Chapter 2
E-Commerce:
Mechanisms, Platforms, and Tools
Learning Objectives
1. Describe the major electronic commerce (EC)
activities and processes and the mechanisms that
support them.
2. Define e-marketplaces and list their components.
3. List the major types of e-marketplaces and
describe their features.
4. Describe electronic catalogs, search engines, and
shopping carts.
5. Describe the major types of auctions and list their
characteristics.
Learning Objectives
6. Discuss the benefits and limitations of e-auctions.
7. Describe bartering and negotiating online.
8. Describe virtual communities.
9. Describe social networks as EC mechanisms.
10. Understand virtual worlds and their use in EC.
11. Describe the emerging technologies of
augmented reality and crowdsourcing.
12. Describe Web 3.0 and define Web 4.0.
Electronic Commerce
Mechanisms: An Overview
• EC Activities and Support Mechanisms
• The Online Purchasing Process
The EC Activities–Mechanism Connection
The Buying Process in E-Markets
E-Marketplaces
• *E-Marketplace
• Components of and the Participants in
E-Marketplaces
o Customers
o Sellers
o Products and services
• * Digital Products
o Infrastructure
o *Front end
o * Back end
o * Intermediaries
E-Marketplaces
• *Disintermediation and Reintermediation
• Types of E-Marketplaces
o Private E-Marketplaces
o Public E-Marketplaces
Customer Shopping Mechanisms:
Webstores, Malls, And Portals
• *Webstore
o Microsites
• Electronic Malls
• Web (Information) Portals
o Types of Portals
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Commercial (public) portals
Corporate (private) portals
Publishing portals
*Mobile portals
*Voice portals
Knowledge portals
Communities' portals
How a Portal Works
Customer Shopping Mechanisms:
Webstores, Malls, And Portals
• The Roles and Value of Intermediaries in
E-Marketplaces
o Brokers
o Distributors in B2B
Merchant Solutions: Electronic Catalogs,
Search Engines, and Shopping Carts
• *Electronic catalogs (e-catalogs)
• EC Search Activities, Types, and Engines
o Types of EC Searches
• Internet/Web Search
• Internet/Web Search
o *Enterprise Search
• *Desktop Search
Merchant Solutions: Electronic Catalogs,
Search Engines, and Shopping Carts
o *Search Engines
o Voice-Powered Search
o Video and Mobile Search
• Mobile Search
o Visual Shopping Search Engine
o Social Network Search Engines
• *Shopping Carts
o Product Configuration (Self Customization)
o Questions and Answers Online
Auctions, Bartering, and
Negotiating Online
• Definition and Characteristics
• *Dynamic Pricing
• Traditional Auctions Versus E-Auctions
o Limitations of Traditional Offline Auctions
o *Electronic Auctions (e-auctions)
Auctions, Bartering, and
Negotiating Online
• Types of Auctions
o One Buyer, One Seller
o One Seller, Many Potential Buyers
• *Forward Auction
o One Buyer, Many Potential Sellers
• Reverse Auctions (bidding or tendering system
• The Name-Your-Own-Price Model
o Many Sellers, Many Buyers
o Penny Auctions
o Benefits of E-Auctions
o Limitations of E-Auctions
• Minimal Security
• Possibility of Fraud
• Limited Participation
The Reverse Auction Process
Auctions, Bartering, and
Negotiating Online
• Impacts of Auctions
o Auctions as a Mechanism to Determine a
Price
o Auctions and Social Networks
• *Bartering
o *E-bartering (electronic bartering)
o *Bartering exchange
• Online Negotiating
Virtual Communities and
Social Networks
• *Virtual Community
• Characteristics of Traditional Online
Communities and Their Classifications
o Classifications of Virtual Communities
• Public Versus Private Communities
• Classification Categories
• Online Social Networks and Social
Network Sites
o A Definition and Basic Information
Virtual Communities and
Social Networks
• Social Network Services
o The Size of Social Network Sites
o A Global Phenomenon
o Representative Capabilities and Services
Provided by Social Network Sites
• Business-Oriented Public Social Networks
o *Business-oriented social networks
o Example of a Business-Oriented Social Network
o Some Capabilities of Business-Oriented Networks
• Private (or Enterprise) Social Networks
Virtual Communities and
Social Networks
• Business Models And Services Related To
Social Networking
• Mobile Social Commerce
• *Mobile Social Networking
• Mobile Enterprise Networks
o Examples of Social Mobile Commerce
Applications
• Recent Innovative Tools And Platforms For
Social Networking
o Mobile Community Activities
Virtual Worlds As an
Electronic Commerce Platform
•
•
•
•
*Virtual World
Major Features
*Avatars
Business Activities and Value in Virtual
Worlds
o Virtual Shopping
o Trading Virtual Properties
Emerging EC Platforms: Augmented
Reality And Crowdsourcing
• *Augmented Reality
• Applications in E-Commerce
• *Crowdsourcing
o Definitions and Major Concepts
o The Process of Crowdsourcing
o Benefits of Crowdsourcing
o Uses of Crowdsourcing in E-Commerce
The Elements of Crowdsourcing
A Typical Crowdsourcing Process
The Future: Web 3.0, Web
4.0, and Web 5.0
• Web 3.0: What Does the Future Hold?
o *Web 3.0
o Web 3.0 and the *Semantic Web
o Concerns
• Future Threats
o Security concerns
o Lack of Net neutrality
o Copyright complaints
o Insufficient connectivity
• Language Fitness
• Standards
The Future: Web 3.0, Web
4.0, and Web 5.0
• The Technological Environment
o McKinsey & Company’s Prediction
o Nicholas Carr’s Predictions
o *Web 4.0
o Web 5.0
Managerial Issues
1.
2.
3.
4.
Should we use auctions for selling?
Should we barter?
How do we select merchant software?
How can we use Facebook and other social
networks in our business?
5. Shall we take part in virtual worlds?
Summary
1.
2.
3.
4.
Activities and mechanisms.
E-marketplaces and their components.
The major types of e-marketplaces.
Electronic catalogs, search engines, and
shopping carts.
5. Types of auctions and their
characteristics.
6. The benefits and limitations of auctions.
Summary
7. Bartering and negotiating.
8. The structure and role of virtual
communities.
9. Social networks as EC mechanisms.
10.Virtual worlds.
11.Augmented Reality (AR) and
crowdsourcing.
12.Web 3.0 and Web 4.0.