Introduction: 

E-Business can be defined as the delivery of customer services, transactions in business, and the various activities of a business that are executed via electronic means. E-business has been prominently associated with the utilization of ICT systems for facilitating the exchange of products and services as well as information. E-business serves as a means for attaining communication as well as commercial interests. E-business can be carried out between varying parties such as customer-customer, customer-business, business-business, business-customer, and business-government (Andam, 2014). The profound entity in the implementation of e-business is the Internet which serves as the worldwide network for communication. The Internet can be termed as the interconnection of computers and computer networks all over the world. This report deals with two different case scenarios which can make perfect use of e-business. 

E-business solution:

The case study presented for this section of the report is IDS (Ideal DIY Store) which is an organization with a physical presence. The following sections of the report will emphasize the different considerations for e-business such as environmental analysis, the significance of an online presence, and the issues associated with making a transition to the digital domain. Therefore, the introductory section of the report will deal with the specific types of environment in which e-business can flourish as well as the different types of business transactions. 

The business environment of e-business is a collective interaction of three different systems. The three systems deal with information, human activity and information and communication technology. (Braud et al.,2015) Each element has a distinct contribution to the domain of e-business and the different types of transactions observed in the sector of e-business are mentioned below.

The key types of transactions include Business to Business (B2B), Consumer to business (C2B), Business to consumer (B2C), and Consumer to consumer (C2C). B2B transactions denote the deals between businesses. For example, transactions between producer and wholesaler or the wholesaler and retailer can be classified as B2B transactions. In the C2B transactions, customers sell unique products to organizations (Camarinha et al.,2013). Business to customer transactions includes the conventional money for goods format. Business organizations sell their products and services to customers through the internet. Finally, the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) transactions imply that consumers engage in an exchange of products and services in return for money, through another medium. Online property auction websites allow customers to engage in property trading while the website owner earns commissions. 

• Benefits and barriers for an e-business:

The staggering rise of the internet in the past few decades has invited plausible prospects for different business organizations. This has resulted in an increase in the number of businesses that enter the domain of the internet. Therefore a clear evaluation of the advantages, as well as barriers for adopting e-business, has been discussed below.

The benefits of e-business are derived from the internet. The internet is a huge platform to conduct business and the millions of users accessing the internet every day validate the fact. Therefore, a business that establishes an online presence not only acquires the privilege of exposure to numerous potential consumers but also provides information about the products and services of a specific company (Combe, 2012). Secondly, the internet never sleeps. Hence e-businesses can operate at any time of the day which increases the prospects of revenue. Certain internet platforms such as forums and chat rooms allow business owners to create and develop formidable ties with suppliers and potential customers. Furthermore, e-business involves minimal costs of operation when compared to a conventional store. 

Apart from the benefits that e-business has for various organizations in the world, there are certain factors that inhibit the development of e-business. The foremost barriers for e-business include legal issues. Internet activities are subject to regulations of indigenous jurisdictions of customers. E-business is also subject to the laws of respective countries where customers can gain access to the website of the business. Key laws to comply with include taxation and copyright laws among others (Dinh et al., 2013). The internet is subject to security as well as trust threats. Internet frauds can drive away customers from e-business. 

• Security and legislative issues for e-business

The security, as well as legislative issues, were discussed in the above section. The possible security and legislative issues which may affect the IDS store’s advent in the digital world have been discussed below.

Security issues include factors that penetrate the framework provided by businesses on the online domain. Therefore, organizations need to address the security issues associated with e-business websites. E-businesses face major threats from the incidents of data theft. Primarily, the lack of encryption in networks results in these incidents. Suspicious programs are also a major threat for e-business since these programs are capable of data theft from any kind of device and network. The security issues are worsened by the attack of suspicious programs on the intermediate communication channels.

Legislative issues comprise of intellectual property issues and are posed in front of almost every e-business. Electronic media has transformed data circulation into a piece of cake. It has become easier to acquire data and copy it. Even with intervention from different global authorities, intellectual property rights are still being considered as ambiguous in different jurisdictions. The legalization of electronic fund transfer is also ambiguous in different countries. Apart from the above-mentioned facts, governments feel the threat of entry of products which are considered illegal by the government.

• Modes of communication in e-business and applications:

The different modes of communication implemented for e-business include social media, e-mails, mobile phones and short messaging services. Some other modes of communication include the FAQ pages provided on the websites. The most comprehensive way to facilitate communication is through discussion between employees. Dedicated email accounts and mobile phone numbers are some examples in which the modes of communication for e-business can be observed (Grossman et al.,2013). Employees of an organization have to be provided with technology for specific functions such as chat programs which enables intra organizational information exchange. The application of these modes of communication is that they bring in larger customer bases through higher, flexible and sophisticated communication with customers as well as within employees. 

Internet technology and role in the success of e-business

Internet technology has progressed in substantial norms and has turned out to be the contemporary source of information as well as a channel of information. The internet relates to the multitude of users across the globe and the various networks such as public, private and government networks. The contemporary world has shown that internet technologies such as email, personal computers, tablets and mobile phones can prove to be functional in the success of major corporations in the world. Therefore the various ways in which internet technology has helped to improve e-business are mentioned below.

Formation and sustenance of relationship with customers

Enhancement of productivity and profits of a business

Increase in the overall market share

Competitive advantage over peers

Developing brand image

Increasing customer satisfaction 

Reduction in production costs 

Effective management of supply chain

Main Features of HTML:

HTML is an abbreviation for HyperText Markup Language. HTML is a language that is used in designing web pages. The primary purpose of HTML is to form web pages for different websites on the internet. An HTML page can be categorized into two major sections- the head and the body. The head is concerned with the brief description of the content on the webpage. The body is related to the content which will be published on the webpage (Sampson & Money, 2015). HTML also incorporates the use of ‘tags’ which can be used to fabricate different variations of content as required by the website. XML is also a web language that is used to prepare webpage content that can be readable for machines. HTML emphasizes readability by humans. 

Functions of clients and servers and the impact of search engines

Search engines are the primary source of information accessed by internet users. Search engines help in finding information from different sources available on the internet. The features of search engines are being gradually used in the context of online promotional campaigns by major business corporations in the world. The different technologies used by search engines such as spiders and search algorithms make them a credible resource for businesses as well as customers. 

Servers are intended for tracking and supervising the delivery of services and information on the World Wide Web. Browsers such as Mozilla and Google Chrome act as gateways for access to the internet (Tang et al., 2014). These web browsers process user requests in machine language and transmit the request to the server where the request is processed and relevant outputs are generated. The connection between server and browser is terminated with the conclusion of the information exchange process. 

• Importance of extranets and intranets for business communication

Intranets are specific computer networks that are suitable for information exchange within an organization. Extranet on the other hand is structurally similar to intranet and is characterized by the involvement of external stakeholders such as business partners, suppliers and customers. The prominent advantages of intranet include the provision of enhanced customer services, less paperwork, flexible working schedules and easy sharing of resources within the organization (Tang et al., 2014). Extranet also facilitates similar benefits with the addition of better relationships with stakeholders and strengthening of the supply chain. Despite the explicit benefits, organizations face some difficulties in the implementation of extranets and intranets. Managerial issues and the high costs of implementation along with technical and security issues act as barriers for implementation of intranet and extranet for business communication. 

E-business models:

Don’s Lumber Company has been considered for this case study. The organization faces grave issues in supply chain management since the majority of work is carried out manually. The owner of the company faces issues from the recent recession which are slowly hampering the business. Hence the following e-business models have been discussed in relevance to the case study.

Storefront model: Storefront model is the common e-business model adopted by different organizations. The storefront model contains all the features which are required by merchants for selling their products and services. The features generally include facilities for secure online payment, processing transactions and facilities for information storage. 

Auction model: This type of model involves the sale of products through an auction. The auction model is observed in the popular website eBay. 

Portal model: The portal model deals with the provision of options for searching relevant requirements. These e-business models depend on linking customers to online merchants which helps in their trade.

Analysis of each model in terms of capacity to generate revenue

The difference between the various e-business models lies not only in their structure but also in their capability to generate revenue. Some of the methodologies through which different e-business models generate revenue are discussed below.

Storefront model: Storefront models are specifically meant to generate revenue for owners. These sites serve to buy and sell purposes on the internet. The storefront model generates revenues through online payment for products and services purchased by consumers. Generally, storefront model websites are related to high web traffic and hence they can also gain revenue through the integration of online advertisements.

Auction model: The auction model allows users to post advertisements for products on sale. Buyers purchase products which they deem worthy from these websites and the website owner receives a transaction commission. The other means of revenue generation include subscription and registration fees. Online advertisements are also an opportunity to be explored in the case of the auction model.

Portal model: Unlike the other models, portal websites earn revenue through online advertisements. Online shopping portals are the best examples of the portal model which rely on subscription and transaction fees for revenue generation. 

1. Predictions for development in e-business models

The meteoric rise of the internet and the flourishing digital era has facilitated the world with new tools for business that are being implemented all over the world. Business models and modes of the transaction have changed consistently in the past and will continue to do so in the future. The internet has turned into a global marketplace and requires the resolution of issues such as legislative and security issues for the sake of growth (Sampson & Money, 2015). The internet is currently the major source of income for multinational corporations as well as government economies. Hence the internet will endorse a credible role in the economic progress of various organizations and countries all over the world. The developments in e-business models will be largely dependent on the improvements in the internet and the relaxation of stringent regulations. 

• Prominent elements of good web design

The structure of a webpage is comprised of description, metatags, navigation, body and keywords. The key elements which draw a visitor towards a website include flexible navigation, the better aesthetic appeal of the website and the relevancy of website content to the business. Keywords are definitely the major element that plays a decisive role in the success of any website. Keywords can be described as specific phrases which are used by internet users for searching objects of interest. Essential keywords which are suitable for e-commerce websites must be identified and put in place which will promote the ranking of organizations in search engine results. The structure and content of the website have to be appealing to visitors and reasonable to search engines (Dinh et al., 2013). These factors are crucial in involving the audience with the product and ensuring that they pledge their loyalty to the business. Finally, the criteria for a good website design include a responsive navigation facility that can allow users to surf between pages with utter ease. This factor would ensure that the website is appreciated by users and thus serve as patrons for the business. 

Impact of a website on e-business:

The field of e-business is characterized by e-commerce sites. The websites act as representatives of the business in the online world. Therefore, a well-designed website has a promising impact on the purpose of e-business. The major facets of e-business include design, functionality and content. The contributions of a website to the domain of e-business with respect to these three facets help in framing a corporate image for the brand on the online domain. The design of a website should reflect the corporate strategy and values of the organization. The website must inform customers about the brand image from a marketing perspective which will garner customer visits to the website and as a result, increase the revenues. The functionality of the website is reflective of the management of data available on the website. The web content furbished on the website must be presented in the precise format which eases the business activities on the website. Higher functionality ensures higher customer retention which can boost sales. Finally, the most profound element of a website i.e. web content is the material published on the website for the information of users (Dinh et al., 2013). The work of content is to draw users to the business and content writers have to ensure that the content is engaging. Search engine techniques refer to direct indexing of websites based on the content of the website. This facility ensures that websites that facilitate a higher quality of content had the opportunity to top search engine result rankings.  Higher rankings on search engine results increase the visibility of the business which subsequently renders higher sales and an increase in revenues. Websites with superior quality of content have better chances of fulfilling the purposes of customers as well as businesses. Therefore, it can be easily understood that websites that are designed with key emphasis on the above three facets can easily generate higher revenues as compared to peers. 

Issues concerning website usability:

Building a website is not the sole procedure that denotes e-business. Website maintenance requires optimization of websites for general use. Website optimization is necessary to increase the attractiveness of the website for website visitors. Websites have to be equally attractive for visitors as well as search engine spiders. Business owners must know about the issues which impact website usability. The issues associated with website maintenance are broadly classified into two categories such as browser issues and formatting issues which deal with the structure and navigation of the website. Some of the major issues are:

The loading speed of websites is determined by the time taken for traversing from one page to another or the initial loading time for the website. Higher loading speed facilitates convenient indexing of search engine pages.

Readability is generally improved by formatting the content in a flexible manner. Readability allows users to explore the web pages swiftly which ensures a good user experience. The readability of websites can be improved by the inclusion of paragraphs, headings, bullet points and subheadings. 

Effective navigation is indirectly related to the loading speed of a website. Furthermore, the website design shall include explicit options for navigation. Users shall be able to access specific web pages without having to swim through a lake of unnecessary links. Proper allotment of links to specific pages and listing the links on the website’s home page enables amiable webpage navigation for users (Dinh et al., 2013). 

Content on websites is a major influence on the usability of a website. Well-structured content can be accessed across a wide range of devices such as computers, tablets and mobile phones. Proper information in the content is also another factor required for ensuring website usability since it induces trust in users regarding the information on the website.

The design of a website must be compatible with the different browsers such as Google Chrome; Mozilla Firefox etc. compatibility with web browsers is required for ensuring a wide platform for accessing the website. A higher number of customers can visit the website and gain information regarding products and services. 

Conclusion: 

The report shows that there is a massive shift in the domain of the internet and information and communication technology to address the evolving requirements of the business. E-business is the replacement for the traditional local store business and is bound to change the global business landscape. The different implications of e-business such as models, issues and affecting factors have been illustrated in the report with reference to two case scenarios. The domain of e-business is redefining the traditional concepts of value and limiting the restrictions of time and space required for business. The notion of business management has been revised with the inclusion of the internet in business and in the distant future, e-business will be dominating the platform of global business.      

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