The Future of E-Commerce: Mobile Phones & Targeted Marketing - Essay Sample

Introduction

Several key factors will define the future of e-commerce. The first factor is the matter of mobile phones. Since the beginning of the world, there is no technology other than the mobile phone, which has revolutionized e-commerce. The buying and selling of goods are usually carried out physically, but the mobile phone has made it possible that a buyer and seller never meet. The mobile has made the work of man more manageable.

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The second key factor is targeted marketing. Targeted marketing is a marketing tool employed by businesses to locate their customers and promote their services and products through the use of various platforms. Targeted marketing takes a customer's information and classifies it according to different categories. In the future, targeted marketing will likely be on the increase as more and more people are getting connected to the internet.

An e-commerce server has various functionalities and features whose principal function is to aid sales. It can only be achieved by incorporating an online catalogue. The catalogue will be able to show the various products and services on the platform. Adding a shopping cart will also be helpful. It will enable the customer to do things like edit, set aside or even delete purchases. Lastly, the servers can incorporate a form of online payment system like credit card processing.

Several factors should be included in the decision-making process for choosing from among the various e-commerce software packages. Managers should analyze factors like shipping rules and tax rates, overall performance, functionality, site management, support system, compliance, and connectivity.

B2B exchanges are online platforms which serve as markets for product and services. Buyers and suppliers can interact easily by this method (Iankova et al., 2019). There are several models of triumphant B2B exchanges in the world. They include best access doors, BuySwings, Assurant, CleanAir, and ResMed.

There are several benefits which B2B exchanges provide to their members. The first benefit is that members can predicate the market. Businesses to business exchanges are normally stable; hence members should not worry about any market fluctuation (Iankova et al., 2019). The second benefit is that the model improves sales.

It happens when the quality of the management of the supply chain is increased to ensure that they meet the needs of the customer. The effect of this is that the customer will become loyal to the business, thereby improving sales.

There are also limitations associated with the B2B exchanges model. The first disadvantage is that the market is limited (Iankova et al., 2019). Since the transactions involve only business to business, it is hard for a supplier to expand its market. For instance, small firms and enterprises are not able to access this type of business.

Another disadvantage is that there is lengthy decision making. Since the transactions involve two businesses, the decision to make a purchase may take longer. It is often caused by the fact that there are important persons in businesses who consulted first.

E-commerce and the internet have disrupted the five forces of industry competitiveness. Firstly they have led to the introduction of new businesses to the market which operates over the digital realm. Usually, there's a notion that a few companies control the economy, but with the use of the internet and e-commerce, traditional businesses are facing stiff completion from the new entrants. Secondly, the incorporation of e-commerce and the internet has led the popular market to fear that they may go out of business. For instance, companies like Uber threaten the existence of established taxi services.

Cloud computing is very crucial to e-commerce. It enables businesses to scale effortlessly. For instance, if the traffic is high, the company can decide to upscale its services, and when it is low, it can easily downscale. Cloud computing help to reduce the costs of the company.it should be noted that a company does not need to invest so much in the hardware. The only costs will be for maintenance and repairs.

The internet of things is the interconnection of the various computing device which has the effect of transferring data without the need of people to people or people to computer linkage. Numerous issues have arisen as a result of the internet of things. The first issue is cloud attacks (Ahmad et al., 2019). Due to the data they contain, computing devices are susceptible to cyber-attacks. Secondly, people lack confidence in the internet of things. The reason for this is that there is threat of data privacy violation due to lack of regulations,

Part B: Case Analyses

Case 1

Amazon has a diversified business model. It incorporates various elements like growth strategies, value proposition, market segment, competitive techniques, revenue models and a value chain structure in their business. Diversification has helped Amazon to become one of the biggest online stores in the world.

The first element is the value proposition. It explains how a business's goods and services comply with the customer's specifications. The second element is the revenue model. It shows how the institution intends to make money. The third element is the market opportunity. Market opportunity delimits the market place planned to be covered by the company.

The fourth element in the company model is the competitive environment. It shows the competition faced by the enterprise from other companies. The fifth element is having a competitive edge over other stores. Competitive advantage enables the firm to be set apart from other institutions. For instance, the company may have a high-quality product than other companies. The sixth element is the market strategy.

A company should develop procedures on how to take over the different segments of the market. Another factor is that of management. Having proper management increase the chance of the success of the business model. Lastly, there is an element of organizational development. The component shows the structures which are relevant in the company to help in the running of the company.

Case 2

Wearable technology has very many advantages. Firstly it helps work to become much more relaxed. It promotes living healthy by human beings. It helps in monitoring the conditions of a patient. Wearable technology also has some disadvantages. Firstly they are very costly and thus not easily accessible to everybody. They are not independent but depend on other devices. And lastly, they are very minute in size.

There are several examples of IoT technologies. For instance, there is wearable technology. The technology comprises of a watch which has different technologies that tell the information of an individual's surrounding. Another example is smart homes. The interment of things has made a significant impact on the property market. Homeowners can now carry out specific chores by use of IoT (Ahmad et al., 2019). For instance, it is accessing the security system and even the refrigerator.

The Internet of things has many benefits. It has made communication to be much more accessible. Due to the interconnectivity of various computers, communication has been enhanced, and it is now fast and reliable. Another benefit of the internet of things is that it is cost-effective. Data initially used to take a long period to transfer and hence cost a lot of money. But with the interconnectivity aspect, it has made the transfer of data much safer and faster and thereby cheaper (Ahmad et al., 2019).

Case 3

As a manager, I will incorporate all of these technologies in the management of the business. There are several reasons for this. Firstly it is cost-effective. Secondly, it establishes automation, which does away with human effort (Laudon & Traver, 2020). And lastly, because it will improve sales of business since most customers are now in the digital realm.

As the project leader, the first thing that I would take into account is the goal of such a system (Laudon & Traver, 2020). Having a clear understanding of the objective of the e-commerce system is key to its success. As the project manager, my goal will be to ensure that the system incorporates the objectives of Yup. Inc. Company. Yup's inc objectives may be either to have a competitive edge over other grocery businesses or just to increase their sources of revenues.

Once this is understood the next goal that I will embark on is selecting alternatives for building the site in-house with existing staff or outsourcing the entire operation selecting the best options of the two will depend on various factors. I will take into consideration things like duration for completion, budget, the goals of Yup inc and the quality expected by the company.

The e-commerce suite software package that would fit this kind of system will require various things. Firstly, the ability to work together with other business methods. Secondly, the ability to change management process if there are the need and tools for the work system. Thirdly, it will require the ability to maintain the integrity of the employees.

Fourthly, it will need to meet customer's expectations. And lastly, the ability to interconnect the e-commerce model with the business model. A system that meets all of these is the IBM WebSphere. The option is the best because it has a mid-range suite; the seller's reputation is not tainted and is perfect for a retailer. Merchant server software package offers this kind of option (Laudon & Traver, 2020).

References

Ahmad, U., Chaudhary, J., Ahmad, M., & Naz, A. (2019). Survey on Internet of Things (IoT) for Different Industry Environments. Annals Of Emerging Technologies In Computing, 3(3), 28-43. https://doi.org/10.33166/aetic.2019.03.004

Iankova, S., Davies, I., Archer-Brown, C., Marder, B., & Yau, A. (2019). A comparison of social media marketing between B2B, B2C and mixed business models. Industrial Marketing Management, 81, 169-179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2018.01.001

Laudon, K., & Traver, C. (2020). E-commerce 2019. Pearson Education Limited.