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E-business and E-commerce
Have you always wanted to know the difference between eBusiness and eCommerce? Find out whether you are just a business, have an eCommerce site or a true eBusiness player.
Often eBusiness and eCommerce are interchanged and sometimes they differentiate one vendor’s products from that of another. However the two terms are different and this difference means everything to today’s companies. The e in both the terms stand for electronic network, to describe the use of electronic network technology including the Internet and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to make business processes more effective.
eBusiness and eCommerce deals with outward facing processes involving customers, suppliers and external partners, including sales, marketing, taking orders, delivery, customer service, purchase of raw materials and indirect operating expense items like office supplies. It deals with new business models and the potential to lure new customers or lose existing ones to competition.
Though ambitious, it isn’t difficult to implement, as there are only three types of integration involved. These are vertical integration of front-end website to existing transaction systems, cross-business integration of companies with related websites of customers, suppliers or intermediates like web-based markets and integrating technology with redesigned processes for handling orders, purchases or customer service.
eBusiness and eCommerce is a part of e-commerce but also extends to internal processes like production, inventory management, product development, risk management, finance, knowledge management and human resources. The strategy for eBusiness and eCommerce is more complex and concentrates on internal processes in particular. The main objectives involve reducing costs and improving efficiency and productivity.
With four aspects of integration, e-business strategy can be more difficult to execute. They include vertical integration between web front and back-end systems. Laterally between the company and customers, partners, suppliers and intermediaries. Horizontally covering e-commerce, enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), knowledge management and supply-chain management systems. Lastly, downward through the enterprise, with new technologies and revolutionary business processes. However the results prove worth it all, as processes are more efficient, costs lower and profits increase.
Both e-commerce and e-business involve these processes, apart from technology infrastructure of databases, application servers, security tools, systems management and legacy systems. Also common to both is the creation of new value chains for the company with customers and suppliers and even internally. Ecommerce forms a part of eBusiness and is of great importance to companies seeking to consolidate gains and complete their existing e-commerce, ERP, CRM and supply-chain efforts before transforming eBusiness
and eCommerce into a cohesive whole.
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