E-Business Report: Technologies, Strategies, and Organizational Impact

This report provides a detailed analysis of e-business, covering various aspects of the e-commerce industry. It begins by articulating recent developments and future directions, including personalization, drone delivery, curated products, and the integration of online and offline retail experiences. The report then compares and explains different types of e-business infrastructure technologies, business models (B2C, B2B, etc.), and payment and security systems within a corporate setting. Furthermore, it formulates and critically evaluates the impact of e-business strategies on organizational processes and outcomes, including the effects on Porter's model, value chain analysis, and generic strategies like product differentiation and cost competition. The report also demonstrates the technical research skills required to assess existing and emerging e-business technologies to transform organizations for competitive advantages, emphasizing the importance of understanding business objectives and utilizing e-commerce presence maps. Finally, it addresses the importance of teamwork and communication skills, and interprets the legal, ethical, social, and cultural issues affecting e-business systems.

Running Head: E-Business
E-Business
Individual Topics

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Table of Content
Topic 1: Articulate the recent development in the e-commerce industry and its likely future
directions...............................................................................................................................................2
E-Commerce Personalization & Experience.......................................................................................2
E-Commerce Delivery Drones............................................................................................................2
Curated product and Monthly paying model.....................................................................................3
E-Commerce tracking into the retail space........................................................................................3
Topic 2: Compare and explain various types of e-business infrastructure technologies, business
models, and payment and security systems in a corporate setting....................................................3
Topic 3: Formulate and critically evaluate the impact of e-business strategies on organisational
processes and outcomes.......................................................................................................................5
Topic 4: Demonstrate the technical research skills to assess existing and emerging e-business
technologies to transform organisations for competitive advantages..................................................6
Topic 5: Develop the ability to work independently and contribute as a member of team employing
appropriate interpersonal, professional and technical communication skills.......................................8
Topic 6: Interpret the legal, ethical, social and cultural issues that affect the use, design, and
implementation of e-business systems.................................................................................................9
References...........................................................................................................................................12

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Topic 1: Articulate the recent development in the e-commerce
industry and its likely future directions
E-commerce or electronic commerce can be treated as a disruption to the existing business models
in the 90s and early 2000s. People who are actively working towards the development of the sector
believe that e-commerce is all about execution and is ever evolving in nature. It will be extremely
naïve to predict the future of e-commerce, although few things will certainly mark an improvement
over existing practices:
 Improvement in the delivery times
 Better and improved customer service
 Vast range in product selection
 Plethora of companies moving either to only click model or click and brick model(Example of
Walmart expansion plan in India, acquiring Flipkart to ensure its click model to support its
brick and mortar model)
Recent development and Future directions:
E-Commerce Personalization & Experience
It is no brainer that e-commerce is driving economies worldwide. People are spending more and
more money online to buy all sorts of products. With the ever increasing competition and evolution
of technology the e-commerce websites will focus on personalization and enriching the experience
of online customers. It will also be interesting to see how e-commerce companies enhance further
experience of customers by providing them close to an in –store experience through its website.
Surfing the website for the products will get a lot simpler and usage of big data analytics to predict
the products a customer would want to purchase will be the next big thing (Narang & Arora, 2018).
E-Commerce Delivery Drones
Drones are most definitely one of the most exciting developments in the e-commerce sector.
Amazon and other companies are rapidly experimenting with drone delivery to reduce the logistic
hassle, improve the delivery of the product and reduce delivery time. The drones are expected to be
sent from the fulfilment centres to directly the address, it will take hardly 30 minutes for a product

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to reach the customer. Hence, drone delivery will definitely be a game changer in the e-commerce
industry (Qi & Tapio, 2018).
Curated product and Monthly paying model
Monthly paying models and curated product will continue to rein the e-commerce sector. People are
not really interested in buying generic products which are offered by the e-commerce websites, they
are more interested in buying curated products, lifestyle products and e-commerce packages which
can enhance the user experience. Usage of Artificial intelligence will play a key factor in creating a
curated line of product for the e-commerce sector.
E-Commerce tracking into the retail space
The e-commerce sector will focus more and more on reducing the difference between online and
offline stores. Walmart has been trying to do the same from a long time, and recently launched
Amazon Go store is another step in the direction of technological advancement to enrich the
experience of the customers. The underlying idea here is to personalize the experience of the vast
customer base, help them in creating a shopping cart and seamless integration with the offline
stores. Amazon Go store is one such store which is redefining the retail model. The store is one of its
kinds, with no check in and checks out baggage and everything being processed via application
which in turn is driven by QR code. This true advanced experience in shopping will create disruption
by bringing the online experience closer via offline channels.
Topic 2: Compare and explain various types of e-business
infrastructure technologies, business models, and payment and
security systems in a corporate setting.
Business model can be understood as a set of planning activities accumulated together to earn profit
for the organization. The different business models in e-commerce are:
B2C B2C
Portal Model-This is
characterized with search plus
E-Distributer-This type of
model is a version of retail

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an integrated package of
content and services. The
revenue model for this type of
business model is characterized
by Advertising, referral fees,
transaction fee, and
subscription for premium
services.
and wholesale store which is
owned by one company and
looking to serve plethora of
customers. The revenue
models sale of goods and the
example being Grainger.
Transaction Broker-This is
another very frequently used
B2C model .It processes online
transaction for the online
customers. The Primary value
proposition is saving time and
money for the customers. The
revenue model is transaction
fees and financial, travel & job
placement services
E-Procurement- This is
characterized by creation of
digital markets where the
people participates for
indirect goods. Ariba is an
example of such type of
model.
Market Creator-This type of
business model creates an
environment where buyers and
sellers and meet and carry
transaction amongst each
other. Example being E-Bay,
Uber, Airbnb etc.
Exchanges-These are
independently owned
vertical digital marketplace
for direct inputs. This type of
model tends to exert
pressure on the supplier into
powerful price competition.
Service Provider-This model is
characterized by simply
providing services to the online
audience. The example being
Google, Maps and so on. The
revenue model is sale of
services, advertising fees,
subscription fee and the sale of
marketing data.
Industry Consortium- These
are industry owned vertical
digital marketplace which
are open only to select
suppliers.
Payment Systems and Security in E-commerce
Credit and debit cards are primary source of online payment in E-commerce. Online credit card
payment system is plagiarised by Security, merchant risk, cost and social equity. Other payment
options are as follows:
Online stored Value systems: It is based on the value stores in the consumer’s bank, example being
Paypal. Other alternatives are Amazon Pay, Visa Checkout, Bill Me Later, WUPay, and Stripe.
Mobile Payment Systems: Apple pay, Android pay, Samsung Pay, Square.
Digital cash and virtual currencies: Bitcoin.

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The e-commerce security environment is layered by 4 dimensions:
 Data
 Technology Solution
 Organizational policies and procedures
 Laws and Industry standard.
E-Business Infrastructure technologies
Infrastructure technologies Examples
E-Business services applications layer CRM, Supply chain, data mining
System software layer Web browser, server software
Network or transport layer TCP/IP
Storage/Physical layer Permanent magnetic storage on web servers
Content and data layer Web content for Intranet, extranet and internet
sites.
Topic 3: Formulate and critically evaluate the impact of e-business
strategies on organisational processes and outcomes
E-commerce is rapidly changing the business landscape, more frequently than ever. The average
business model life has reduced from 60 years in the past to 20 years, all thanks to the e-commerce
and the evolution of technology. Businesses are transforming rapidly to adopt the best practices and
to ensure that they are not left behind in this competitive race.
E-commerce is significantly affecting and disrupting the Porter model of attractiveness and
profitability by creating variation in its attributes.
 Rivalry among existing competitors is increasing because of the increase in penetration of
the B2C model .Every Company is inching towards getting the customer money by deploying
every possible marketing and promotion tool. Increased use of SEO, SEM, digital and social
media marketing, you tube marketing is pushing the game through the roof for every player.
Hence every company has to come up with different strategies to tap the customers.
 Bargaining power of suppliers- Bargaining power of suppliers is increasing because of
increasing number of players in the e-commerce sector. Hence, every company is doing its
best to retain the existing customers and get more customers on board.

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 Threat of new substitute- Every company and every product is replaceable in the world.
Same is with the e-commerce company. Hence in order to save the company from being
extinct they have to innovate and bring out the next big thing in the market.
TO add, internet subsequently brings down the cost of goods, which can be thus passed on to the
customers. The value chain analysis thus points to reduce operational costs and adding value to the
customer product. Internet has made it extremely easy for consumers to consumer information, at a
click they can search for any information over the web thus propelling e-commerce companies to
put more and more content there on the web to explore for the customers. Companies are moving
rapidly towards engaging its online audience; increased engagement with the audience can lead to
more conversion and better sales. The generic strategies which are being deployed in the companies
as a change management due to e-commerce are:
 Product/Service differentiation- E-commerce is urging companies to create differentiation
in their services and products to attract and retain the customers. This will ensure that they
stay ahead in the market beating the competition and reaching towards business
sustainability.
 Cost competition-E-commerce companies are reducing their cost to get more and more
customers on their platform, they are taking a cut in their profits to increase their market
share and get more number of customers on board.
 Scope- The companies are increasing their scope of services and products to ensure that
they become one stop shop for every need for customer. Hence, all the e-commerce
companies are rapidly filling up the websites with millions and millions of new product
offering on a daily basis to stay upbeat in competition and serve the unsatiated needs of the
customers.
 Customer Intimacy- E-commerce companies have to really adapt to the fast changing
technology, they are looking for new and more avenues to engage with its online audience
and bring them closer to the company. In a bid they are offering personalized and
customized products to the customers, curated products and enriched experience on the
website to establish customer intimacy.

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Topic 4: Demonstrate the technical research skills to assess existing
and emerging e-business technologies to transform organisations for
competitive advantages.
In order to understand and assess the existing and emerging e-business technologies to transform
organizations to transform organization for competitive advantage, one has to get to the bottom of
the functionality, the rationale and the business model for the e-commerce website. The first step is
to identify the idea of the e-commerce site, and its vision, which includes:
 Mission statement
 Target audience
 Market space
 Marketing matrix
 Budget
 Strategy analysis
The next step is to answer the following questions for the e-commerce company:
 Business model
 Revenue model
 Target audience
 Characteristic of the marketplace.
 Source of the content
 SWOT analysis
 Cost calculation
E-commerce presence Map helps big time in assessing the e-commerce companies:
Type of Presence Platform Activity
Website/App Traditional, mobile, tablet Search, display, affiliates and
sponsorships
Social Media Facebook, twitter, blogs etc. Conversation, engagement,
sharing and advice
E-mail Internal lists and purchased lists Newsletter, updates and sales
Offline media Print, TV and Radio Education, exposure and
Branding.
The e-commerce presence map will help in narrowing down the focus of the e-commerce Company
and help in a better analysis of the company to attain a competitive edge in the market.

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It then becomes extremely important to understand the management challenges the organization
face with its business objectives. It is really important to understand the business objectives in detail
to assess the e-commerce company. For example the business objective of Amazon is to provide fast
and speedy delivery of product to its billions of customers while staying customer centric in nature.
Understanding the same will help in deciding what kind of content have to be pushed to the
customers and also insights into the functionalities of the existing architecture of e-commerce
website? The other main factors which one has to assess are:
 Management-It is important to understand the objective of management behind the e-
commerce website; this will help in getting to the bottom of the functionalities of the
website which will help in achieving sustainable competitive advantage.
 Hardware architecture- This involves studying the description of the main components of a
system and their relationship with each other. Understanding of the logical design involving
Data flow diagrams, processing functions and databases have to be understood, similarly,
physical design involving software components, actual physical components have to be
understood in detail.
 Software-Understanding of Oracle SQL, Web Sphere E-commerce suite, Ad server, online
catalogue, Mail server, shopping cart etc. have to be studied under the software part.
 Design
 Telecommunications
 Human Resources
Understanding and analysis of all the above mentioned points can help a person to do a technical
analysis of the website and make recommendation on how to gain a competitive edge in the market
and beat the competitors. Understanding of software and computer language such as SQL and Java,
understanding of the e-commerce industry in totality helps in bring out the best from the e-
commerce company.
Topic 5: Develop the ability to work independently and contribute as
a member of team employing appropriate interpersonal, professional
and technical communication skills
As mentioned in the earlier section, e-commerce or e-business is creating waves all across the world
and is changing the way people shop online. As an employee in the e-commerce industry it becomes
extremely important to understand how the industry operates and function to contribute towards

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the success of the company. E-commerce has been in the system for over 20 years, but the industry
is still evolving, there is so much to learn that a person can dive into the world of learning e-
commerce and its attributes.
In order to contribute as a team member one has to understand the rationale behind the company’s
mission, vision and the idea. Once the person is convinced he has the ability to contribute better to
increase his productivity to achieve the goals of the team and the organization. A set of SMART
objectives are to be created in order to define the clear cut objectives of the employee in his job
role. The objectives help in setting a clear defined path on which the employee can walk and
contribute towards the success of the organization.
In an organization, it is however said that team work can create more synergies than an individual
person working. Having, said that it does not imply that one is reliant on the team to complete the
task; the person has to ensure that he takes the onus, responsibility and accountability towards a
job. One has to be really efficient in understanding the knitty grittys of the e-commerce industry to
contribute in a rather productive way to the team. The same can also be ensured by the organization
in the form of tutorial video, online training, class room training, buddy training, and different
programs on e-commerce functionalities and so on. All this data will help the employee to contribute
in a better way towards the success of the organization.
It is the combined job of the employee and employer to ensure that the company is moving onto the
desired path. E-commerce which is changing every single day, there is too much to learn and adopt.
With new languages being used in the website to improve the user experience, different algorithm
being used to improve the search query and produce accurate result for the customers, the
development opportunities are immesured, thus it becomes extremely important to be competent
in interpersonal, technical, communication and team skills to succeed in the e-commerce sector.
Further, the skill development is a process and does not happen overnight, but with the careful
guidance and a systematic path to follow, it becomes quite a task with environment of learning and
growth for the employee and business sustainability for the employer.
Topic 6: Interpret the legal, ethical, social and cultural issues that
affect the use, design, and implementation of e-business systems
The vastness of offered by internet also opens up the doors for the e-commerce to explode any
minute. E-commerce is the ability of providing secure shopping transactions which is coupled with

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instant verification and validation of the credit card transaction. E-commerce is not just about the
technology, it is about doing business ethically leveraging the technology.
Ethical Issues
Web Tracking
E-businesses gathers information on how the visitor uses the web site through a function called as
log files, the log file further means turning this log data into application service which picks relevant
information about the customer. Multiple programs like cookies raise multiple privacy concern, the
cookies are stored on the website which then helps the website being visited again to pick up the
cookies and curate the result for the customers. These cookies also produces spams which are
unwantedly sent across to the customers who have been using the website for software, such
malicious links, click baits in the longer run worsen the user experience on the e-commerce website.
Privacy
Almost all the e-commerce companies have the bank detail of every customer, such data is stored
on the cloud, but it becomes extremely important to protect the data of the consumers. Consumer
put a good amount of trust in the e-commerce websites in providing them personal information and
the bank details. Such private details have to be protected from data theft, which have to be
protected from Cyber-attacks. Also, e-commerce companies have to ensure that they do not sell the
user data to marketing companies which spam the customers unnecessarily.
Legal Issues
Fraud on the Internet
Every other day there is news of someone become duped on the internet losing a vast amount of
money. The boom in the e-commerce companies have also given rise to many fraudulent companies
who are duping the customers by taking their personal and bank details and then cheating them in
the process. It is the availability of the pop up ads and email which have given way for many financial
criminals and potential frauds to happen on the internet. Thus, it is a matter of utmost grave to
create legal ground to prevent such cases to happen in the future.
Copyright
The copyright laws protect intellectual property to a good extent hence cannot be used freely. But in
E-commerce it is very difficult to ascertain intellectual property. If a person buys software from a

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website, he is allowed to use it but not distribute it further. The distribution rights are reserved by
the copyright holder; however it is difficult to track the same on the e-commerce site. At the same
time, copying the content directly from the website violates the copy right laws.
Social and Cultural Issues
The world has become a global village with the advent of Internet, more so with the rising
penetration of smartphones and e-commerce. This however, besides having multiple benefits has a
lot of social and cultural issues as well. People are shopping online irrespective of how their culture
and societal values are, although, it is not a bad thing as everyone should be allowed to do whatever
he wants until and unless he or she harms any one. But the protagonist of culture sees it as an act of
modernization and they want to stick with their own dogma beliefs. E-commerce has ensured that
every person who has a purchasing power can go online can buy product, which is same for person
of every class. However, the person from the lower class can still not afford the product thus leading
to increased resentment in them

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References
Narang, B. and Arora, J.B., 2018. Present and future of mobile commerce: Introduction, comparative
analysis of m commerce and e commerce, advantages, present and future. In Mobile Commerce:
Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications(pp. 1431-1447). IGI Global.
Qi, Y. and Tapio, P., 2018. Weak Signals and Wild Cards Leading to Transformative Disruption: A
Consumer Delphi Study on the Future of e-Commerce in China. World Futures Review, 10(1), pp.54-
82.