Element of a successful electronic marketplace

Explain in detail about Element  of a successful electronic marketplace

The capabilities required for Internet/Web commerce are as follows:

v  Enable buyers to inquire about products, review product and service information, place orders, authorize payment, and receive both goods and services on-line.

v  Enable sellers to advertise products, receive orders, collect payments, deliver goods electronically, and provide ongoing customer support.

v  Enable financial organizations to serve as intermediaries that accept payment authorization, make payment to sellers, and notify buyers that transactions are complete.

v  Enable sellers to notify logistics organization electronically as to where and when to deliver physical goods/merchandise.

The following qualities characterize, in the view of industry experts, successful marketplaces.

v       Utilizes an existing customer base.  Magazine and newspaper publishers are example of electronic marketers that have capitalized on the relationships that exist with their customer bases (readers and print advertisers) to build loyalty and add value to their traditional products through electronic products.

v    Makes an existing marketplace more effective. Consumers tend to be time deprived, the electronic marketplaces must be convenient, ordering must be fast, and delivery of the purchase must take place within 24 to 48 hours. Budget cuts and emphasis on the bottom line mean that business-to-business electronic marketplace must offer streamlined processes that eliminate paperwork and time-consuming telephone calls and voice messages.

v    Brings together communities. The service must bring together buyers and sellers that are physically separated or scattered.

v    Is easily accessible, has wide distribution. The electronic marketplace should encompass a number of formats to maximize effectiveness- Internet, interactive TV, online PC service, CD-ROMs, screen phones and kiosks.

v    Offers decision-support information. Customers are comfortable with the manual way they currently shop. Electronic marketplaces must supply customers with reasons to use them, including cost-effectiveness, time savings, and faster delivery. Extensive information about products should be available on-line.

v    Ability to close the sale. Customers need to be able to buy the advertised product through the electronic medium. In the view of some, if they have to walk to the telephone of fax an order form, the chance to create a successful transactional marketplace could be diminished.

v    Size of  the electronic marketplace: Market groups have estimated that the   actual  revenue generated  from   electronic   transactions of tangible  goods  was  $360   million  in  1994  and  $540  million  in  1996. Revenue   was generated from several potential   media-business on-line,  consumer  on-line,  internet, CD-ROM,  kiosks, screen phone, and interactive television.

v    Business  on-line,  which  includes  such  services  as  Data Transmission Network(DTN) services and  Auto info,    represented  the  largest  percentage  of  electronic  transactions  at  press  time.