1.What is E-Governance?

Give some examples of E-Governance along with benefits to the

citizens and other stake holders. (Rupesh Arora)

E-governance, expands to electronic governance, is the integration of Information and

Communication Technology (ICT) in all the processes, with the aim of enhancing government
ability to address the needs of the general public. The basic purpose of e-governance is to
simplify processes for all, i.e. government, citizens, businesses, etc. at National, State and local
levels.

In short, it is the use of electronic means, to promote good governance. It connotes the
implementation of information technology in the government processes and functions so as to
cause simple, moral, accountable and transparent governance. It entails the access and
delivery of government services, dissemination of information, communication in a quick and
efficient manner.

Benefits of E-governance

 Reduced corruption
 High transparency
 Increased convenience
 Growth in GDP
 Direct participation of constituents
 Reduction in overall cost.
 Expanded reach of government

Types of Interactions in E-Governance

1. G2G (Government to Government): When the exchange of information and services is within
the periphery of the government, is termed as G2G interaction. This can be both horizontal, i.e.
among various government entities and vertical, i.e. between national, state and local
government entities and within different levels of the entity.
2. G2C (Government to Citizen): The interaction amidst the government and general public is
G2C interaction. Here an interface is set up between government and citizens, which enables
citizens to get access to wide variety of public services. The citizens have the freedom to share
their views and grievances on government policies anytime, anywhere.
3. G2B (Government to Business): In this case, the e-governance helps the business class to
interact with the government seamlessly. It aims at eliminating red-tapism, saving time, cost and
establish transparency in the business environment, while interacting with government.
4. G2E (Government to Employees): The government of any country is the biggest employer and
so it also deals with employees on a regular basis, as other employers do. ICT helps in making
the interaction between government and employees fast and efficient, along with raising their
level of satisfaction by providing perquisites and add-on benefits.
Examples

E-Tourist Visa: Tourists can apply for visa online, pay fee online and receive e-tourist visa
online.

E-courts: The services delivered through the e-courts MMP(Mission Mode Project) include
automated case filling, automated registration of case, automated workflow for court, generation
of automated cause list, judicial, service centers in all courts, automation of case management
system, allocation of cases, etc.

E-Mandi: The government has launched the e-Mandi portal to make procurement of agricultural
products smoother and to provide competitive remuneration, especially for small and marginal
famers.

E-Hospital online registration system(ORS): It includes online appointment and registration

by new patients, viewing of lab reports, checking the status of blood availability and integration
with payment gateway(PayGov).

Advantages

Speed: Technology makes communication speedier. Internet, Phones, Cell Phones have reduced
the time taken in normal communication.

Cost Reduction: Most of the Government expenditure is appropriated towards the cost of
stationary. Paper-based communication needs lots of stationary, printers, computers, etc. which
calls for continuous heavy expenditure. Internet and Phones makes communication cheaper
saving valuablemoneyfor the Government.

Transparency: Use of ICT makes governing profess transparent. All the information of the
Government would be made available on the internet. The citizens can see the information
whenever they want to see. But this is only possible when every piece of information of the
Government is uploaded on the internet and is available for the public to peruse. Current
governing process leaves many ways to conceal the information from all the people. ICT helps
make the information available online eliminating all the possibilities of concealing of
information.

Accountability: Once the governing process is made transparent the Government is

automatically made accountable. Accountability is answerability of the Government to the
people. It is the answerability for the deeds of the Government. An accountable Government is a
responsible Government.

Convenience: E-Government brings public services to citizens on their schedule and their
venue.

Improved Customer Service: E-Government allows to redeploy resources from back-end

processing to the front line of customer service.

Increased access to information: E-Government improves the accessibility of government

information to citizens allowing it become an important resource in the making the decisions that
affect daily life and so it helps in empowerment of citizens.

2. ISSUES IN PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF E-COMMERCE

STRATEGIES IN INDIA? (Priya Kashyap)
Despite tremendous growth of e-commerce, merchants have to work hard facing these
challenges.
Technological disruption has driven change in the e-commerce industry with shoppers
embracing multiple touch points in their purchase journeys. Overall, there is humongous
potential for the e-commerce companies helped strongly by a growing internet user base and
advancements in technology. However, this will not be without its share of challenges –
operational, regulatory, digital, etc. A company’s ability to prepare itself proactively to meet
these challenges will decide the difference between a successful venture and a failed on.

Here are the most common e-commerce challenges in India:

1. Lack of proper knowledge/ poor market research
Online sellers are likely to make costly mistakes when they launch their business
unprepared as they are not equipped with adequate knowledge to be successful.
Market research and learning should be an ongoing process. If you are selling on
marketplaces, there are great seller training resources where you can learn the tips and
tricks. Any smart seller would make maximum use of this knowledge to be successful.

2. Choosing the right product

The first difficult step for every new online seller is to choose an ideal, hot selling
product. You need to do lots of research and brainstorming before choosing the killer
products. There is huge competition in almost all the product categories and profit
margins are squeezing up.
 So, you have to work really hard to identify a unique product that can give you decent
profit margins. You can hire a freelancer at affordable prices to help you identify killer
products.

3. Profitability
This problem is more with the marketplace sellers as they have to bear deductions like
marketplace. New sellers sometimes fail to calculate costs like packaging, cataloging
charges, handling and shipping etc. before fixing the selling price.
Moreover, different sellers in a bid to survive, reduce prices forcing their competitors to
sell with marginal profit levels. Also, product returns make the things worse. Low
profitability and sometimes selling at losses force many sellers to quit.

4. Inventory
Sellers have to maintain proper inventory levels as they can’t afford to delay shipping
after receiving orders. When buyers see out of stock product listings, they move on to
look for other sellers. Also, customers prefer receiving goods faster and any delay in
shipping may force them to cancel the orders.
Sellers who don’t have sufficient working capital, find it harder to manage their
inventory levels.
Sellers who can’t invest much can sell on marketplaces with low investment and by
selling low-cost items.

5. Returns and cancellations

This is the most frustrating thing for online sellers. Many orders shipped are returned by
the buyers because of different reasons. Sometimes, there are genuine returns but there
are fake buyers too.
Also, return logistics has not yet fully evolved in India which is a problem for both
customers and online retailers.
To minimize the product return ratio, sellers should work to ensure offering the best
quality products, timely delivery, safe packaging and great customer service.

6. Promotion
Different e-commerce SAAS platforms have made it easier for anyone without any
technical knowledge to open an online store.
But, the real challenge lies in promoting the store to attract customers. It’s not easy to
make the product visible as customers don’t come on their own. You have to market
aggressively both online and offline.
 It is wise to invest time and money in SEO, not too costly social media ads and Google
ads, YouTube, content marketing etc. to increase your online presence and to build a
strong base of loyal customers.

7. Logistic Challenges
Sellers need to deliver items faster for better customer service but that largely depends on
the service provided by courier partners. As there is also the risk of items getting
damaged during transit, choosing a wrong shipping service provider can turn out to be
disastrous for your business.
Though courier companies are working hard to cover remote locations and villages,
shipping to such areas is still one of the major e-commerce challenges in India.
India Post has succeeded to a great extent to help e-tailers overcome this challenge. So,
sellers should use India Post as one of their shipping partners to cater to customers
living in areas that other courier companies find inaccessible.

8. Packaging
Good packaging gives a good first impression on the customer and vice versa. A poorly
packaged product shows that you are not concerned about customer satisfaction and
makes you lose another repeat customer which already is one the biggest e-commerce
challenges in India.
Moreover, proper packaging also ensures the safety of products against breakage and
damage during transit that you should care about seriously.

9. Working capital
Lack of investment is one of the biggest hurdles in launching your business. Sellers need
working capital to buy inventory. They need regular flow of funds to sustain momentum
and to keep generating sales.

10. Legal barriers

Many e-commerce ventures shut down their business due to legal violations. Fast growth
of e-commerce also raises new issues from the legal perspective which gives rise to the e-
commerce challenges in India. As an online seller, you need to be aware of these.
Also, consumer protection laws now safeguard online shoppers from fraudulent sellers.
This is the necessary step as cases of fake selling had increased to a great extent but there
are fears that such laws are likely to be misused by fake buyers too.

11. Cash on delivery

Indian online shoppers prefer to place ‘cash on delivery’ orders instead of making
payment online. Though COD facility helps in generating more sales, it is also a risky
option for sellers as some percentage of customers may refuse to accept goods at the time
 of delivery due to various reasons. Fake buyers too are a big harassment to sellers and
make them suffer losses.

3. What is Internet, Intranet and Extranet? What are their pros and cons? Differentiate
between Internet, Intranet and Extranet? (Shefali Dubbel)

INTERNET:

The internet is a telecommunications network that uses telephone lines, cables, satellites and
wireless connections to connect computers and other devices to the World Wide Web. All
modern computers and mobiles can connect to the internet

ADVANTAGES :-

1) COMMUNICATION: fastest and instant communication( in the form of video calls,

emails etc). It is accessible all over the world.
2) INFORMATION: Information like educational related, government laws, market sales,
stocks and shares, new creations etc. is gathered from a single place.
3) LEARNING: The internet has now become a part of education. Education like home
schooling is easily carried out using internet.
4) ENTERTAINMENT: Movies, songs, videos, games etc. is available in internet for free.
Social networking is also possible using internet.
5) E-COMMERCE:

DISADVANTAGES :-

1) INFORMATION LOSS: hacking of account no. and private info

2) SPAM: unnecessary emails, advertisements etc. ( slows down the P.C)
3) VIRUS ATTACKS: deletes all important files and the system ends up being crashed.
4) VIRTUAL WORLD: social isolation and obesity problems

INTRANET:
An intranet is a private network that is contained within an enterprise. It may consist of many
interlinked local area networks and also use leased lines in the wide area network. Typically, an
intranet includes connections through one or more gateway computers to the outside Internet.
The main purpose of an intranet is to share company information and computing resources
among employees. An intranet can also be used to facilitate working in groups and for
teleconferences.

ADVANTAGES :-

1) Cost Effectiveness: for a low monthly or yearly fee the whole office organization can
use the services of the Intranet. You don’t have to worry about extra costs for faxing or
posting files, just send them using the digital connection.
 2) Digitized Workplace: connects all your workers, regardless of their location, allows
your workers to be kept up-to-date and also it creates a dynamic and unique work
environment for your employees.

3) Easy Information Exchange: The intranet advantage is that you can even authorize
certain people to have access to only certain files so that information remain prices are
classified in cases where such organization is needed.

4) More Productivity: information is more easily acquirable so your workers can spend
more time getting their work done, rather than wasting time searching for files or data
they can’t seem to find.
DISADVANTAGES:-

1) Information Security Risk: chance that data may be stolen and privacy may be violated.
2) Less Personal Interaction: The lack of direct interaction may possibly hinder the
cooperation and personal bonds between colleagues.
3) Change in Work Culture: With the increase in productivity it will also bring in more
and more customers, queries and tasks.This will send the business into chaos as they
cannot meet the rapid demand.

EXTRANET:-

An extranet is a controlled private network allowing customers, partners, vendors, suppliers and
other businesses to gain information, typically about a specific company or educational
institution, and do so without granting access to the organization's entire network. An extranet is
often a private part of a website. It is restricted to select users through user IDs, passwords and
other authentication mechanisms on a login page.

ADVANTAGES :

1) Reduced margin of error: An extranet can reduce your margin of error, especially when
you use it to give specific groups access to internal applications. This could involve
something as simple as giving customers access to their order histories, or something as
complex as processing orders from distributors and suppliers.

2) Flexibility: extranet make information and applications available to partners, clients, and
customers which they can use according to their convenience it cuts down on the costs
associated with in-person information exchanges.

3) Timely and accurate information: extranet instantly change, edit, and update price lists
or inventory information Compared to paper-based publishing processes.
4) Shorter time to market : An extranet can help you get your products to market more
quickly by making proposals and specifications available to suppliers, and giving clients
and partners up-to-date information on current projects.
 Build customer loyalty:The more you make timely, accurate information available to
your customers, the more likely it is you’ll keep their business.
DISADVANTAGES :-

1) Expense: It can be costly to implement the cost of hardware, software, manpower and
any other associated costs, including training of external affiliates. Repairs and
maintenance cost .
2) Security: System access needs to be carefully controlled to avoid sensitive information
falling into the wrong hands.

3) Reduce personal contact: lack of connections made between people and a company,
which hurts the business when it comes to loyalty of its business partners and customers.

DIFFERENCES:

BASIS INTERNET INTRANET EXTRANET

Type of network Public Private Private/VPN

Size Large number of Limited number of Limited number of

connected devices. connected devices. connected devices
over internet.
Security Depends on the device Firewall protected. Firewall separates
connected to the Internet and Extranet.
device.
Policy Internet Organizational Organizational
Communication Policies. Policies, contractual
Protocols. policies and internet
policies.
Accessibility Anyone. Authorized people. Authorized people.

Information sharing Information can be Information can be Information can be

shared across the shared securely within shared between
world. an organization. employees and
external employees.
Owner Not owned by anyone. Owned by a particular Owned by one or
organization. more organizations.
Example World wide web, Internal operations Network of
Email, Chat, Social network of an collaboration between
 Media organization. two corporations.

EDI
4. What are the marketing strategies for promoting e-business over web? (Parul Sajwan)

Ans. The various strategies that help in promotion of business on web are:-

a) Micro target on online audience: E-commerce is basically about establishing a

“territory” defining and designing a site to reach an audience with a common interest or
characteristic. Whatever be the product or service, define the company’s niche markets
that one can penetrate online with specialized offerings.
b) Personalize: Technology is available even to smaller players to capture individual
shopper’s interest and preferences and generate a product selection and shopping
experience led by individualized promotions tailored to them.
c) Create content to build stickiness: Winning e-commerce deploys crowd sourced
content to make a site “sticky” for potential buyers. Amazon attracted millions of
consumers by encouraging them to share their opinions on items like books and CDs.
d) Integrate across channels: Create multi-channel offerings enabling the consumers to
experience the brand consistently, whatever their shopping method of choice. But be sure
that products one is selling via different channels are sufficiently differentiated to account
for price differences.
e) Build a social media presence: The impact of a social media presence or earning
customers online has been debated since platforms like facebook, pinterest, and twitter
became household names on the web. What can’t be debated, however, is that social
media provides the opportunity to increase brand awareness and earn trust with potential
customers. Consultants such as ShoutOurBiz and TapInfluence provide services that can
significantly improve a company’s reach.
f) Create useful videos: Creating videos has also become a popular strategy for online
marketers as the attention span of consumers continues to decrease. According to Video
Brewery, 90% of online shoppers find that video is helpful in making their purchasing
decisions. While this is a fairly new concept for several purposes. While some business
will use tutorial and how-to do videos in their contents marketing strategies, descriptive
videos about their product or service can also be useful.
g) Develop Systems for digital marketing: From email and content marketing to social
media and SEO marketing, there are several different types of digital marketing strategies
out there for businesses to utilize. While getting started with any one of them can be a
different process, doing so becomes much simpler when it start by creating a system for
digital marketing strategies.
5. What are the infrastructure requirements for adopting electronic business models?
Illustrate with an example details of the hardware, software communication network and
other tools that may be required to set up the e-business?(Nitin Sharma)

Ans. E-business infrastructure refers to the combination of hardware such as servers and Client
PCs in an organization, the network used to link this hardware and the software applications used
to deliver services to workers within the e-business and also to its partners and customers.

Infrastructure also includes the architecture of the networks, hardware and software and where it
is located. Finally, infrastructure can also be considered to include the methods for publishing
data and documents accessed through e-business applications A key decision with managing this
infrastructure is which elements are located within the company and which managed externally
as third-party managed applications, data servers and networks.

It is also important that the e-business infrastructure and the process of reviewing new
technology investments he flexible enough to support changes required by the business to
compete effectively, For example, for the media there are many new technologies being
developed which are Web 2.0 and IPTV (television delivered over the broadband Internet).

There is an alternative five-level infrastructure model also referred to as the information system
function chain:

I) Storage/physical. Memory and disk hardware component.

2) Processing. Computation and loge provided by the processor.

3) Infrastructure. This refers to the human and external interfaces and also the network, terred
to as 'extra structure.

4) Application/content. This is the data processed by the application into information.

5)Intelligence. Additional computer-based logic that transforms information to knowledge.

6. How does electronic business influence the value chain in business organization adopting
electronic business strategies? (Rahul Mehra)

E- Business and E- commerce offer numerous benefits to firms that are active in the sector of
information technology and communications. Consuming behavior is changing, as the number of
consumers who choose internet for shopping is constantly increasing. Their demands in quality.
More information about the product, fast service and after sale services is what businesses should
provide to the fullest extent in order to impart value and earn their customer conformity. The
main object of the companies value chain is to maximize the value for the customer through the
coordination of the functions involved and the improvement of their instruction with vendors by
taking advantage of the benefits of the internet. In this context, this paper is the study of the
formation of the value chain in the area of e- business and the implementation not the value
chain into three case studies of the companies, operating in the sector of information technology
and communications. Intel, Dell and Cisco Systems. The resulting conclusions for the three
companies are common and confirm that the integration of information technology and Internet
in the functions of the value chain, offer greater value to the customer and increase the benefits
to them.

7. What are the advantages of e commerce? (Rahul Gaur)

Advantages of E-commerce

 Low Financial cost: -One of the ecommerce benefits is that it has a lower startup cost.
Physical retail stores have to pay up to thousands of dollars to rent one of their store
locations. They also faces several upfront costs such as store signs, store design, buying
inventory, sales equipment, and more & have to pay staff to work and run each location.
They may also need to hire security staff depending on the product value in the store.
 24/7 potential income: - One of the advantages of ecommerce is that online stores are
always open for business. With your Facebook ads, you can attract someone at 11 p.m. or
4 a.m.. Most physical location stores are open between 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. By being
available at all hours, you can attract people who would normally pick up a product in
stores, if the store were open. You can also attract those who may have odd work
schedules or who don’t have time to shop in-person. For a customer to order at night, you
don’t need to have employees working the night shift to ensure all orders get processed.
You’ll never need to hire a security guard.
 Easy to showcase best seller: -Ecommerce benefits like being able to easily display best-
sellers makes it easier to show off products to customers. While you can design a brick
and mortar store to sway people to buy certain products, it’s easier for a customer to find
the best-sellers in an online store. The reason why you want customers to buy your best-
sellers is because they’re proven. Other customers have already bought them and are
happy with their purchase. If you want to showcase new products to customers you can
include them in your upsell, email marketing or retargeting ads.
 Personalized online experience: -Website personalization, one of the online business
advantages, can enhance the online shopping experience. Or segment email lists based on
purchases made, location or even how much money a customer spent. You can also
retarget a customer who visited your store showing them an ad for a product they added
to their cart and forgot about. If your online business has a login feature, you can have a
welcome message appear such as ‘Welcome back (name).’ Product bundles can help the
customer buy more for a better price increasing average order value. You can also
personalize upsells based on what the customer has looked at or what you think they
might like based on their purchase behavior.
 Affordable employees: -One of the benefits of ecommerce is that hiring employees is
affordable. You can choose to outsource work to virtual assistants in countries where the
 cost of living is much lower. You’ll need fewer employees in an ecommerce business
than a retail location. A huge advantage of ecommerce is you don’t need to hire
employees at launch. You can start and run an ecommerce business all by yourself.
 Scaling business quickly: -One of the benefits of ecommerce is that it’s easy to scale the
business quickly. You can increase your ad budget when ads are performing well without
having to worry too much about keeping up with the demand, especially if you dropship.
With brick and mortar stores, if your store needs to grow in space to accommodate new
products or add more cashiers. You’ll need to find a bigger space, renovate and wait for
your lease to end. This delays your ability to scale. If you create informational products,
you run into a challenge again as it takes time to write e-books, courses, and more. With
drop shipping, you can add new products to your store without having to worry about
shipping products or holding inventory allowing you to grow quickly
 Able to process high number of orders: -If you choose to dropship, you can process a
high number of orders with ease. As your business continues to grow, you might choose
to hire employees to help with order processing. In retail stores, long line ups can deter
people from shopping. With ecommerce, there’s no waiting time. A customer can place
orders on his or her own schedule with no delays allowing you to accept a high number
of orders.
 Gain access to customer data easily: -One of the best e-commerce advantages is that you
can easily gain access to data analysis about your customer. Most people feel
uncomfortable giving away email addresses or postal codes to physical retailers. In
ecommerce, you can get your customer’s name, mailing address, e-mail address, and
phone number. That means you have at least three different ways to communicate and
build a relationship with them. You can even have them fill out marketing surveys, share
their birth date with you, and more. If you ask them to create an account, you can obtain
even more information from them to better serve them.

8. Write comparative study between Amazon and Flipkart?

The past year has seen the rivalry between Amazon and Flipkart further intensify. From funding
to shopping extravaganzas, the e-commerce business went all out to outdo each other.
With both parties contesting third-party research findings about market share, the jury is still out
on who sold more products.
But a look at a few other metrics provides some interesting insights on how the e-commerce
giants grab eyeballs.
According to data from three independent platforms, Amazon's app and website are more
popular than rival Flipkart's offerings.
Between November 2016 and October 2017 - the 12-month period for which the latest data is
available - Amazon was consistently ahead of Softbank-funded Flipkart on desktop and mobile
browser visits, app downloads and average daily active app users.
Amazon ended October last year with 5.4 million downloads for the month to Flipkart's 4
million, according to app metrics tracking website App Annie (The number includes both
Android and iOS downloads, but Apple has a minuscule market share in India).
Last October, Amazon and Flipkart had each crossed 100 million cumulative app downloads.
However, adding Flipkart's subsidiaries PhonePe (digital payments) and Myntra and Jabong
(both fashion) to the mix will see India's largest e-commerce company well ahead of Amazon on
this parameter. Each of those apps has between 10 million and 50 million downloads.
Google's Play Store provides a wide range data for the cumulative app downloads. While
downloads for e-commerce rival Snapdeal's app range between 50 million and 100 million,
smaller players such as Paytm Mall and Shopclues have between 10 million and 50 million
downloads each.
Customer retention
According to data from digital marketing analytics firm SimilarWeb, around 4.8% of users who
installed the Amazon app visited it daily. This also means that more users visit the Amazon app
daily than Flipkart and Snapdeal combined.
But even as the overall app customer base grew, both Flipkart and Amazon struggled to sustain
regular interest. Between November 2016 and October 2017, Flipkart saw a particularly sharp
drop - from 5.6% to 3.2% - in daily active users on its app. In the process, it also lost its
leadership position on this front to Amazon.
But Flipkart says quantity isn’t the priority when it comes to viewers.
"Flipkart focuses more on quality of traffic coming to its app, mobile site and website properties
rather than traffic volume,” said a Flipkart spokesperson. “While traffic volume can be bought
with marketing dollars, the majority of our user traffic comes to us on its own. And this traffic is
of higher quality with a much higher user intent to purchase, directly leading to higher sales."
Satish Meena, senior forecast analyst at market research firm Forrester Research Inc, warned
against reading too much into these numbers.
"App downloads could be the result of paid advertisements," he said. "If we assume that Flipkart
has higher sales that means Amazon's conversion rate of traffic to sales is below par. But the
traffic gap is big enough between them that the players could still be equals in terms of sales."
He said that customers of Amazon Prime - its paid membership service - are high spenders and
an estimated 30% of Amazon's customers are Prime subscribers.
Another analyst with an international research company, who did not wish to be identified, said
that Amazon could be ahead of Flipkart on sales on a standalone basis.
The analyst noted that Myntra and Jabong (which combined have more than a billion dollars in
gross merchandise sales), together with PhonePe, could see a consolidated Flipkart beat its rival.
Browser traffic
Amazon's browser traffic is impressive too.
Data from Similar web shows Amazon's monthly desktop visits rising nearly 25% to 102 million
between November 2016 and October 2017.
During the same period, Flipkart saw its monthly desktop visits go up from 50 million to 60
million.
However, browser visits may not be a fair comparison. In 2015, Flipkart had focused on selling
via its app while considering shutting down its website altogether. It has not managed to regain
its leadership position in web traffic since then.
Before launching its existing web application on the Chrome browser, Flipkart had even briefly
shut down its mobile site.
On mobile browsers, Amazon had around 340 million visits in October 2017, more than
doubling its tally in a year. Flipkart, too, doubled its monthly visits in that period but only
notched up 120 million views.
"Amazon.in was the most visited destination as per all standard traffic reports," said an Amazon
India spokesperson. "We know that our deals that already draw the maximum online traffic have
a huge impact on customers' buying patterns."
Continuing trend?
Despite Amazon's clear advantage till October last year, it's not clear whether the trend is
continuing.
Multiple visits to the Google Play Store in January this year found Flipkart and PhonePe among
the top 10 most popular apps on several days. Amazon did not find a place in the top 50. Myntra
was also consistently among the top 50 most popular apps.
Forrester Research's Meena pointed out that Amazon had led Flipkart in a consumer survey on
customer satisfaction done by the research firm in 2016 and had strengthened its position as the
top-rated platform in 2017 as well.
BASIS TRADIONAL E-COMMERCE
COMMERCE

9. Compare
Meaning Traditional E-Commerce means Traditional commerce
commerce is a carrying out with e-commerce?
branch of business commercial (Shubham)
which focuses on the transactions or
exchange of products exchange of
and services, and information,
includes all those electronically on the
activities which internet.
encourages
exchange, in some
way or the other.

Processing of Manual automatic

transaction

Accessibility Limited time 24*7*365

Physical inspection Goods can be Goods cannot be

inspected physically inspected physically
before purchase. before purchase.

Customer interaction Face-to-face Screen-to-face

Scope of business Limited to particular Worldwide reach
area.

Information No uniform platform Provides a uniform

exchange for exchange of platform for
information. information
exchange.
10. E-COMMERCE IN VALUE CHAIN? (Romy Kaushal)

 A value chain for a product is the chain of actions that are performed by the
business to add value in creating and delivering the product. Successful
implementation of e-commerce in an organization should be based on a thorough
understanding of the areas in the value chain where e-commerce can add value
most.


The value chain model, as originally demonstrated by Porter (1985), identifies nine
strategically relevant activities that create value and reduce cost in a specific business.
These nine value-creating activities consist of five primary activities and four support
activities. The primary activities represent the sequence of bringing materials into the
business (inbound logistics), converting them into final products (operations), shipping
out final products (outbound logistics), marketing, and service. The support activities
include procurement, technology development, human resource management, and firm
infrastructure. This model is very helpful for identifying specific activities in business
where competitive strategies can be applied and where information systems are most
likely to have a strategic impact. Successful implementation of e-commerce in an
 organization should be based on a thorough understanding of the areas in the value chain
where e-commerce can add value most. More importantly, to succeed in gaining
competitive advantage, e-commerce is to be based on the overall corporate strategy.
Among a host of critical areas/ factors in the value chain that major organizations have
taken into consideration for establishing a sound e-commerce strategy include role of
intermediaries, value pricing purchasing, logistics/ fulfilment, and value nets among
others. Following sections present an analysis of these areas.

1. Role of Intermediaries
Intermediaries may be more important now than ever before because most of the rapidly
growing Internet businesses are essentially middlemen. For example, companies such as
Amazon, CD-Now, Egghead.com, Cisco, and E-Trade can all be thought of as middlemen-
resellers of products provided by some other source. Intermediaries will continue to be important
because they provide consumers with selection, specialized distribution, and expertise. Some
internal disintermediation may take place, in which employees will be removed if they add little
value or even negative value to the distribution channel. For example, Dell, Cisco, and some
online brokerages have eliminated staff in an attempt to realize cost savings in certain areas.
Exhibit 1 illustrates an example of the role of intermediaries in the process of purchasing a book
online from Amazon.com

2. Value Pricing
In addition to employing e-commerce technology to enhance distribution channels, this
technology is also used to redefine pricing strategies. Most companies pursuing a premium
pricing strategy, for example, can use the Internet to better understand their customers. The
Internet allows companies to price with far more precision than they can off-line and to create
enormous value in the process. Value pricing involves several approaches. One approach to
pricing involves businesses offering heavily discounted prices in an attempt to attract customers
to their web sites. Another approach involves businesses transferring their “off-line” prices to the
Internet. Neither of these approaches is very efficient because they do not maximize value. An
attractive alternative approach is to utilize the Internet to track customers buying habits and
adjust prices accordingly, thereby uncovering new market segments. The Internet allows
companies to test prices continually in real time and measure customer responses.

11. Discuss the Major Hurdles Being Faced By The Organization In Conducting E-
Commerce Transactions In India? (Rupinderjeet Singh)

Answer: - There are certain challenges to be faced which are as follows: -

1.Indian customers return much of the commodities they purchase online.

E business in India has many first-time buyers. This means that they have not yet made up their
mind about what to expect from e-business websites. As a result, buyers sometimes fall prey to
hard sell. But by the time the product is delivered, they reveal remorse and return the goods.
Though consumer remorse is a global problem, but it is more prevalent in a country like India,
where much of the growth comes from new buyers. Returns are expensive for e-business
companies, as reverse logistics presents unique challenges. This becomes more complex in cross
border e-business.

2. Cash on delivery is the preferred payment mode.

Low credit card access and low trust in online transactions has led to cash on delivery being the
preferred payment choice in India. Unlike electronic payments, manual cash collection is
painstaking, risky, and expensive.

3. Payment gateways have a high failure rate.

As if the preference for cash on delivery was not bad enough, Indian payment gateways have an
unusually high failure rate by global standards. E-business companies using Indian payment
gateways are losing out on business, as several customers do not attempt making payment again
after a transaction fails.

4. Internet penetration is low.

Internet penetration in India is still a small fraction of what is there in several western countries.
On top of that, the quality of connectivity is poor in several regions. But both these problems are
on their last legs. The day is not far when connectivity issues would not feature in a list of
challenges to e-business in India.

5. Feature phones still rule the roost.

Though the total number of mobile phone users in India is very high, a significant majority still
use feature phones, and not smartphones. As a result, this consumer group is unable to make e-
business purchases on the move. Though India is still a couple of years away from the scales
tipping in favor of smartphones, the rapid downward spiral in the price of entry-level
smartphones is an encouraging indication.

6. Postal addresses are not standardized.

If you place an online order in India, you will quite likely get a call from the logistics company
to ask you about your exact location. Clearly your address is not enough. This is because there is
little standardization in the way postal addresses are written. Last mile issues add to ecommerce
logistics problems.

7. Logistics is a problem in thousands of Indian towns.

The logistics challenge in India is not just about the lack of standardization in postal addresses.
Given the large size of the country, there are thousands of towns that are not easily accessible.
Metropolitan cities and other major urban centers have a robust logistics infrastructure. But since
the real charm of the Indian market lies in its large population, absence of seamless access to a
significant proportion of prospective customers is a dampener. The problem with logistics is
compounded by the fact that cash on delivery is the preferred payment option in India.
International logistics providers, private Indian companies, and the government-owned postal
services are making a valiant effort to solve the logistics problem. If someone could convert the
sheer size of the problem into an opportunity, we might soon hear of a great success story
coming out of the Indian logistics industry.

8. Overfunded competitors are driving up cost of customer acquisition.

The vibrancy in the Indian startup ecosystem over the past couple of years has channeled a lot of
investment into the ecommerce sector. The long-term prospects for ecommerce companies are so
exciting that some investors are willing to spend irrationally high amounts of money to acquire
market share today. Naturally the Indian consumer is spoiled for choice. However, this trend has
reversed as investors are getting worried about slipping further down a slippery slope, and I
expect more rational behavior in 2014.

While this article focuses on ecommerce challenges in India, an intrinsically one-sided topic, it is
important to note that ecommerce giants are increasingly attracted to India. Cross-border
ecommerce to India is growing, and many large international players are also making a
significant investment in setting up shop in India.

12.Explain various E-payment systems in detail.( Mandakini, Priyanka & Shruti Sagar)

Electronic Payment System

An e-payment system is a way of making transactions or paying for goods and services through
an electronic medium, without the use of cheque or cash. It’s also called an electronic payment
system or online payment system.

When you purchase goods and services online, you pay for them using an electronic medium.
This mode of payment, without using cash or cheque, is called an e-commerce payment system
and is also known as online or electronic payment systems.

The growing use of internet-based banking and shopping has seen the growth of various e-
commerce payment systems and technology has been developed to increase, improve and
provide secure e-payment transactions.

Electronic payment methods

One of the most popular online payment forms are credit and debit cards. Besides them, there are
also alternative payment methods, such as bank transfers, electronic wallets, smart cards or
bitcoin wallet (bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency).
The different types of e-commerce payments in use today are:

 Credit Card

The most popular form of payment for e-commerce transactions is through credit cards. It
is simple to use; the customer has to just enter their credit card number and date of expiry
in the appropriate area on the seller’s web page. To improve the security system,
increased security measures, such as the use of a card verification number (CVN), have
been introduced to on-line credit card payments. The CVN system helps detect fraud by
comparing the CVN number with the cardholder's information.

 Debit Card

Debit cards are the second largest e-commerce payment medium in India. Customers who
want to spend online within their financial limits prefer to pay with their Debit cards.
With the debit card, the customer can only pay for purchased goods with the money that
is already there in his/her bank account as opposed to the credit card where the amounts
that the buyer spends are billed to him/her and payments are made at the end of the
billing period.

 Smart Card

It is a plastic card embedded with a microprocessor that has the customer’s personal
information stored in it and can be loaded with funds to make online transactions and
instant payment of bills. The money that is loaded in the smart card reduces as per the
usage by the customer and has to be reloaded from his/her bank account.

 E-Wallet

E-Wallet is a prepaid account that allows the customer to store multiple credit cards,
debit card and bank account numbers in a secure environment. This eliminates the need
to key in account information every time while making payments. Once the customer has
registered and created E-Wallet profile, he/she can make payments faster.

 Net banking

This is another popular way of making e-commerce payments. It is a simple way of

paying for online purchases directly from the customer’s bank. It uses a similar method to
the debit card of paying money that is already there in the customer’s bank. Net banking
does not require the user to have a card for payment purposes but the user needs to
register with his/her bank for the net banking facility. While completing the purchase the
customer just needs to put in their net banking id and pin.

 Mobile Payment
 One of the latest ways of making online payments are through mobile phones. Instead of
using a credit card or cash, all the customer has to do is send a payment request to his/her
service provider via text message; the customer’s mobile account or credit card is
charged for the purchase. To set up the mobile payment system, the customer just has to
download a software from his/her service provider’s website and then link the credit card
or mobile billing information to the software.

Processing online payments

There are two stages to payment processing: the authorization (approving the sale) and the
settlement (getting the money in your account).

The authorization process goes roughly like this:

1. Your customer buys an item on your site with a credit or debit card.
2. That information goes through the payment gateway, which encrypts the data to keep it
private, and sends it to the payment processor.
3. The payment processor sends a request to the customer’s issuing bank to check to see that they
have enough credit to pay for your stuff.
4. The issuer responds with a yes (an approval) or a no (a denial).
5. The payment processor sends the answer back to you that the sale was approved and also tells
your merchant bank to credit your account.

The second piece of the process (where you get paid!) is the settlement:
1. The card issuer sends the funds to your merchant bank, which deposits the money into your
account.
2. The funds are available.

The settlement process can take a few days. Sometimes, your bank lets you access your money
before it’s even sent to them.
Advantages and Disadvantages of E-payment

E-payment systems are made to facilitate the acceptance of electronic payments for online
transactions. With the growing popularity of online shopping, e-payment systems became a must
for online consumers — to make shopping and banking more convenient.

Paperless e-commerce payments have revolutionized the payment processing by reducing paper
work, transaction costs, and personnel cost. The systems are user-friendly and consume less time
than manual processing and help businesses extend their market reach.

Advantage

 Increased Speed and Convenience

E-payment is very convenient compared to traditional payment methods such as cash or check.
Since you can pay for goods or services online at any time of day or night, from any part of the
world, your customers don't have to spend time in a line, waiting for their turn to transact. Nor do
they have to wait for a check to clear the bank so they can access the funds they need to shop. E-
payment also eliminates the security risks that come with handling cash money.

 Increased Sales
As internet banking and shopping become widespread, the number of people making cash
payments is decreasing. According to Bank rate, more than two-thirds of consumers carry less
than $50 a day, meaning electronic alternatives are increasingly becoming the preferred payment
option. As such, e-payment enables businesses to make sales to the customers who choose to pay
electronically and gain a competitive advantage over those that only accept traditional methods.

 Reduced Transaction Costs

While there are no additional charges for making a cash payment, trips to the store typically cost
money, and checks also need postage. On the other hand, there are usually no fees – or very
small ones – to swipe your card or pay online. In the long run, e-payment could save both
individuals and businesses hundreds to thousands of dollars in transaction fees.

Disadvantage

 Security Concerns

Although stringent measures such as symmetric encryption are in place to make e-payment safe
and secure, it is still vulnerable to hacking. Fraudsters, for instance, use phishing attacks to trick
unsuspecting users into providing the log-in details of their e-wallets, which they capture and use
to access the victims' personal and financial information. Inadequate authentication also fails e-
payment systems.

 Disputed Transactions

If someone uses your company's electronic money without your authorization, you would
identify the unfamiliar charge and file a claim with your bank, online payment processor or
credit card company. Without sufficient information about the person who performed the
transaction, though, it can be difficult to win the claim and receive a refund.

 Increased Business Costs

E-payment systems come with an increased need to protect sensitive financial information stored
in a business's computer systems from unauthorized access. Enterprises with in-house e-payment
systems must incur additional costs in procuring, installing and maintaining sophisticated
payment-security technologies.
13. What are basic types of E-commerce? List giving an examples of each. (Sakshi Jain)

A. What is e-commerce :
If we do any type of trading or commerce electronically then it is called e-commerce. Simply, we
can say that e-commerce or electronic commerce is the process of buying or selling goods,
products or services over the electronic medium. Here internet is used as the primary
electronic medium or network to do this type of transaction. In other words, e-commerce is a
medium of trading for goods and services between buyers and sellers through an electronic
medium.
E-commerce is also referred as a paperless exchange of a business information using EDI, Email,
Electronic fund transfer etc. For example, Amazon, eBay, Flipkart etc are the world’s leading
e-commerce websites. E-payment systems are widely used in those electronic commerce sites.
Here we generally use various e-payment method like credit/debit card, internet banking, e-
wallet for buying or selling products.

Types of e-commerce system:

There are 6 types of e-commerce systems. They are B2B, B2C, C2C, C2B, B2A, C2A. All these
6 types of e-commerce that are used today are classified based on the nature of the transaction.

B2B (Business-to-Business)
B2B e-commerce can be simply defined as the commerce between companies. In Business-to-
Business type of electronic commerce system, companies do business with each other. For
say, a manufacturer selling a product to a wholesaler, a wholesaler selling a product to the
retailer. Here manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer all are doing their separate businesses.
There are 3 businesses- wholesaler, manufacturer and the retailer. Here manufacturer has a
website using which wholesalers can purchase products from the manufacturer. When a
wholesaler places an order on the website, the information regarding the order will be received
by the manufacturer through the website. Then after processing the order, the manufacturer will
send the product to the wholesaler. After receiving the products wholesaler can sell it to the
retailers. This type of business is called B2B model.

B2C (Business-to-Consumer)
B2C model works as its name suggest. In this model, the company sells their products, goods or
services directly to the consumer online. Here the customer can view products on the website
that they want to buy and can order it. After receiving the order details, the company will process
the order and then send the products directly to the customer. For example, Amazon,
Flipkart etc are this type of e-commerce business model which we are using in our daily life.
We can view products on the websites like Amazon, Flipkart and can order it. After receiving the
order, the selling company of the products processes it and send it to us. Here a business
company is selling their products to the customer with the help of an e-commerce website.

C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer)
Here a consumer sells products, goods or services to other consumers using the internet or
the web technologies. The C2C business model helps us to sell our assets or properties like a
car, house, bike, electronics etc via online to other consumers. OLX, Quickr etc are this type of
business model.
Here, if consumer-1 wants to sell a product then he/she can publish the details of the product on
the website like OLX or Quickr. The consumer-2 can view the details of the product on that
website that consumer-1 wants to sell. If consumer-2 is willing to buy the product that consumer-
1 is selling, then the buyer can directly contact the seller and the product will be sold. Here
products are selling directly from a consumer to another consumer via the website.

C2B (Consumer-to-Business)
A consumer to the business model is a type of commerce where a consumer or end user
provides a product or service to an organization. It is the reverse model of the B2C or
business to consumer model, where businesses produce products and services for consumer
consumption.
In this business model, individual customers offer to sell products or services to the companies
who are prepared to purchase them. For example, if you are a software developer, then you can
show a demo of your software or skills that you have on the sites like freelancer, fiverr etc. If a
company likes your software or skills then the company will directly buy the software from you
or can hire you for their services

B2A (Business-to-Administration)
B2A or business to administration also referred as the business to government (B2G)
commerce,it is a derivative of B2B e-commerce model. in this model, the businesses and
government agencies (administration) use central websites to exchange information and do
business with each other more efficiently than they usually can off the web.
B2G business is also referred to public sector marketing that means marketing products and
services to various government levels. The B2G business network provides a platform to
businesses to bid on government opportunities such as auctions, tenders and application
submission etc.

C2A (Consumer-to-Administration)
Consumer to administration or consumer to government e-commerce model helps consumers to
request information or post various feedbacks regarding public sectors directly to the
government authorities or administration. For say, making electricity bill payments through
the website government, making payment of taxes, payment of health insurance etc are C2A type
of business model.
Consumer to administration or consumer to government e-commerce model provides an easy and
instant solution or way to establish communication between the consumers and government.
14. What are the means through which electronic business is promoted in the marketplace?
(Manisha Jain)

The following table describes the means through which electronic business is promoted in the
marketplace.

COMMUNICATION TOOL ONLINE IMPLEMENTATION

1. Advertising Inteeractive display acts, pay per click search advertising
2. Selling Virtual sales staff, site merchandising, chat and affiliate marketing
3. Sales Promotion Incentive such as coupons, rewards, online loyalty schemes.
4. Public Relations Online editorial, blogs, feeds, e-newsletter, newsletters, social networks, links and viral campaigns.
5. Sponsorship Sponsoring, an online event, site or service.
6. Direct mail Opt-in e- mail using e-newsletters and e-blasts (stand alone emails.)
7. Exhibitions Virtual exhibitions and whitepaper distribution.
8. Merchandising Promotional and serving on retail sites, personalized recommendations and e-alerts
9. Packaging Virtual tours, real packaging is displayed online
10. Word-of-Mouth Viral, affiliate marketing, e-mail a friend, links.

These are the three aspects of online promotion that are key to achieving competitive advantage
online. These are:

1. REACH: This is the potential audience of the e-commerce site. Reach can be increased
by moving from a single site to representation with a large number of different
intermediaries. There are evidences that niche suppliers can readily reach a much wider
market due to search engine, marketing.
2. RICHNESS: This is the depth or detail of information which is both collected about the
customer and provided to the customer. It is related to the Product element of the mix.
3. AFFILIATION: This refers to whose interest the selling organization represents-
consumers or suppliers. This particularly applies to retailers. It suggests that customers
will favour retailers who provide them with the richest information on comparing
competitive products.
There is also a relative importance of intermediaries and online linkages at market place that
helps the organizations to have information regarding customer segments, company sites and
different competitors.

15.Discuss the major hurdles being faced by an organization in conducting e commerce

transactions in India ? (Srishti Gupta)
Ans. The growth of ecommerce volumes in India is attracting the attention of players around the
globe. India, the second most populous country in the world, is home to 1.2 billion people.
To put that number into perspective, the combined populations of Germany, UK, France, Italy,
Netherlands, Belgium, and Greece equal one-fourth the population of India alone. Despite lower
per-capita purchasing power, this still makes India one of the most attractive emerging markets
for ecommerce. But India is far from being a bed of roses.
Here are the top 8 challenges that ecommerce businesses face in India.
1. Indian customers return much of the merchandise they purchase online.
Ecommerce in India has many first time buyers. This means that they have not yet made up their
mind about what to expect from ecommerce websites. As a result, buyers sometimes fall prey to
hard sell. But by the time the product is delivered, they demonstrate remorse and return the
goods. Though consumer remorse is a global problem, it is all the more prevalent in a country
like India, where much of the growth comes from new buyers.
Returns are expensive for ecommerce players, as reverse logistics presents unique challenges.
This becomes all the more complex in cross-border ecommerce.
2. Cash on delivery is the preferred payment mode.
Low credit card penetration and low trust in online transactions has led to cash on delivery being
the preferred payment option in India. Unlike electronic payments, manual cash collection is
laborious, risky, and expensive.
3. Payment gateways have a high failure rate.
As if the preference for cash on delivery was not bad enough, Indian payment gateways have an
unusually high failure rate by global standards. Ecommerce companies using Indian payment
gateways are losing out on business, as several customers do not reattempt payment after a
transaction fails.
4. Internet penetration is low.
Internet penetration in India is still a small fraction of what you would find in several western
countries. On top of that, the quality of connectivity is poor in several regions. But both these
problems are fast disappearing. The day is not far when connectivity issues would not feature in
a list of challenges to ecommerce in India.
5. Feature phones still rule the roost.
Though the total number of mobile phone users in India is very high, a significant majority still
use feature phones, not smartphones. So, for all practical purposes this consumer group is unable
to make ecommerce purchases on the move. Though we are still a couple of years away from the
scales tipping in favor of smartphones, the rapid downward spiral in the price of entry-level
smartphones is an encouraging sign. I expect that the next few quarters will witness
announcements of new smartphones in India and that should spur growth in smartphone
ownership.
6. Postal addresses are not standardized.
If you place an online order in India, you will quite likely get a call from the logistics company
to ask you about your exact location. Clearly your address is not enough. This is because there is
little standardization in the way postal addresses are written. Last mile issues add to ecommerce
logistics problems.
7. Logistics is a problem in thousands of Indian towns.
The logistics challenge in India is not just about the lack of standardization in postal addresses.
Given the large size of the country, there are thousands of towns that are not easily accessible.
Metropolitan cities and other major urban centers have a fairly robust logistics infrastructure. But
since the real charm of the Indian market lies in its large population, absence of seamless access
to a significant proportion of prospective customers is a dampener. The problem with logistics is
compounded by the fact that cash on delivery is the preferred payment option in India.
International logistics providers, private Indian companies, and the government-owned postal
services are making a valiant effort to solve the logistics problem.
8. Overfunded competitors are driving up cost of customer acquisition.
The vibrancy in the Indian startup ecosystem over the past couple of years has channeled a lot of
investment into the ecommerce sector. The long-term prospects for ecommerce companies are so
exciting that some investors are willing to spend irrationally high amounts of money to acquire
market share today. Naturally the Indian consumer is spoiled for choice. However, this trend has
reversed as investors are getting worried about slipping further down a slippery slope. While
there are ecommerce challenges in India, an intrinsically one-sided topic, it is important to note
that ecommerce giants are increasingly attracted to India. Cross-border ecommerce to India is
growing, and many large international players are also making a significant investment in setting
up shop in India.