Anything that tightens your relationship with an existing customer increases the revenue you get from that customer. The evolution of electronic commerce coincides with the elevation of business relationships and customer cultivation as key business strategies. Just as many reengineering evangelists have stopped pushing reengineering for cost cutting and started pushing transformation for growth, companies and vendors in the electronic marketplace are concentrating less on individual sales and more on using IT to form partnerships with client companies and to foster relationships with consumers. It's a softer sell, but it's a sell nonetheless because the underlying motive is to make more money. Calif. Encouraging continuous contact with clients by helping them determine their purchase requirements, acquire a product, use a product and replace a product can be the real strength of electronic commerce, says Rick Watson, an associate professor of MIS at the University of Georgia in Athens.
Commerce is about retaining legitimacy and operating in the long run.
It's providing an ongoing service for customers. Ultimately, EC strengthens all the elements of the sales cycle, from marketing to product support. It includes the use of IT leading up to a sale, the sale itself and customer service following the sale. While such a broad definition of EC is necessary to strengthen ties between buyers and sellers, Taylor says some companies will require a radical change in thinking. IS and EC B ecause of these developments, IS will have to take more ownership of their projects.