Businesses Online
The online world is littered with jargon, but some it is useful to hand to distinguish are field of Internet business from another. The most important distinctions are now well-established business concepts:
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Business to Business (B2B)
One of the most common online businesses, where business interact with one another, creating efficiencies and cost savings along the way. In trading exchanges, for example, large numbers of buyers and sellers meet and transact. Examples are E Steel, Chemdex or Paper exchange, each servicing their industries and more often than not, set up by veterans of those off-line industries.
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Business to Consumer (B2C)
Simply where a business is selling an item to a consumer in a retail environment. Amazon.co.uk, Travelocity.co.uk are examples of B2C. This was the sector that attracted most new entrants during the recent dot.com boom and had most causalities during the subsequent bust, but many are still thriving and look set to become mega-brands in the same way as many of our High Street Businesses are.
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Consumer to Consumer (C2C)
EBay, the online auction market place is a prime example, where one offers for sale an item and another bids for it. A classic use of the Internet, this immediately caught people’s imagination and remains a favourite business online.
This is sometime called Peer-to-Peer (P2P), when the system involves file-sharing, Napster, itunes and Limewire are the popular and favourite online music sharing service are a P2P applications.
Examples:
What currently sells online?
- Books, music, entertainment
- Clothes, accessories, fashion items
- Life Purchases (cars, homes and mortgages)
Online Business Activities
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Online Auctions - EBay
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Banking Online - HSBC
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Internet Chat-rooms - MSN
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Gambling Online – 888.com
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Job Searches – Jobs4you
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Travelling Services – last minute
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Product Supply – Amazon, Argos
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Research – Search Engines
1. Online Auctions – Auctions are an historic way of buying and selling goods. The most common methods is for a seller to describe the item being sold, buyers bid for a price to buy it and the highest bidder obtains the goods. On the Internet the system is slightly different, because buyers can log on to the site any day any time. There is therefore normally a time limit set over which bids are accepted and illustrated by a countdown timer for each item on the site. The ebay site is the, most well-known, with a market share of over 85%. e-bay is used by both businesses and private individuals. Other auctions sites are only used by businesses and are restricted to certain participants, such as registered or approved trade members.
2. Banking Online – All the banks now offer both private and business customers to bank online. The customer first registers for online banking and is allocated a unique ID and password which must be keyed in to gain access to secure area on the bank's website. In this area customers can:
Access all bank accounts held to see balances and transactions.
Print out statements and other records.
Transfer money between accounts, pay bills and even apply for a loan.
Many banks offer online services including:
Online share buying and selling through the bank's links with share dealers.
Fast Pay where money can be transferred by SMS or email to another person or business used to pay for goods bought on the net when the site shows a Fast Pay button.
Advice on many different aspects of starting and running a business, completing a tax return, paying wages, compiling a business plan and so on.
I have found out that E-mail allows people to send messages from one computer to another using the Internet connection almost immediately. It is widely used and has become an alternative to the conventional letter post, the fax, and telephone. You can also send 'attachments' with your email including text and graphics files such as letters and photographs.
3. Internet chat-rooms (Socialising) – Chat-rooms are Internet areas where people can communicate with one another in real-time. Many chat-rooms are run by major ISPs – although the one operated by MSN was withdrawn in September 2003 after worries about children being groomed on the Internet by paedophiles.
Forums – are online discussion groups who chat about topic in which they have common interest from football teams or gardening to solving IT problems.
4. Gambling Online – The number of gambling sites on the Internet has increased considerably in the last few years. People can now play lotto online, bet on horse race, enter am online casino and play poker or blackjack. All that from any computer linked with an Internet connection. The growth of ITV and entertainment web sites are creating new types of gambling opportunities, such as playing Who wants to be a Millionaire online, and betting on reality shows such as 'Pop Idol' or 'I'm a Celebrity ... get me out of here'.
5. Job Searches – Traditionally if you wanted a job, you would buy a newspaper, visit the job centre or a local employment agency. Nowadays, you can look online at some of the many web sites featuring job vacancies. Some specialise in certain types of industries and careers from the health service to catering such as NHS Careers and Caterer.com. Others are aimed at different levels, such as graduates at Milkround Online. There are also more general sites with a range of jobs in different fields, such as totaljobs.com and fish4jobs.
6. Travelling Services (last minute Services) – The most well-know site for travelling services is lastminute.com. The site sells flights and holidays, weekend breaks, theatre tickets and gifts online. What is different is that the content is geared for people who want to do things at the last minute because they have been too busy beforehand, It is also ideal for people who are looking for a bargain. Suppliers can use the site to sell-off surplus stocks at a discount at the last minute which means that prices for buyers are competitive. For Example, a London hotel with spare rooms next weekend can contact lastminute.com with its vacancies. These are offered cheaply because the hotel would prefer to receive some income than none. Someone wanting to make a last minute reservation in London can check out the site and make the booking online.
7. Product Supply – British consumers spent over 2.5 billion Christmas shopping on the Internet. 16 million people bought a wide range of electrical goods, including digital cameras, mobile phones and DVD players as well as perfumes, beer, wine and spirits online. This shows that people confidence in buying online and their wish to escape from the hassle of shopping on crowded stores is increased. They prefer to shop online at quite times of their own choosing and have their presents delivered to the doors.
8. Research – The Internet is an excellent way of finding out information. Infact it was invented because nuclear physics wanted to share their research data. The Internet has certainly revolutionised the way in which research is carried out in schools, colleges and universities and in businesses. So much so that some universities are installing software that routinely scans student assignments to check if any part of it has been copied from and online source.
The only difficulty with researching on the Internet can be finding what you need. Basic fact finding can normally be started with a search engine, such as Google, Yahoo!
Music sites such as the Launch Music and NME web sites feature video and music clips as well as information about charts and artists. All the major record companies have sites, such as Reprise Records, and people can register to watch and download music videos at the Music Brigade Web sites.
Conclusion:
As a conclusion to this report, I have found that the Internet is a world-wide network which allows people to reach people even very expensive advertising could not. The Internet refers to the massive network of connected computers stretching all over world. Infact, the word Internet comes from the two words, interconnected and networks. The Internet is a linked network of computer networks.
I have found out that with Banking Online, customers can do banking at any time of the day or night. 7 days a week, and from any Internet linked connection in the world. Without going anywhere near the bank an online customer can carry out almost every type of bank transaction apart from physically paying in or withdrawing money.
I have also found that some chat-rooms are safer than others because they require users to register by providing their email addresses and also include safety features, such as 'ignore' buttons. Chat-rooms are not the only way of communicating over the Internet.
Forums are also set up for professional collaboration between people working at a distance. They can be used to provide help and support for users as well as guidance and comments on communal projects.
Job Sites are run by agencies that advertise vacancies on behalf of employers. For an additional fee they will also undertake other tasks, such as checking applications and advertising on shortlist.
The last minute is also used successfully by many other operators, particularly in the field of travel, accommodation and holidays.
Businesses who responded to the challenge, and supplied the products customers wanted, such as Amazon, Argos and Tesco saw the growth in sales.
