Glenda Dent
Phase 1 Individual Project
MGM310-1201B-02
Instructor: J. Orosco
February 27, 2012

Introduction
There are three main ecommerce business models, B2B (business to business), B2C (business to consumer), and C2C (consumer to consumer) and these three main models can combine other models which consist of merchant business model, advertising business model, affiliate business model, brokerage business model, information business model, and subscription business model. The B2C business model is a e-tailer business model, which is one of my chosen examples, entails virtual merchant, bricks and clicks, catalog merchant, and manufacturer direct, and as with any business models several can be combined for any business. My second example is a B2B business model that is an E-procurement business model which is a digital market that is a supplier exchange as in business to business or business to consumer through the internet. [ (Laudon, 2012) ].

The first business I chose to research in my project is Sears. Sears started with watches and then expanded to jewelry, later adding clothing, tools, electronics, appliances, and car service. After many years of operating as just Sears, they expanded their business by buying out Kmart; this caused them to have higher sales and a larger customer base. Sears is fourth largest retailer in the United States and Canada with over 4,000 retail stores and it leads in selling home appliances, tools, and lawn and garden, electronics, and car maintenance. Sears is a B2C (business to consumer) business model and an e-tailer (bricks and clicks) business model which have both an offline and an online existence, they have stores available in larger cities, they have catalogs sales, and they are online. Sears offers their customers support online and through the telephone where you can place your order by telephone. They have fiscal stores where the consumer can go in and shop, they have a website that is a virtual store which allows the consumer to search for items or just browse, and they have catalogs, usually at Christmas, where you can look through them, shop, and place your order by telephone, online, or order in the store. By their offering online and catalog orders, it helps them to control their costs of maintaining their physical store; their physical presence requires a larger capital expenditure than their online and catalog business. This is an example of running two different divisions in an integrated manner where each one supports and benefits from the other, [ (Sears, 2012) ], [ (Bricks and clicks, 2012) ]. Their website offers information links to the Sears holdings with links on health, careers, news, legalities, investors, corporate governance and more. Sears combines several business models for their success, merchant business model, advertising business model, and affiliate ecommerce business model. Sears has an eye catching, user friendly website where you can search for a particular item or shop by department or brands. They offer appliances, supplies for automobiles, baby needs, beauty products, bed, bath and home, books and office products, electronics, fashions for all, sports and fitness, home services, jewelry, lawn and garden, movies, music and games, outdoor living, parts, tools, and clearance items, they have nearly everything anyone could want. On their website, Sears has different link tabs for Kmart, local ads, deals, gifts and registry, services, and shopping guidance, and offers quick returns. In the shopping guidance they offer useful information for their consumers, life handbooks, manage my life, ask sears, sears buzz, and their catalogs. Under their services tab they offer my scheduled services, cleaning, home improvement, installation, in-store services, and parts direct. On their website, they have a convenient store locator, they offer email savings, customer service, and sears credit cards. Sears has contact information, accounts and order look up information, and information about the company, legal information and links to more sears sites. Sears differs from some of its competitors by offering brand preferred items at reasonable cost, not just cheap merchandise, they also own Kmart, who was a smaller chain, that now offers Sears brands and you can order from Sears through Kmart. [ (Sears, 2012) ]. The only dynamic pricing that I have noticed, or can find with Sears is sometimes online prices are better than in store prices for the same items. I have shopped with Sears for years, online and in person, and have noticed that some things are cheaper for the online customer verses the in store customer. Sears has an advantage over most stores, even Walmart, because they offer everything, Walmart does not offer appliances or repair services on these appliances. The second company that I chose is a B2B Business model and an E-procurement business model. This company, Perfect Commerce, was originally a SaaS (software as a service) provider and was different from most other software providers who tried to put forward a “on demand” model. Perfect Commerce offered all of its customers the access to their exclusive version of software through the internet. This company believes that its services are not limited and offers continuous improvement immediately, their cost is light which allows them to offer reasonable prices. Customers do not have to worry with version migration as in the “old days” now it is a faster execution. Perfect Commerce has businesses in the United States and Europe and handles multi-cultural projects. They have 80,000 suppliers in 75 different countries while their suppliers and providers are available to you twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Their seamless integration and customers are mostly Fortune 500 companies, [ (Perfect Commerce, 2012) ]. Perfect Commerce has more than 200 customers and are involved with eleven different languages. It has over 1.3 million users in many industries such as, chemical companies, energy services, food products, financial services, medical services, manufacturing, technology, transportation, education, and many more. On their website, they have links to their customers and other businesses. They provide visibility and control for strategic decisions which are made before contacts are made which makes supplier performance management better. Their event manager allows businesses to have competitive events online, in real time, for their direct and indirect services with their customers. They can track the success and performance of their suppliers to help with improvements. They have a request manager that can deliver a visible solution to manage requests of a purchasing department. They offer a contract manager that can save the business time and money by using improved contracts and staying in compliance. They offer solutions for your accounts payable systems along with an analysis. They have auction support and guidance which helps companies have the best ever events. Perfect Commerce is an online service that has an attractive website that is user friendly. They have all their services spelled out for you. They offer an open supplier network, catalog management tool, and their perfect group purchasing agreement. They have links to their suppliers and other websites that will be of use to their customers. You can call them, visit their resource center, or contact them through email and they have a link where you can ask questions of their company. They offer all kinds of resources for their customers to help them with their business. They offer many kinds of help with organizing and marketing your business and they offer group savings for their participating customers, I think they would have dynamic pricing where they offer the same service to different sizes of businesses at a different price. I think the larger the business the more support and services they would need, it is not as if you buy their program for a set price. Any type of business would profit from using the services on this website, they offer all kinds of marketing skills. Perfect Commerce was originally a software company and with this and with their offering such a wide array of services and providers, they have a large advantage over their competitors. I chose this company because through my research I looked at this company and found it interesting. I wanted to find out more about what they do and how they operate. Sears, a B2C business model, and Perfect commerce, a B2B business model, are interesting companies. Sears because they offer nearly anything you could want or need for home, school, office, or for yourself, and they even offer car repair. The Sears company is a reasonably priced company they I have enjoyed for years. I was unfamiliar of Perfect Commerce but found it very interesting and informative. They offer businesses so many services to help them grow and prosper, they have accounts payable help, marketing, useful links, and other service links that your company might use or need. I will remember this company and if I ever open my own business and will visit them again.

References
Bricks and clicks. (2012). Retrieved February 25, 2012, from Answers.com: http://www.answers.com/topic/clicks-and-mortar
Laudon, K. C. (2012). E-Commerce Business Models and Concepts. In K. C. Laudon, E-Commerce Business Tecgbology Society (pp. 68-80). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall.
Perfect Commerce. (2012). Retrieved February 26, 2012, from Perfect Commerce: http://www.perfect.com/index.php
Sears. (2012). Retrieved February 25, 2012, from Sears: http://www.sears.com/