Page 71 - DMGT505_MANAGEMENT_INFORMATION_SYSTEM

Management Information Systems

Notes 4.6 Business 2 Consumer (B2C)

Business-to-consumer (B2C, sometimes also called Business-to-Customer) describes activities
of businesses serving end consumers with products and/or services.

Example: B2C transaction would be a person buying a pair of shoes from a retailer. The
transactions that led to the shoes being available for purchase, that is the purchase of the leather,
laces, rubber, etc. as well as the sale of the shoe from the shoemaker to the retailer would be
considered (B2B) transactions.
More and more organizations are transforming their businesses using Internet technology in
B2C relationships. The extent to which the Internet technology is used in an organization for
B2C relationships depends on the relative Internet maturity of the organization, its customers,
the Internet usage in its geographical market area, the nature of the organization’s products/
services and the relative urgency to which the Internet is used to either achieve competitive
advantage or to catch up with the competition. Accordingly, an organization may be resorting
to a B2C e-commerce model, covering one or more of the following broad e-commerce activities:
 Informational (public): Making information regarding the organisation and its products
available on the Internet for whoever wants to access the information.
 Customer self-service (informational): Making information, such as products/services
and prices, available on the Internet for the customers of the organization.
 Customer self-service (transactional other than payments): In addition to making
information available on the Internet, accepting customer transactions, such as orders and
cancellations, through the Internet, but payments are handled through conventional means.
 Customer self-service (payments): Accepting customer transactions including payments
or fund transfers (in the case of banks) through the Internet.

 Customer reporting: Providing reports, such as statement of accounts and order status to
customers online.

 Interactive self-service: Providing interactive responses through e-mails for requests/
queries logged through a website.
 Direct selling: Selling products and services directly to prospective buyers through the
Internet.
 Auctioning: Auctioning the products online.

4.6.1 Examples for Online Business to Consumer (B2C) Model
Consider an online music store selling audio CDs and DVDs to end users or customers through
orders on Internet. Each of the following two examples implements the concept of B2C business
model.

Example: http://www.hamaracd.com
A venture of Saregama India Ltd, An RPG enterprise Company.

HamaraCD.com is a unique concept where you have amazing option and complete freedom of
creating your own audio CDs of your favourite songs. Your selection can be further personalized
with your preferred image, CD Title and a message of your choice. By far, HamaraCD today is
the largest, most popular and possibly the only legitimate site offering CD customization
facility for Indian songs globally.

66 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY