Online Business

Feel free to 'Contact BMM' to discuss how we could help you with your Online Business.

In the meantime here are some things about Online Business that you might find useful:

Electronic business, commonly referred to as "eBusiness" or "e-business", may be defined as the utilisation of information and communication technologies (ICT) in support of all the activities of business. Commerce constitutes the exchange of products and services between businesses, groups and individuals and can be seen as one of the essential activities of any business. Electronic commerce focuses on the use of ICT to enable the external activities and relationships of the business with individuals, groups and other businesses.

Louis Gerstner, the former CEO of IBM, in his book, Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? attributes the term "e-Business" to IBM's marketing and Internet teams in 1996.

Electronic business methods enable companies to link their internal and external data processing systems more efficiently and flexibly, to work more closely with suppliers and partners, and to better satisfy the needs and expectations of their customers.

In practice, e-business is more than just e-commerce. While e-business refers to more strategic focus with an emphasis on the functions that occur using electronic capabilities, e-commerce is a subset of an overall e-business strategy. E-commerce seeks to add revenue streams using the World Wide Web or the Internet to build and enhance relationships with clients and partners and to improve efficiency using the Empty Vessel strategy. Often, e-commerce involves the application of knowledge management systems.

E-business involves business processes spanning the entire value chain: electronic purchasing and supply chain management, processing orders electronically, handling customer service, and cooperating with business partners. Special technical standards for e-business facilitate the exchange of data between companies. E-business software solutions allow the integration of intra and inter firm business processes. E-business can be conducted using the Web, the Internet, intranets, extranets, or some combination of these.

The term "Webshop" also refers to a place of business where web development, web hosting and other types of web related activities take place. Buying online introduced new ways of reducing costs by reducing the number of staff needed. It is a more effective way of getting products to people and spreading into different demographics.

Benefits of online shopping;

1.Bargaining power of consumers. They enjoy a wider choice.

2.Supplier power. It is more difficult for consumers to manage a non-digital channel.

3.Internet increases commoditisation.

4.Threat of new entrants. Online means it is easier to introduce new services with lower over-heads.

5.Threat of substitutes

6.Rivalry among competitors. It is easier to introduce products and services to different markets.