Bmgt7011 E-Business Assignment - Free Assessment Answers

Answer:

Introduction

The electronic-commerce is described as an aspect of the market or a business enabled through the internet. The electronic-commerce is becoming the primary means of carrying out the business today indicated by the high percentage of money spent on the internet. According to the research conducted by Forrester researcher, the US internet retail is approximated to reach close to $ 278.9 billion in the year 2015. Therefore, the outcome of this research has shown that the economic influence of e-commerce is increasing tremendously. The online-based industries, internet-based organizations and the market researchers are in the process of understanding and detecting the behaviors of the online customers, hence more research on this field is needed. Therefore, this piece will investigate the way e-commerce has transformed business, the structure, the trends in shopping among the consumers, and the competitive dynamics among the business firms. Lastly, analyze the impact of the S-commerce (social commerce) on the consumers' behavior in purchasing with the help of TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) framework (Monkkonen, Wong, & Begley, 2012).  

 Many researchers like the IS (information systems) have investigated the online customers concerning internet shopping adoption. The commonly used adoption model is the Davis's (1989) TAM (Technology acceptance model) concept. This is an adjustment of the concept of TRA (The reasoned action) used in forecasting information systems. The technology acceptance model has two aspects, the PU (perceived usefulness and PEOU (perceived ease of use). These two aspects are then compared with the decisions made by the clients. The primary objective of establishing the TAM was to define the adoption of new technology although the researchers are now using the model in investigating the online customers' behavior.  The decision in buying on the internet is personal while making a decision in using the new software in an organization is mandated by its policies. Shopping on the internet is as well personal choice among the many alternatives like buying in the conventional stores while on the selection of software is still mandated by the organization. Hence TAM may be handy in explaining the behaviors of the online consumers and serve as the electronic-commerce model (Klang & Hacklin, 2013).

The capabilities of e-commerce and observed changes

According to Michael Porter, the level of competition within the marketing industry depends on the specific fundamental economic structure. The market structure is established by the following five main competitive factors (Cheng, 2013).

The rivalry among the existing competitors

For many competing markets, this is one of the primary determinants in a competitive market industry. Mostly, the rivals may compete in an aggressive way while in other moments, the industries compete for non-profit dimensions like marketing and technological innovations. The rivalry among the market competitors is extreme and, the divers in the real competitions are the Yahoo, MSN, FNAC, and eBay. This market industry is developing at a high rate, and the commodities that are sold to their consumers are not substantially differentiated. Many of these organizations try to distinguish themselves by making various changes like creating blogs and exciting shopping to the consumers to make them spend extra time on their sites (Alcácer, Dezs & Zhao,2013).

The barriers to entry

The market industries that make more profits will draw more firms. The outcome of this is the additional entrants hence reducing the profitability. The earnings of such sectors might go down to the competitive market level unless those other firms are blocked.  Therefore, the barriers to the entry protect the incumbents and restrain the competition within the market. The e-commerce industry has attracted very many firms since there are no entry barriers in the industry. For instance, many firms within the market have selected diversified strategies of their sales in which the commodities availed for their consumers have not been differentiated.

The threat of new substitute products

It's very simple when selling or promoting a product on the internet platforms which has invited the danger of the substituted services or the products within the industry of e-commerce. These threats are as the results of the substituted commodities sold within the market and at the same time being sold by the other firms outside or inside the e-commerce market. For instance, a consumer may prefer to buy a DVD or the book sold by the Amazon.com. Hence many of e-commerce business organization attract customers by lowering the prices of their products or services (Alcácer, Dezs & Zhao,2013).

The Strength of suppliers

The level of strength of the suppliers in the e-commerce market is generally low due to the existence of the commodities in the industry sold by numerous firms. For example, specialties like the DVD's, CD's and books strength of the suppliers in bargaining is very minimal. Other firms like the Microsoft companies because of their power within the products dealing with software is very high.

The bargaining power of buyers

The power of bargaining among the e-commerce customers is very strong since its effortless in finding the other suppliers within the market. These buyers do not have any loyalty to the brand. They only look for the better and cheap products to buy. The change that can just be adopted by the industry is availing the products and presenting unique products to the customers (Sheu & Gao, 2014).

 S-commerce model (Social Commerce)

The primary objective of looking at the social commerce is to point out the critical social constructs or concepts that results in consumer shopping. The e-commerce mostly depends on the social networking a sufficient technology when sharing an idea (Kim & Byramjee, 2014). The social networking sites have taken the priority in the e-commerce today in which the customers create social links and take part in cyberspaces. A social platform is a form of social constructs in e-commerce which has provided the customers with an opportunity in generating content and give their experiences. Some of the identified social commerce constructs are the reviews & ratings, referrals & recommendations and communities & forums (M. N. Hajli, 2014).

The research carried recently has shown that customer-generated media were the roles of the customers in generating the content within the websites by offering the recommendations and the reviews. Thus, the studies have shown that the social network has added a significant quality for the people who get involved in such marketplaces. According to (Sarulatha & Sasirekha, 2018) the main S-commerce factors like the size of reputation, the value of information, the safety of transaction and word of mouth or referrals impacted the Korean customers' trust. Hence these aspects have a significant impact on the belief and the intentions of purchasing. Hajli, (2015) argued that many people could take part in communities and forums in sharing their knowledge and the experiences leaving the advice of other users and owners of the business. Through the social commerce, individuals have received a lot of social supports which could be emotional and informational. Thus, increasing the commitment-trust and the expectation of them to buy the commodities.

The relevance of the Technology Acceptance Model

The technology acceptance concept proposed that the PU (perceived usefulness) and the PEU (Perceived ease of use) influences the attitude of individuals when it comes to using the new technology. Thus, it's a belief that this may impact the usage intention, behavior and the adoption. Therefore, the TAM concept acknowledges that the perception of e-commerce has been affected by the way its easy to use the platforms, how it enhances the performance, attitude and the behaviors of the consumers. The impact of the PU and PEU on the behavioral perception is intellectually deep on the internet. For instance, the e-commerce the market researchers have used the TAM to indicate how customers' peers and the social media has influenced the adoption of the technology (Surendran, 2012).

Conclusion

The main e-business attention is improved consumer's services and the low cost. Hence the adoption of technology to link the suppliers and the consumers. This analysis has only majored on the trading pattern and models in buying and selling of commodities on the internet platforms. The e-commerce has been considered as the aspect of sales within the e-business.  It as well incorporated the sharing of data to enhance the payments and the financing.

References

Alcácer, J., Dezs, C. L., & Zhao, M. (2013). Firm rivalry, knowledge accumulation, and MNE location choices. Journal of International Business Studies.

 https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2013.18

Cheng, D. (2013). Analyze the Hotel Industry in Porter Five Competitive Forces. The Journal of Global Business Management.

Hajli, M. N. (2014). The role of social support on relationship quality and social commerce. Technological Forecasting and Social Change.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2014.05.012

Hajli, N. (2015). Social commerce constructs and consumer’s intention to buy. International Journal of Information Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2014.12.005

Kim, S. H., & Byramjee, F. (2014). Effects of risks on online consumers’ purchasing behavior: Are they risk-averse or risk-taking? Journal of Applied Business Research.

Klang, D., & Hacklin, F. (2013). Retaining fit between business models and product market strategies in changing environments. International Journal of Product Development. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJPD.2013.055013

Monkkonen, P., Wong, K., & Begley, J. (2012). Economic restructuring, urban growth, and short-term trading: The spatial dynamics of the Hong Kong housing market, 1992-2008. Regional Science and Urban Economics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2011.11.004

Sarulatha, N., & Sasirekha, V. (2018). A study on the role of social commerce constructs for shopping fashion products. International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology, 9(1), 508–518. Retrieved from

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85041355116&partnerID=40&md5=144c48510dc4d5455df7222f077b0bc3

Sheu, J.-B., & Gao, X.-Q. (2014). Alliance or no alliance—Bargaining power in competing reverse supply chains. European Journal of Operational Research.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2013.09.021

Surendran, P. (2012). Technology Acceptance Model?: A Survey of Literature. International Journal of Business and Social Research.

https://doi.org/https://dx.doi.org/10.18533/ijbsr.v2i4.161.