E-commerce Details &
History
pp 17-51
Types of E-commerce
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B2C – Business to Consumer
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B2B – Business to Business
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Example?
C2C – Consumer to Consumer
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Example?
Example?
P2P – Peer to Peer
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Example?
Growth of Internet
1997 – 20 million hosts (web servers)
 2003 – over 160 million hosts
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Web Content
 1997 – Less than 500 million pages
 2003 – More than 6 billion.
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B2B E-commerce
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Started much earlier
Matured in the early 1990’s
 whereas B2C matured in the late 1990’s
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Actually grew much faster than B2C

Overlooked during the B2C explosion circa
2000.
B2C E-commerce
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Surprisingly, there are numerous limiting factors
What are they?
Hint: Think about what might limit the customer
from participating?
PC Cost/Internet Cost
Skill level/sophistication
Cultural barriers
Regional Infrastructure Barriers
E-commerce I: 1995-2000
Lack of standardization
 Exuberance


Un-controlled growth
B2B successes
 B2C failures
 Real Sales Growth vs. New Pathways for
Sales
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E-commerce I: 1995-2000
Key concepts for this era:
 Network effect – users receive value because everyone
uses the same tools/products
 First Mover – The first to market in a particular area can
more easily gain market share (but not always)
 Friction-Free Commerce –
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info is equally distributed
transaction costs are low
prices adjust automatically based on demand
middle-men are eliminated
unfair competitive advantages are eliminated
E-commerce II: 2000-today
E-commerce I
 Technology driven
 Growth emphasis
 Venture capital
 Ungoverned
 Start-ups
 Disintermediation
E-commerce II
 Business driven
 Profit emphasis
 Traditional financing
 Strong regulations
 Large traditional firms
 Strengthening
intermediaries
E-commerce II
Key concept:
 Disintermediation – get rid of the middle
man, create a new direct relationship
between manufacturers and customers
 Disintermediation is good, right?
 How can it be bad?
 Consider this: Manufacturing business that
have no expertise in sales, marketing, and
micro distribution.

Project

If you have the book, read the Kazaa case study
pp 47-51.


It may inspire your proposal.
Things that are one the agenda for up-coming
labs:
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The art of picking a domain name.
Registering domain names for under $3/year
Web hosting: Criteria to make your decision
Website Development: Free resources to get you
started.