The objective of chapter 14 is the study of the art of e-commerce, analyzing the different existing commercial models in the market such as Business to Business (B2B), Business to Consumers (B2C), Business to Business to Consumers (B2B2C), Consumers to Business (C2B), Business to Employee (B2E), Administration to Business/Consumers/Administration (A2/B/C/A), Consumers to Consumers (C2C), Peer to Peer (P2P), Mobile to Business (M2B) and Small Office Home Office (SOHO) amongst others, the level of implementation in the work place as well as the level of acceptation in society and the regulatory framework for the development of the activity. After this study, the central theme will be one of carrying out a study of the pros and cons that e-commerce brings to the client and to the company. Moreover, a study is carried out of the implementation of e-commerce in a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME), analyzing the technological possibilities and the market of the company which is the object of the study, as well as the associated barriers and risks.
TopDefinicion
Is e-business the same thing as e-commerce? No.
E-business is the application of Internet-based technologies for conducting business. It includes eCommerce (i.e., the actual transaction activities) as well as other business-oriented applications such as logistics, order entry, information sharing, and transmission of information between exchange partners (Vlosky & Westbrook, 2002).
Whilst the former looks to improve efficiency and reduce production costs which form a part of the business, e-commerce is centred in the sale of products and finding customers, this being just a small part of e-business.
According to the different perspectives, e-commerce can be defined in different ways. A fairly complete definition comes not from considering it as a technology, but rather as a tool for improving the exchange of goods, services or information.
As well as the Internet, it is possible to offer e-commerce through other technologies, such as mobile phones, the fax, credit cards, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), etc. But if we refer to e-commerce as an application which supports this type of business, it can be defined as a Web portal where goods are presented using multimedia (photos, music, images) and where the buyers and sellers can interact.