Digital Marketing Direction: E-Business

By Erica Wenham, Tuesday 08 January 2013.

Digital Technologies For Marketing (Week 13)

Electronic business, commonly referred to as "eBusiness" or "e-business", may be defined as the utilization of information and communication technologies (ICT) in support of all the activities of business. Commerce constitutes the exchange of products and services between businesses, groups and individuals and can be seen as one of the essential activities of any business. Electronic commerce focuses on the use of ICT to enable the external activities and relationships of the business with individuals, groups and other businesses. It is the transformation of key business processes through the use of internet technologies.

In practice, e-business is more than just e-commerce. While e-business refers to more strategic focus with an emphasis on the functions that occurs using electronic capabilities, e-commerce is a subset of an overall e-business strategy. E-commerce seeks to add revenue streams using the World Wide Web or the Internet to build and enhance relationships with clients and partners and to improve efficiency.

E-business involves business processes spanning the entire value chain: electronic purchasing and supply chain management, processing orders electronically, handling customer service, and cooperating with business partners. Special technical standards for e-business facilitate the exchange of data between companies.

E-business software solutions allow the integration of intra and inter firm business processes. E-business can be conducted using the Web, the Internet, intranets, extranets, or some combination of these.

e-Business is the term used to describe the information systems and applications that support and drive business processes, most often using web technologies.

e-Business allows companies to link their internal and external processes more efficiently and effectively, and work more closely with suppliers and partners to better satisfy the needs and expectations of their customers, leading to improvements in overall business performance.

While a website is one of the most common implementations, e-Business is much more than just a web presence and there are a vast array of internet technologies all designed to help businesses work smarter not harder. Think about collaboration tools, mobile and wireless technology, Customer Relationship Management and social media to name a few.

1.      E-Business is bigger than e-marketing. It involves using technology to facilitate improvements to businesses processes and increase the efficiency of internal and external information flows with customers, suppliers and distributors. Rigid value chains are changed to flexible responsive value networks.

2.      Constructing the e-business architecture means somehow bringing together the systems, processes and applications from all parts of the business, both inside and out.

3.      In-Side e-business – Intranets used for optimizing internal processes and communications. E.g. manufacturing, management and operations

-          In-side applications use intranets to share knowledge amongst employees while avoiding problems of information overload

4.      Sell Side e-business – Extranets used for exclusive use to strategic intermediary partners. E.g. distributors and key account clients

-          Sell-side applications include e-commerce, e-CRM, affiliate programmes and collaborative “prosumers” (user-generated-content). It focuses on customer service and reliance on database management to maintain and enhance customer relationships

5.      Buy-Side e-business – Extranets used for buying raw materials and or services. E.g. procurement, inbound logistics and warehousing

-          No use of web for product sourcing or e-connection with suppliers
Review and selection from competing suppliers using intermediary websites, B2B exchanges and supplier websites. Conventional ordering

-          Orders placed electronically through EDI, via e-changes or supplier sites. No integration between buyer and sellers systems. Rekeying of orders necessary into procurement or accounting systems

-          Orders placed electronically with integration with companies procurement systems

-          Orders placed electronically with full integration with company’s procurement, manufacturing requirements, planning and stock control systems

Creating the E-Business consists of numerous aspects;

1.      Establishing the vision

2.      Get senior management support and resource

3.      Select a project team and analyse requirements

4.      Revisit value network and core competencies

5.      Design e-business architecture

6.      Develop, pilot, train, and roll-out

7.      Benchmark, measure and monitor

E-Business Success Criteria

ü  Support of parent company or investment

ü  Building on existing brand equity where possible

ü  Existing management team and structure

ü  Value network in place

ü  Create new value network

ü  Business Process Re-engineering

ü  Realistic pace of development

ü  Determine an existing or new niche

E-Business Failure Criteria

û  Bad idea

û  Bad production or delivery

û  Management inexperience or inflexibility

û  Failure to create niche

û  Isolated from value network

û  Not focused on customer needs

û  Poor marketing

û  Investor panic

û  Late or poor technology