eBusiness

What is eBusiness
Types of eBusiness
What is eCommerce
Benefits of eBusiness
Basic Steps to Expand Your eBusiness Capability
The Internet
Integrating the Supply Chain
Practical Considerations

 

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The Internet is now a valuable tool which offers small business a great opportunity to market itself internationally and reach a global client base. It is estimated that 90% of small businesses in Australia are connected to the Internet (Yellow Pages e-Business Report: July 2006).

What is eBusiness?

Electronic business (eBusiness) describes the use of the internet to conduct business both internally and externally. The term is more broad than eCommerce because it includes business activities such as marketing, support, research, communications and collaboration.

Shoppers research online before purchasing April 2008
SYDNEY: Research by Monash's Australian Centre for Retail Studies has found that 50% of Australian shoppers research their purchases online before going in a store to buy. The report, commissioned by Google Australia, also reveals the growing preference for the internet as an information source, with 25% of shoppers surveyed describing it as the most crucial source - more than TV, radio, brochures and catalogues combined. The report, titled The Internet's Role in Offline Purchase Behaviour, found that while consumers did value other sources of information such as radio ads, word-of-mouth and physical inspection in the lead-up to purchase, the internet was used early in the discovery process, suggesting in holds a vital role in early influence over a shopper's final purchase. Of the 50% of shoppers who used the internet for research, the study found that 44% used it to find out about a particular product, with another 36% using it to compare prices. The study looked at buying habits across consumer electronics, computers and gaming, and entertainment.

 

Types of eBusiness

• B2B (business to business): Business communications with other businesses such as the placement of purchase orders with your supplier.
• B2C (business to consumer: Business communications with your consumers such as a regular newsletter or sale completed via your website (eCommerce).
• B2G (business to government): Business communications with Government entities such as online taxation lodgement. Top of Page

 

What is eCommerce?

Electronic commerce (eCommerce) describes the sales part of the eBusiness process. eCommerce is making a sale using the internet. Retailers who offer eCommerce transactions are commonly referred to as eTailers.

eCommerce enables you to break with tradition and offers a new way of making sales. Some businesses will remain small but use eCommerce to build a larger turnover, reducing the cost of doing business. For example, a greengrocer provides a service for people to order fruit and vegetables over the Internet for home delivery. The greengrocer continues to run just one storefront but is continually growing his client base via the internet.

 

Benefits of eBusiness

eBusiness can provide the following benefits over non-electronic communication:

• Reduced Costs: reduced labour, reduced paper, reduced data entry errors.
• Reduced Time: shorter lead times, faster delivery of product.
• Flexibility with Efficiency: the ability to handle complex situations, product ranges and customer profiles.
• Enhanced Relationships: improved communication between trading partners leads to enhanced long-term relationships.
• Lock in Customers: streamlined, automated business practices between you and your customer will make it more difficult for a competitor to muscle in.
• New Markets: the Internet has the potential to expand your business into wider geographical locations. Top of Page

 

Basic Steps to Expand Your eBusiness Capability

It is a good idea to stage the implementation of eBusiness so business and its employees can adapt gradually.

• Use email to replace fax. Email is faster, more responsive and more adaptable than fax.
• Use the Internet to locate useful business information. See Information Technology. You may also access the Exporting Weblink Guide.
• Provide access to company information on a website and keep customers informed via a regular newsletter. Customers will have instant access to up-to-date information and you can print brochures less often.
• Set up a company Intranet which provides access to important company information to all employees.
• Check with your suppliers and customers - there may be certain business transactions you can convert to electronic versions to improve business efficiency. Top of Page

 

The Internet

Connection to the Internet requires the use of a "modem" to connect the personal computer to the telephone network. The modem connects to the local Internet Service Provider which then connects to the Internet.

Software required is an Internet "browser" such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. These are free of charge and are included in the operating system or may be supplied by the Internet Service Provider.

Networking (linking computers to servers, printers, other computers) no longer stops at the boundaries of an individual business. The Internet now allows any computer to communicate with literally hundreds of millions of other computers around the world.
The Internet has some major features that suit the smaller business perfectly:

• It provides a worldwide mail and data transfer option, with email now available as a cheap alternative to telephone and other business communication methods.
• It provides an alternative telephony method, with "voice over IP" (VOIP) software that allows free or very low cost voice calls using the internet connection.
• The explosive growth in the use of the world wide web allows a company to provide a global window to the organisation’s activities, products and services via their website.
• It provides business with an unequalled research facility for tasks as simple as looking up a telephone number, examining the offerings of businesses, checking on the competition and keeping track of Government regulations and programs.

Most significantly, it is a medium to allow the easy introduction of eBusiness services, such as promoting online catalogue shopping, exchanging purchase orders and invoices with business partners, making and receiving bank and credit card payments and managing bank accounts online. It allows customers access to a business seven days a week, 24 hours a day, from anywhere in the world.

 

Integrating the Supply Chain

You can give different suppliers access to specific parts of your computer network. This is often called an extranet. Suppliers can access and store details on your system and you can provide information to them via their own intranet website, protected by a secure "firewall". Thus, confidentiality issues are addressed, while the technology enables business information to be updated immediately and remotely to ensure fast supplier response and a better, cheaper supply chain.

Sourcing and Purchasing

Purchasing is something that all businesses have to do. All businesses buy office supplies and services, very often from the same suppliers.

If you are looking at reducing costs - an Internet system could be the answer. Manual paper-based systems can be inefficient, especially with high volume, low value transactions. An in-house eBusiness application provides employees with an easy-to-use on-line form for ordering office supplies, books, PCs, business cards or catering.

 

Practical Considerations

Is there a market for my products and services on the Internet?
Some businesses are more "eBusiness ready" than others. If you sell products from a catalogue to users who have computers, eBusiness marketing can be a logical extension of your existing sales efforts. It can also help you reach prospects who are looking for businesses like yours - in many cases, prospects you might never find on your own. If, on the other hand, you sell gravel by the tonne to local contractors who phone you whenever they need a truckload, eBusiness may not be cost-effective - although that could easily change in the future.

Will eBusiness help me sell to my existing customers more efficiently?
Many companies sell to the same customers on a regular basis, especially in the business-to-business area. For such vendors, an eBusiness website can minimise the need for routine sales calls. It also makes ordering quicker and easier for the customer, who can make purchases via a step-by-step interactive process or a web-based electronic form.

How ambitious are my eBusiness goals?
At the simplest level, an eBusiness site can be nothing more than an online product sheet with an email link that says "Request a price quotation". At the intermediate level, an eBusiness site could be created with an easy-to-use web authoring tool. Individual pages within the site could link to a database of product descriptions and prices, with an e-form for submitting orders.

Am I prepared to devote resources to enquiries, transactions and customer support on the Internet?
Placing a site on the web is merely the first big step in profiting from eBusiness and following through with customers is equally vital. Prompt processing is necessary and if customers have questions or problems, they need to be able to contact a human being via email or an e-form, without delay.

Once I’ve made a sale, how do I get the buyer to come back?
By using tools such as electronic newsletters you can develop a community of users who return to your site even when they aren’t ready to buy something. Each time they return they are exposed to your new products or special offers.

How much can I afford to invest in eBusiness?
The best way to answer this question is to estimate what you’d spend to grow your business without eBusiness. Would you hire a sales representative, spend more on advertising or use direct mail? Finally, would an eBusiness website reduce the cost of selling to existing customers as described above?

Should my eBusiness site be hosted in-house or by an outside service?
Unless you have advanced computer skills, a web server and a dedicated high-speed connection to the Internet, you’ll probably want to have your site hosted by a Service Provider.

Where can I get help in setting up an eBusiness system?
Chances are, you’ll use a consultant to help you plan and launch your eBusiness website. The technology consultant may recommend you run your own site or they may run it for you.

Suppliers such as Microsoft and Cisco can help you find suitable contacts in your local area.