Global Marketing Environment-ONLINE MARKETING AND E- COMMERCE By, Dr. Abhijeet Lunkad Roll No:33

HISTORY Online marketing first began in the early 1990s as simple, text-based websites that offered product information. Over time Internet marketing evolved into more than just selling information products, there are people now selling advertising space, software programs, business models and many more exciting products.

DEFINITION Internet marketing is a component of electronic commerce. Internet marketing can include information management, public relations, customer service, and sales. Electronic commerce and Internet marketing have become popular as Internet access is becoming more widely available and used. Well over one third of consumers who have Internet access in their homes report using the Internet to make purchases. Internet marketing is also useful for companies that wish to expand their "brick-and- mortar" business into an online business.

MARKET RESEARCH AND MARKET TESTING Information about competitors Prospects and customer information Audience demographics Product testing and evaluation

PRODUCT AND MARKET EXTENTION Existing product new market Existing markets new product New market new product Customer- defined products

INCREASE IN MARKET EXPOSURE Corporate advertising Public relations Brand leverage

PROSPECT GENERATION AND CONTACT Maintaining contacts with prospects Supporting product trials

DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL SUPPORT Reducing the number of levels in the distribution channel Direct selling Electronic support to the sales force and to intermediaries

PRODUCT-SUPPORT SERVICES Processing post-sales enquiries Access to the company’s knowledge base Maintaining contact with customers base Supporting customer communities

E-COMMERCE E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet, especially the World Wide Web. e.g. ordering a CD or buying and selling stocks. In practice, this term and a newer term, e-business, are often used interchangeably.

INTERNET DOMAINS B2C (Business to customer) B2B ( Business to business) C2C (Customer to customer) C2B (Customer to business)

PURE CLICK V/S BRICK-AND-CLICK COMPANIES Pure-click companies- Those that launched a product with-out any previous existence as a firm. Brick-and-click companies- Those companies already existing and that added an online site for information and/or e- commerce.

CONCLUSION The internet with its enormous reach, has thus become a vital tool in the hands of business and marketing managers, who now have to incorporate IT in their business strategies. The internet is not just another medium for advertising, rather is a new marketing channel for interactive marketing that includes communication and other elements of the marketing-mix i.e distribution, product, and pricing.