E -business and e-commerce are terms that are sometimes used interchangeably, and sometimes they're used to differentiate

one vendor's product from another. But the terms are different, and that difference matters to today's companies. In both cases, the e stands for "electronic networks" and describes the application of electronic network technology - including Internet and electronic data interchange (EDI) - to improve and change business processes. E-commerce covers outward-facing processes that touch customers, suppliers and external partners, including sales, marketing, order taking, delivery, customer service, purchasing of raw materials and supplies for production and procurement of indirect operating-expense items, such as office supplies. It involves new business models and the potential to gain new revenue or lose some existing revenue to new competitors. It's ambitious but relatively easy to implement because it involves only three types of integration: vertical integration of front-end Web site applications to existing transaction systems;

cross-business integration of a company with Web sites of customers, suppliers or intermediaries such as Web-based marketplaces; and integration of technology with modestly redesigned processes for order handling, purchasing or customer service. E-business includes e-commerce but also covers internal processes such as production, inventory management, product development, risk management, finance, knowledge management and human resources. E-business strategy is more complex, more focused on internal processes, and aimed at cost savings and improvements in efficiency, productivity and cost savings. An e-business strategy is also more difficult to execute, with four directions of integration: vertically, between Web front- and back-end systems; laterally, between a company and its customers, business partners, suppliers or intermediaries; horizontally, among e-commerce, enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), knowledge management and supply-chain management systems; and downward through the enterprise, for integration of new technologies with radically redesigned business processes. But e-business has a higher payoff in the form of more efficient processes, lower costs and potentially greater profits. E-commerce and e-business both address these processes, as well as a technology infrastructure of databases, application servers, security tools, systems management and legacy systems. And both

involve the creation of new value chains between a company and its customers and suppliers, as well as within the company itself. All companies should have an e-commerce strategy. (Governments should have an e-public service strategy.) Electronic networks in general and the Internet in particular are too important for firms to ignore if they want to interact with customers, suppliers or distribution partners. But some companies need to move beyond e-commerce and form e-business strategies - especially large companies that already have links to EDI networks or have completed major ERP implementations. These companies have already reaped some of the biggest benefits from e-commerce strategies. They're also likely to experience organizational pain as conflicts develop among their ERP, EDI, supplychain management and e-commerce strategies. And last, they have enough experience and knowledge in electronic-network technologies - and in process redesign and integration - that they have a chance of being successful in an e-business strategy. Still, the coordination and organizational obstacles to developing an e-business strategy are formidable. It involves major and potentially disruptive organizational change. The risks of failure and the consequences from limited success are higher in an e-business strategy than in an e-commerce strategy. Being a leader in e-business can contribute to long-term success, but the stresses and strains of business transformation can cause near-term damage. A wise company may decide to consolidate its gains and complete the work involved in its existing and largely separate e-commerce, ERP, CRM or supply-chain initiatives before making the big leap to becoming an e-business. Jumping too soon can be as disastrous as moving too late.

Most companies realize that the Internet is here to stay. Business leaders realize that in order to maintain their competitive edge they must become an eBusiness. But what is the difference between eCommerce and an eBusiness, and how do you know if you are just a business, have an eCommerce site, or are a true eBusiness? Electronic commerce or "eCommerce" covers the range of on-line business activities for products and services, both business-to-business and business-to-consumer, through the Internet. eCommerce breaks into two components:
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Online Shopping - the scope of information and activities that provides the customer with the information they need to conduct business with you and make an informed buying decision. Online Purchasing - the technology infrastructure for the exchange of data and the purchase of a product over the Internet. Online purchasing is a metaphor used in business-to-business eCommerce for providing customers with an online method of placing an order, submitting a purchase order, or requesting a quote.

When you review information on products or services on the Internet, you are carrying out online shopping. While online shopping you may find a product you want to purchase, you place it in an online shopping cart. When you are done shopping and are ready to buy, you click a purchase button. You are then moved to a secure location to carry out online purchasing on the product. To complete the transaction, you need to supply your shipping address and credit card number. These are the fundamental processes of online shopping and online purchasing. These processes are the actions that are referred to as eCommerce. eBusiness is a super-set of eCommerce. One component of transitioning your company from a traditional business to an eBusiness is when you incorporate eCommerce into your company's flow. For example, when your sales and fulfillment organizations can handle webbased purchases equivalently to telephone and mail purchases, you have started the transition to eBusiness.

Your web site may have other activates outside of eCommerce. Most web sites, just like most brick and mortar shopping malls, have activities other then eCommerce. For example, when you go to your local shopping mall at Christmas you may find a Santa Claus. The mall provides the Santa Claus as an activity that drives customer traffic. The Santa Claus does not directly support shopping or help customers purchase items at any of the stores, however it helps the general sales environment for the mall. Similarly, you will have shopping activities on your web site, e.g., product specifications, customer testimonials, and product reviews. You may also have purchasing activities on your site, e.g., order forms, shopping carts, and credit card processing. To draw customers to your site you may include promotional activities, e.g., eLearning courses, entries for a raffle, discussion groups, or an advice columns. "eCommerce" refers to the activities on your web site including online shopping and online purchasing. Many companies have an eCommerce site but are not yet an eBusiness. eCommerce is the online selling component of a web site. eBusiness is the integration of a company's activities including products, procedures, and services with the Internet. You turn your company from a business into an eBusiness when you integrate your sales, marketing, accounting, manufacturing, and operations with your web site activities. An eBusiness uses the Internet as fully integrated channel for all business activities. The following is an example of a company that has not yet become an eBusiness: You visit a retailer's web site and buy a shirt. When the shirt arrives it is in the wrong size. You decide to return the shirt at the store's retail outlet instead of mailing it back to the vendor. However, when you go to the store you are told that they cannot take returns from their web site. Since the web site is not integrated with the rest of their business activities this company is not yet an eBusiness. If the company had integrated their web site with their stores by providing access to their web site from within the store, by accepting exchanges for sales made online, and by training their people to support customers from/with their web site, they would be an eBusiness. eBusinesses do not consider the web site as a separate activity from their core businesses: The web site is integral to all activities at an eBusiness. Companies who are performing Businesses to Business activities become eBusinesses when they integrate standard activities with their

web site. A salesperson considers their web site a sales tool. When talking to a customer the sales person takes the customer to their web site to give product presentations, provides the customer with virtual tours of the newest products, or shows the customer how to use a tool that the customer can use to configure their products. The Marketing Department releases products on the website first, providing online product presentations, eLearning courses, and brochures. Customer Support uses the web site to host FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), support chat lines, and moderate newsgroups. Purchasing uses the web to obtain prices on necessary components and place orders, and Shipping uses the web to schedule deliveries and notify customers of product arrival. Within an eBusiness every department within the company treats the web as an important tool they can use to move business ahead. Is your company a business or an eBusiness? Most companies go through the following series of phases as they evolve from a business to an eBusiness.
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Phase 0: A company doesn't understand how they can take advantage of the Internet. Phase 1: An outside company is hired to create a web site. The web site is static, containing little more than an on-line brochure. Employees rarely reference the site or update it with the latest information. Phase 2: The Company decides to integrate eCommerce on the site. Someone within the company is charged with placing product catalog on-line. Salespeople consider the web site a threat - not an integral tool to conduct business. Phase 3: Everyone's internal Power Point presentations include Web Site initiatives. None of these initiatives have been executed. Phase 4. The company starts implementing initiatives. The web site responsibility moves in-house and is assigned to an important member of the Senior Staff. Phase 5: The web site becomes important to All of Senior Staff. Initiatives are implemented; employees are focused on using the web to conduct business. The company is becoming an eBusiness.

Internet marketing, also known as web marketing, online marketing, webvertising, or e-marketing, is referred to as the marketing (generally promotion) of products or services over the Internet. Internet marketing is considered to be broad in scope[citation needed] because it not only refers to marketing on the Internet, but also includes marketing done via e-mail and wireless media. Digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management (ECRM) systems are also often grouped together under internet marketing.[1] Internet marketing ties together the creative and technical aspects of the Internet, including design, development, advertising and sales.[2] Internet marketing also refers to the placement of media along many different stages of the customer engagement cycle through search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), banner ads on specific websites, email marketing, mobile advertising, and Web 2.0 strategies.