Online transactions increasingly tend toward self-service, and greater and faster access to the vast information on the Web-including competitor's products-gives consumers more influence and more power.
The Internet can also promote closer collaboration and relationships.
among businesses. For example, suppliers and buyers can use the Internet to work more closely on joint projects such as tracking the success of a product promotion in real-time. Or resellers can visit a supplier's Web site to check up-to-the-minute product availability and place orders.
Electronic Commerce solutions generally fall into one of four types of .
business processes:.
Direct Marketing, Selling, and Service. .
This includes brand development, direct selling, and customer service for business-to-business as well as business-to-consumer relationships. Creating sites visibility, targeting offers at interested consumers, generating sales leads through a rich shopping experience, and providing responsive customer service and support are critical to online direct marketing, selling, and service. Other important considerations are secure credit card authorization and payment, automated tax calculation, flexible fulfillment, and tight integration with existing back-end systems such as inventory, billing, and distribution.
Financial and Information Services. .
Online billing, investment services, home banking, and the distribution of digital goods and content all fall into this category. Even if companies don't rely extensively on the Internet for marketing, sales, and service, they and their customers may benefit considerably from online billing and payment. The average person receives 12 bills a month by mail from retailers, credit card companies, and utilities. Many of these billing companies are beginning to realize the benefits of sending their bills over the Internet as "e-bills". Services here may also include delivery of digital information and media.