E-Business Model
e-Business Model The rapid growth of e-commerce on the Internet has created a challenge for traditional bricks and mortar businesses. Businesses must now change their focus about their own business models, target market, products, and services, and ultimately their own benefits. This paper will compare and contrast the business models of a business to business (B2B), a business to customer (B2C), and a customer to customer (C2C). The Internet
Capital Group (ICG) was selected to represent a B2B. The company was started in March of 1996, and its main purpose is to act as an online business exchange for finance and technology (ICG, n.d.). Amazon.com was selected to represent a B2C organization, and eBay was selected as the C2C. In any business model it is important to know your target audience. In the e-commerce arena the target market expands due to the global influences of the Internet. However, several factors remain the same. In a B2B the customer will always be another business with the necessary financial resources available to them. It will be highly unlikely that a B2B will attract impulse buyers on the Internet. B2C will find their target audiences globally as will C2C. The target audience for these two business models is any customer that has Internet access. An important aspect that all three business models need to consider is do they really want to do business on an international level. A B2C that offers a service may not be able to provide services outside the U.S. or even outside their own local area. This is not the case for the selected companies as Amazon.com and eBay both conduct business internationally. What products are these companies offering to their target audience? ICG as the B2B model sells a service to other B2B companies. They offer operational support to help build companies in their specific markets. The operational support can be in the form of software or services that can help companies harness the power of
Capital Group (ICG) was selected to represent a B2B. The company was started in March of 1996, and its main purpose is to act as an online business exchange for finance and technology (ICG, n.d.). Amazon.com was selected to represent a B2C organization, and eBay was selected as the C2C. In any business model it is important to know your target audience. In the e-commerce arena the target market expands due to the global influences of the Internet. However, several factors remain the same. In a B2B the customer will always be another business with the necessary financial resources available to them. It will be highly unlikely that a B2B will attract impulse buyers on the Internet. B2C will find their target audiences globally as will C2C. The target audience for these two business models is any customer that has Internet access. An important aspect that all three business models need to consider is do they really want to do business on an international level. A B2C that offers a service may not be able to provide services outside the U.S. or even outside their own local area. This is not the case for the selected companies as Amazon.com and eBay both conduct business internationally. What products are these companies offering to their target audience? ICG as the B2B model sells a service to other B2B companies. They offer operational support to help build companies in their specific markets. The operational support can be in the form of software or services that can help companies harness the power of
References: The A to Z of B2B. (2000, March 30). Economist.com. Retrieved November 29, 2004, from http://80-www-economist.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/displaystory.cfm? Amazon.com. (n.d.). Retrieved on November 30, 2004, from http://www.amazon.com/ Exec/obidos/subst/hom/hom.html/102-4125994-3137762 eBay.com (n.d). Retrieved November 30, 2004, from http://www. Ebay.com Internet Capital Group. (n.d.) Retrieved November 30, 2004, from http://www. Internetcapitalgroup.com/about/strategy/index/html Patton, S. (2001, August 27). The abcs of b2c.CIO. Retrieved November 29, 2004, From http://www.cio.com/ec/edit/b2cabc/html