e-commerce discussion

THIS WEEK’S DISCUSSION WILL REQUIRE YOU TO INTERVIEW A LOCAL BUSINESS OWNER OR MANAGER FIRST BEFORE POSTING
E-commerce can be defined as using the Internet and the web to transact business. Global business to consumer e-commerce is soon expected to surpass $3 trillion dollars in sales. Needless to say, electronic commerce is revolutionizing the way we do business.

Interview a local business owner or manager that has an e-Commerce presence (ability to purchase online). Ask the following questions and record their answers. Bring the answers back and write your original post to show how e-Commerce has helped or hurt the business represented.

Examples of local businesses to interview: Restaurants, Boutiques, Salons, Insurance Agencies, At-Home Sales (Avon, Tupperware, etc). Please do not interview people at national chains, as they will probably not have much to offer to this discussion.

If the business has chosen not to have an e-commerce presence, you can ask the same questions slightly altered to find out why they do not want e-Commerce.

(1) What was the main driving force or strategy behind the organization’s decision to deploy (or not to deploy) e-commerce?

(2) Has the adoption of e-commerce changed their traditional business model? In what ways?

(3) Does their e-commerce business (or lack of) conflict with their traditional bricks and mortar business or does it enhance the traditional offering? Explain.

(4) What role, if any, does social media or social networking play in the marketing strategy of the organization? If no social media/networking presence, why not?

(5) What impact has the deployment of e-commerce (or lack of) had on the organization’s relationship with customers and suppliers?

(6) Has the e-commerce aspect of their business been successful?

Instructions:

Interview a local business that has an e-commerce presence (ie: the ability to purchase online). Answer the 6 questions above.
Reply to one of your classmates’ posts, comparing the answers from the business you talked to and the business your classmate talked to. Be sure to include any differences and similarities of the affect (positive or negative) on E-Commerce on the businesses.
Give your personal opinion of what makes E-Commerce successful for some businesses and not as successful for others.
Minimum # words required for your original post is 200 words.

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