E-commerce marketing is a marketing activity that refers to the electronic business process. E-commerce marketing activities on the Internet include online advertising, ordering, payment, customer service and delivery of goods and other sales, pre-sale and after-sales service, as well as market research and analysis, financial accounting and production arrangements, and other commercial activities developed using the Internet.
E-commerce has a broad and narrow division, narrowly defined e-commerce, also known as electronic transactions (E-Commerce), refers to the enterprise in the network (mainly refers to the Internet network) on the use of Web-provided means of communication for transactions. In a broader sense, also known as electronic business (E-Business), refers to the company's use of the network of all commercial activities, including market analysis, customer contact, material deployment, etc., the purpose is to create a target market satisfaction, so that the company's marketing strategy to adapt to the needs of market changes.
From the marketing point of view, e-commerce marketing, a marketing method and mail order, telephone and television shopping and other ways side by side, from the concept of direct marketing. His advancement is reflected in the buyer's freedom to make purchasing decisions, the degree of transaction liberalization, the ability to interact, the objective dependence of the purchase decision on the computer, the potential to grow into a complete electronic market.
The range of applications of e-commerce mainly includes the securities market, online transactions (such as food and department stores, flowers and gifts, household appliances, etc.), home banking, travel services, online information services, online games, books and reports, application software and computer products.
At present, the international e-commerce market has become one of the fastest growing markets, and companies engaged in e-commerce marketing have emerged in the world economy. According to statistics [1] to the end of 1996, the U.S. "Happiness" magazine rated the nation's 500 largest companies have half of the online marketing [2]. In the marketing of advertising expenditures, Forbes survey shows that: 1995 Internet advertising costs 0.37 billion U.S. dollars, to 1996 rose to 312 million U.S. dollars, it is estimated that 2000 will reach 5 billion U.S. dollars. 1998 U.S. stock market superstar is Amazon (Amazon) online bookstore, a year of the company's share price rose more than eight times, the end of the year per share exceeded 300 The company's stock price rose more than eight times in a year, and at the end of the year each share exceeded the 300-dollar mark, bringing its total market capitalization to 18 billion dollars, surpassing the famous U.S. mail-order company Sias with a history of more than 100 years.
In addition to the rapid development of the Internet to promote e-commerce, the governments of various countries to e-commerce is also an important factor. The current e-commerce in the information security, transaction system, the construction of laws and regulations is not satisfactory, strengthen the government departments on the development of e-commerce macro-planning and guidance, and for the development of e-commerce to provide a good policy and regulations for the development of e-commerce has become the rapid development of e-commerce can not be ignored aspects. The U.S. government put forward the Global E-Commerce Policy Framework in early 1997. The document puts forward the overall policy of the U.S. government on Internet-based e-commerce, which involves "principles", "financial issues", "market access issues" and other aspects. The content involves "principles", "financial issues", "market access issues" and other aspects. At present, the U.S. government has launched domestic legislation and international negotiations in accordance with this policy framework.
China's e-commerce marketing has been gradually emerging with the development of the Internet. 1994, around the time, approved by the Chinese government built CERNET, CSNET, GBNET and CHINANET and other four major Internet ISP (Internet Service Provider), as of June 30, 1998, the Internet users were 1.175 million. As of June 30, 1998, there were 1.175 million Internet users [3]. China's enterprises have been trying to use the Internet to carry out e-commerce marketing. February 28, 1996, Sichuan Maoqing Tea Factory backlog of 16,000 kilograms of jasmine tea, through the Internet advertising investment, the results reached a deal, becoming the first domestic records of successful transactions [4]. Of course this kind of advertising and marketing is only one of its basic components. At present, our country in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou has been opened one after another bank security payment system, combined with the Internet to complete the transaction settlement between ISP and customers. With the gradual improvement of the domestic settlement system and the convergence with the world, e-commerce marketing will rise rapidly in the world.
Two, e-commerce marketing in China's development of feasibility studies
The previous introduction to the rise of e-commerce marketing and development prospects, the following from the technical feasibility and environmental feasibility of the two aspects of e-commerce marketing in China to carry out research on the development.
1. Technical feasibility
Technical feasibility is mainly to discuss whether the current level of technology available to businesses, consumers and public **** facilities to support the implementation of large-scale e-commerce marketing. The discussion is mainly divided into two aspects: communication network technology and security technology.
(1) communication network technology to realize
At present, there are mainly three different but interrelated network modes: Internet, Intranet (corporate intranet), Extranet (corporate extranet). Enterprises mainly use the TCP/TP protocol to establish the application network for enterprise management and communication, which is Intranet. and between the various enterprises to follow the same protocols and standards, the establishment of a very close information exchange system, which greatly improves the ability to collaborate on the production of the enterprise and the level of Extranet.
Attachment {figure}
By Figure 1 can be see that e-commerce is not only buying and selling and hardware and software information, but also on the Internet, Intranet, Extranet will be buyers and sellers, manufacturers and partners closely together, thus eliminating the barriers brought about by time and space.
(2) security technology issues
Security is an important factor in the development of e-commerce. Because through the TCP / TP network, it is impossible to use the usual way to confirm the true identity of the person with whom you are communicating, any person, you can use some technical means, stealing to see the online transmission of information, and can replace and modify this information. E-commerce is mainly faced with the following four security issues:
First, the problem of confidentiality
In the process of e-commerce, the online transmission of some extremely sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, product offers, etc., the customer does not want to steal this information.
Second, the authentication problem
On the Internet, the two sides of the transaction can not meet each other, so there must be a way to determine the identity of the other side.
Third, the integrity problem
The data transmitted in the transaction not only can not be eavesdropped, but also can not be modified. For example, in a transfer transaction, the transfer account number cannot be replaced.
Fourth, the issue of non-repudiation
Once the transaction process is over, no party to the transaction can unilaterally deny that the transaction has occurred. There must be non-falsifiable electronic documents to prove each transaction.
At present, domestic and foreign e-commerce security technology has SSL (Secure Socket Layer), SET (Secure Electronic Transaction) and other protocols and standards. The SET protocol was developed by MasterCard International and Visa International, the two largest credit card companies in the world, and its version 1.0 was formally launched in June 1997. As it is designed specifically for electronic transactions, it solves the problem of authentication and security better, and it is quickly accepted by the industry (and has already been accepted by the IETF as an international standard). China's SET-based secure payment system was opened at the Bank of China on March 6, 1998, and completed the settlement of transactions between ISPs and customers. Although the current Bank of China's online business is only open to Beijing users, issued digital certificates as of the end of March there are only six [6], but this is, after all, a sign of network marketing in the safe and fast settlement function has been available to show the feasibility.
In summary, the technology required for e-commerce marketing, both at home and abroad, whether it is communication network technology or security technology, have gone through the "technology realization" stage, is now entering the "technology opening and popularization" stage. The technicians are now faced with the work of technical means to reduce costs, improve the popularity and security, so as to expand the market scope of marketing.
2. Environmental feasibility
The environment in which the network marketing is divided into macro-environment and micro-environment two parts. Macro environment includes the ideological concepts, economic systems and policies, legal systems, demographic conditions, technology and other factors. Micro-environment includes enterprises engaged in network marketing itself, its market intermediaries, customers, competitors and the public faced with direct impact on the ability of enterprises to serve the market actors. Many factors in the macro and micro environment play an important role in the realization of network marketing.
(1) Macro factor analysis
First, in terms of ideological concepts, the gradual establishment of informatization awareness, market-centered awareness and network awareness
Premier Zhu Rongji put forward in the government's work report: "We should revitalize the country through science and education, and focus on the support and development of the information industry." The Outline of the Ninth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Vision for 2010 (the Outline), which was adopted at the Fourth Session of the Eighth National People's Congress, explicitly emphasized the development of the tertiary industry with the focus on the information industry and pointed out that: "the degree of informatization of the national economy should be significantly improved, and the construction of national information infrastructure should continue to be strengthened. Continue to strengthen the construction of the national information infrastructure." This fully explains the use of information technology to improve the competitiveness of enterprises, is to adapt to the national will of China's informatization.
At present, China's enterprises have widely carried out different degrees of business informationization transformation work. For the use of computers to purchase, sales, adjustments, inventory statistical analysis, financial management, for bar code technology and POS technology, our enterprises are no longer strangers. For EDI and MRP Ⅱ and other world-leading information technology, some enterprises are also using. Enterprises have experienced the economic benefits of information technology, which has made a good preparation for the introduction of information technology marketing methods.
After nearly 20 years of reform and opening up, China has gradually transitioned from a planned economy to a market economy. The reform of the economic system has enabled enterprises to detach themselves from the government structure, and individuals have thus bid farewell to the "big pot rice" and "iron rice bowl". In the fierce market competition, who can fastest understand the information, the use of information, who has the initiative to compete in the market. Because Internet e-commerce marketing, will provide people with the fastest information transmission channel, the enterprise, individuals and the market communicate with each other.
Network awareness is also increasingly accepted. About three years ago, a student at Peking University, in order to save the life of a fellow student, to the Internet sent out a message of help, and soon more than 1,000 medical experts around the world in the "online consultation", the sick students so out of harm's way. This incident in the community caused a greater shock, people began to understand that the virtual space is not false, it is linked to the reality of all kinds of interests. Our businessmen, scholars, and ordinary people have begun to pay attention to the Internet, a variety of network publications have emerged in large numbers, network awareness has become a market survival consciousness.
Second, in the legal environment, efforts to create a good legal environment is an important issue in the realization of China's marketing
The following from the guarantee of normal marketing and marketing of the ultra-legal aspects of the analysis.
Regulations to ensure the normal operation of the Internet is not a blank slate. There are a large number of laws relating to information in our country. They are scattered in the relevant laws, therefore, in the scope of these laws to speak of a "legislative vacuum" is not appropriate. Only the implementation of these laws in the field of Internet, in the forensics, invocation and other aspects of the existence of certain difficulties, as long as there are computers and legal technical support, these laws in virtual space can be implemented. Relevant laws and regulations include:
The protection of citizens' right to freedom of information is embodied in China's Constitution, Education Law, Regional National Autonomy Law, and the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, etc. For example, Article 40 of China's Constitution stipulates that the citizens' freedom and privacy of communication shall be protected by law.
The legal protection of consumers' right to information is manifested in China's Consumer Protection Law, Anti-Unfair Competition Law, Advertising Law, Product Quality Law, etc. For example, Article 8 of the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law stipulates that consumers have the right to know the true situation of the goods they buy, use, or services they receive.
The protection of intellectual property rights is embodied in China's Patent Law, Trademark Law, and Copyright Law.
The protection of the right to business information is embodied in China's Company Law, the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, and regulations on securities and finance.
The legislative intent of the laws and regulations cited above is not directly related to Internet marketing. However, they objectively provide privacy, access to information, intellectual property rights and other aspects of the marketing of the various interests of the main body to protect.
The supra-legal nature of marketing refers to the fact that the technology involved changes at such a high rate that it is not possible to fully cover this area in existing legislation. This includes:
The legal validity of texts. For example: the conditions for the recognition and acceptance of legal texts such as contracts, notarized documents, etc. transmitted by means of network communication: the acceptability of electronic signatures and other identification procedures.
Problems of defining intellectual property. Such as: the text, images, graphics, sound and other traditional forms of expression of the work into a binary digital code is not the original work of the copyright holder's patent; the establishment of the site to prepare text documents often have to make use of other people's works of fragments, this process of copyright relations how to define and deal with.
Reasonable protection of privacy issues. The marketing process, the enterprise can get a lot of personal information. If this information is not protected, the privacy and interests of individuals will be rapidly violated. For example, once someone's personal information and e-mail address are sold, his mailbox will soon be flooded with countless advertising e-mails, and his normal communications will be interfered with. How to define a reasonable right to privacy, tracking, recording, and analyzing customer browsing on the Internet, and the legitimacy of purchasing behavior all fall within this scope.
The issue of the rights and obligations of the main body of the behavior. ISPs, online marketing companies and online customers are all three with the Internet only produced the main body. These three on the marketing process of virus dissemination, defamation, reactionary speech dissemination, transaction information transmission distortion, delay and other events should bear what responsibility.
China's Internet-related laws and regulations are the "Chinese People's Republic of China *** and the State Computing Information System Security Protection Regulations", "Chinese People's Republic of China *** and the State Computer Information Networks Interim Provisions on International Internet Management", the former State Council Leading Group on Informatization launched the electronic bulletin board management methods and Internet domain name management methods. These decrees and regulations are only indirectly related to marketing, involving the four aspects mentioned above is still blank.
Third, the policy environment, China has not yet put forward a complete set of policy framework
China has neither a virtual space market expansion policy nor a national market protection policy. However, at present, China's currency is non-freely convertible, and except for areas such as Hong Kong, citizens generally do not use international credit cards, and as a result, it is generally not possible for domestic online consumers to directly participate in non-national web shopping activities. Foreign companies cannot realize sales online in China, and the market is not encroached upon.
China's policies related to online marketing are primarily reflected in its communications policies. There are both favorable and unfavorable aspects of the current construction and operation of communication facilities for marketing development. Favorable parts include: the main body of the network construction is clearly categorized as the Ministry of Information Industry; the initial opening up of the market, breaking the situation of China Telecom monolithic. The unfavorable parts include: the determination of communication tariffs is still governmental rather than market behavior, the prevailing tariff pricing method to inhibit network speed, this pricing method is one of the reasons that the network speed is seriously lagging behind the world's advanced countries; non-level playing field, so that the online marketing can not get high-quality services.
In summary, the policy environment facing online marketing is not optimistic, China's telecom market does not have a fair competition environment, and the time is not ripe for the rapid development of e-commerce marketing.
(2) Micro-environmental analysis
Philip Kotler divided the actors in the company's micro-environment into the following six types, including the company, suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customers, competition and the public. The following 6 kinds of actors to analyze the micro-environment faced by online marketing.
First, the company and suppliers
China's enterprises have fully recognized the application of computers to improve the competitiveness of the role of the enterprise. 1996 China's sales of PCs amounted to 2.1 million units, ranked in the United States, Japan, after the world's third, an increase of 74% compared with 1995, of which the non-domestic purchase of 1.785 million units, 586 PCs accounted for more than 85%. Computer in the enterprise popularization speed, high grade, for online marketing provides a material basis.
Enterprises to establish their own network and site costs are high. Enterprises rent space to the ISP, the cost of opening the site is very flexible, according to the number of features from 5000 yuan / year to 100,000 yuan / year. With ISPs this flexible charges there are more enterprises can be based on their own economic strength to carry out online marketing. According to the authoritative statistics of the China Internet Information Center, as of October 31, 1997, China has more than 1,000 large and medium-sized enterprises to establish their own information centers, of which 5% of the establishment of the enterprise computer network. *** There are 4,066 units in the CN (China) under the registration of the domain name, the launch of online marketing, although the number is not large, but in our country and the Internet connection for only four years, open to enterprises for only three years. In such a short period of time, there are so many enterprises began to recognize and use the network for marketing, indicating that there is a good foundation in China.
Second, marketing intermediaries
Marketing intermediaries include financial intermediaries, marketing service intermediaries, and physical distribution organizations.
Previously in the technical feasibility analysis, it has been explained that support for online marketing SET-based secure payment system in China is still in the pilot stage, which is the clearinghouse side of the situation. Support for this system should also consider the customer side of the situation. The customer's payment tool is credit card. By the end of 1995 China's bank credit cards issued 14,113,817, an increase of 67.50% over the previous year. In terms of total volume, the number of credit cards issued is larger than the number of Internet users. Thus, the customer side of the environment is optimistic, once the settlement center problem is solved, the whole system can be operated to support online marketing.
The marketing service intermediaries include the access service provider, the ISP, and the line provider, the information industry department. In China, the main Internet-level ISP that is open to the public and allowed to conduct business activities is CHINANET. CHINANET's network construction started in 1995, and now the backbone network has reached the country's provincial capitals, with a backbone rate of 2Mbps and a total international export capacity of 84.6Mbps [7].
Physical distribution organizations distribute the products sold. Online products are categorized into information products and non-information products. If the information products can be transmitted directly through the network, without the need for physical distribution organizations; if the non-information products need to be delivered to the door physical distribution organizations. Due to the current surplus of labor in China, self-organized delivery team has a certain economic viability, relying on the original network or chain stores on behalf of storage, customer self-take is also a viable option.
Third, the customer
The popularity of online marketing in China's ordinary people there are three problems, let's call it "will use", "dare to use", "happy to use "
Nowadays, there are three difficulties in the popularization of online marketing among ordinary people in China.
Now the average customer to participate in online marketing must have a certain basic knowledge of computer and network applications. For the younger generation, the difficulty of learning this knowledge is not too great. More than 65% of China's online population are young people between the ages of 20 and 30. For customers of other ages, it is a bit difficult to learn these. Is there a way to participate in online marketing without having so much knowledge? Also, how do you get the approximately 51 million cable subscribers to participate in online marketing?
Fake goods and services have flooded the entire market for goods, and in the virtual space, the likelihood of fakes is even higher, so there is a need for sound regulations to foster trust in online merchants so that customers will dare to participate in shopping and promotion.
Some people think: the promotion of online marketing is contrary to the shopping habits of people to shop for fun, and therefore unlikely to have a big development. However, with the accelerated pace of life, the intensification of work competition, people are left to shopping shopping time is less and less, and culture, sports and leisure time is more and more. Online shopping can provide customers with a large number of cultural and leisure activities, there will be more and more people "happy to use".
Fourth, the competition and the public
Online marketing is still a new thing in China, not very popular. In the same industry, there are only a small number of companies online, the competition is not very fierce. In the case that there are not many competitors in a certain market, enterprises should seize the opportunity to establish and consolidate the position of market leader. As for the public, such as the media public, government agencies, etc..
Looking at the micro-environment of online marketing, customers are the most problematic factor. In the target market in the popularization of network knowledge, cultivate customer trust, and guide them to develop good consumption habits is in the specific conduct of online marketing should pay attention to the main points.
Three, the development of e-commerce marketing in China's decision-making recommendations
E-commerce marketing is a direction of the development of marketing, can realize the reduction of marketing costs and improve the quality of marketing, and ultimately is to improve the competitiveness of enterprises. Enterprises to develop e-commerce marketing, the current communication network technology and security technology has gone through the "technical realization" stage, is now entering the "technical openness and popularization" stage; and the macro and micro environment, ideological concepts, economic systems and policies, legal system, demographic conditions and the marketing industry. The macro and micro environment, ideology, economic system and policy, legal system, demographic situation, as well as enterprises engaged in marketing itself, there are still imperfections, directly or indirectly play a role in and affect the realization of marketing.
At present, the United States of America's Amazon (Amazon) online bookstore's annual sales to 34% of the rate of increase in 1997 sales of 148 million U.S. dollars, 1998 is expected to exceed 500 million U.S. dollars. However, Amazon has not made a penny since its inception, while the total profit of Sias in 1997 was 1.2 billion U.S. dollars. 1998 Amazon's stock price rose more than eight times, becoming the star of the U.S. stock market. For this "Amazon phenomenon", the U.S. stock market analysts do not agree. But the more consistent view is that U.S. investors are optimistic about the huge potential of online business is the main reason for its popularity.
China's enterprises to develop e-commerce marketing according to their own industry characteristics, the behavioral characteristics of consumers in the target market, the economic strength of the enterprise, the state of the marketing environment and other factors to develop the enterprise's marketing objectives, select the products suitable for online transactions, the use of network tools for marketing planning, select the appropriate marketing financial intermediary to carry out online transactions, and the use of online tools to carry out statistics and evaluation, timely adjustment of strategies to win the market. evaluation, adjust the strategy in time to win the dominant position in the market. At this stage, combined with national conditions, tracking technology, down-to-earth pilot, promote the development, while protecting market resources and national culture, take the road of sustainable development, which is the fundamental development.