Cin 611notes
Electronic Commerce, 7th Edition
14188-37032
Chapter 1 Solutions
Review Questions
1. Describe three factors that would cause a company to continue doing business in traditional ways and avoid electronic commerce.
Answer: Traditional commerce is a better way to sell the items or services when personal selling skills are a factor, as in commercial real estate sales; or when the condition of the products is difficult to determine without making a personal inspection, as in the purchases of high-fashion clothing, antiques, or perishable food products
2. Figure 1-5 lists roommate-matching services as a type of business that is well-suited to a combination of electronic and traditional commerce. In one paragraph, describe the elements of this service that would be best handled using traditional commerce and explain why.
Answer: Responses will vary, but may suggest that customers are generally concerned about lifestyle and personality factors, and as a result would want to meet any potential roommate.
3. Choose one major difference between the first wave and the second wave of electronic commerce. Write a paragraph that describes this difference to a person who is not familiar with either business or Internet technologies.
Answer: The Internet technologies used in the first wave, especially in B2C commerce, were slow and inexpensive. Most consumers connected to the Internet using dial-up modems. The increase in broadband connections in homes is a key element in the second wave. Although these connections are more expensive, they are up to 20 times faster and can alter the way people use the Web.
4. What are transaction costs and why are they important?
Answer: Transaction costs are the total of all costs that a buyer and seller incur as they gather information and negotiate a purchase-sale transaction.
5. Provide one example of how electronic commerce could help change an industry’s economic structure from a hierarchy to a network.
14188-37032
Chapter 1 Solutions
Review Questions
1. Describe three factors that would cause a company to continue doing business in traditional ways and avoid electronic commerce.
Answer: Traditional commerce is a better way to sell the items or services when personal selling skills are a factor, as in commercial real estate sales; or when the condition of the products is difficult to determine without making a personal inspection, as in the purchases of high-fashion clothing, antiques, or perishable food products
2. Figure 1-5 lists roommate-matching services as a type of business that is well-suited to a combination of electronic and traditional commerce. In one paragraph, describe the elements of this service that would be best handled using traditional commerce and explain why.
Answer: Responses will vary, but may suggest that customers are generally concerned about lifestyle and personality factors, and as a result would want to meet any potential roommate.
3. Choose one major difference between the first wave and the second wave of electronic commerce. Write a paragraph that describes this difference to a person who is not familiar with either business or Internet technologies.
Answer: The Internet technologies used in the first wave, especially in B2C commerce, were slow and inexpensive. Most consumers connected to the Internet using dial-up modems. The increase in broadband connections in homes is a key element in the second wave. Although these connections are more expensive, they are up to 20 times faster and can alter the way people use the Web.
4. What are transaction costs and why are they important?
Answer: Transaction costs are the total of all costs that a buyer and seller incur as they gather information and negotiate a purchase-sale transaction.
5. Provide one example of how electronic commerce could help change an industry’s economic structure from a hierarchy to a network.