Chapter 4.2: Business to Consumer e-commerce

Brick and mortar business strategy

A business of project exclusively utilizing physical locations, such as department stores, business offices, and manufacturing plans, without an online presences

E-tailing

Electronic retailing; the online sales of good and services

Click only business strategy

A business approach that exclusively utilizes an online presence, companies using the strategy are also referred to as virtual companies.

Click and mortar business strategy

A business approach utilizing both physical locations and virtual locations. Also referred to as “bricks-and-clicks”

Multichannel retailing

Offering the customer different touchpoints, such as a retail store and a catalogue.

Cross-channel retailing

offering the customer, different touch points, Such that transactions, take place across multiple environments

Omni channel retailing

Providing seamless, simultaneous retail interactions, using different channels, such that a customer does not interact with a single channel, but with the brand is a whole.

Sales beacon

Bluetooth device that can detect approximate smart phones and send marketing messages or personalized coupon coupons

Disintermediation

The phenomenon of cutting out the middle manager transactions and reaching customers more directly and efficiently. Create both opportunities and challenges

Reintermediation

The design of a business model that introduces middleman to reduce the chaos brought on by disintermediation

Long tail

The large parts of consumer demand that are outside the relatively small number of mainstream tastes

Mass customization

Tailoring products and service services to meet the particular needs of individual customers on a large scale

Group buying

Special value discount discounts negotiated with local businesses, and offered to people in the form of daily deals; if enough people agree to purchase the product reserves, everyone can purchase the product at the discounted price.

Menu-driven pricing model

Pricing model under which companies set and present non-negotiable prices for products to consume

Dynamic pricing model

Pricing model under which customer specify the product or service they are looking for how much they’re willing to pay for it, and the provider either accepts or reject the customer’s bids.

Social commerce

Averaging visitor, social networks and e-commerce interactions to build lasting relationships, advertise products, or otherwise create value.

Drawback of e-tailing: Trust

Customers may be hesitant to purchase from companies they have never heard of. Becomes an issue due to the customer’s inability to adequately experience a capabilities in the characteristics of a product prior to purchase as well as due to uncertainty surrounding product delivery and returns.