E-business may be defined as conducting of activities of industry, trade and commerce through the computer network. The most common network used is internet.
Applications of e-business are as follows :
- e-bidding/e-auction : Many shopping sites such as airline tickets, etc. have ‘Quote your price’, wherein one can bid for the goods and services online. It also provides the facility for e-tendering under which quotation can be submitted online.
- e-trading: It involves trading of securities like shares and other financial instruments. The securities are bought and sold online.
- e-procurement : It involves sales transactions between business firms through internet. It includes ‘reverse auctions’ and ‘digital market places’. Reverse auction facilitates online trade between a single business purchaser and many sellers. Digital market places facilitate online trading among multiple buyers and sellers.
- e-delivery : It involves electronic delivery of photographs, videos, journals and other multimedia contents to the user’s computer. It also involves rendering various consulting services like legal, medical, accounting, etc. electronically.
- e-communication/e-promotion : It involves advertisement through banners, pop ups, customer surveys, opinion polls, publication of online
catalogues, displaying images of goods, etc.