EC-Business to Customer

Last week we concentrated on business to business e-commerce.  Today we will focus on business to consumer.  With a predicted growth rate of 14% business to consumer e-commerce, it is essential that companies understand the importance of e-commerce in their business. 
What sells well on the Net-books, CDs, clothing, holidays etc. 

There are a number of enablers and limiters of e-tailing. 

Enablers:

1. Product category
2. Access to information
3. Access to price information
4. Novelty
5. Accessibility
6. Convenience 

Limiters

1. Lack of trial
2. Lack of interpersonal trust
3. Lack of instant gratification
4. High shipping and handling costs
5. Lower customer service
6. Loss of privacy and security
7. High economies of scale
8. Lack of a stable customer base
9. Poor logistics
10. Lack of experience
11. Lack of in-store shopping experience

Are there any consequences associated with e-tailing?
There are a number of consequences that e-tailers have to be aware of.  These are:

1. It can increase intertype competition
2. It can lead to conflict between channel members
3. It can lead to price competition

As mentioned earlier there are some servies or products that sell very well on the Internet.  In class we focused on the following

• Recruitment
• Travel and tourism
• Banking
• Grocery
• Entertainment

Another aspect of business to consumer e-commerce is the ability to understand the behaviour of consumers online.  Is there a difference in the behaivour of offline consumers and online consumers?????????? 

During the next session we will look at a model of consumer behaviour online