EBusiness Models

eBusiness Models

The modern business world has evolved from the traditional brick and mortar to require companies to develop some form of eBusiness strategy into their business models. Ebusiness can be simply defined as the use of the internet to connect with customers, partners, and suppliers.(Darwinmag, 1) The advent of eBusiness has not only grown tradition businesses but has also paved the way a whole group of internet based companies that find the online environment as the primary market. There are various eBusiness models but this paper will focus on Business-2-Consumer, Consumer-2-Consumer, and eGovernment. These various models offer both businesses and consumers opportunities to interact that may not have existed before the internet.

B2C – BMWUSA

BMW is a well known luxury automobile manufacturer that prides itself on building “The Ultimate Driving Machine.” BMWUSA.com is the internet website that offers consumers a place to view current models, build and price vehicles, locate dealers, compare models to competitors, and other features that give the customer information about company and its products. The site is primarily used as an information tool for consumers to view the company’s model lineup and gather information on events such as car shows and charity events. The site does offer real-time inventory tracking for its Certified Pre-Owned vehicles but not for new model inventory.

The potential buyer is able to view the current model lineup and go to build their specific vehicle. Once the specific vehicle is priced, the customer is offered the option to compare their vehicle to other BMWs or competitor vehicles. The customer is then directed to calculate financing options. The final step is sending the customer inquiry to local dealership via e-mail. There are several weaknesses with the current format as the prices calculated on the website are only MSRP and does not reflect actual dealer negotiated prices. Another drawback is that the customer web experience does not complete the buying process as the customer is required to go to the dealership to make the actual purchase. Customers are able to make orders via e-mail contact but actual pricing information is rarely given via this median.

Once the consumer has actually ordered a vehicle from a dealership, they are then offered access to the “elite” portion of the site known as the Owner’s Circle. The Owner’s Circle offers more brand information and articles of achievement to build further interest in the BMW community. The buyer is also able to track where their vehicle is in the production and delivery process with updated dealer arrival information. The complete order is listed with all options and color choices so the customer is able to detect if an error in order has occurred while the car is still in ...

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The site offers the BMW a place to market it latest model offerings, accolades, and achievements and give the customer all pricing and model information to make an informed decision but also build nostalgia for the product and brand. Although BMW has not fully utilized the site to actually use it as a source of revenue, it has built itself a powerful marketing tool with all necessary contact information and ease to better promote the brand and individual dealerships. With B2C eCommerce expected to grow to $184billion in 2004, BMW should utilize their site build online financing and ordering options to differentiate itself from others in the industry.(Darwinmag, 2) BMW uses the site to build good leads for salesman to pursue so that the sales staff is able to contact customers that already have some level of interest in the product.

C2C - EBAY

Ebay is the world online marketplace that offers services to both buyers and sellers of products that functions like a gigantic garage sale. The mission statement is to provide a global trading platform where practically anyone can trade practically anything. Businesses and individuals will go to Ebay to buy and sell items in thousands of categories. Ebay goes to great lengths to ensure a safe, friendly, and secure online trading experience.

From a seller’s prospective, Ebay offers an online auction or direct sale to consumers that receives large volumes of traffic from all over the world. Through the ‘My Ebay’ tool, sellers are able to easily monitor all current items in a single location. There are practical tools that make the selling experience both organized and efficient by generating e-mails notifying both end of auction and payment options. Sellers are able to indicate their preferred payment and shipping options. Ebay also offers sellers the opportunity to customize their individual auction pages with pictures, text, style, etc.

From the customer prospective, Ebay offers a secure, reputable online buying experience with a vast collection of products that far surpasses anything offered in a single store, mall, flea market, etc. The customer is able to perform a basic or advanced search to look at products that meet their criteria. Ebay offers customers the opportunity to either bid or buy items of various genres from all over the world. As an added level of security, Ebay offers a rating and feedback service so that potential customers can gauge the online seller reputation from other Ebay users. This feedback system helps deter fraudulent activity and gives the buyer an added level of comfort when using the service. The customer is also able to track and watch items that they mark and bid on via the ‘My Ebay’ service. The system will also generate an automatic e-mail when bidders have been outbid on a product to keep the consumer informed and also promote the seller’s item.

The site offers both buyers and sellers a forum to trade. Ebay benefits from offering this service by collecting a percentage of the sale, listing fees, and promotion of other businesses that coincide with online trading like Paypal. Regardless of whether the items sell or not, Ebay’s business model generates profits by charging for both listing and selling price. The buyer mostly benefits from this model since the listing fee, selling fee, and even the Paypal collection fee is paid by the seller. Ebay has a global presence and has built itself into a brand name that doesn’t require major advertising since this trading community is well-known in the open marketplace.

eGovernment – IRS

The Internal Revenue Service is viewed by many as the most feared government agency to deal with since the issue of tax and financial documentation is extremely important. The IRS has extended its services to the internet to give people, businesses, charities, non-profit organizations, Tax professionals, and other government entities a place to quickly retrieve information and critical tax related forms. The internet provides the IRS with a fixed platform where various interested parties can go to retrieve critical documents, find information on changes to tax code, and submit tax claims via the eFile utility.

The site offers various services to make document search more user friendly with a search function and a Spanish translated version. The users of the site benefit by retrieving accurate government information and documents in a single resource. The IRS benefits by reducing the volume of inquiries to the actual offices about the documents and other information that is available on the site.

Summary

All of these eBusiness models serve to inform and engage the target audience and provide an added level of efficiency to the business, seller, or agency. The provider of the internet site has a particular agenda whether to promote or inform and these site provide around the clock access to this information. The sites offer information on product offerings but also corporate or agency information like employment opportunities. In each case, the site serves to improve efficiencies within the firm to market their particular offerings.

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