Marketing refers to activities a company undertakes to promote the buying or

selling of a product or service. Marketing includes advertising, selling, and

delivering products to consumers or other businesses.

Marketing is also seen as the process of getting potential clients or customers

interested in your products and services. The keyword in this definition is

"process." Marketing involves researching, promoting, selling, and distributing

your products or services.

According to the American Marketing Association Marketing is the activity, set of

institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and

exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at

large.

Marketing in broad definition is all about identifying and meeting human and

social needs. In a short definition, marketing is “meeting needs profitably”.

Marketing has pretty much been around forever in one form or another. Since the

day when humans first started trading whatever it was that they first traded,

marketing was there. This article explores the Internet as a marketing

dissemination channel. Some practitioners and academics have dismissed the

Internet and the current level of business interest in the Internet as hype, arguing

that the Internet does not offer any new business models, or new opportunities for
creating customer value. This position denies the central significance of

relationships in business activity. Marketing was the stories they used to convince

other humans to trade. Humans have come a long way since then, (Well, we like to

think we have) and marketing has too [8]. The methods of marketing have changed

and improved, and we've become a lot more efficient at telling our stories and

getting our marketing messages out there. E-Marketing is the product of the

meeting between modern communication technologies and the age-old marketing

principles that humans have always applied. The internet, web and related

information technologies have proven to be transformational. While these

technologies have impacted all parts of the corporation, the marketing function has

perhaps been most affected. E-marketing has emerged as a significant part of every

global corporation’s marketing side. As international acceptance of the internet and

web increases, the scope of international e-marketing now transitions from

possibility to reality, and without it, or incorporating it comes failure.

Relationships are important at both individual and organizational level (The

Firm doing the Marketing and the Consumers that the information is meant for).

Relationships within the value chain both within organizations and between

organizations are crucial to the creation of competitive advantage and the

generation of unique propositions regarding customer value [3]. Relationships with

consumers, As stated by Buttle [3] are recognized to be at the heart of customer

is achieved through the practical science and conceptual frameworks of

eMarketing. However, in order to understand the opportunities and issues faced by

e-marketing, if e-marketing is indeed the future of the marketing field we examine

what is Marketing and what is the current trend in Marketing and what the future

holds.

The Future of Marketing

The future is important, yet it is notoriously difficult to predict, and the

difficulty increases as the time horizon extends. But Globalization of the Markets;

Increased importance of Information Technology; and new forms of competition

are one of the things that will be high on the influence of the future of marketing,

stated by Baker [7]. Globalization and technological advances have greatly

advanced the business opportunities for Marketing. The increased number of

people traveling worldwide in addition to international migration has meant that

marketing innovations has to meet the needs of the clients and have to be

convenient for everyone. The marketing function of the future will continue to be

polarized. Aker highlighted that in a growing number of businesses, marketing will

have more of a strategic role. That means the marketing group must have the skills

and talent to think strategically and the credibility to influence the process to think

in terms of building branded assets rather than immediate sales. Marketing leaders
embarking on a capability journey must embrace collaboration with counterparts

across the organization, HR and Learning and Development colleagues, to add

expertise to the people and skills agenda. They need to work sales, product, and

finance colleagues to support process improvements and to implement the

necessary E-marketing measures. Marketing is changing, and we should expect it

to change. Accounting has been with us since the late 1400’s, and is likely to be

with us for some time yet. This is not to say that it has evolved and changed during

that time, but the essential feature-to provide a fair and accurate statement of the

financial health of a firm has remained unaltered. With Marketing, we do expect it

to evolve from door-to-door guerrilla marketing to a more diversified E-marketing,

Smartphones have become a necessity, technology has increased and marketer

need to find a way for the future and see to it that E-marketing becomes their

primary target.

THE INTERNET AND ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

Without a doubt, the Internet is probably the most important technological

advancement in the past two or three decades. The rapid development in

information technology and communication created vast opportunities for

companies to reconstruct and improve internal and external business processes,

including those related to marketing. The Internet According to Kalakota and

Whinston (1997: 37), the Internet is either “a network of networks, or an

networks composed of computers that use dissimilar operating systems and contain

a variety of contents”. It is said that the Internet started in the 1960‟s in the USA

when the first few networks were linked up or networked for military and

academic reasons. Only in the past decade or two, the use of the network of

networks has moved into the commercial segments, the reasons being;

(1) the ubiquity of personal computers

(2) the advancements in computer software and hardware as well as in

telecommunication technology.

The Internet comprises a number of applications or tools such as electronic

mails, newsgroups, file transfers, and the World Wide Web or the Web as well as a

myriad of computing and communication equipment. The Web is “a collection of

distributed documents referred to as “pages” located on computers (or servers) all

over the world” (Kalakota and Whinston, 1997: 66). The use of a common

computer language, the hypertext markup language (HTML) and a common

communication protocol, the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) enables networks

to link with each other. Chaffey (2002: 76) stated that the Web enables an easy

exchange of information between business and consumers due to the use of

standard tools.
Advantages and Disadvantages of E-commerce

Advantages

E-commerce offers consumers the following advantages:

 Convenience: E-commerce can occur 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Although eCommerce may take a lot of work, it is still possible to generate

sales as you sleep or earn revenue while you are away from your store.

 Increased Selection: Many stores offer a wider array of products online

than they carry in their brick-and-mortar counterparts. And many stores that

solely exist online may offer consumers exclusive inventory that is

unavailable elsewhere.

 Potentially Lower Start-up Cost: E-commerce companies may require a

warehouse or manufacturing site, but they usually don't need a physical

storefront. The cost to operate digitally is often less expensive than needing

to pay rent, insurance, building maintenance, and property taxes.

 International Sales: As long as an e-commerce store can ship to the

customer, an e-commerce company can sell to anyone in the world and isn't

limited by physical geography.

is easier to entice their attention towards placed advertisements, directed

marketing campaigns, or pop-ups specifically aimed at a purpose.

Disadvantages

There are certain drawbacks that come with e-commerce sites, too. The

disadvantages include:

 Limited Customer Service: If you shop online for a computer, you cannot

simply ask an employee to demonstrate a particular model's features in

person. And although some websites let you chat online with a staff

member, this is not a typical practice.

 Lack of Instant Gratification: When you buy an item online, you must

wait for it to be shipped to your home or office. However, e-tailers like

Amazon make the waiting game a little bit less painful by offering same-

day delivery as a premium option for select products.

 Inability to Touch Products: Online images do not necessarily convey the

whole story about an item, and so e-commerce purchases can be

unsatisfying when the products received do not match consumer

expectations. Case in point: an item of clothing may be made from shoddier

fabric than its online image indicates.

overwhelming amount of traffic, or must be temporarily taken down for any

reason, your business is effectively closed until the e-commerce storefront

is back.

 Higher Competition: Although the low barrier to entry regarding low cost

is an advantage, this means other competitors can easily enter the market.

E-commerce companies must have mindful marketing strategies and remain

diligent on SEO optimization to ensure they maintain a digital presence.

Types of E-commerce

Depending on the goods, services, and organization of an ecommerce company,

the business can opt to operate several different ways. Here are several of the

popular business models.

Business-to-Consumer (B2C)

B2C e-commerce companies sell directly to the product end-user. Instead of

distributing goods to an intermediary, a B2C company performs transactions with

the consumer that will ultimately use the good.

goods store's website) or services (such as a lawn care mobile app to reserve

landscaping services). This is the most common business model and is likely the

concept most people think about when they hear the term e-commerce.

Business-to-Business (B2B)

Similar to B2C, an e-commerce business can directly sell goods to a user.

However, instead of being a consumer, that user may be another company. B2B

transactions often entail larger quantities, greater specifications, and longer lead

times. The company placing the order may also have a need to set recurring goods

if the purchase is for recurring manufacturing processes.

Business-to-Government (B2G)

Some entities specialize as government contractors providing goods or services to

agencies or administrations. Similar to a B2B relationship, the business produces

items of value and remits those items to an entity.

B2G e-commerce companies must often meet government requests for proposal

requirements, solicit bids for projects, and meet very specific product or service

criteria. In addition, there may be joint government endeavors to solicit a single

contract through a government-wide acquisition contract.

Established companies are the only entities that can sell things. E-commerce

platforms such as digital marketplaces connect consumers with other consumers

who can list their own products and execute their own sales.

These C2C platforms may be auction-style listings (i.e. eBay auctions) or may

warrant further discussion regarding the item or service being provided (i.e.

Craigslist postings). Enabled by technology, C2C e-commerce platforms empower

consumers to both buy and sell without the need for companies.

Consumer-to-Business (C2B)

Modern platforms have allowed consumers to more easily engage with companies

and offer their services, especially related to short-term contracts, gigs, or

freelance opportunities. For example, consider listings on Upwork.

A consumer may solicit bids or interact with companies that need particular jobs

done. In this way, the e-commerce platform connects businesses

with freelancers to enable consumers greater power to achieve pricing, scheduling,

and employment demands.

Consumer-to-Government (C2G)
Less of a traditional e-commerce relationship, consumers can interact with

administrations, agencies, or governments through C2G partnerships. These

partnerships are often not in the exchange of service but rather, the transaction of

obligation.