Chapter 6: E-Business and E-Commerce

1. Define e-commerce and distinguish it from e-business.

Electronic Commerce describes the process of buying, selling, transferring or exchanging products, services or information via computer networks, including the internet. E-business is a somewhat broader concept. In addition to the buying and selling of goods and services, e-business also refers to servicing customers, collaborating with business partners, and performing electronic transactions within an organization.

2. Distinguish among B2C, B2B, C2C and B2E electronic commerce.

 Business-to-consumer (B2C): in B2C, the sellers are organizations and the buyers are individuals.
 Business-to-business (B2B): in B2B transactions, both the sellers and the buyers are business organizations.
 Consumer-to-consumer (C2C): in C2C, an individual sells products or services to other individuals.
 Business-to-employee (B2E): in B2E, an organization uses EC internally to provide information and services to its employees.

3. List some benefits and limitations of e-commerce.

E-commerce benefits organizations by making national and international markets more accessible and by lowering the costs of processing, distributing and retrieving information. Customers benefit by being able to access a vast number of products and services, around the clock. The major benefit to society is the ability to easily and conveniently deliver information, services, and products to people in cities, rural areas and developing countries.



Section 6.2 - E-business and E-commerce

1. What are spamming, permission marketing and viral marketing?

Spamming is the indiscriminate distribution of electronic ads without the permission of the receiver. Permission marketing asks consumers to give their permission to voluntarily accept online advertising and e-mail. Viral marketing refers to online “word-of-mouth” marketing. The idea behind viral marketing is to have people forward messages to friends, suggesting that they “check this out”

Section 6.4 - E-business and E-commerce

1. What are micropayments?

Micropayments are small payments of a few dollars or less. However, they have additional functions.

2. What is Multichanneling?

Multichannelling is a process through which a company integrates its online and offline channels.

Section 6.5 – E-business and E-commerce



1. List some ethical and major legal issues in EC.

There is increasing fraud and unethical behavior on the internet, including invasion of privacy by sellers and misuse of domain names. The value of domain names, taxation of online business, and how to handle legal issues in a multicounty environment are major legal concerns. Protection of customers, sellers, and intellectual property is also important.