Every day, humanity is increasingly beginning to use information technology. To do this, it uses the Internet. Today, almost all organizations open their websites in this system. Do not stand aside and ordinary citizens. They start their own pages in various social networks.
The Internet is an open system with a large audience that allows for completely new interactions between users. And there is nothing surprising in the fact that it began to be widely used for conducting electronic business. This is a completely new level of not only market and economic, but also socio-cultural relations between organizations and people.
History of Creation
Electronic business is the integration of legal entities and individuals who work in the field of electronic commerce. All of them are united in a network of entrepreneurship. To date, such a system is being formed at the level of the entire global Internet.
What is e-commerce? ATUnlike e-business, this concept has a narrower meaning. It implies the use of the Internet as an information channel for the purpose of organizing business processes. In this case, there is no traditional "money-commodity" scheme. It is replaced by "information-information".
E-commerce is nothing but online shopping. Moreover, this type of activity appeared back in those days when mankind was not familiar with the Internet. It happened in 1979, when the American Michael Aldrich decided to link the computer and cable television into a single whole. To do this, he used fixed telephone lines. This technology allowed users to order a product that was shown on the screen. And only in 1990 Tim Behrens invented the first browser. After that, e-business and e-commerce began their rapid development. So, in 1992, Charles Stack opened the world's first online store selling books. Amazon.com launched in 1994, followed by E-bay in 1995.
The development of e-commerce in Russia can be characterized by the following stages:
1. 1991-1993 During this period, the Internet has been a means of communication only between scientists, technology centers, computer specialists and government organizations.
2. 1994-1997 At this time, the population of the country began to take an active interest in the possibilities of the world wide web.3. From 1998 to the present, with the help of the Internet, electronicbusiness and e-commerce.
New Features
Businesses that conduct their business in the traditional way are responsible for every stage of their activities. At the same time, they spend huge amounts of money on the development of the product and its production, further delivery and sale of finished products. The logistical support of the entire implementation process also requires large financial resources.
But then came e-commerce. She began the gradual transformation of the work of enterprises into a network of virtual organizations. Moreover, each of the members of this community has the opportunity to concentrate their activities in the most appropriate areas. This made it possible to deliver the most complete production solution to consumers.
After the emergence of e-commerce, business has received new opportunities. With this modern tool it became possible:
- organizing video conferences;
- conducting online training;
- mastering new marketing models;
- creating business information environment systems;
- receiving a variety of information;
- implementation of financial interaction;
- development of new relationships between companies based on electronic technologies;
- opening of new cheap channels;
- strengthening of cooperation;
- support for alternative ideas;- development of a new economy of production and purchase of goods.
Basic tasks of online trading
Using e-commerceinvolves:
- establishing preliminary contacts with potential suppliers, clients and customers via the Internet;
- exchange of documents created in electronic form, which are necessary for the implementation of sales transactions;
- sale of goods or services;
- pre-sale advertising of products and after-sales support of the buyer in the form of detailed instructions on the purchased product;
- electronic payment for the purchased goods using electronic money, transfers, credit cards and checks; - delivery of products to the customer.
Business-to-business scheme
There are different types of e-commerce. Moreover, their classification assumes the target group of consumers. One type of e-commerce is business-to-business, or B2B. Such interaction is carried out according to a fairly simple principle. It consists in the fact that one company trades with another.
Despite the fact that today there are other types of e-commerce, B2B is the most actively developing area with the best prospects. Thanks to Internet platforms, the entire trading process becomes more efficient and transparent. At the same time, a representative of the customer enterprise has the opportunity to carry out interactive control of the entire process of performing work, providing services or supplying goods. To do this, he uses the databases of the seller organization.
The peculiarity of the business-to-business model is that in this case, the conduct of e-commerceit is impossible without fully automated interaction of organizations for the implementation of entrepreneurial activities. And it has a very profitable prospect. While doing business in the B2B sector, the enterprise simultaneously solves the problem of complex automation of its internal management.
Business-to-business trading platforms
In e-commerce, there are special places where transactions are made and related financial transactions are carried out. These are the trading platforms, which in this case are virtual. They can be created:
- by buyers;
- by sellers;- by third parties.
Today, there are three types of trading platforms for the B2B model. This is an exchange, an auction and a catalog. Let's take a closer look at them.
Creating a catalog facilitates the use of the search capabilities that modern information systems have. At the same time, the buyer has the right to compare and choose goods by price, delivery date, guarantee, etc. Catalogs are used in those industries where transactions for the sale of inexpensive goods are most frequent, as well as where demand is predictable and prices change very rarely.
As for the auction, this trading platform model is characterized by non-fixed prices. The final cost of the goods is established during the auction process. Auctions are used when the goods or services being sold are unique in their kind. These can be rare items or capital equipment, stockpiles, etc.
The third type of virtual trading platform - the exchange - differs in that the prices offered by it are regulated by supply and demand, and therefore are subject to strong changes. This model is best suited for the implementation of common items that have a few easily standardized characteristics. The exchange is most attractive for those markets where prices and demand are unstable. In some cases, this model allows you to trade anonymously, which is sometimes important for maintaining competitiveness and price stability.
Specialists predict good prospects for e-commerce using this model. First of all, such sales are beneficial to buyers. After all, trading takes place on a corporate commercial portal without the participation of intermediaries. In addition, such a trading platform is characterized by the work of one seller with a large number of buyers.
Recently, new varieties of sales models in the B2B sector have emerged. These are catalog systems that bring together several sellers. Electronic platforms are also starting to work, combining the features of an exchange and an auction. This kind of e-commerce reduces the time and cost of selecting and sourcing the best products, as well as closing the deal between buyer and seller.
Business-to-consumer scheme
E-commerce, built on the principle of B2C, finds its application in the case when the customers of the enterprise are not legal entities, but individuals. Usually this is a retail sale of goods. This way of doingcommercial transaction is beneficial to the client. It makes it possible to significantly speed up and simplify the purchase of the thing he needs. A person does not need to go shopping. It is enough for him to study the characteristics of the goods on the seller's website, select the desired model and order the product, which will be delivered to the stated address.
E-commerce on the Internet under the "business-to-consumer" scheme is also beneficial for the supplier. He has the ability to quickly track demand, while spending minimal resources on staffing.
Traditional online stores work according to the B2C scheme. Their activities are aimed at one or another target group of consumers. Since 2010, the so-called social commerce has appeared and began to develop. It covers the scope of sales of services and goods in social networks.
One of the largest B2C businesses is the American company Amazon.com. It is a book retailer with over a million customers worldwide. Using the business-to-consumer scheme, the company equalized access to goods between customers from different countries. And it does not matter where the customer lives, in a large city or in a remote region.
Business-to-consumer marketplaces
In the B2C sector, goods are sold through:
- electronic stores and malls;
- Web showcases;
- specialized Internet systems;- auctions.
Let's take a closer look at these trading platforms. Electronic commercemedium and small businesses are usually conducted through online stores. These virtual platforms are nothing more than company websites. A more complex structure is Internet series. They host several virtual stores at the same time.
E-commerce in Russia is often conducted through small Web storefronts. These malls are usually owned by small businesses. The main elements of such sites are catalogs or price lists, which describe the product or service itself, as well as a system for collecting orders received from buyers.
Internet trading systems (TIS) are used by large holdings, companies and corporations. Such virtual platforms allow enterprises to improve the efficiency of the supply and distribution service, as well as build the most rational supply chains to provide the production process with raw materials, materials, equipment, etc.
Many e-commerce organizations use dedicated Web sites. On them, any seller can put up their goods at the original price. Such Web sites are electronic auctions. Buyers who are interested in purchasing a product can specify a higher price for it. As a result, the seller makes a deal with the organization that is willing to pay more.
Consumer-to-consumer scheme
The development of e-commerce has led to the emergence of C2C transactions. They are made between consumers who are not entrepreneurs. AtIn this e-commerce scheme, sellers post their offers on special online platforms that are a cross between a regular marketplace and newspaper ads. For example, in the US, this provider is ebay.com. This is a third party that allows consumers to conclude any transactions in real time. Moreover, they take place directly on the Internet and have the format of an electronic auction. The C2C model has become very popular today. At the same time, buyers are pleased with the prices of goods, which are lower than in stores.
Other schemes
What else can be electronic commerce? In addition to the most common schemes described above, there are several others. They are not very popular, but they find their application in a number of specific cases. Thus, the use of e-commerce became possible through the interaction of both legal entities and individuals with government agencies. This applies to filling out questionnaires and collecting taxes, working with customs structures, etc. Such forms of interaction became possible only with the development of Internet technologies.
A significant advantage of such an e-commerce scheme is to facilitate the work of government officials and free payers from some of the paperwork.
Basic rules for entrepreneurs
The basics of e-commerce should be known to everyone who wants to start their own business based on information technology. There are certain simple rules that should be a kind of tablemultiplication for any seller. Anyone who wants to become a winner in the competition must:
- create a user-friendly site optimized for search engines;
- turn your visitors into buyers;
- carry out marketing activities that will popularize the site on the Internet;- analyze sales statistics.
E-Commerce Prospects
Today, certain factors have developed in Russia that have a significant impact on the development of the EC. Among them:
- the large extent of the country's territory, which requires reducing the impact of currently existing restrictions on the sale of goods, which are associated with the remoteness of market entities;
- the importance of increasing the integration process for merging Russian business with global information and economic processes;
- the problem of reducing trade costs, which would allow our products to become competitive in the world market;
- the need for more thorough control over the sale of goods by enterprises themselves and fiscal authorities;- the importance of a dynamic development of the technological base of organizations with the introduction of the most modern informatics tools.
The traditionally high level of higher education contributes to the development of EC in Russia. In addition, the country's financial authorities have already developed the latest banking technologies, the use of which allows banks to remotely service customer transactions. e-commerce security inRussia is provided with existing technical solutions. They involve the use of tools that provide cryptographic protection of information provided by participants in virtual trading.
But there are some problems with e-commerce in our country. Thus, the process of development of virtual trade is significantly slowed down due to:
- low level of culture of new market relations for us;
- imperfection of the legislative base;
- high degree of monopolization of the economy;
- insufficient development of commodity markets infrastructure; - imperfections in the system of credit and financial relations.
