vol. 3, p. 506). Central Bohemia University.
19