E-Business Strategies

What is E-business?

Electronic Business, commonly referred to as "eBusiness" or "e-Business", may be defined broadly as any business process that relies on an automated information system. Today, this is mostly done with Web-based technologies. The term "e-Business" was coined by Lou Gerstner, CEO of IBM.

Electronic business methods enable companies to link their internal and external data processing systems more efficiently and flexibly, to work more closely with suppliers and partners, and to better satisfy the needs and expectations of their customers.

In practice, e-business is more than just e-commerce. While e-business refers to more strategic focus with an emphasis on the functions that occur using electronic capabilities, e-commerce is a subset of an overall e-business strategy. E-commerce seeks to add revenue streams using the World Wide Web or the Internet to build and enhance relationships with clients and partners and to improve efficiency using the Empty Vessel strategy. Often, e-commerce involves the application of knowledge management systems.

E-business involves business processes spanning the entire value chain: electronic purchasing and supply chain management, processing orders electronically, handling customer service, and cooperating with business partners. Special technical standards for e-business facilitate the exchange of data between companies. E-business software solutions allow the integration of intra and inter firm business processes. E-business can be conducted using the Web, the Internet, intranets, extranets, or some combination of these
http://en.wikipedia.org

E-business intelligence

Planning for your Internet Business’s future is just as important as having a business plan in the real world. The key difference in planning your E-business strategy is your E-business Intelligence.

The purpose of E-business Intelligence is the complete analysis of information about your website for example:

• What is your websites Exposure?
• Do you have accurate tracking and trending data?
• How do you position your website for growth?
• Are my Affiliates complying with set guidelines?
• How are our company’s products being distributed on the internet?

Having a clear understanding of these and many more aspects of your website mans you can accurately calculate on a regular basis your ROI (return on investment). In South Africa alone the success rate of Ecommerce websites is staggered for every five new sites, three fail.

They fail due to a lack of E-business Intelligence.

The Affect of your E-business online and offline

There are other aspects of running a successful E-business that can affect your success and being aware of these is critical. Not preparing or planning for these elements not only jeopardizes the sites success it could also have legal implications.

Sightings will consult with you on all on the following aspects of your E-business:

• Legalities – Is your domain name being used for cyber squatting, do you have the correct privacy policy in place? Are your terms and conditions accurate? Are your competitors infringing on your copyright? Sightings will offer Legal advice in these and many other matters relating to your E-business
  
• Corporate Communications – Is your brand being cyber smeared? Has there been a misrepresentation of the facts, or unfounded rumours broadcast in blogs or forums ruining your company reputation?
  
• Infrastructure - Can your website handle the volume of traffic you generate? Are your servers secure? Do you plan for adequate bandwidth? When do you move to a dedicated Server and how much down time could you have? Planning these and many more aspects of your E-business infrastructure are crucial to maintain a good user interaction with your website and maintain a level of trust and service.
  
• Interactive – Is your website doing all it can to attract, retain and convert visitors? Are users able to navigate your website effectively? Is your website accessible and Section 508 compliant?
  
• Strategy – Are you aware of what your competitors are doing? Not all relationships that work in the real world work online. Are your products competitively priced? How do you manage your supplier and distribution channels?
  

It is important to note that not all websites are created equal. By working with Sightings we can advise you on how to avoid possible pit falls and build a truly successful E-business.

Business is naturally competitive E-business is even more so.