Task 1 of E-COMMERCE BUSINESS

        In this task, we will present the general information about the EC models which used in the four selected organizations of Oman included;

Bank Muscat (Daily, 2012)

Oman Air (Oman Air, 2019)

Omantel and Opensooq (OAB NET BANK, 2019)

There are different types of EC models which are available in the market of Oman (Khosrow-Pour & Mehdi), and these are mentioned as below:

        Business to Business (B2B) model which gives attention on delivering products as of one industry to another. A lot of e-commerce businesses which considered to be inside this platform are known as service suppliers, such as office furniture supply companies, software companies, file hosting companies, as well as several other e-commerce business types under this title. B2B ecommerce business type characteristically has need of extra start up cash, and the platform works in a straight line with other businesses in a sealed situation.

        Consumer to Business (C2B) is another different type which most people usually never instantly consider as a part from e-commerce business. However, the platform is, indeed, quite frequency developing. This type of e-commerce business explained as the customer which do trades services or products to businesses, and it is approximately equal to a single ownership that attending a bigger business.

        The Business to Consumer (B2C) type is considered as a popular type that most people will figure out when they hear about an ecommerce business. This platform has become the most genuine one in ecommerce marketplace. Even though the transactions in B2C are viewed as the old-style type of trade in which a company does retails to persons. The difference from normal business transaction is that, all the transactions are performed online which is dissimilar with the transactions that we can find in a real store.

        Consumer to Consumer (C2C) was shaped by the growth of the ecommerce business along with the increasing customer assurance in online trade platforms, this type of business permits the consumers to retail, purchase, and also trade products in interchange intended for a slight commission compensated to the site. eBay is an example for this type of business, however, a lot of other public sale and categorized sites (the core fields for Consumer to Consumer or C2C) have known to be released as well as speedily sealed because of this type claimed to be an unverifiable type.

        Government or Public Administration Ecommerce came as the other types of ecommerce where the government or public administration involved in conducting ecommerce transactions with the businesses or consumers. There are two models included in this type:

        Business to Government (B2G also called B2A) is the platform of businesses that has the exclusive and only one customer which is governments or public administration sector.

Customer to Government (C2G also called C2A) is characteristically defined as the business where the persons compensating the government on behalf of tolls, taxes or also education to universities.

Task 2 of E-COMMERCE BUSINESS

        EC models are the models through which the online products sales and transactions of the money takes place. Different types of websites are use in order to sell the products and many of the techniques are also used in order to give and take the transaction. An e-commerce website must offer as many as valuable characteristics or feature appearance to make the customers attracted to do transactions in their store (Chase). Below is the list of the essential techniques to create attractive features of an e-commerce website.

        Dashboard is the place to manage the general idea of e-commerce store. The information presented in dashboard are starting from daily received orders, periodical profits report, yearly profits report, sales revenues and a few more.

The Catalog Management of E-COMMERCE BUSINESS

The Catalog Management is basically a place where you can maintain the category, status, quantity, or anything that related with the products that you are providing in your e-commerce website. The catalog management will help you manage your products easily. Plus, the catalog management will also able you to:

Insert sub-categories under the title of every single category and also create the organized appearance from your e-commerce website.

Create some features management.

Make a list of categorized products.

Images of E-COMMERCE BUSINESS

This images feature will give you a place to describe about details for your online products all the way through images.

Insert uncountable images presenting your online product.

Make it easier for you to manage the images you want for every single of your online product.

        Customer Care will help you to maintain the detail information about your online customer. Plus, with this feature you will also able to:

        Revise the details or any changes in information for each of your online customers.

Verify the accumulation of newsletter between the list of your online customers.

        Once a booking and purchasing transaction are already made successfully, then you will have to process your online product for delivery. Delivery feature will support and make your work easier, since this feature will allow you to:

Insert delivery service.

Manage or correct delivery service.

Automatically allocate the delivery service based on the capability.

Set up the preferable delivery service to be default.

Reviews and Ratings of E-COMMERCE BUSINESS

The entire user or customers will able to insert their reviews as well as which ratings they give for your e-commerce store.

        This feature provides the number of payment combination and also helps your online customers to select which payment option that they prefer.

        It is obviously important for every e-commerce business to make sure that the official website is approachable and give quick respond to all customers. The customers from Mobile users are seemed to take over the world of internet, and therefore, it is also important to implement mobile devices for the needs of your online customers.

            There are different types of the software technologies, techniques and strategies, which are required for the use of EC models in different types of organizations, firms and industries in the Sultanate of Oman. However, I have observed personally that the government and private sectors are using the different types of techniques and software. In this software, the websites are made in the government sector for the payment of the utility bills and other transactions. Private sectors are also using different types of websites and software in order to take the advantage of the modern world through which the individuals can be easily receive and pay the bills, taxes and other transactions.

        At this time, there is a few of restricted private sector e-commerce practice in Oman. The Government of Oman there is aggressively marketing and supporting a “digital society” as well as providing the service of “e-government” throughout the “Information Technology Authority (ITA).” A few of the furthermost commonly demanded for the services of government to be mentioned such as registration process of business and also some customs clearance of imported products, payment for the traffic fines, payment for the utility bills, etc. All of these transactions are being performed online. In the year of 2008, the Government of Oman acted out regulations of procedures prevailing e-commerce business in the country. “Information Technology Authority (ITA)” officials have in recent times recognized the occasions for the investors from the United States in: e-payments (protected authorizations), e-mobile content which featuring Arabic language, as well as few applications of e-government. The ITA even presents a yearly conference discussing about cyber security in Muscat, which might be the biggest interest to any company that interested to join the market of e-commerce. For example, the Oman Tradanet company which specializes in business-to-business services. Some other e-commerce websites concentrating in the applications of mentioned such as e-Oman (Information Technology Authority), Business Gateways International, and also Knowledge Oasis Muscat (Al-Hadidi, 2010).

        In the early of 2006, the Government of Oman started to install the proposal of “e-Government” in combination along with the arrangement of the standard electronic payments (e-Payment) as well as in specific online payments. This was recognized as a significant mutual service in the “Omani e-Government” structural design and also provides as a major facilitator for the process of delivery online within government services and products as well. In addition of this, “Information Technology Authority (ITA)” of Oman has also made up the tactical proposal to constrain the improvement of e-Payments in the country. During May 2008, Oman legally recognized the electronic dealing transactions with implementing the “Electronic Transactions Law,” which is the initial law for authorizing the electronic dealing transactions in the country. The law authorizes the usage of digital autographs in the world of electronic commerce and also communications which made through emails, letters, etc to make sure for the sufficient protection to both the e-commerce business and the public as well. This law also specify penalty for electronic crimes which connecting e-transactions as well as provides the b limited isolation protection for personal data.

        In this task, I will show you the different factors that are responsible for less EC practices. There are many factors, which are available and are responsible for the less E-commerce practices in Oman such as mentioned below (Halibas, Maata, & Sibayan, 2016).

        In Oman, the policies of Government in Oman for e-commerce business are quite complicated and some of the e-commerce business found difficulties to follow the policies. The reason is basically the culture in the country which the majority people are following the Islamic rules and also for anything that they will purchase. Therefore, the government also make limitations for the products which allow selling in e-commerce business as well.

        Trust could be an important aspect in e-commerce business, since the e-commerce companies must able to give faith and assurance to the customers to buy the online products, especially from the e-commerce business that new or unfamiliar. The e-commerce business in Oman seemed to have difficulty in getting trust from the customers to make online transactions. The reason behind this is due to the culture in the country where the people there prefer to buy in normal public market rather than online market.S

        It is definitely acknowledged by the Government of Oman as well as e-commerce companies that the feedback of customers regarding on e-commerce business mentioned the issues in security of the online transaction as the main obstacle to the development of e-commerce in the country. Doing transaction online will requires the customers to hand over their personal information such as name, address, credit card number, etc. The growth of cyber crime also has made the customers getting more conscious to perform any online transaction in e-commerce.

        The main reason which made the customers prefer to do transactions in e-commerce is because they find e-commerce platform as a valuable facility for conducting transaction online. However, in Oman, there seemed to be lack of awareness as well as knowledge of the method in online banking which is a critical factor in e-commerce business. This factor has prevented the customers from get familiar in e-commerce business.

        The quality of products or services from e-commerce could be described as how the perception, value, and justify from the customers regarding the quality of information about the products or services which are offered by e-commerce business. For that reason, the quality of website content claimed to be the predecessor which could lead the trust from online customer on the product or service quality. Moreover, the companies which decided to work in e-commerce business should provide the information quality about their product since the information of the product quality will able to influence the direct satisfaction of the online customers as well.

            I have personally observed that there are different aspects, which depend on the E-commerce, and these are legal, political, ethical, social and technical. The aspects play an important role on the E-commerce as the selling and transaction of online products and money have to go through these process. These aspects have positive impacts as well as negative impacts on the EC.

Acknowledged and accepting the social, ethical, as well as political aspects in e-commerce business along with the usage in e-commerce indeed have increased the enveloping social, ethical and also political aspects on an extraordinary range for the technology of computer nowadays. The presentation of the world of Internet along with e-commerce affects persons, political organizations, and also societies as well. The fact that e-commerce is considered to be a new field, and for that reason, there is basically not enough setting of the standards available for social or ethical appropriate methods of any activities which happened in the Internet world (Gonzalez-Perez & Leonard, 2013). This matter, indeed, has increased a number of issues such as:

        This is an issue of whether the e-commerce should be governed by public regulations or not. And, if it should be governed, then who will have the power to uphold those policies in diverse places all over the world?

        Information rights is the matter which has the connection with the individuals’ right to make sure about their privacy and not let their privacy information to be gathered anywhere on the Internet world.

        Property rights has the point which connected with the fact that any things on the world of Internet are easily to be duplicate or copied and reallocated as well. This has become violation on the individuals’ standard right of intellectual property.

        Public safety and welfare has the issues which refer to everything that associated with a lot of online content which might possibly pretence a risk to public safety as well as welfare.

The detail explanation could be seen from the figure below.

         

 

        Information rights,property rights,governance,and public safety and welfare are considered as the issues which getting increased by e-commerce. These four rights are still, so far, figuring out the ways to get secure in a reality world. It is also considered as a dilemma due to they have spread out all over the international world and e-commerce business lines. And the main point which has been focused of all of these issues is point out on “Privacy.” Privacy is described as the human’s right to be on their own, get free from any observation or also attachment of other people. In the other hand, information privacy defined as the right to find out which information has being assorted and gain the assorted information saved securely. In addition, one point which is also integrated within information privacy is the right to “due process.” ” Due process” defined as a conversant approval structures and “opt-in and out” rules and policies.

Al-Hadidi, A. (2010). An exploratory study on adoption and diffusion of m-government services in the Sultanate of Oman.

Chase, K. (n.d.). Instant E-commerce! Sybex.

Daily, M. (2012). BANKMUSCAT LAUNCHES E-COMMERCE INITIATIVE. Retrieved 2019, from https://muscatdaily.com/Archive/Business/BankMuscat-launches-e-commerce-initiative

Gonzalez-Perez, M.-A., & Leonard, L. (2013). Principles and Strategies to Balance Ethical, Social and Environmental Concerns with Corporate Requirements. Emerald Group Publishing.

Halibas, A. S., Maata, R. L., & Sibayan, R. O. (2016). Usability Evaluation of Selected Oman-based eCommerce Websites. Asian Journal of Business and Management.

Khosrow-Pour, & Mehdi. (n.d.). E-Commerce Trends for Organizational Advancement: New Applications and Methods: New Applications and Methods. IGI Global.

OAB NET BANK. (2019). https://www.oabnetbank.com/netteller-war/. Retrieved 2019, from https://www.oabnetbank.com/netteller-war/

Oman Air. (2019). Oman Air Launches Its Internet Booking Service. Retrieved 2019, from https://www.omanair.com/en/about-us/press-releases/oman-air-launches-its-internet-booking-service