To thrive online, businesses must focus on building and enhancing customer relationships for repeat transactions, leveraging internal skills and resources to meet customer needs, and utilizing the extensive value network. Business processes, including eProcesses for eCommerce, are central to addressing these aspects by defining operational workflows and customer interactions. Unlike traditional processes that focus on inputs and outputs, eProcesses operate on rules to access a wider network. Achieving eProcess excellence involves integrating software for automating interactions, establishing electronic connections with partners for outsourcing or capability enhancement, and employing both personnel and software for exceptional service management, all crucial for sustained profitability.
The ultimate triumph of any eCommerce enterprise hinges significantly on its adeptness in forging and fortifying connections with its clientele and its allies within the value network. Succinctly, for eCommerce entities, there exists a palpable correlation between the cultivation of successful relationships and the attainment of long-term profitability. The essence of eCommerce revolves around relationship-building, which stands as its principal commercial endeavor. However, the path to establishing prosperous online relationships is fraught with challenges. It demands efforts that transcend mere marketing and the generation of transactions. Successful relationships are characterized by varying levels of interaction (Touch) and the depth of information exchange (Texture). Within the realm of value networks, relationships manifest in four fundamental types. Among these, collaborative relationships hold the highest business value, prompting eProcesses to strive towards transforming all other forms of online relationships towards this ideal, encompassing both partners in the value network and customers. From the perspective of customers, a collaborative relationship materializes when a website provides texture and service needs fulfill touch. In essence, astute online businesses are meticulously crafting a multi-layered relationship infrastructure through the deployment of various eProcesses. These processes not only serve to reinforce the layers connecting the customer and the company but also ensure the integrity of the entire transaction process, thereby fostering confidence within the relationship. The era of easy victories in electronic commerce has concluded. The integration of execution into innovation represents a formidable challenge, the overcoming of which bestows an eProcess advantage, as noted by Peter Keen and Mark McDonald. The real challenge transcends the mere capability to conduct business on the Web, which can be achieved through a website, a substantial marketing budget, and competitive pricing to secure transactions. The crux lies in leveraging the Web to enhance profitability through fostering repeat business and relationships. Addressing this challenge necessitates a blend of capabilities that adeptly manage business transactions and relationship cultivation. The competitive landscape is defined not by websites but by value networks. eProcesses emerge as pivotal tools in constructing these networks, with relationships acting as the primary value generators. Therefore, the initial step should involve designing the relationships, which serves as the strategic approach to targeting the marketplace. Initiating with a clean slate, businesses should leverage their model not by merely designing a website but by envisioning the site as a conduit for relationships. Subsequently, defining and sourcing process capabilities that offer the most robust value network becomes crucial. The technical facets of telecommunications, computers, and data complexes form a relationship platform that can be progressively expanded and enhanced. The capabilities within your value network delineate the scope of your eCommerce capability and business. This scope engenders a dynamic framework essential for establishing the most significant relationships for your business and capabilities. This focused approach is vital for identifying and defining the appropriate relationships among the network's participants. Competing within a value network proves more efficacious than solitary endeavors, highlighting the importance of teamwork over individual efforts. Companies that limit their online presence to mere shopping and purchasing functionalities resemble electronic convenience stores, competing solely on price and inadvertently fostering commoditization. This perspective, shared by Peter Keen and Mark McDonald, underscores the necessity of transcending basic transactional interactions to avoid the pitfalls of commoditization and instead, focus on building meaningful, value-driven relationships.
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