Instant messaging business aplication

Instant messaging (IM) is a form of real-time direct text-based communication between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared software clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet. More advanced instant messaging software clients also allow enhanced modes of communication, such as live voice or video calling.

Email business aplication

Electronic mail, commonly called email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages across the Internet or other computer networks. Originally, email was transmitted directly from one user to another computer. This required both computers to be online at the same time, a la instant messenger. Today's email systems are based on a store-and-forward model. Email servers accept, forward, deliver and store messages. Users no longer need be online simultaneously and need only connect briefly, typically to an email server, for as long as it takes to send or receive messages.
An email message consists of two components, the message header, and the message body, which is the email's content. The message header contains control information, including, minimally, an originator's email address and one or more recipient addresses. Usually additional information is added, such as a subject header field.
Originally a text-only communications medium, email was extended to carry multi-media content attachments, a process standardized in RFC 2045 through 2049. Collectively, these RFCs have come to be called Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME).
The history of modern, global Internet email services reaches back to the early ARPANET. Standards for encoding email messages were proposed as early as 1973 (RFC 561). Conversion from ARPANET to the Internet in the early 1980s produced the core of the current services. An email sent in the early 1970s looks quite similar to one sent on the Internet today.
Network-based email was initially exchanged on the ARPANET in extensions to the File Transfer Protocol (FTP), but is now carried by the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), first published as Internet standard 10 (RFC 821) in 1982. In the process of transporting email messages between systems, SMTP communicates delivery parameters using a message envelope separate from the message (header and body) itself.

Business applications

Some common applications related to electronic commerce are the following:
Email
Enterprise content management
Instant messaging
Newsgroups
Online shopping and order tracking
Online banking
Online office suites
Domestic and international payment systems
Shopping cart software
Teleconferencing
Electronic tickets

new wide defination of ecommerce

Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, or e-business consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown extraordinarily with widespread Internet usage. The use of commerce is conducted in this way, spurring and drawing on innovations in electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at some point in the transaction's lifecycle, although it can encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail as well.

What isM-Commerce?

Any transaction which is done throgh the use of mobile is called M-commerce

C2C e-commerce in Depth

Consumer-to-consumer e-commerce or C2C is simply commerce between private individuals or consumers. This type of e-commerce is characterized by the growth of electronic marketplaces and online auctions, particularly in vertical industries where firms/businesses can bid for what they want from among multiple suppliers.16 It perhaps has the greatest potential for developing new markets.

This type of e-commerce comes in at least three forms:

• auctions facilitated at a portal, such as eBay, which allows online real-time bidding on items being sold in the Web;
• peer-to-peer systems, such as the Napster model (a protocol for sharing files between users used by chat forums similar to IRC) and other file exchange and later money exchange models; and
• classified ads at portal sites such as Excite Classifieds and eWanted (an interactive,online marketplace where buyers and sellers can negotiate and which features “Buyer Leads & Want Ads”).

B2G e-Commerce in Depth

Business-to-government e-commerce or B2G is generally defined as commerce between companies and the public sector. It refers to the use of the Internet for public procurement, licensing procedures, and other government-related operations. This kind of e-commerce has two features: first, the public sector assumes a pilot/leading role in establishing e-commerce; and second, it is assumed that the public sector has the greatest need for making its procurement system more effective. Web-based purchasing policies increase the transparency of the procurement process (and reduces the risk of irregularities). To date, however, the size of the B2G ecommerce market as a component of total e-commerce is insignificant, as government e-procurement systems remain undeveloped.

B2C e-commerce in Depth

Business-to-consumer e-commerce, or commerce between companies and consumers, involves customers gathering information; purchasing physical goods (i.e., tangibles such as books or consumer products) or information goods (or goods of electronic material or digitized content, such as software, or e-books); and, for information goods, receiving products over an electronic network.It is the second largest and the earliest form of e-commerce. Its origins can be traced to online retailing (or e-tailing).13 Thus, the more common B2C business models are the online retailing companies such as Amazon.com, Drugstore.com, Beyond.com, Barnes and Noble and ToysRus. Other B2C examples involving information goods are E-Trade and Travelocity.

The more common applications of this type of e-commerce are in the areas of purchasing products and information, and personal finance management, which pertains to the management of personal investments and finances with the use of online banking tools (e.g., Quicken). eMarketer estimates that worldwide B2C e-commerce revenues will increase from US$59.7 billion in 2000 to US$428.1 billion by 2004. Online retailing transactions make up a significant share of this market. eMarketer also estimates that in the Asia-Pacific region, B2C revenues, while registering a modest figure compared to B2B,nonetheless went up to $8.2 billion by the end of 2001, with that figure doubling at the end of 2002-at total worldwide B2C sales below 10%.

B2C e-commerce reduces transactions costs (particularly search costs) by increasing consumer access to information and allowing consumers to find the most competitive price for a product or service. B2C e-commerce also reduces market entry barriers since the cost of putting up and maintaining a Web site is much cheaper than installing a “brick-and-mortar” structure for a firm. In the case of information goods, B2C e-commerce is even more attractive because it saves firms from factoring in the additional cost of a physical distribution network. Moreover, for countries with a growing and robust Internet population, delivering information goods becomes increasingly feasible.

B2B e-commerce in Depth

B2B e-commerce is simply defined as e-commerce between companies. This is the
type of e-commerce that deals with relationships between and among businesses.About 80% of e-commerce is of this type, and most experts predict that B2B ecommerce will continue to grow faster than the B2C segment.

The B2B market has two primary components: e-frastructure and e-markets. Efrastructure
is the architecture of B2B, primarily consisting of the following:

● logistics - transportation, warehousing and distribution (e.g., Procter and Gamble);
● application service providers - deployment, hosting and management of packaged
software from a central facility (e.g., Oracle and Linkshare);
● outsourcing of functions in the process of e-commerce, such as Web-hosting,
security and customer care solutions (e.g., outsourcing providers such as
eShare, NetSales, iXL Enterprises and Universal Access);
● auction solutions software for the operation and maintenance of real-time auctions
in the Internet (e.g., Moai Technologies and OpenSite Technologies);
● content management software for the facilitation of Web site content management
and delivery (e.g., Interwoven and ProcureNet); and
● Web-based commerce enablers (e.g., Commerce One, a browser-based, XMLenabled
purchasing automation software).

E-markets are simply defined as Web sites where buyers and sellers interact with
each other and conduct transactions.

The more common B2B examples and best practice models are IBM, Hewlett Packard (HP), Cisco and Dell. Cisco, for instance, receives over 90% of its product orders over the Internet.

Most B2B applications are in the areas of supplier management (especially purchase
order processing), inventory management (i.e., managing order-ship-billcycles), distribution management (especially in the transmission of shipping documents),channel management (i.e., information dissemination on changes in operational conditions), and payment management (e.g., electronic payment systems or EPS)

(5) G2C – Government to Citizen

This Model is also a part of e-governance.

The objective of this model is to provide good and effective services to each citizen.

The Government provides the following facilities to the citizens through website.

Ø Information of all government departments,

Ø Different welfare schemes,

Ø Different application forms to be used by the citizens.

The Gujarat Government has developed his own network called Gujarat State Wide Area Network (GSWAN) for the same purpose mentioned above.

A typical example of this model is GSWAN.

http://gswan.gov.in

The above web site contains the link of different government departments, so any citizen can know and get the information by this website.

(4)G2B – Government to Business

This Model is a part of e-governance.

Under this Model all the information and services are provided by the Government to the Business Organizations through vast network of government websites.

A Business Organization can get the information about business rules, requirement and permission needed for starting a new business, and other specifications.

A Business Organization can also download the different forms and submit it online or offline to the related office.

For Example:

http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in provides all the rules related to Tax, different forms, and facility for submission of online tax returns.

(3) C2C – Customer to Customer

For the Last few years this model has also become very famous.

Under this Model customer directly contacts with each other without involvement of third party business organization, a business organization works as agent/mediator only.

An online Auction is a very good example of C2C Model

For Example:

http://www/eBay.com

http://www.fabmart.com

(2) B2C – Business to Customer

This is a very famous and commonly used model.

Any Shop/Company/Organizations/institutes which directly sales their products/services to the customers comes under B2C Model.

For Example: www.amazon.com

A different online service like Net Banking, Insurance, Passport & Visa etc. are also comes under this Model.

(1) B2B – Business to Business:

Under B2B the Producers deals with their raw material providers or wholesalers.

Under B2B two Business organizations communicate/transfer information through Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Standards.

For the execution of B2B Model a very high security is needed.

By using B2B Model process of order, sales and purchase becomes very fast with less cost expense and without any mistakes.

We can also know the status of order.

For Example:

The Maruti Car Company deals with their spare parts making Company.

The CISCO System http://www.cisco.com

What are the different types of e-commerce?

The major different types of e-commerce are:
business-to-business (B2B);
businessto-consumer (B2C);
business-to-government (B2G);
Government to Citizen (G2C);
consumer-to-consumer (C2C);
and mobile commerce (m-commerce).

(7) Helping Services

These services start after completion of transactions i.e. services after goods sold.

The Electronic item seller firm allows their customers to complain online.

The Software Companies provide the online helps for software installations, configurations, or any sort of problem in using the software to their customers.

The Software Developing Companies provides the facility to download the recent updated version of software to their licensed software holders/customers.

The Hardware Producers allows their clients/customers to download their products drivers.

(6) Information Services

Under these facility a company/organization/institutes provides the Information to their clients/users/members/customers.

For Example: Educational Institutes and Universities

A user can download and use the different forms available from respective websites.

A Company can get the information by online forms/surveys from their clients / customers / publics.

A Company can send the different notices to their clients/customers.

(5) Online Trading of Share

Nowadays most of the trading company/agents provide the online trading facility to their customers. Using online trading a customer can sell or purchase the shares of different companies and receive/pay the payment online. A customer can also store and view the history of his transactions.

A few Examples of Web Sites that Provide facilities for online trading of shares are as under

• www.sharekhan.com

(4) Online Billing

This is further a very useful facility of E-commerce over the internet for the companies who provide the different services and charges for their services after fix interval/periods/months to customers.

Using Internet any Company can distribute their Service Bills to their Customers and customer pays the bill online using Net Banking / Credit Card or any other online payment methods.

For Example an electricity/insurance/mobile company can send their regular bills for their service to the customers.

(3) Net Banking

Nowadays Net Banking is a very important and useful facility of E-Commerce. Currently Most of the Bank provides the facilities of Net Banking. The Bank provides the Net Banking Password to their Account Holders/Customers. Using the Net Banking Password a customer login into his account and does the transaction.

Using Net Banking a customer can know his Bank Balance, get the Bank Statement of his Account, and transfer funds into other accounts.

Also a customer can do the online shopping, online ticket booking by the help of Net Banking.

The only service not available by the Net Banking is CASH WITHDRAWAL, for cash withdrawal customer has to go to his nearest Bank or ATM.

A few Examples of Web Sites that Provide facilities for Online Net Banking are as under

• www.sbi.com
• www.hdfc.com
• www.icici.com
• www.bankofbaroda.com

(2) Online Auctions:

This is again a very useful facility of e-commerce available on the Internet. This service provides the medium for transaction to both buyer and seller without involving any third party like commission agents. In online Auctions the Buyer is called as Bidder and seller is called Auctioneer.

The Bidder bid for the things/products available for the sales without wastage of time.

The Auctioneer can get the best value for their things/products.

At the end of Auctions, the Bidder gets the delivery of products and pays the amount to Auctioneer.

A few Examples of Web Sites that Provide facilities for Online Auctions are as under

• www.eBay.com
• www.fabmart.com

(1) Marketing and Sales

This is very useful service of e-commerce for small, medium or large producer/company/ entrepreneurship. A producer/company/entrepreneurship can put the images, icons, text, videos and online catalog of their products for MARKETING.

Any Customer or interested person can watch these products and if he/she likes the product then puts in the Shopping Cart.

A Shopping Cart is the virtual basket available on the market to store our purchased things on e-commerce. We can compare a Shopping Cart with a plastic bag / trolley that we used for the shopping in the Shopping Mall or at any other place.

After completing the purchasing and adding the products to the Shopping Cart puts the order. He/she provides his/her contact/address details for the process of order. After providing the contact and address details for the things to be transport, pays by the medium of Internet.

Please refer the ONLINE PAYMENT METHODS for how to pay online while e-shopping on internet.

A few Examples of Web Sites that do online marketing and sales are as under

www.amazon.com ( It online market and sales different books through Internet)

www.irctc.co.in (This is the Indian Railway web site that provide facilities of online ticket booking and payment. After booking the ticket and payment he/she gets electronic copy of tickets and gets print out of e-tickets by printer)

Usages of E-Commerce

(1) Marketing and Sales

(2) Online Auctions

(3) Net Banking

(4) Online Billing

(5) Online Trading of Share

(6) Information Services

(7) Helping Services

primary processes in e-business

There are three primary processes enhanced in e-business:

(1) Production processes, which include procurement, ordering and replenishment of stocks; processing of payments; electronic links with suppliers; and production control processes, among others;

(2) Customer-focused processes, which include promotional and marketing efforts, selling over the Internet, processing of customers’ purchase orders and payments, and customer support, among others; and

(3) Internal management processes, which include employee services, training, internal information-sharing, video-conferencing, and recruiting. Electronic applications enhance information flow between production and sales forces to improve sales force productivity. Workgroup communications and electronic publishing of internal business information are likewise made more efficient.

E-Commerce in Depth

E-commerce is usually associated with buying and selling over the Internet, or conducting any transaction involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods or services through a computer-mediated network.3 Though popular, this definition is not comprehensive enough to capture recent developments in this new and revolutionary business phenomenon. A more complete definition is: E-commerce is the use of electronic communications and digital information processing technology in business transactions to create, transform, and redefine relationships for value creation between or among organizations, and between organizations and individuals.

What is E-Commerce

Electronic commerce or e-commerce refers to a wide range of online business activities for products and services.It also pertains to “any form of business transaction in which the parties interact electronically rather than by physical exchanges or direct physical contact.”