E-commerce and Interactive Communications Methods :: E-Commerce Design Essays

E- business and Interactive Communications MethodsE-commerceE-commerce means carrying out of trade and commerce (includingshopping) via electronic means. E-commerce can be sub-divided intobusiness-to-business, business-to-consumer, and consumer-to-consumertransactions. E-commerce is sometimes known as e-tail, e-trade ore-business.There ar a number of different uses of e-commerce. E-commerce can beused for marketing of goods and dos retail of goods andservices customer service and supply chain management (also known asE-procurement).Advantages of e-commerce* The ability to wee a wider market* The ability to find information on competitors and to vie with larger businesses on an equal basis* Lower operating cost* The ability to buy as well as sell goods on the internet* Being faster than traditiona tendencyic retailing* Cost savings on marketing and promotion, e.g. producing fewer brochures* Offering more choice than traditional retailing* Establishing give away customer and su pplier relationshipsDisadvantages of e-commerce* Staff- technical staff are an expensive resource* Building a customer base is expensive* Distribution- it is difficult when delivering orders to customers within a reasonable time period* Quality- online products should be equal in standard to the offline products* Expensive to set up e-commerce systems* find of fraudInteractive Communications MethodsInteractive media is defined as the chase A newtelecommunication system designed to permit two-part communication theorybetween televisions or computers in one location with software program storedon a central computer. Can also allow individuals in distant locationsto communicate, teach, or learn from one another.Examples of interactional communications methods includeCD-ROMs letters, memos and e-mails the intranet one-to-onesmeetings phone calls and videoconferencing calls.Advantages of interactive communication* The opportunities it provides for feedback* The greater degree of authority it provides that the message has been understood* The recipient can to some extent chink the pace of the communication* The message can be tailored to better meet the recipients needsThe Internet is the primary interactive media for advertising. It hasrecently affected many areas of promotion, with interactiveadvertising, creative sponsorship, sales promotion, prevalent relations,database marketing and prestige value of having a website.There are a number of other Internet resources which can be used to advance a website. Some of these are mentioned below* Discussion lists- are a method for individuals to network with others on a particular topic* Webcasting- this is when subscribers list topics of interest and new information is sent directly to their to their computer back