Retailing in Electronic Commerce: Products and Services
Multiple Choice Questions
1) According to Internet Retailer (2007), approximately ___________ percent of adult U.S. Internet users shop online or research offline sales online.
a. 25
b. 45
c. 65
d. 85
2) All of the following describe retailing except:
a. a retailer is a sales intermediary.
b. many manufacturers sell directly to consumers and through wholesalers and retailers.
c. e-tailing makes it easier for a manufacturer to sell directly to customers by cutting out the intermediary.
d. companies that produce a large number of products, such as Procter & Gamble, do not need retailers for efficient distribution.
3) What is the primary advantage of catalog sales?
a. It eliminates the constraints of space and time.
b. Customers prefer catalog shopping to e-tailing.
c. Catalogs increase interest in products that are then bought online.
d. Products and services can both be sold via catalogs.
4) Dell's distribution strategy is best described as ____________.
a. a brick-and-mortar strategy
b. a shared service mall strategy
c. a click-and-mortar strategy
d. direct marketing from a manufacturer
5) A company that creates and manages many-to-many markets is called a ____________.
a. market maker
b. transaction broker
c. content disseminator
d. viral marketer
6) Which is not a characteristic of social computing technologies?
a. Social computing is increasingly playing a larger role in corporate online strategy.
b. Social computing has shifted online travel from passive selling to active customer engagement.
c. Companies that implement social computing technologies on their own Websites should view it primarily as a sales tool and less as supporting business goals.
d. Social computing plays an important role by providing more correct and relevant information.
7) One of the characteristics of Web 2.0 in the travel industry is ____________.
a. standardization
b. segmentation
c. personalization.
d. intermediation
8) Which of the following is not a characteristic of e-banking?
a. Saves users time and money
b. Is more expensive for banks
c. Is becoming an enabling feature of business growth in the developing world
d. Is increasing peer-to-peer (P2P) online lending
9) Security for online bank transactions include all of the following except:
a. firewalls.
b. SSL encryption.
c. virtual biometrics.
d. digital certificates.
10) Gateways to storefronts and e-malls are referred to as ____________.
a. shopping portals
b. shopbots
c. shopping browsers
d. intelligent search engines
Critical Analysis / Case Study Problems
The Critical Analysis questions are designed to help you gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter, develop an increased ability to apply what you have learned and integrate this knowledge into a greater understanding and appreciation for your field of study. Completion of the following questions will help you outline your answers and organize your thoughts within an appropriate framework. These practice questions will not be graded, but you should apply the same analytical skills and writing proficiencies that you will need for the unit essays. We suggest writing your answers on another piece of paper and comparing your results to the suggested answers at the end of this chapter to help you identify any areas you need to review.
1. Consider the importance of comparison tools, product reviews, and customer ratings in online shopping.
2. Detail the benefits of build-to-order to buyers and sellers. Are there any disadvantages?
3. Why are online travel services such a popular Internet application? Why do so many Websites provide free travel information?
Multiple Choice Questions
1) The 2008 Olympics in Beijing was the most digital Olympics to date for each of the following reasons except:
a. many of the tickets were purchased online by people worldwide, using Beijing Gehue Ticketmaster, in what is called business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce.
b. the International Olympic Committee launched a YouTube channel to broadcast clips that were accessible in many developing countries.
c. millions watched the Olympics through online videos and Internet-enabled cell phones and other mobile devices.
d. global Positioning Systems (GPS) were used to track the position of sailing and rowing boats.
2) EC can take several forms depending on the degree of digitization of the following three dimensions:
a. the product or service sold, the process, and the delivery method.
b. the business process, the collaboration, and the transaction.
c. the payment method, the delivery method, and the production method.
d. the marketing channel, the agent, and the collaboration method.
3) Boeing designing a product together with one of its business partners is an example of this type of interaction.
a. Collaborative commerce
b. Nonbusiness EC
c. B2B3C
d. B2B2C
4) Many companies employ a(n) ________, which is a gateway for customers, employees and partners to reach corporate information and to communicate with the company.
a. corporate portal
b. intranet
c. extranet
d. social network
5) The digital enterprise shifts the focus from managing individual information resources such as devices, applications, and data to ________ that define the business and ultimately deliver value to customers and end users.
a. developing models
b. orchestrating the services and workflows
c. organizing supply chains
d. transforming revenue models
6) According to the Business Environment and Performance Impact Model, ________ provide support to organizations' activities and to actual performance, countering business pressures.
a. EC and IT
b. missions and strategies
c. core competencies and critical response activities
d. markets and government
7) All of the following are benefits of EC to society except:
a. more public services.
b. closing the digital divide.
c. fewer permits and less tax.
d. improve homeland security.
8) Which of the following is a technological limitation of EC?
a. Security and privacy concerns that deter customers from buying
b. Difficulty obtaining venture capital
c. Order fulfillment requirements of large-scale B2C
d. Unresolved taxation, public policy, and legal issues
9) All of the following are non-technological limitations of EC except:
a. software development tools are still evolving.
b. lack of trust in EC and in unknown sellers hinders buying.
c. people do not yet sufficiently trust paperless, faceless transactions.
d. online fraud is increasing.
10) Which of the following is not one of the EC trends?
a. EC topics have been integrated into all functional fields.
b. EC is penetrating more and more business areas, services and governments.
c. EC applications frequently cross departmental and organizational boundaries.
d. National and international government regulations of EC have been resolved.
11) The success of the entrepreneurial company JetPens was due to keeping costs low by each of the following methods except:
a. using open source free software.
b. advertising via e-mail.
c. giving away free samples via social networks.
d. using smart key words to rank high with search engines.
12) Eastern Mountain Sports introduced ____________ tools in order to increase collaboration, information sharing, and communication among stores and their employees, suppliers, and customers.
a. business intelligence
b. B2B
c. B2C
d. Web 2.0
13) Online markets that are owned and operated by a single company and that are either sell-side or buy-side are known as ____________.
a. private e-marketplaces
b. commercial portals
c. e-malls
d. B2B marketplaces
14) Employees may waste time trying to find relevant and accurate information if they have to access multiple information systems. The best solution to this problem is the use of ________.
a. Web portals
b. intermediaries
c. browsers
d. intranets
15) A type of broker that helps consumers compare different stores is a ________.
a. remediator
b. search engine
c. comparison agent
d. virtual mall
16) E-catalogs have several common characteristics. Which of the following is not a characteristic of e-catalogs?
a. Easy to create without advanced information technology
b. Easy to update product information
c. Easy to customize
d. Good search and comparison capabilities
17) The most common and traditional form of auctions in which one seller entertains bids from many buyers is referred to as ___________.
a. forward auctions
b. reverse auctions
c. bidding auction system
d. tendering system
18) What is a benefit of e-auctions to the sellers?
a. anonymity
b. optimal price determined by the market
c. lack of differentiation
d. convenience of bidding anywhere and any time
19) ___________ provides customers with exactly what they want, when and where they want it. Effective communication between the supply chain and the factory floor is needed to make it happen.
a. Build-to-order manufacturing
b. Demand-driven manufacturing
c. Real-time manufacturing
d. Virtual manufacturing
20) Which of the following is a characteristic of e-tailing?
a. Competition is local.
b. Customer relations are less stable due to anonymous contacts.
c. Price changes are expensive, but can be done at anytime.
d. Fewer resources are needed to increase customer loyalty.
21) A marketer that uses e-mail to advertise to potential customers is called a ____________.
a. market maker
b. transaction broker
c. content disseminator
d. viral marketer
22) In an e-market, Federal Express and PayPal are examples of ____________.
a. intermediaries
b. service providers
c. content disseminators
d. viral marketers
23) Compared to the traditional job market, the online job market ____________.
a. has a shorter life cycle
b. is usually specialized and local in scope
c. tends to be less reliable
d. tends to be much less expensive
24) Gateways to storefronts and e-malls are referred to as ____________.
a. shopping portals
b. shopbots
c. shopping browsers
d. intelligent search engines
25) Software tools that scout the Web for stores that sell similar items at low prices are called ____________.
a. shopping portals
b. shopbots
c. shopping browsers
d. intelligent search engines
Please answer ONE of the following:
1) Compare the advantages of online job markets over traditional job markets on five characteristics.
2) Assess enterprise social networks. How can companies use Web 2.0 tools to offer customers more ways to engage and interact on their Websites?
3) Distinguish and briefly discuss the roles and value of intermediaries in e-marketplaces