Page 65 - DMGT505_MANAGEMENT_INFORMATION_SYSTEM

Management Information Systems

Notes Web retailer Amazon.com is an example of a purely online model. Classic brick-and-mortar
businesses such as Williams-Sonoma have become bricks-and-clicks shops, selling products
online that are also old in their physical outlets.

Example: Gear.com, Barnes&Noble.com, and Gateway.com

Business-To-Business

Business-to-business (B2B) commerce is less in the public eye than B2C but is a rapidly growing
segment of the Internet economy. In this model, businesses offer goods and services to other
businesses over the Internet. For instance, Safetylogic.com provides corporations with an easy
way to distribute safety materials to satellite plants and fill out OSHA reports online. We will
discuss B2B in detail later in the unit.

Example: Extensity.com, StaplesLink.com, Lexis-Nexis

Consumer-To-Business

Consumer-to-business (C2B) describes a system where consumers use an online agent to look
for a product or service that suits their needs. Priceline.com is a prime example of the C2B
model.

Example: ShopBot.com, AutobyTel.com

Consumer-To-Consumer

Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) businesses act as agents between consumers with goods and
services to sell. Online auction site eBay is perhaps the most prominent online C2C company.

Example: Excite classifieds, Yahoo! Auctions

Peer-To-Peer

Peer-to-peer (P2P) is a relatively new e-commerce model. Not unlike C2B and C2C, online
agents assist in P2P transactions. P2P businesses transact exchanges of information (such as files
or dollar amounts) between PCs or hand-held computing devices.

Example: 1. Napster is currently the most prominent example of an online P2P business.
2. PayPal, ProPay, Ecount.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
5. While there are many e-commerce business models, most depend on two fundamental
building blocks: businesses (B) and ..................................

6. .................................. describes a system where consumers use an online agent to look for a
product or service that suits their needs.

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