The internet and ecommerce have created companies seemingly overnight. Amazon, in particular, has disrupted both B2C and B2B businesses.
Written by the consultants who run these selections, not by a software vendor.
[ From the guide ]
The internet and ecommerce have created companies seemingly overnight. Amazon, in particular, has disrupted both B2C and B2B businesses.
This paper provides an explanation of the depth of this disruption by researching key players and Amazon's role. To combat this disruption, best practices are recommended that all distributors should be following, and a project methodology is outlined, one that drives business process improvement to reach best practices. The paper closes by highlighting the areas of best practice most closely tied to the disruption by Amazon.
What has happened, is the internet. Just as fast food companies were created with the advent of the car, the internet and ecommerce have created companies virtually overnight. Amazon, while well-known for focusing on the consumer, sells many of their products direct to businesses. Amazon has disrupted both B2C (Business to Consumer), affecting the likes of Walmart, and B2B (Business to Business), affecting everyone else. Alibaba ships over five times the number of packages of Amazon. Started in 1999 by Jack Ma (an English teacher), they mostly offer the goods of others for sale. Alibaba began in the B2B space by offering to companies outside of China access to businesses inside of China via the internet. Their website offered the ability to search for both importers and exporters. Alibaba has entered all facets of ecommerce including, mobility, media, hosted computing, and selling directly to consumers. Today, Alibaba's pre-IPO valuation is greater than that of E-Bay and Amazon combined. Alibaba is the world's largest retailer, but does not own the products. Facebook is second in valuation only to Alphabet (Google) among companies whose business is driven mostly by the internet. Facebook was open to everyone (started with college students) in 2006, and today their revenue is acquired through advertising with over 3 million active advertisers (active being defined by placing and add within the last month). Facebook leads all social logins with a market share over 60%, and in social mobile logins over 75% market share. Facebook is the world's largest media company, but they don't create the media. Airbnb is a broker of hospitality services, established in 2008 under the website airbedandbreakfast.com, because it's founders could not afford the rent of their apartment. They have proprietary data about their customers' travel preferences. They are paid in three ways: by their customers who list their lodgings on the Airbnb site, through commissions for placed bookings, and through advertising. Today Airbnb has over 3 million listings in almost all countries throughout the world. Airbnb is the world's largest hotel chain, but does not own any hotels. Uber is a car sharing service founded in 2009. The rating of both drivers and customers enables Uber to self-monitor both experiences. However, they are investigating in driverless cars, which would drastically change their balance sheet. Today, Uber's private valuation is valued at more than either GM's or Ford's public valuations. Uber is the world's largest taxi company but does not own the cars. New digital rules are developing. Alibaba drives selling relationships across languages and distance. Facebook allows us to stay connected with friends and share our thoughts immediately. Airbnb has disrupted the lodging market by providing access to millions of rooms, which meet our individual profile. Uber self regulates their experience with ratings.