Coping with e-commerce (look at firm's distribution strategy in Essay

Coping with e-commerce (look at firm's distribution strategy in meeting delivery performance) - Essay Example To deliver aptly to all these customer sets, Amazon has put in place the largest warehouse and distribution systems for a e-commerce company in the world. Utilizing this extensive and efficient system, Amazon has bee able to improve its delivery performance optimally, even becoming a role model for other companies. â€Å"In the US, more and more traditional retailers are seeking to compete with the efficiency and shipping speed of online.† (Virtual Strategy 2011). E-Bay, which facilitates transactions between sellers and buyers of wide range of products, also exhibit good delivery performance, but not up to the levels of Amazon. However, lately it is trying to improve its delivery performance by adopting various measures. For example, for the sellers, who have optimum delivery performance or times, it offers financial discounts and better placements for their products. In addition, it also added shipment tracking codes, so as to prove that they have shipped the products on tim e. This way, e-Bay could match Amazon in delivery performance. "This is part of the whole picture of [eBay] getting more involved and more controlled like Amazon," (trendbird.biz). 2. B2B and B2C It becomes clear that the World Wide Web, unconstrained by the geographical territories and boundaries, allows the businesses to operate in a truly globalized scale. A business which not only takes orders for products online from its merchants or suppliers or the direct consumer customers, but also completes the transaction is a true example of B2B and B2C commerce. Business-to-business or â€Å"B2B† for short, is a term which is commonly used to explain the electronic form of business transactions that takes place between businesses (with minimum role for customers). B2B commerce website will serve as channels that will permit coordination between different businesses and outsourcing companies. Thus, the companies adopting this form or e-commerce will have online outlets, and throug h which they will prefer to deal with other companies only to sell their products and services, instead of directly offering it to the consumers. On the other hand, companies adopting Business to Consumer, or B2C for short, will put in place online portals, which offer products and services directly to the consumers. Many companies or retailers or online retailers all adopt this method, as they reach the product directly to the customer through their own network of supply chain and distribution centers. â€Å"B2C has grown to include services such as online banking, travel services, online auctions, health information and real estate sites† (Bajaj and Nag 2005). Apart from the basic difference in ‘end users’, the difference between B2B and B2C is B2B involves more long-term relationship than B2C, which is maximally one-off. That is, in the case of B2C, after the transaction is over, there may not be continual relationship, however in the case of B2B, the transact ions and relationship could continue for a longer time, if everything works out well. 3. Buy-side and Sell-side As stated by Chaffey (2002), â€Å"when evaluating the impact of e-commerce on an organisation, it is Instructive to identify opportunities; for buy-side and sell-side transactions". Only if those opportunities and the related challenges are identified, organizations can optimally tune its strategies and its organizational processes.