Aside from reducing the cost of doing business, what are the advantages of e-commerce for businesses?

E-commerce serves as an “equalizer”. It enables start-up and small- and medium-
sized enterprises to reach the global market.

However, this does not discount the point that without a good e-business strategy, ecommerce
may in some cases discriminate against SMEs because it reveals proprietary pricing information. A sound e-business plan does not totally disregard old
economy values. The dot-com bust is proof of this.

E-commerce makes “mass customization” possible. E-commerce applications
in this area include easy-to-use ordering systems that allow customers to choose
and order products according to their personal and unique specifications. For instance,
a car manufacturing company with an e-commerce strategy allowing for
online orders can have new cars built within a few days (instead of the several weeks
it currently takes to build a new vehicle) based on customer’s specifications. This
can work more effectively if a company’s manufacturing process is advanced and
integrated into the ordering system.

E-commerce allows “network production.” This refers to the parceling out of the
production process to contractors who are geographically dispersed but who are
connected to each other via computer networks. The benefits of network production
include: reduction in costs, more strategic target marketing, and the facilitation of
selling add-on products, services, and new systems when they are needed. With
network production, a company can assign tasks within its non-core competencies
to factories all over the world that specialize in such tasks (e.g., the assembly of
specific components).