COMM 226

E-Commerce, Social Networking and Web 2.0

Chitu OkoliAssociate Professor in Business Technology ManagementJohn Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montréal

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E-commerce

What is E-commerce, and how is it used?

• E-commerce is buying and selling of goods and services over public and private computer networks

• This definition restricts e-commerce to buying and selling transactions

• Checking the weather at yahoo.ca is not e-commerce, but buying a weather service subscription that is paid for and delivered over the Internet is

E-Commerce Categories• Merchant companies

– Goods: physically handle the goods that they sell to customers• Normally take title to the

goods, or might sell them on consignment

– Services: sell services that they provide themselves

• Nonmerchant companies– Goods: arrange for the

purchase and sale of goods without ever handling those goods themselves

– Services: sell services provided by others; they do not provide the services themselves

E-Commerce Merchant Companies

• Business-to-consumer (B2C) – Sales between a supplier and a retail

customer (the consumer) • Business-to-business (B2B)

– Sales between companies • Business-to-government (B2G)

– Sales between companies and governmental organizations

Nonmerchant E-Commerce• The most common nonmerchant e-

commerce companies are auctions and clearinghouses

• E-commerce auctions match buyers and sellers by using an e-commerce version of a standard auction

• Clearinghouses provide goods and services at a stated price and arrange for the delivery of the goods, but the clearinghouse never takes title

• Electronic exchanges match buyers and sellers; the business process is similar to that of a stock exchange

Social networking

What is Social Networking, and How is it Enabled and Affected by IS/IT?

• A social network is a structure of individuals and organizations that are related to each other in some way

• Social networking is the process by which individuals use relationships to communicate with others in a social network

What is Social Capital?

• Business literature defines three types of capital:– Physical: the investment of resources for

future profit– Human: the investment in human

knowledge and skills for future profit– Social: investment in social relations with

the expectation of returns in the marketplace

• Social Capital adds value in four ways:– Information – Influence– Social credentials– Personal reinforcement

Which social media are best for business?

http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/09/05/what-social-media-platforms-are-best-suited-for-your-business/

Facebook for business

https://youtu.be/P_QukMBokZw

LinkedIn for business

https://youtu.be/yM5K0ytrDDA

Twitter for business

https://youtu.be/8Lx0FZUuC_k

YouTube for business

https://youtu.be/qb9vQ5jPHkQ

Web 2.0

What is Web 2.0?• The Web as a platform

– Software services run on the Web rather than being installed on users' computers

– Computer programming using Web technologies; more flexible for programmers

– Software can work on multiple types of computers and devices, with the Web as the hub

• Harnessing collective intelligence– Collecting and intelligent exploitation of users' data– User-generated content is a major force

• Rich user experience– Highly interactive websites– Rich multimedia (video and autdio)

Source: Tim O’Reilly

Web 2.0: Interactive applications and platforms on the web

• Examples: smartphones, user created content, social networking, location and context-based services and dynamic marketplaces

Sources

• Most of the slides are adapted from COMM 226 Business Technology Management by David M. Kroenke, Andrew Gemino, Peter Tingling, and Earl H. McKinney, Jr. 2nd Custom Edition for Concordia University (2014) published by Pearson Canada. ISBN 13: 978-1-269-96956-7

• Other sources are noted on the slides themselves

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