An example of an E-commerce success and its causes

According to my research, there are 68-80% of e-commerce business fails with in the initial five years of their existence. These are because it generating a variety of activities, not enough profit to maintain the company. Another reason is the inability to clearly understand the market demand and the needs of the customer and their buying habits is another reason for failure. On the other hand, the pricing strategy is a very important aspect that either leads such company to failure or success in e-commerce. Therefore, in order to avoid failure in e-commerce, the aspects I’m mention above should be avoid and probably control.

Dell is one of the good examples of success in e-commerce.

Dell is one of the world’s top providers of computer products and services to businesses and consumers via online. Due to its efficient supply chain management, Dell is capable of shipping a PC within 24 hours of receiving an order. During rapid expansion of internet, Dell was quick to set up the e-commerce processes that would enable it to also sell directly online to customers. Selling online allows the whole process to be automated and more efficient.

There is full product information provided in online that help the consumers to make decision. They can simply follow the easy and automatic instructions and also customize the computer you want. Besides of that, it also gives variety of options on the method of payment. Once manufactured, it only takes three or four days for delivery. All of the systems relating to the sale are done through e-commerce: order placement, order tracking, payment processing, inspection, testing and delivery.

Dell’s approach to e-commerce creates the benefits of face-to-face contact between the buyer and the seller. This ensures that staff can be focused on delivering the quality product and providing excellent customer service and support. Customers can create and view their service records online. This includes product support, shipment and delivery dates. Each purchase comes with a service tag code, which can track the model bought and its service requirements. This allows Dell customer service representatives to quickly and efficiently handle requests. This level of 24 hour customer service and fast response time helps Dell build strong customer relations. The website is also used as a communication tool for news, press releases and general information to help customers, employees, the media and prospective employees find out more about the company.

If you interested to ratify the successful of Dell in e-commerce, you can surf to http://www.dell.com/.

The history and evolution of E-commerce

Before the internet was booming, commerce of a company was carried out face-to-face. But nowadays, electronic commerce, also known as e-commerce, assisting many organizations operate business that provide speed and convenient. On the other hand, customers make purchase over electronic signals, usually through the Internet. In another word, if a customer interested a product on a web site, they can buy it over the web. It is more convenient for customers to compare and find a best price on goods and also it gives customers the opportunity to purchase special items they could not find. So how an e-commerce became part of a way of our life?

When the e-commerce started, the organizations were using phone commerce; fax commerce and follow by internet commerce. Actually e-commerce was started during the 1960s with the earliest example electronic funds transfer (EFT), which allows organizations to transfer funds between one another electronically. Then another technology electronic interchange (EDI) was introduced. During the 1990s, the internet was opened for commercial use. It was the period that World Wide Web (WWW) begins, and the trend of rapid personal computer (PCs) usage growth. Due to the rapid expansion of the WWW network, e-commerce software and the peer business competitions, large number of dot-com and Internet starts-ups appeared. These three important factors made e-commerce possible and successful in 1991s.

However, in the beginning of 1994s, Netscape with its point-and-click Web browser that provided the users a simple browser to surf the Internet and a safe online transaction technology called Secure Sockets Layer and two of the biggest names in e-commerce, eBay and Amazon.com are launched in 1995s. During 1998s, DSL, or Digital Subscriber Line, provides fast, always-on Internet service to subscribers across California. This prompts people to spend more time, and money, online.

People start to define the term of e-commerce as the process of purchasing goods and services over the Internet using secure connections and electronic payment services during 2000s when a large number of business companies in the United States and Western Europe represented their services in the World Wide Web. Although the dot-com collapse in 2000s results many of e-commerce companies disappeared, the “brick and mortar” retailers recognized the advantages of electronic commerce and began to add such capabilities to their web sites.

Nowadays, e-commerce became popular to everyone. You will not be limited by size, scale, customizability, currency or even language when doing business over the World Wide Web. Likewise, you can easily shopping via internet without having to go out.

The history & evolution of E-commerce

The electronic commerce (E-commerce) refers to all forms of business activities conduct across internet. This includes intranet and extranet, online advertising, business to business (B2B), business to consumer (B2C) and etc. Its addresses the need of organizations and consumers to cut costs while improving the quality of services and increasing the speed of services delivery by using internet.

The E-commerce was come from development of the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). EDI is a set of standard developed in the 1960’s, which gave an opportunity for users to exchange information and do electronic transactions. In those days, there was a several format of EDI available, therefore companies still might not be able to interact with each other. In 1984s, ASC X 12 standards become stable and reliable in transferring large amount of transactions.

The next major step occurred in 1992s where the Mosaic web-browser becomes the first ‘point and click’ browser. The Mosaic browser was quickly adapted into a downloadable browser, and Netscape which allowed easier access to E-commerce. In 1998s, the development of Red Hat Linux was another step in E-commerce growth. Linux gave user another choice in a platform other then windows that was reliable and open source. In February 2000, there are hackers attacked some major players of e-commerce, including yahoo and Ebay, it gave a signal that it is a need for improved security.

Evolution of e-commerce can be attributed to a combination of regulatory reform and technological innovation. E-commerce of today took off with the arrival of world wide web (WWW) and browsers in early 1990s, and the online activities are more than one.
Today, businesses have been engaging in a form of E-commerce. There are no more realized on the paper documentation which consumes a great deal of time & higher printing cost. Using E-commerce, it can create a set of standards format for transmitting that information electronically, businesses were able to reduce error, prevent risk & eliminate the unused data. Using security to secure the company profile and only allow user to login with a password. DSL which has helped to expand the volume and capacity of communications that helped in the process of rapid growth. As a result, the internet and electronic data exchange are becoming valuable tools in the supply chain.

Discuss how e-commerce can reduce cycle time, improve employees' empowerment and facilitate customer support

Reduce Cycle Time
E-Commerce is the secure electronic exchange of data which formerly had to be dealt with manually and which can reduce the cycle time. It also can shorten the time takes to complete a productivity activity from the business. By using e-commerce to do the business activity can drive down the time it takes to develop and deliver new products, dramatically reduce inventory and manufacturing time. Besides that, it is also reducing the sales cycle time because the seller can sell their product through their company website. Thus, it is eliminate the time to meet out the customer.

Improve Employees' Empowerment
E-commerce can eliminate the old-fashioned paper work by add in the modern networking technology. For instance, the local area network can link each employee's computer together with the management to perform their task together. Employees have giving an autonomy right to posting notices, get faster and more reliable access to file, posting catalog via internet, and receive order from customers by mail and collection of customer data. In this case, employees can perform efficiency and effective work in order to achieve the customers' satisfaction.

Facilitate Customer Support
Through e-commerce, it opens a world of businesses to customers, hence making the world of business easier. From this model which is clearly shows that e-Business provides opportunities for interaction, transaction and profitability in back office to its customer. In this case, these help customers buying and selling goods though e-commerce more easily. Beside that, websites with interactive features such as chat line, bulletin board, email etc. These facilities help to keep the customer in touch with the "real person" in the business. This is because, automatic email responses provide customers with instant information to their inquiries and help create more sales by answering general queries more quickly and comprehensively.

In conclusion, e-commorce had been commonly and widespreadly used and had bring benefit to the public. If e-commerce had been correctly and properly used it can stabilise and improve the country's economic.

An example of an e-commerce failure & its causes

With the changing trends of globalization and the advancement of modern technology, the development of e-commerce has boomed in the past few years. This Internet based business has motivated many entrepreneurs to be a part of this monetary potential world. However, not all companies are succeeded in this business world handles by the advanced technology. Companies usually fail to achieve complete success and are not able to face the challenges in market via Internet.

The example of the e-commerce failure is Pets.com. It is a former dot-com enterprise that ceased operations in November of 2000. Pets.com was a short-lived online business that sold pet accessories and supplies direct to consumers over the World Wide Web.

The main reason of the Pets.com failure which is they would not be able to raise further capital. Therefore, they aggressively undertook actions to sell the company. This is because they were unable to give their customer a reason to buy their pets instead of the local pet store. Besides, they also face the challenge of shipping costs when they compete with real-world stores. In the end, Pets.com was forced to sell its pet food far below cost to remain competitive, which is hardly a sustainable business model. Pets.com failed to understand the consumer and thus failed to position the company in accordance with anything other than price.