Wednesday, August 11, 2010

E-cash

2:36 AM
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In 1979 a man by the name of Michael Aldrich invented online shopping and made it oh too easy for that woman to purchase those fantastic Prada heels or for that guy -going through a midlife crisis and cruising the net for a cure- to purchase that "flaming hot rod". Now decades later in the year 2010
US e-Commerce and On line retail sales are noted as having "projected to reach $173 billion" (Wikipedia, 2010).

E-commerce, or 'E-cash' as I like to call it, is just one of the many manifestations of cyber-culture. It is a different way to "buy buy buy" and "sell sell sell" without the messy rivalry that comes with being in 'the pit' (stock exchange venues) and a way in which any user can manage their own investments without having to hire a 'middle-man'.

Advertisements on the internet suggest you make the most of this tool by using it to "grow your business" or "e-conomise", phrases of which are seductive and cast a positive glow on trading your money through a network of computing devices and Internet connections and cross-overs.



Wikipedia notes several different Internet transfers that could be classified under E-commerce:
" electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems" of which can be used by a user with a basic knowledge of these transactions -knowledge most commonly acquired by reading help sections provided by host websites that deal with E-commerce- and money to spend.

How E-commerce affects the world in which we live and the pre-existing 'money culture' is dependent on which context or application one analyses this form of trading in. By looking at a few main forms of E-commerce one can see both positive and negative repercussions on our cultural life-style and way of living.


According to Shailendra Sial, there are four main types of E-commerce which below are illustrated with examples and possible effects.

Business to Consumer (B2C)  

 This is most commonly seen as the way in which businesses service niche markets by targeting individual consumers needs.

A good example of this would be self-starter Sian Emilie Charlish's business Sian Emile Styling which she advertises cleverly through free social media like Facebook. She provides online web consultations and eventually meets her client to address attire needs previously discussed on line.

This has the effect of connecting niche business with niche consumers without constraints of local advertising and eventually results in a transaction in person. There is still the traditional transaction but the dilemma of sourcing clients without advertising capital is eradicated as well as being available for consult at any time or place thanks to the flattening  -flattens space and time- effect of the Internet.



Business to Business (B2B) 

This, according to Sial, is the most common of the E-commerce transactions and would most commonly describe the on line business transactions between retailers and  distributors.

An example of this would be Pick n' Pay selling products made by Unilever. This transaction makes for a highly competitive market environment and Sial notes that businesses with the most capital and resources will profit mostly from this as they dominate the market.

This means that diversity within the market place will diminish like that of small 'home-grown' suppliers are most likely to have potential business taken away from them by larger competitors who have power via Internet connections and wide spread delivery.


 Consumer to Consumer (C2C) 
This is the transaction that takes place between two web users on a platform specifically set up for private sales.

A local example would be two users, interested in buying and selling cycling equipment but too far apart from major cities to do print advertising, using a platform like Gumtree to find each other through classifieds posted on the site and then contacting each other and proceeding with their transactions mostly paid for or funded by on line banking means.

This means that dealings can be done effortlessly and near anonymously which makes for an efficient way to sell and buy niche items.

However, C2C also means that the users never see or meet each other and will probably never learn each other's full names. This eradicates a 'face-to-face' transaction which means a lack of personal connection (therefore lack of  feelings of responsibility to each other)  perhaps resulting in being able to sell goods with a bad quality or "ripping" them off with high prices.


M-commerce



This is the type of E-commerce transaction that is mediated through mobile devices, specifically cellular phones, that is probably the most accessible of devices to the general web-user population.

Most websites provide a a 'mobi-version' of their content to accommodate the use of the mobile web. Users can use their mobi-websites for banking to make payments or receive them after they have browsed mobi-sites for possible transactions.

A local example of direct use of mobile transactions would be buying mobile downloads such as ring tones and screen backgrounds through televised advertising on SMS purchasing.

This type of transaction is effective and densely used on mass which does not really affect cultural life-style negatively but perhaps a unifying format which results in people relating to others due to what is on their cellphone or not.

1 comments:

Mobile Motions said...

It is wonderful to see how much the internet has to offer us. It is even more exciting to see that your mobile phone can be used to make various transactions. It gives you an idea of how fast mobile phones are developing.

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