American Intercontinental University
Unit 3 Individual Project
MGMT305-1301A-01
March 3, 2013
Abstract
This paper will discuss the definition and growing trend of e-commerce and m-commerce. It will discuss the type of Internet business model that Faith Filled Fibers should use. Then it will discuss the benefits of using and owning an Internet website. Lastly, it will review the specifications (both functional and technological) that a computer, laptop, or smart phone should possess in order to fulfill the website requirements.
E-Commerce and M-Commerce
Introduction
Electronic commerce (also known as E-commerce) is defined as the buying and selling of goods via the Internet (Laudon, 2012). It began in 1995 and as grown to be just as traditional as physically going to the store. In fact, E-commerce has progressed into what is known as Mobile commerce (M-commerce). With technology advancing as fast as it has, consumers are using smart phones and networking applications in order to complete tasks, shop around, etc. I am planning on starting and developing a website for my crochet and craft projects named Faith Filled Fibers. I will need to describe the internet business model to use, what I will benefit from owning a website on the internet, and the specifications it will take to run that website.
Internet Business Model
Faith Filled Fibers is a business that is in the making. It will be more beneficial and less expensive for me to sell my crochet and crafts on the internet than to rent a physical space because of the many opportunities available online. There are several business models to choose from: e-retailer (Amazon.com, business to consumer), transaction broker (Etrade.com, conducts business per transaction), market creator (eBay.com, provides a place where business and consumer can conduct business together), content provider (iTunes.com, provides products for a fee), community provider (Facebook.com, easy and cheap access to the community), portal (Bing.com, easy way to search for information), and service provider (Google apps, provides applications full of services and products to aid in things such as photo cropping, video recording, scanning, etc) (Laudon, 2012).
Being a personal starting business of homemade crafts and projects, I do not have the funds to start a prosperous physical business. In order to accommodate for the lack of funds, I will want to use an Internet business model that allows for me to reach many people for the cheapest price. That business model would be one of a community provider (Facebook). Facebook is a growing trend of a place where not only people can meet, reacquaint, or keep up but a place where small personal businesses can advertise and sell their items for free. The way that Facebook can do this is that it uses an advertising revenue model. Facebook runs ads all over a person’s page and in the games that the person likes to play. Facebook knows what ads to run based on the person’s likes and subscriptions. A person can opt not to have ads run on their game and page simply by paying a fee. This helps Facebook earn money therefore offering a person or small businessman a Facebook page for free.
Internet and Website Ownership Benefits
There are several benefits to having a website on the internet. One benefit is the ubiquity of the internet. Ubiquity is defined as the capability of existing everywhere (dictionary.reference.com, n.d.). This brings us to our next benefit, global reach because the Internet exists with universal standards everywhere, in all countries! Another benefit is that the Internet is rich with programs, software, and applications to aid a business in the marketing and selling of their goods and services (Laudon, 2012). This offers a certain interaction between consumers and businesses with information with a click of a mouse. The Internet also provides social interaction with community websites such as Facebook and Twitter (two