E-Commerce

Chapter 2

E-Marketplaces: Structure, Mechanisms, Economics, and Impacts

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:

1. Define e-marketplaces and list their components.

2. List the major types of e-marketplaces and describe their features.

3. Describe the various types of EC intermediaries and their roles.

4. Describe electronic catalogs, shopping carts, and search engines.

5. Describe the various types of auctions and list their characteristics.

6. Discuss the benefits, limitations, and impacts of auctions.

7. Describe bartering and negotiating online.

8. Define m-commerce and explain its role as a market mechanism.

9. Discuss competition in the digital economy.

10. Describe the impact of e-marketplaces on organizations and industries.

Content

How Blue Nile Inc. Is Changing the Jewelry Industry

2.1 E-Marketplaces

2.2 Types of E-Marketplaces: From Storefronts to Portals

2.3 Intermediation in E-Commerce

2.4 Electronic Catalogs and Other Market Mechanisms

2.5 Auctions as EC Market Mechanisms

2.6 Bartering and Negotiating Online

2.7 E-Commerce in the Wireless Environment: M-Commerce and L-Commerce

2.8 Competition in the Digital Economy and Its Impact on Industries

2.9 Impacts of EC on Business Processes and Organizations

Managerial Issues

Real-World Case: Wal-Mart Leads RFID Adoption

Appendix 2A Build-to-Order Production

Answers to Pause/Break Section Review Questions

Section 2.1 Review Questions

1. What is the difference between a physical marketplace and an e-marketplace (marketspace)?

A marketspace is an electronic marketplace. While traditional marketplaces are constrained by their physical locations, marketspaces use technology to eliminate this constraint (by being online).

2. List the components of a marketspace.

A marketspace consists of the following components: customers, sellers, goods, infrastructure, a...