Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 8.1
Buyer
Multistage Model for
E-Commerce (B2B and B2C)
Traditional
delivery
Electronic
distribution
1. Search
and identification
5. After-sales
service
4. Product and
service delivery
2. Selection
and negotiation
3. Purchasing
employee completes the quotation form, the supplier's Web application prices the order with
the most current prices and shows the additional cost for various forms of delivery—
overnight, within two working days, or the next week. The employee might elect to visit
other suppliers' Web home pages and repeat this process to search for additional items or
obtain competing prices for the same items.
Selection and Negotiation
After the price quotations have been received from each supplier, the employee examines
them and indicates, by clicking the request-for-quotation form, which items to order from
a given supplier. The employee also specifies the desired delivery date. This data is used as
input into the supplier's order-processing TPS. In addition to price, an item's quality and
the supplier's service and speed of delivery can be important in the selection and negotiation
process.
B2B e-commerce systems need to support negotiation between a buyer and the selected
seller over the final price, delivery date, delivery costs, and any extra charges. However, this
is not a fundamental requirement of most B2C systems, which offer their products for sale
on a “take-it-or-leave-it basis.”
Purchasing Products and Services Electronically
The employee completes the purchase order specifying the final agreed-to terms and prices
by sending a completed electronic form to the supplier. Complications can arise in paying
for the products. Typically, a corporate buyer who makes several purchases from the supplier
each year has established credit with the supplier in advance, and all purchases are billed to
a corporate account. But when individual consumers make their first, and perhaps only,
purchase from the supplier, additional safeguards and measures are required. Part of the
purchase transaction can involve the customer providing a credit card number. Another
approach to paying for goods and services purchased over the Internet is using electronic
money, which can be exchanged for hard cash, as discussed later in the chapter.
