The Impacts Of Internet On Business Models

8 Pages 1979 Words

ur years to reach fifty million people, which has taken TV fifteen years to capture so large an audience (Chen, 2001, P.5). By the year 2002, about 490 million people around the world have access to the Internet (Diffley, 2002, P.7).

Very quickly, the Internet became one of the most valuable resources for businesses. Businesses and consumers had access to a ubiquitous network of information, rich in resources. Real-time communication offered unprecedented opportunities for conducting worldwide commerce (Diffley, 2002,). Organizations rushed to do businesses in the on-line world of the Internet. Buying, selling, marketing, manufacturing, delivering, all kinds of business processes were integrated into the Internet. Both the consumer and business segment are growing rapidly in this virtual market. A new type of business emerged – electronic business – or e-business was raised, and this was a totally new game, with new players and new rules (Diffley, 2002, P.7).

In the pre-Internet era, relationship with customers, employees, suppliers and other complementors were developed physically within shared geographic locations for most businesses. A local retailer primarily had access to the shoppers of the nearby districts. Its customer must spend time traveling to the shop and trade in store. Larger corporations may have access to customers in a much boarder locations, even world widely, but only by developing a sales force and distribution network that effectively put a little piece of the company in each of those remote locations.

Today, a website is accessible to anyone with access to the Internet anywhere in the world, geography no longer limits even a small company’s access to customers. Information can be transferred between Internet users instantly, allowing Internet users to search, order and pay for the required goods instantly with only a few “clicks”...