E-Business and E-Commerce: Roles, Impact, and Case Study Insights

This report delves into the critical roles of e-business and e-commerce in the modern business landscape. It begins by differentiating between e-business and e-commerce, highlighting the latter's function as a component of the former, facilitating transactions over the internet, including the buying and selling of goods and services. The report emphasizes the importance of e-commerce in today's world, discussing its benefits, such as a wider variety of products, reduced prices compared to traditional retail, and exciting offers. The report then explores the roles of e-business, including cost reduction, increased marketing efficiency, centralized data storage, enhanced inventory control, and increased revenue. A detailed case study of Alibaba is presented to illustrate these concepts, showcasing how Alibaba leverages e-business and e-commerce to achieve global success, by incorporating small and medium-sized businesses, varying product prices depending on regional demand, and ensuring secure e-commerce transactions. The report concludes by summarizing the key roles of e-business and e-commerce and their positive contributions to our lives.

Running head: E-BUSINESS 1
E-Business
Name
Institution

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E-BUSINESS
Introduction
E-commerce is a component of e-business and it refers to a platform that facilitates
transaction over the internet. Such transactions comprise of buying or selling of goods and
services, as well as conducting auctions. Using a website, e-commerce can easily be set, thus
providing the sellers with a platform to interact with their target market. E-Commerce is based
on a business-to-business concept whereby there exists a direct interaction with the customers.
On the other hand, e-business is a platform that is used to carry out every type of business-related
process on the internet. The electronic business comprises all the information transfer,
transaction, technical support, along with the exchange of all aspects associated with commerce
that include services, information, products, and money. E-business entails the use of Website,
ERP’s, as well as CRM’s in bridging different businesses and establishing connectivity, covering
all processes such as manufacturing, management, and marketing. E-business is based on
business-to-business and business-to-consumer. E-businesses’ main element is e-commerce
which provides the scope of conducting businesses-related processes. Amazon, eBay, and
Alibaba are among organizations that have dominated in the e-commerce business. Drawing on
Alibaba as a case study, the report addresses the roles that e-business and e-commerce play in
today’s business world.
Personal Opinion on E-commerce and E-business
There is an influx of the number of internet users who shop online on a weekly basis.
Most of us spend most of our time browsing the internet either for study, business, work,
learning, marketing, and entertainment. All the above commercial and social activities are linked

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to the internet, and with the absence of e-commerce, the world around interned is difficult and it
would scare businesses to imagine. That is the main reason why e-business is essential in our
life.
There are many reasons as to why I believe e-commerce has been effective in improving
our daily life. First, electronic commerce provides a wide variety of products. In the case of
small cities or even villages, individuals get compromised due to the limited number of shops
and a variety of products as well as services that are available locally (Chaffey, 2015). The
traditional brick and mortar shops along with conventional commerce are incapable of satisfying
customers’ needs in terms of variety. E-commerce brings in a wide variety of products, hence
expanding traditional commerce’s boundaries. With e-commerce, people are able to visit several
websites and compare products within a short period, making it fast and convenient unlike when
visiting different shops to purchase goods (Awais & Samin, 2012). Deciding on the product to
purchase and from which website takes approximately 20 to 30 minutes unlike in traditional
retail method whereby a person likely spends an entire day before deciding what to purchase and
from which shop. That is the main reason why I believe that e-commerce is essential in
providing a variety of goods with speed.
Additionally, e-commerce also offers reduced prices compared to traditional shopping
and selling. Compared to the traditional methods, selling goods and services via the online
platform is less expensive. In offline commerce, several high overhead costs are incurred and
they include recurring expenses that include counter cost, security cost, store management cost,
transportation cost, inventory cost, salary, including shop rent among others. Hence, this makes it
difficult for retailers to sell goods at reduced prices (Sila, 2013). That is the reason why I believe

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e-commerce is important because it effectively minimizes fixed and variable costs, making it
possible for people to obtain goods and services at low prices.
Nonetheless, I observe that e-commerce provides exciting offers to customers as well as
shopping deals notifications. Traditionally, customers are unaware of what products are new in
the second and third-tier cities, local markets, village shops, or even shopping malls until they
visit. Regardless, the local retailers are also unaware of the products in the international market.
In the past, a difference existed in personality, habits, thinking, and appearance of individuals
that belonged to the metros and the villages (Solaymani, Sohaili & Yazdinejad, 2012). However,
owing to the e-commerce and communication technology’s unparalleled development, all
individuals, even those that are located in the far-flung regions obtain notifications as well as
messages from the sellers regarding existing discount offers. In the current marketing
environment, consumers are able to find the most suitable deals within seconds by browsing
links via their mobile phones. As a result, e-commerce has been effective in connecting people,
equalized appearance and removed the gap that existed among people living in the villages and
those in the metros (Chen & Holsapple, 2013). By so doing, e-commerce has leveled the playing
ground for all businesses, thus shrinking the global physical boundaries. That is the reason why I
believe e-commerce is an excellent internet development and it will keep going.
Roles of E-business and E-commerce in Today’s World of Business
E-business is a term that encompasses e-sales, e-learning, e-commerce, and e-banking,
along with online communication. Currently, it plays a primary role in the manner in which
organizations conduct business, thus shaping the global economy. The roles that e-business plays
in today’s world of business include:

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Reduced business costs: Among the benefits associated with e-business is its potential to
minimize costs. The technology effectively eliminates the need of having a physical presence as
was the case with the brick-and-mortar stores or offices. Unless they want to, organizations are
no longer obligated to rent a space to operate or pay for utilities. In addition, there are low costs
associated with e-business strategies such as social media as well as online advertising, unlike
traditional marketing (Gupta, 2014). Thus, e-business provides startups and other small
businesses with an opportunity to reach the target market thus being capable of competing
against big and already established organizations without incurring huge costs. Nonetheless,
technologies that comprise of Artificial Intelligence including machine learning have assisted
such firms to reduce operational costs, thus increasing productivity.
Increased efficiency in marketing: Approximately 93% of online experiences start with a
search engine. In the current business world, customers look for information regarding products
and services via the internet. Organizations are capable of reaching a wider customer base and
increasing customer engagement by put into practice the best e-business practices (Ray, 2012).
Programming marketing and smart data are examples of modern technologies that facilitate
precise targeting, hence offering companies the opportunity to define their ideal buyers along
with accurately displaying relevant ads. Through e-business, businesses do not have to spend
their marketing budget on digital as well as banners that are likely to be blocked or ignored
altogether by the customers.
Centralized data: The latest e-business functions allow organizations to store huge
quantities of data hence keeping it secure. For instance, cloud hosting offers a mechanism of
storing customer information, employee records, videos, contracts, including other types of data
from the physical office to a virtual storage location meaning that companies no longer need to

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depend on paper documents or USB drivers to store data (Sari & Onursal, 2013). Nonetheless,
these files remain accessible to organizations and their employee on the go, irrespective of their
location.
Enhanced inventory control: Through e-business and advancement in technology,
companies are able to automate inventory of goods, process orders, as well as accept payments
without much handwork. E-business allows logistics centers, e-commerce stores, including other
product-based organizations to quickly gather data as well as have increased control over their
products (Namvar & Khalilzadeh, 2013). Automated inventory management tools help
organizations free up their time as well as assist eliminate the human error that results in reduced
operational costs and enhanced efficiency. Hence, organizations are capable of focusing on their
businesses’ core aspects without having to worry about unnecessary things.
Increased revenue: Latest e-business functions and strategies are capable of translating
into increased revenue for a business. Such strategies and functions not only lower the costs but
they also enhance communication within an enterprise (Wynn, Turner & Lau, 2013). CRM
software, data-driven marketing, including other content management tools and technologies
effectively contributes to the growth of an organization (Zhu, et al., 2015). Integrating such
solutions into an enterprise’s daily activities ensures that a lot is done within a short period. All
organizational staff, suppliers, customers, and processes have become integrated as a result of e-
business. In addition, the department can efficiently share valuable data in real time thus
facilitating them attain the set best results, whether in terms of increasing market research or
closing a sale which may translate to increased productivity as well performance, enhanced
customer satisfaction, along with efficient transactions.

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Case Study: Alibaba
Alibaba Group is an example of a business that operates through an e-commerce system
and it has got branches globally. The organization’s primary objective is to develop a global e-
commerce infrastructure with the aim of providing services to a broad customer base as well as
establishing a cohesive commercial company (Du, et al., 2013). Also, Alibaba offers an
opportunity for mutual interaction between the buyers and the sellers along with the product
merchants aimed at satisfying customer needs for a more effective and successful business
system. To achieve all this success, Alibaba has implemented a strong Information Technology
Infrastructure. Being the largest e-commerce business globally, the organization has got an
effective e-business application. As such, Alibaba has subscribed to Big Data Services that are
linked to microfinance system (Fan, et al., 2018). The Big Data System allows the organization
to manage and calculate the business’s records and statistics.
The company’s primary marketing strategy is spreading its business globally by
incorporating small and medium-sized businesses along with varying the products’ prices
depending on the demand level in a particular region. Through its e-business platform, Alibaba is
able to promote the growth of regional businesses, which in turn enhances the company’s control
over the regional market (Leong, et al., 2016). With the assistance of the latest technical
upgrades along with its successful marketing strategy, the organization aims at expanding its e-
commerce business around the world. Thus, Alibaba primarily targets at developing its e-
commerce system including mixing several innovative marketing strategies. Additionally,
Alibaba ensures that its e-commerce business is secure by using the highest technical systems in
carrying out its business (Clark, 2018). That said, through its e-commerce business, Alibaba has
been successful in delivering benefits of a new digital economy to remote areas both in China

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and internationally. With the tap of a button, customers are able to make orders of products they
want and have them delivered. Nonetheless, the company’s e-commerce platform has facilitated
the growth of other small businesses that have partnered with Alibaba to reach out to their target
market (Zhou, Chen & Li, 2018). Using the system, customers can choose from a wide variety of
products in Alibaba’s official website and the organization makes plans on how the product will
reach the intended client’s home.
Conclusion
On the other hand, e-business is a platform that is used to carry out every type of
business-related process on the internet. The electronic business comprises all the information
transfer, transaction, technical support, along with the exchange of all aspects associated with
commerce that include services, information, products, and money. Commercial and social
activities are linked to the internet have resulted in an influx of the number of internet users who
shop online on a weekly basis. There are several reasons why I believe e-business has
contributed positively to our lives. First, E-commerce has been essential in providing a variety of
goods with speed, offers reduced prices, and provides exciting offers to customers as well as
shopping deals notifications. Alibaba, for instance, is an e-business organization that has been
effective in connecting people, equalized appearance and removed the gap that existed among
people living in the villages and those in the metros.

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