E Business A_Day 1_ 12DM-027

The day started with Sir asking us for a re-wind of the previous lectures. Having got up at 8.30 and rushed to the class and with my mind still in the "sleep" mode, I could not comprehend what was asked for,let alone answering the question. Seeing the lackluster response and the pathetic efforts of those who tried, Sir, dismayed, did the revision for us. I, only too happy to be let off the hook, wrote feverishly and filled half a page with a zealous look that even the best of scientists fail to muster in the middle of a groundbreaking research.

The four stages of an e-business model were revised( Value+Target Group,Marketspace, Resources which includes Assets and Partners and lastly the Financial stage which involves revenue generation and sustenance) . Our minds were made to go back to the Benefit-Capabilities-Assets-Resources model which most of us had a faint inkling of because of the examples we did in class. Further on, the "Egg Model" was refreshed and a few examples such as how one government policy amendment (approval of sale of OTC drugs) changed the entire business model of pharmaceutical companies were elaborated on. The RBI requirement for organisations allowing the ease of online transactions for their customers having to ask for details like the credit card number, CVV, Expiry Date and the OTP was also discussed and how the organisations protested, then gave in and subsequently introduced innovations like storage of credit card numbers for frequent customers was also touched upon.

Then started the topic for the day's discussion- The Eight Key Elements of an E-Commerce Business Model. These elements include Value Proposition , Revenue Model , Market Opportunity, Competitive Environment, Competitive Advantage, Market Strategy, Organisational Development and lastly, the Management Team. While this model looked largely similar to the previous models that we had covered (and forgotten), one major difference was the fact that this model gave importance to the one aspect that sustains an organisation- Revenue flow. We were told how important such kind of models become for people like me who will go ahead with an attractive enough idea without first thinking about the money required to back it up. The remaining elements were also debated upon. 

Further, we were told about the three models that most of the e-commerce players followed- Pure Play, Click and Mortar and Hybrid Model. Having looked at these fancy names in equally fancy HBR articles I waited with bated breath for the mysteries to be unveiled. Pure Play turned out to players with a purely offline presence, Click and Mortar those players with a full fledged offline presence(Mortar) and a fledgling offline presence(Click) and Hybrid a combination of the two elucidated before. Examples of the same like flipkart.com, shoppersstop.com were given so that the the three models could be (helpfully) remembered and explained to anyone who dared ask us. We were also told about the various types of online presence that exist today such as community providers like Facebook.com, content providers like Sharekhan.com and service providers like Google Maps. We were then asked to deliberate on the value proposition of Google Maps for individual and business consumers. After a 10 minute round of brainstorming and our ideas shining on the white board in black ink, we were told about the various augmentations like Latitude(which has curiously been retired according to this- https://support.google.com/gmm/answer/3001634?hl=en ) . We were let off for a much deserved break post this strenuous exercise. 

After our break and refreshed by the cold wind and the hot coffee, we returned to a case study discussion on Webvan. This organisation had everything going for it-a fantastic business model that revolved around delivery of groceries(Value Proposition-check) ,funding to the tune of 375 million dollars( Revenue Model-check) and a yet untested business which took care of Competitive Advantage and Market Opportunity. Innovative ideas (which were potential back-breakers for any competition) like free delivery and delivery within an hour had us reasonably certain about the spectacular success that this organisation must have met with. However, the bankruptcy detail that we were greeted with, removed any vestiges of the previous night's slumber. After some research the class came up with potential reasons that could have led to this significant development. Sir patiently heard us all out while asking a couple to re-think their ideas. Post this, our reasons were given a coherent form and we were taught terms like GBF (Get Big Fast) and MVP (Minimum Viable Product) which succinctly explained what had gone wrong. Examples of new and improved e-commerce organisations like gopeppers.com which operated on the same business model but had made subtle changes were discussed too.

And so ended the day's journey into the world of e-commerce. 

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Ankita Singh

PGDM-II (Marketing)

IMT-Ghaziabad

Contact No.-07503139357

Email id- ankita.k.singh.1989@gmail.com