Page 12 - DCAP306_DCAP511_E-COMMERCE_AND_E-BUSINESS

Unit 1: Introduction to E-Commerce and E-Business

Table 1.1 depicts some examples of business processes that suit e-commerce and traditional commerce
respectively.

Table 1.1: Comparison of E-Commerce and Traditional
Commerce Based on Business Processes

Electronic commerce Traditional commerce
Sale/purchase of books or CDs Sale/purchase of high fashion clothing
Online delivery of software Sale/purchase of perishable food products
Advertising and promotion of travel services Small denomination transactions
Online tracking of shipments Sale of expensive jewelry and antiques

Table 1.2 compares and contrasts traditional commerce and e-commerce. However, it is essential to
know that currently many companies are functioning with a mix of traditional commerce and e-
commerce.

Gap, Toys-R-Us, Walmart, and Sears are some of the companies that are operating
with a mix of traditional commerce and e-commerce.

Table 1.2: Comparison of Traditional Commerce and E-
Commerce Based on Activity

Activity Traditional commerce E- commerce

Product information Magazines, flyers Web sites, online catalogs
Business communications Regular mail, phone E-mail
Check product availability Phone, fax and letter E-mail, Web sites, and
extranets
Order generation Printed forms E-mail, Web sites
Product acknowledgements Phone, fax E-mail, Web sites, and EDI
Invoice generation Printed forms Web sites

1.3 Media Convergence
The electronic marketplace is turning into a reality as many companies are using their resources and
talents through mergers with other companies. The term E-Commerce is now irreversibly linked with
the idea of convergence of companies centered on information like content, storage, networks, business
applications, and consumer devices.
Convergence means merging of consumer electronics, publishing, television, computers, and
telecommunications for the purpose of enabling new forms of information-based commerce. The
concept may be confusing for the public as the popular press uses the terms multimedia and cross-
media interchangeably. Multimedia convergence refers to the conversion of data, voice, text, image,
graphics, and full-motion video into digital content. Cross-media convergence applies to the integration
of various industries, such as, entertainment, publication, and communication media based on
multimedia content. The two types of convergence are closely related to each other.

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