Cybermarketing on the Internet

The purpose of this web-page is to give an insight into the marketing aspects of the internet and to show how more and more companies and businesses are using the internet to bring many transactions to fruition.

From its very basic beginnings in the 1960's to the present day, the internet has expanded rapidly. The internet came about due to US authorities arriving at a frightening question - How would they be able to communicate with each other after a nuclear war had destroyed their central communications base? The solution was to have a system set up with no central base and therefore having no direct target for an enemy missile to attack. People could communicate with each other via computer, both personally and otherwise and this "computer" following grew and grew with more and more people linking themselves up to this new form of computing. So, this was the advent of the internet, and today it is growing exponentially at a rate of twenty percent per month. This link brings one straight to an extract from the "magazine of fantasy and science fiction" compounding these facts

The power of the internet is unchallenged in the modern world. Take for example the $827 million worth of airline tickets bought in America via the internet in 1997. this is a staggering figure, as is Cisco's prediction of $20 billion from E-commerce by 2001, (as can be seen in the library journals of proquest.).

E-commerce or "electronic commerce" is the term used to describe internet marketing and it refers to any sort of trading that takes place over the internet, by a prespective buyer visiting a website and making a purchase there. By far the biggest volume of trade is in business-to-business. Indeed, several companies, including Cisco have transferred almost all of their sales and purchasing to web-sites.

The major advantage with internet marketing is that it is global and has no limits. With it there are no hindrences to the wellfare of the company such as small shelf space or warehousing; on the other hand though heavy or bulky goods are harder and more expensive to sell online than light, easily transportable ones, although these costs are expected to fall rapidly as more products are sold over the internet.(Ref: Copyright Economist Newspaper Group, Incorporated Feb 26, 2000)

Nobody can be sure of the true value of E-commerce but one definate figure is the United States Department of Commerce's estimate that $7 billion worth of goods was bought via the internet in1997, but this was nothing compared to the billions of dollars of sales predicted for the year 2002. Cisco, alone, predicted $20 billion worth of sales by 2001. (Ref: Irish Times Archives)

An overall example of the power of E-commerce is the amount of savings companies will achieve. Giga Information Group Inc. reports that companies using the internet as their main form of business are expected to realize nearly $1.25 trillion in savings by 2002. In the United States alone, cost savings in 2002 are expected to be $600 billion, again due to the web reducing or eliminating costs for the businesses. An increase in cost savings will ultimately lead to greater profit margins, and with that fact in mind, Giga estimates that businesses in the United States will see between $360 billion and $480 billion in 2002. Businesses in other countries are expected to achieve similar results. Mr. Bartels of Giga was qouted as saying, "Just as the telephone affected more than communications and jet airplanes affected more than travel, the internet will continue to drive significant changes in business practices and processes, in addition to sales". To view further facts on the internet generating savings, view this link

The word "marketing" is often used to mean advertising, selling, packaging or public relations. The true definition of marketing is in fact "The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably." or alternatively "Marketing is a human activity aimed at satisfying customer needs and wants through an exchange process, providing customers with benefits that satisfy their wants for payments and profits. (Source: Cybermarketing- Pauline Bickerton, Matthew Bickerton and Upkar Pardes) or view this link.

The internet itself has been described as a marketing information system as it can be used as effectively to your internal customers as it can be to communicate with your external customers. The external environment consists of many factors including market demand, political and legal forces, social and ethical influences, competition, technology and variations in the physical environment. An interesting fact lies in whilst computers have had the potential to communicate with each other for decades it is only in the late 1990's that global high-speed networks are allowing for their widespread and reliable interconnection becoming commonly available for the majority. For further information, view this link.

Description of my links plus further links.

My first link is from the magazine of fantasy and science fiction which I found to be very interesting and entertaining. It contained many "what if" scenarios compounding just how important the internet is to us today.

My next link is from CyberAtlas- The webmarketer's guide to online facts. This link held much information on the actual savings which the internet can generate.

My next two links are from a book I referenced in the library. It is called Cybermarketing and also contains the website address which I have used for my links.

Encyclopedia Brittanica, as well known and respected as they are, were very slow to embrace technology at first but suddenly decided to put their entire encyclopedia online for free. This created a huge media buzz. But the directors of Encyclopedia totally underestimated the huge volume of traffic which surf the internet every day. In effect they were unable to handle the demand and had to close the site down. This is a prime example of the popularity of the internet and how it affected a majorly well known company. To read more, view this link.

This link gives a very good idea of how the internet has influenced purchasing and also the profits that it has generated for many companies around the world.

For a list of countries which go online most frequently and are most familiar with the web visit this site.

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