UNIT-5 E-com

Q 1. What is the concept of E-Retailing? What are the steps involved in starting an E-Retailing
business? Discuss.

Ans. The e-retailing is the concept of selling of retail goods using electronic media, in particular, the
internet.

 E-Retailing stores sell online promotion only for goods that can be sold easily online, e.g.,
Amazon did for Books & CDs, etc.
 The online retailing require lots of displays and specification of products to make the viewers
have a personal feel of the product and its quality as he gets while physically present in a shop.
 With the use of a web-space a virtual shop is created and the products are displayed through
images in this space with the features and price tags.
 By accessing this shopping site a customer can choose his/her products into a cart. The payment
to this product can be done in various modes and the product would be delivered to the address
specified by the customer.

Steps Involved In E-Retailing

 Customer visit: The customer accesses the website of the e-retailer through his/her mobile or PC
or laptop. The simplicity of the site, the arrangements of the products in the site and various
other factors decide the first impression of the customer.
 Choice of product: Once the customer visits the site he/she would choose a product based on
the image and valid information available on the web page. This information can include the
price tag, details about the product, availability/deliverable time span and even customer
reviews on the product.
 Payment online: Payments to the product can be made online through credit or debit card or
even cash on delivery basis where the customer pays the e-retailer when the product is
delivered to him/her
 Product delivery: This process may also involve shipment of the product.
 Customer feedback: This experience of the customer can be accessed through proper customer
service for feed backs and the problems faced by the customer should be corrected by the e-
retailer. Late delivery, wrong product, damaged product etc. can be some of the customer
complaints which the e-retailer would have to sort out.
Q 2. Elaborate the present scenario of E- Retailing in India. What are the Governmental regulations
related to E-Retailing? Explain.

Ans. E-retailing in India

 Consumers expect the returns process to be seamless and convenient: the shopping culture in
India is not returns-friendly. However, online shoppers have come to expect the option to return
items purchased online, and retailers have made doing this convenient — at their own cost.
  Free door-to-door shipping is common place it is standard for e Commerce retailers in India to
offer free, relatively quick delivery of online orders. HomeShop18, for example, offers free
shipping for the majority of its items and delivers within five days. MyGrahak offers free 48-hour
delivery, but it will deliver within 24 hours for an extra US$0.88.
 Consumers have been trained to expect low prices.
Q 3. What is E-Banking? What are the advantages and disadvantages of E-Banking? Explain.

Ans. Electronic-Banking is using electronic means to transfer funds directly from one account to
another. Some electronic-banking services are ATMs, direct deposit and withdrawal services, pay by
phone systems, point of sale transfer terminals, and even banking via mobile phones

Dial-in Approach: Requires users to have a separate finance software, so that they can do all the process
offline and connect to the bank just for transactions.

Internet Approach: Users directly log on to their bank website and complete all their work online.

Advantages of Online Banking

Convenience: they are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Ubiquity: Even if one is out of state or even out of country, one can operate ones bank account.

Transaction Speed: Online bank sites generally execute and confirm transactions at a faster speed than
the ATM processing speeds.

Efficiency: One can access and manage all bank accounts from one secure site.

Effectiveness: Many online banking sites offer sophisticated tools to help customer manage all of their
assets more effectively.

Disadvantages of Online Banking

Startup may take time: As one need to enter ID and then password, thus starting the transacting may
require extra time.

Learning Curve: Banking sites can be difficult to navigate at first.

Bank site changes: Even the largest banks periodically upgrade their online programs, adding new
features in unfamiliar places. In some cases, one may have to re-enter account information to have
access to further options.

The Trust Thing: For many consumers, still the biggest hurdle to online banking is to believe it. Did my
transaction go through? Did I push the transfer button once or twice. These are few problems which
frequently arises. And the solution to it is to get always the printed details of the transaction performed
and keep it for the bank records until the transaction is reflected in the bank site or the bank statement.

Q 4. What is Online publishing? What are the various approaches of Online publishing? Discuss.
Ans.

 The electronic delivery of newspapers, magazines, books, news, music, videos, and other
digitizable information over the Internet
 E-zines :Electronic magazine or newsletter delivered over the Internet via e-mail
 Online publishing means the creation and displaying of information on the Internet. This
information can be in the form of plain text, pictures, movies or sound.
 Online publishing is the process of using computer and specific types of software to combine
text and graphics to produce Web-based documents such as newsletters, online magazines and
databases, brochures and other promotional materials, books, and the like, with the Internet as
a medium for publication.

The ultimate objective of any information system is utilization and exploitation of information that raise
levels of education, strengthen community links and stimulate participation in decision-making for
development of mankind. The information produced is disseminated by different model of publishing
information.

New technologies have transformed the process of publishing and distribution of information. In view of
growth information, electronic publishing has become a foundation for the new information society to
get the right information to the right person at the right time.

 Electronic Publishing or online publishing is the process for production of typeset quality
documents containing text, graphics, pictures, tables, equations etc.,.
 Electronic Publishing can be represented as ;

EP= electronic technology + computer technology+ communication technology + publishing.

 The category includes electronic journals and eprints, electronic magazines and newspapers,
electronic books, Web sites, Weblogs, etc.

Online Publishing Approaches and Methods

 Webcasting- Live shows broadcast on the Web

 Webinars- Seminars on the Web (Web-based seminars)
Q 5. What is Mobile Computing? Elaborate the landscape of Mobile Commerce.

Ans.

 The application of small, portable, and wireless computing and communication devices
 Being able to use a computing device even when being on the move (and thus changing
location)
 Portability is one aspect of mobile computing, portable vs. mobile
 Mobile telephony in particular allows you to make and receive voice calls on the move
Mobile Computing is an umbrella term used to describe technologies that enable people to access
network services anyplace, anytime, and anywhere.

Wireless mobile computing (mobile computing) Computing that connects a mobile device to a network
or another computing device, anytime, anywhere

 multiple networks “covering” the globe

 world-wide deregulation and spectrum auctions
 standard communication systems and air link interfaces
Q 6. What is Mobile Commerce? What are the differences between Mobile Commerce and E-
Commerce? Explain.

Ans. Mobile Commerce

 Mobile commerce is the use of handheld devices to deliver electronic commerce capabilities
using wireless technologies.
 The rapid growth of mobile commerce is attributed to the growth of wireless communication
networks, mobile commerce apps, and improved device infrastructure.
 Developers are increasingly striving to make m-commerce go mainstream by making webpages
load easily, easy payment entries to minimize human errors, and enhance the checkout
experience.

e-commerce m-commerce
In general, e-commerce activities are performed M-commerce activities are performed with the
with the help of desktop computers and laptops. help of mobile devices like smartphones, tablets,
PDA’s (Personal Digital Assistant) etc.
E-commerce is an older concept. M-commerce is an newer concept.
It is broad term which refers doing shopping and It is subcategory of ecommerce which does the
making payments online with help of electronic same this via mobile devices.
devices like Laptop and computers.
In e-commerce the use of internet is mandatory But in case of m-commerce some activities can be
performed without internet also.
E-commerce devices are not easy to carry and M-commerce devices are easy to carry and
portability point of view it is not so good. portability point of view it is good.
E-commerce developed in 1970’s. M-commerce developed in 1990’s.
Its reachability is comparatively low than the m- Its reachability is more than that of e-commerce
commerce as it is not so good in portability. only due to the use of mobile devices.
In e-commerce location tracking capabilities are In m-commerce location tracking capabilities is so
limited due to the non-portability of devices. good as mobile apps track and identify user
locations with the help of GPS technology, Wi-Fi,
and so on.
E-commerce fails in push notification. In m-commerce push notification can be achieved.
Examples of E-commerce includes Amazon, Examples of M-commerce includes mobile banking
Flipkart, Quikr, Olx websites. like paytm, in-app purchasing Amazon mobile app.
Q 7. What are Virtual Teams? What are the managerial issues related to Virtual Teams? Discuss.

Ans. Virtual Teams are geographically and/or organizationally dispersed coworkers assembled using
telecommunications and IT to accomplish an organizational task.

Factors Driving Virtual Teams: The same drivers for telecommuting can be applied to virtual teams.
Follow the sun–teams in different parts of the world can cooperate to get work done faster due to time
zone differences.

Disadvantages and Challenges of Virtual Teams

 Different time zones

 Security is harder to ensure.
 Considerable number of challenges could turn into disadvantages.
 Electronic communications may not allow the person to convey the nuances that are possible
with face-to-face conversation
 Trust may be slower to form.
 Diversity of team members (language, culture, etc.)

Managerial Issues in Virtual Teams

 Require different style and type of management.

 Observation is less likely to occur.
 Performance is more likely to be based on output.
 Providing feedback is important.
 Compensation should be based heavily on the team’s performance.
 Align reward systems with achievement of team goals.
Q 8. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Virtual Organizations? Explain.

Ans. Advantages of Virtual Organization

 Increased productivity
 Less paperwork
 Can be quickly reshaped
 Money saved
 Abilities to work at home

Disadvantages of Virtual Organization

 Difficult to control
 Information and technologies can be easily revealed
 Problems with external partner can occur
Q 9. What do you mean by Mobile Commerce? Explain the architecture Mobile-Commerce.

Ans. Mobile Commerce

  The application of small, portable, and wireless computing and communication devices
 Being able to use a computing device even when being on the move (and thus changing
location)
 Portability is one aspect of mobile computing, portable vs. mobile
 Mobile telephony in particular allows you to make and receive voice calls on the move

Mobile Computing is an umbrella term used to describe technologies that enable people to access
network services anyplace, anytime, and anywhere.

Wireless mobile computing (mobile computing) Computing that connects a mobile device to a network
or another computing device, anytime, anywhere

 multiple networks “covering” the globe

 world-wide deregulation and spectrum auctions
 standard communication systems and air link interfaces
Q 10. What is concept of virtual organization? Discuss the characteristics of a virtual organization

Ans. Virtual Organization

 A structure that makes it possible for individuals to work for an organization and live anywhere.
 The Internet and corporate intranets create the opportunity for individuals to work from
anyplace they can access a computer.
 The structure of a virtual organization is networked.
 Everyone has access to everyone else using technology.
 E-mail is the most widely used means of communication.
 Success in a virtual organization is the amount of collaboration that takes place between
individuals

Virtual Organization Concept

 VO is multiple organizations coming together for accomplishing a common purpose, and acting
as if they are a single organization.
 Differences from classical org.:
o Members’ boundaries are flexible
o No physical presence as a whole
 Similar to virtual memory (main+part of secondary storage)
 Just part of a physical organization can participate in VO
 Key condition:"a sophisticated information network and computer-integrated production
processes" (Davidow & Malone, 1992)