Introduction to Electronic Commerce
Online business has many names; e-Commerce, e-business, online shopping and others involving the use of the internet or a modern telephone or smart phone to place transactions for desired products and services. As you read, think about the power a successful online firm has over his store-based counterpart. What is online business? What is the role of the Internet and other communications media in providing an organization's e-business presence? What are some similarities and some differences between e-business and brick and mortar commerce? How can they complement each other? Are the days of brick-and-mortar stores coming to an end?
Key themes addressed
Chapter Seven: Service
Services are more and more important in the U.S. economy. In Chapter Seven, we describe how electronic commerce comes to blur the distinction between products and services. Traditionally, services are a challenge to market because of four key properties: intangibility, simultaneity, heterogeneity, and perishability. In this chapter, we show how electronic commerce can be used to overcome traditional problems in services marketing.