Introduction
E-Commerce actively develops today because it addresses the needs of modern consumers who prefer to use such websites as Amazon.com and eBay.com in order to do their regular shopping. In this context, Amazon.com and eBay.com are businesses that develop according to the specific rules of e-Commerce while using the Internet as the platform for retailing and other types of transactions. In spite of the fact that Amazon.com and eBay.com have similarities in the development within the e-Commerce context, it is important to focus on differences in the business models followed by the websites, in payment systems, and in security principles.
Description of the Sites
Amazon.com is one of the leading world companies in the sphere of e-Commerce. The company that was founded in 1994 is headquartered today in Seattle, Washington. Originally, Amazon.com was oriented to selling books online. Later, the website began to specialise in selling a range of products, including music CDs, toys, software, and electronics (Amazon, 2015). The company also launched the production of electronics for customers and focused on selling e-book readers and tablets, among other products.
eBay.com is an online auction founded in 1995 and belonging to the large corporation in the sphere of e-Commerce that specialises in promoting the consumer-to-consumer business. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California (eBay, 2015). Today, eBay.com is not only an online auction but also a standard online retailer, like Amazon.com, that proposes a variety of goods and products.
Target Audience
Referring to the criterion of the target audience for two discussed websites, it is important to state that Amazon.com identifies the target audience as a global community without focusing on aspects of age, gender, or culture because of the variety of products proposed for retailing. The main focus is on addressing the needs of the largest group of customers in order to maximise profits (Einav, Levin, Popov, & Sundaresan, 2014, p. 490). Discussing the case of eBay.com, it is significant to note that the modern target audience of the website is similar to the audience of Amazon.com because eBay.com has also focused on online retailing along with promoting the features of the online auction. Today, the representatives of eBay.com discuss the audience of the website as ageless and classless, although years ago, the company was oriented to the young population (eBay, 2015).
Type of Business Model
Amazon utilizes such two traditional business models as business-to-consumer (B2C) operations while orienting to their customers and business-to-business (B2B) operations while working with suppliers. Furthermore, the company works to apply the more progressive consumer-to-business (C2B) model when consumers can influence businesses with their reviews located at the website. eBay refers to such business models as consumer-to-consumer (C2C) operations typical for online auctions and the B2C model, which encompasses the main principles of online retailing (Ngo-Ye, 2013, p. 382).
Business Model Key Ingredients
In order to promote the commercial success, Amazon mainly refers to the B2C model, when consumers have the opportunity to search for the necessary product on the website, select it based on descriptions and reviews, and purchase the chosen item among the variety of other products categorised according to their types and purposes. B2B operations are observed when Amazon develops the relationships with suppliers while attracting more businesses to propose their products with the help of Amazon.com (Einav et al., 2014, p. 490). Finally, it is possible to refer to the C2B model while discussing the role of customer reviews located on the website to influence the consumers’ purchasing decisions and the brand image of the supplier.
In contrast to Amazon.com, eBay.com primarily functions as the online auction according to the C2C model. Using the website, persons can not only purchase but also sell different items while focusing on bids and competitive prices (eBay, 2015). As a result, users of the website receive the opportunity to buy and sell not only traditional products and goods but also collectables, elements of decor, domain names, and art (Ngo-Ye, 2013, p. 382). Furthermore, eBay focused on developing the B2C model while proposing the standard online shopping for users in order to attract more customers as the general public.
Payment Systems
Amazon and eBay chose to use different payment systems in order to realise and control transactions between sellers and consumers using the websites. Thus, Amazon.com refers to the services provided by the Amazon Payments system, and customers receive the opportunity to pay for goods while mainly using Visa and MasterCard as well as Amazon Payments products (Amazon, 2015). Amazon Payments products are the category of payment tools proposed by Amazon for the customers’ convenience. In their turn, the users of eBay.com have the opportunity to pay for products while using the PayPal system owned by eBay, Skrill as the electronic wallet, and credit or debit cards (eBay, 2015).
Security Features
Amazon has developed the security policy based on protecting the consumers’ private information regarding the numbers of their credit cards. Netscape Secure Commerce Server was launched in order to keep the customers’ credit card numbers separately from the other open or available information (Amazon, 2015). In contrast, eBay focused on providing the customers with effective guidelines regarding the process of creating accounts, and the company points at the necessity of using Microsoft’s Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) in order to reduce the frequency of criminals’ attacks (eBay, 2015).
Conclusion
Amazon.com and eBay.com can be discussed as the leaders of global e-Commerce because these websites attract the largest number of consumers from all over the world. The success of the companies’ activities depends on the selected business models. If Amazon focuses on operating in relation to several channels while referring to B2C, B2B, and C2B models, eBay utilises the advantages of using C2C and B2C models. Furthermore, the companies work to develop their payment and security strategies in addition to the marketing strategies in order to address and attract more customers from different backgrounds and having different demographic profiles.
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