E-business,
or E-commerce as it mostly known to the world, has revolutionized the way we
view, experience, and generate business for our economy today. With the
advancement of technology, businesses have taken advantage of expanding their
business structures that run their companies, and have transformed everything
into a digital, online service. As stated in an article on e-commerce, “Ecommerce was introduced 40 years ago and,
to this day, continues to grow with new technologies, innovations, and
thousands of businesses entering the online market each year. The convenience,
safety, and user experience of ecommerce has improved exponentially since its
inception in the 1970’s.” [1] The biggest convenience for e-commerce perhaps
is how easy and hands-on it is to use for any user, whether new or experienced
to the online world, and very educational to any type of demographic these
companies reach out to sell their products. But lately in the past few years,
the advancement and creation of smartphones has taken e-commerce to a whole new
level of business to consumer productivity. “The growing use of the Internet, tablet devices, and smart phones
coupled with larger consumer confidence will see that ecommerce will continue
to evolve and expand.” [1]
Before
this new concept had taken over as the new fad of conducting e-commerce, most
companies would conduct business transactions to each other over the Internet,
or as they call it “Business-to-Business”. This type of e-commerce can be
categorized into different sectors of how this process can be utilized in the
electronic business economy:
1. “Company Web sites, since the target
audience for many company Web sites is other companies and their employees.
Company sites can be thought of as round-the-clock mini-trade exhibits.
Sometimes a company Web site serves as the entrance to an exclusive extranet
available only to customers or registered site users. Some company Web sites
sell directly from the site, effectively e-tailing to other businesses.” [2]
2. “Product supply and procurement
exchanges, where a company purchasing agent can shop for supplies from vendors,
request proposals, and, in some cases, bid to make a purchase at a desired
price. Sometimes referred to as e-procurement sites, some serve a range of
industries and others focus on a niche market.” [2]
3. “Specialized or vertical industry
portals which provide a "subWeb" of information, product listings,
discussion groups, and other features. These vertical portal sites have a
broader purpose than the procurement sites (although they may also support
buying and selling).” [2]
4. “Brokering sites, that act as an
intermediary between someone wanting a product or service and potential
providers. Equipment leasing is an example.” [2]
5. “Information sites (sometimes known
as infomediary), which provide information about a particular industry for its
companies and their employees. These include specialized search sites and trade
and industry standards organization sites.” [2]
Although these types of
business-to-business websites are still very functional and useful in the
online economy today, many of these functional websites are now being
transferred and modernized into the world of “mobile commerce”, which is the
process of electronic business functional and processed through mobile devices
such as smartphones and tablets. Mobile commerce has made it even simpler for
experienced online users to take this advanced concept on the go, where businesses
feel it has increased profits for their companies due to the fact that online
marketing and advertising is not strictly used just at home anymore. With the
popular demand today for smartphones and tablets, consumers are finding ease in
purchasing any product or service, where now it is easier to find and the
demand is much higher for almost anything these days. But now the question that
today’s consumers are struck with when consuming from the online market on the
go is: Should I use the company’s website or the application? “The decision to develop a mobile-optimized
site or a mobile app can depend on target customers, products you sell,
competition, investment required, bounce and conversion rates, and many more. A
key consideration is the number of screen formats, resolutions, browsers, and
the operating systems that are behind them.” [3]
Web developers, as well as
app developers, are constantly in competition with each other on how much
programming is needed to run their program, whereas the more convenient for the
consumer will be the program that requires less time to process, containing
programming that is also cost effective for the company. It’s certain that with
more smartphone users, who use their device constantly wherever they are, are
more likely to approach the application method of consuming products. Compared
to exploring an online website, mobile applications are not only direct to the
company that provides it, but also reduces the risk of viruses and any type of
spam media that can easily leak onto any of these public websites on anyone’s
computer. In fact, mobile applications today run much faster and smoother than
any general web browser installed on smartphones that generate more data usage
to consumers. Why use these lagging web browsers when you can download the
mobile app for free?
In conclusion, the wide spread of
e-commerce has risen to even more opportunities for consumers to experience at
their own convenience. Whether it is through website or mobile applications,
e-marketing has taken over to our concept of how we act as consumers in today’s
economy. “The Internet has raised the
bar on consumer expectations. Companies who understand this will succeed, and
in turn, provide a Web experience that meets the unique preferences of each of
their customers whether they are B2C or B2B.” [4] These companies have expanded
their success with growth in profits and expanding online advertising to help
boost their popularity, with the updating of technology and new lifestyle of
experiencing shopping online. After more years to come with the advancement of
e-commerce, it will be interesting to see what the online technology existence
has to offer us next, when this era of online marketing becomes an extinct
function of business.
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