Conceptual links

• How does e-commerce contribute to globalisation?
• What are the ethical considerations that companies selling online should take into account?
• Which components of the 4 Ps of the marketing mix have been most affected by e-commerce?
• How has the shopping experience changed with the development of technology?

U4.8.3 Types of e-commerce

• Business to consumer (B2C)
• Business to business (B2B)
• Consumer to consumer (C2C)

Task

1. Explain the features of a consumer to consumer business model.
2. Evaluate how the emergence of Airbnb may affect the traditional hotel market.
3. Airbnb accommodation is available in popular tourist destinations such as Barcelona, Venice and others. Does it create any particular issues for local communities living in these cities?
4. How has C2C commerce changed the business landscape?
5. Has technology made it easier or harder to go from ‘rags to riches’ compared to 20 years ago?

U4.8.4 Evaluation of e-commerce

Task

1. Draw up a list of the main costs and benefits of an e-commerce retailer compared with a traditional retailer.
2. Draw up a list of the main limitations and benefits for consumers of shopping online compared with using traditional stores.

TOK Questions

We will have an in class discussion that tackles many e-commerce TOK issues. Your task is to bring in a list of arguments that support your opinion on 3 of the following questions.

1. Would you consider Zehr's curbside grocery pickup to be part of e-commerce?
2. Thanks to e-commerce, is it easier or harder to go from "rags to riches" now compared to past generations?
3. Uber and AirBnB use the excess capacity of people's car and homes and essentially broker a service to fill this capacity. Does this opportunity present itself with any additional products? (Mr. Bracken nearly invested in a local business that had a similar business model)
4. How would you determine the value of a company that does not own many physical assets, like Uber, Facebook, AirBNB, etc?
5. Should we try to have a cashless society? What stakeholders would benefit or suffer from this type of financial revolution?
6. Should people pay tax on goods sold over kijiji?
7. Amazon's portfolio of subsidiaries includes Zappos, IMDB, Kiva Systems and other projects. Do you feel they should further expand their holdings, or would this create diseconomies of scale?

The role of security in e-commerce

NY Times - Yahoo Says 1 Billion User Accounts Were Hacked

Task

1. Evaluate the effect that website hacks may have on customer loyalty.
2. Explain why security is so important for online businesses.

Review