pport E-commerce is the process of buying and selling products and services via computer networks. All the buyers and sellers can communicate through the internet. Nowadays, e-commerce is being widely used because it can perform faster and more efficiency by reduce cycle time, improve employees' empowerment and facilitate customer support.
Reduce Cycle Time
Cycle time is the amount of time spend between a customer placing the order and receiving the goods or services. E-commerce can reduce cycle time by eliminating some steps in business and take a shorter time to complete the business transaction. The By using E-commerce, it can eliminate non-value-added activity such as repair due to defects, testing, inspection, schedule delays and so on. Digitize enable the supply chain from internal to external save time needed to process the transaction where means the traditional of booking are upgraded to digitize. Customer can place an order, pay through online and receive the goods or services immediately. the supplier can send the goods or services directly to the customer without involving retailer and middle man. So it can lower the cost and deliver the product faster.
Beside that, E-commerce provides 24 hours store so that the customer can directly order the goods or services no matter in what time zone and wherever they are with access the internet. This can reduce sale cycle and reduce unnecessary phone calls and mailings. Electronic data exchange through internet allows the company to communicate with their customer even in public holidays. Consequently, it affects the whole transaction process and increase efficiency. Dell Corporation is the successful example which using the E-commerce by expanding the marketplace, creating cost saving and improve business process. It benefits society by improving the living standard and delivery of public services.
Improve Employees’ Empowerment 
Next, E-Commerce also can improve employees’ empowerment. Employee is the human capital for the organization. Employee empowerment means giving employees’ responsibility and authority to think, behave, take action, control work and make decisions about their work without supervisory approval. Improve employees’ empowerment can increase employees’ motivation, job satisfaction and loyalty to their companies. Comprehensive Management Application is an application to improve empowerment of employees and enable employees to manage and edit hundreds of critical details about e-commerce activities.
When conducting the E-Commerce, the company will need the employees to check on the system and process any transactions that requested by the customers. Electronic-Data-Interchange (EDI) and intranet enables the employees to have more flexibility and authority to access in transaction system and latest business information, it can help employees respond to customers’ product information requests and handle the customers’ complaint. Employees even can work at their own house and can provide a quick response or feedback to the customers through the internet.
With improve employees’ empowerment by E-commerce, employees can do their job independently and will increase productivity. As a result, it will benefit organization in term of getting closer to customers, improving service quality, innovating continuously and gaining the competitive advantages.
Facilitate Customer Support
Lastly, E-commerce also facilitates customer support by providing a wide range of technological solutions and communication opportunity. Customer demands are improving from days to days. Retaining customers by satisfying their needs is the core of customer service. Quality of services is much more emphasize nowadays compare with the physical product, they required immediate response for their request. E-Commerce allows the owner of the system to facilitate the customer support by provides a special place for customer to place their comments, complaints or question on any of their doubt on the system and check their orders and accounts, and collaborate with the company better through online. For example, like most of the E-Commerce website, there are the “Products Frequently Ask Questions (FAQ)”, it provide the contact information of the company. So that the supplier can manage customers feed back, complaints and recommendation easier and faster.
E-commerce also help to facilitate customer support by provide unlimited shopping hours for customers to place their order anywhere and anytime because it is operate 7-24-365, hence the customer no need to wait until the shop open. Graphic-user-interface (GUI) enables the customers to direct access, view through picture or video and to order the product by visiting the online store.
In conclusion, e-commerce has brought many benefits in our daily life especially for organization. For example, it creates competitive advantages, reduce cost and widening strategic network among traders for the company.
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http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=40577&pageNumber=2
