E-commerce refers to business transactions conducted online, while m-commerce refers to commerce using mobile devices. The document provides an overview of e-commerce and m-commerce, including definitions, current practices and trends, examples of companies and individuals involved, and statistics on usage and growth. It also discusses some challenges and benefits of e-commerce and m-commerce. Key points covered include the rapid annual growth of e-commerce sales, Amazon's $1 billion in 2010 m-commerce sales, and the global growth of mobile subscribers, particularly in China and India.

1. BUSI 560
Critical Analysis of E-Commerce and M-Commerce
James Crowson
BUSI 560-D06 LUO
Corporate Responsibility
May 8, 2011
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2. BUSI 560
Name: James Crowson Class: BUSI 560 Section:
Critical Analysis of E-Commerce and M-Commerce
PRINCIPLE:
§ E-commerce is an electronic business exchange where buying and selling goods and services
occurs via the Internet (Lawrence & Weber, 2008, p. 544); (Cheeseman, 2007, p. 659); a
company or site that offers to transact or facilitate the selling of products or services online
(Kotler & Keller, 2009, p. G3).
§ M-commerce is commerce conducted by using mobile or cell telephones (Lawrence &
Weber, 2008, p. 548).
§ The Internet is the new main street and is how customers virtually visit and purchase goods
and services from these “storefronts.”
PRACTICE:
§ E-commerce is a viable method to transact is used by virtually all types of businesses.
§ Small business owners use it to leverage their ability to compete against much larger companies.
§ E-commerce is a generally accepted method of transaction on the Internet.
§ M-commerce is not yet generally accepted because cost of devices to process transactions has been
prohibitive to small businesses.
§ Social media marketing is a form of E-commerce that provides immediate payoff because of
immediate customer feedback in the form of cross-talk on pages like Facebook.
PARTICULARS:
§ In the US, E-commerce is primarily governed by 2003 Can-Spam Act and Sec 5 of FTC Act,
laws that set rules for commercial email and financial transactions online.
§ E-commerce sales increase at a rate of 10% annually and will hit $278.9 billion in the US by
2015 (Demery, 2011).
§ Consumers spent $176.2 billion online last year (Demery, 2011).
§ There are 5.3 billion mobile subscribers. This is equivalent to 77% of the earth’s population
(Teltscher, S., 2010).
§ In 2010, Amazon.com sold over $1 billion in goods and services via M-commerce
(Amazon.com Public Relations, 2010).
§ More than 80% of 400 online retailers surveyed do not have mobile commerce applications
(Teltscher, S., 2010).
§ Examples of M-commerce are SMS/text messaging is a form of permission marketing;
multiple exposures result in either a purchase or opt-out.
§ Bluetooth marketing, aka, proximity marketing, (not opt-in) automatically delivers coupons
via SMS/text to a mobile device if it enters the Bluetooth radius.
PERSONS:
§ Jeff Bezos, CEO and co-founder of Amazon.com, is a multi-billionaire as a result of his e-
commerce enterprise.
§ Mike Koenigs and Rocket Holstrom known as the Kings of Video E-Commerce, are the co-
founders of Traffic Geyser, LLC, a California-based Internet marketing firm with
approximately 25 employees and estimated annual gross revenue of approximately $17.5m.
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3. BUSI 560
§ Amy Porterfield is a social media expert known as the Queen of Social Media.
§ Christina “CK” Kerley is an M-commerce and self-proclaimed B2B M-commerce
Evangelist.
§ From a marketing standpoint, McMains (2007) argues that the lack of measurability of
prospect visits versus actual customers who purchase is problematic (McMains, 2007).
PERIOD (Electronic Commerce, 2011):
§ 1970s, e-commerce begins as the electronic data interchange and electronic funds transfer.
§ 1972, Michael Aldrich invents online shopping.
§ 1980s, Boston Computer Exchange creates a marketplace for buying and selling used PCs.
§ 1994, eBay and Amazon.com takes e-commerce to a new level.
§ 1998-2000, e-commerce websites emerge, as well as the Dot Com bust.
§ 2003, Amazon.com finally posts a profit.
§ 2007, Business.com domain name sells for $345 million.
§ 2010, Groupon.com rejects a $6 billion buyout offer from Google.
§ For the calendar year 2011, online sales are projected to be at least $197 billion.
PLACES:
§ China and India – Mobile technology growth is being driven primarily by these countries, the
world’s two largest populations (Teltscher, S., 2010).
§ Three hundred million new mobile subscriptions were added by China and India in 2010
(Teltscher, S., 2010).
§ China had 747 .4 million mobile subscribers in 2010 and is projected to have 1.3 billion by
2014 (Teltscher, S., 2010).
§ The US for 2010 Quarter 1 online spending was $33.9 billion, up 10% from 12 months prior
(Lipsman, A, 2010).
§ Canadians spent $16 billion in 2010 (including travel) (Grau, J, 2011).
PHRASES:
§ E-auctions – These are tools primarily used in b2b procurement.
§ Extranet is an extension of a corporate intranet; joins a company with the intranets of its
customers and suppliers to create e-commerce applications that link all parts of a business
(Buzzle.com, 2011).
§ G-commerce – e-commerce applied to government where government is both purchaser and
seller (Access Ecommerce, 2008).
§ Secure Electronic Transaction – a standard set of protocols for secure Internet credit card
transactions (Access Ecommerce, 2008).
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4. BUSI 560
PICTURES:
§ Any operator of an iPhone can install the § Also, the “Square” m-commerce device plugs
PayPal app to view their account transactions. into the iPhone headphone jack to accept credit
card payments. With it, a merchant can process
a customer’s credit card on the spot with their
iPhone.
§ Monster Follow-up represents a new way to communicate and follow up with business
connections, leads, customers, family and friends. Marketing campaigns can be created to
utilize all the traditional channels of lead generation such as phone, email and web forms,
however, different by adding new methods of mobile text marketing and business card
scanning (Monster Follow-Up, 2011).
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5. BUSI 560
PROSPECTS:
Benefits Achieved:
§ E-commerce enables businesses to be open 24/7/365 worldwide and take orders and
payments real-time
Explained Use:
§ Virtually any size or type of business can use and benefit from this technology
§ Peer-to-peer E-commerce transactions, e.g. a friend borrows money and pays friend back
using PayPal.
PROBLEMS:
§ Concerns over security encryption protocols.
§ Leakage of privacy information.
§ Steep learning curve to properly integrate into standard business practices.
§ Changes in this industry occur quickly, remaining current is vital.
PERFORMANCE:
§ Effective use leverages a company’s time, increases revenue, and saves money.
§ Customers must feel it is easy to pay; clickable links must be prominently seen, e.g. shopping
carts.
§ Automates sales transactions. When used in conjunction with an accounting package, even
accounting back office processes can be automated.
PUBLICATIONS:
§ References Cited:
Access Ecommerce. (2008). Glossary. Retrieved May 07, 2011, from Access Ecommerce:
http://www.access-ecom.info/glossary.cfm?xid=MN.
Amazon.com Public Relations. (2010, July 22). Amazon.com Investor Relations. Retrieved
May 06, 2011, from Amazon Corporate: http://phx.corporate-
ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97664&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1451041&highlight.
Buzzle.com. (2011). Ecommerce jargon decoded. Retrieved May 07, 2011, from
Buzzle.com: Intelligent life on the web: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ecommerce-
jargon-decoded.html.
Cheeseman, H. R. (2007). The legal environment of business and online commerce (5th ed.).
New Jersey: Upper Saddle River.
Demery, P. (2011, January 26). Online sales will average 10% growth over next five years.
Retrieved May 05, 2011, from Internet Retailer:
http://www.internetretailer.com/2011/01/26/online-sales-will-average-10-growth-over-
next-five-years.
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6. BUSI 560
Electronic Commerce. (2011, May). Retrieved May 07, 2011, from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_commerce.
Grau, J. (2011, February). Canada retail ecommerce forecast: Measured growth ahead.
Retrieved May 07, 2011, from Emarketer:
http://www.emarketer.com/Report.aspx?code=emarketer_2000767.
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2009). Marketing Management (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Lawrence, A. T., & Weber, J. (2008). Business and Society: Stakeholders, Ethics, Public
Policy (12 ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Lipsman, A. (2010, May 21). comScore Reports Q1 2010 U.S. E-Commerce Spending
Accelerates to a 10 Percent Growth vs. Year Ago. Retrieved May 07, 2011, from
comScore:
http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/5/comScore_Reports_Q1_
2010_U.S._E-
Commerce_Spending_Accelerates_to_a_10_Percent_Growth_vs._Year_Ago.
McMains, A. (2007). Why clients withhold ad spending online. Adweek , 48 (33), pp. 6-7.
Monster Follow-Up. (2011, May). Monster Follow-Up Services. Retrieved May 08, 2011,
from Monster Follow-Up: http://www2.monsterfollowup.com/what-is-monsterfollowup-
2/.
Teltscher, S. (2010, October 21). Key Global Telecom Indicators for the World
Telecommunication Service Sector. Retrieved May 06, 2011, from International
Telecommunications Union (ITU): http://www.itu.int/ITU-
D/ict/statistics/at_glance/KeyTelecom.html.
§ Websites and Internet Resources
http://www.mobithinking.com – a superior resource to keep in lock-step with the happenings
of the m-commerce industry and virtually any statistical resource needed.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com – an e-business and technology news publishers in the
United States reporting on worldwide e-commerce.
§ Journals
An expanded list of more than 20 e-commerce and m-commerce journals and white papers
can be found at the Iowa State University School of Business website.
Buse, S.; Herstatt, C.; Tiwari, R. (2006). From electronic to mobile commerce: Opportunity
through technology convergence for business services. Asia-Pacific Tech Monitor, 23(5), pp.
38-45.
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7. BUSI 560
§ Books
Buse, S.; Tiwari, R. (2007). The mobile commerce prospects: A strategic analysis of
opportunities in the banking sector. Hamburg, Germany: Hamburg University Press.
Chaudhury, A.; Kuilboer, J. (2002). E-Business and e-commerce infrastructure:
Technologies. McGraw-Hill/Irwin: New York.
Cheeseman, Henry R. (2007). The legal environment of business and online commerce.
Prentice-Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Lawrence, A.; Weber, J. (2008). Business & society: Stakeholders, Ethics, Public
Policy.McGraw-Hill/Irwin: New York.
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