E-Commerce Model

The business to business e-commerce platform is an online portal system for sales which is used for giving services or selling products via the internet (Sila 2013). This emerging platform for the businesses is used for improving the efficiency of the businesses. This can help the business by the process the order digitally which can significantly improve the sales rate of the organization. In this type of system, supply chains remain the distinctive type of nature. In this type of e-commerce system, the involved companies exchange the raw materials or some subcomponents which are required for finishing a project (Victor Chen et al. 2013). These finished goods are sold through the business to consumer e-commerce platform.

In this document, two business to business e-commerce website is chosen. The first chosen website is Wave Financial Inc. and the second one is the Xero Limited. The Wave Financial Inc. provides a financial related solution to its customers and the Xero Limited provides accounting related e-commerce services in Australia.

Further in this document, a brief about the chosen business will be given. Following that why the chosen websites belong to the selected e-commerce platform which is B2B, will be discussed. The principal business goals of the chosen websites will be also elaborated in this document. Finally, the chosen websites will be assessed on the basis of five-point semantic differential scale.

  In this document, the chosen e-commerce model is the business to business e-commerce. This type of e-commerce business is used for selling raw products or some subcomponents which is required for complete finishing of a product or an item (Xu, Cheng and Huang 2015). This business to business e-commerce system is operated in between two business organizations where the business to customer e-commerce system is operated in between a business organization and a customer where a finished product or a finished item is served (Gangeshwer 2013). As an example, the automobile companies can be considered. An automobile company does not make all the things by themselves. There are several things which the organization buy from another company such as windscreens, tyres and rubber hoses. To test the car the, the organisation also needs the fuel which is also part of a business to the business e-commerce system. When the finalized car sold directly to the customer, it becomes a part of the business to customer e-commerce system (Laudon and Traver 2013). In this type of e-commerce system basically, the amount of the transacted product is very much high. The business to business e-commerce system has multiple people involved in a purchase (Turban et al. 2015). This is because an organisation may have multiple buying centres or may have multiple buyers of a single product.

Explanation of why the chosen businesses belong to B2B e-commerce

The chosen organizations for the business to business e-commerce system is the Wave Financial Inc. and the Xero Limited. Both the organization operates in Australia. The first organization which is the Wave Financial Inc. provides financial related solutions to the small businesses which include the accounting related software to its users. The other one which is the Xero Limited also provides online accounting software to its users. The Xero Limited also helps the small businesses like the Wave Financial Inc. The homepage of the Wave Financial Inc. is the https://www.waveapps.com/ and the homepage of the Xero Limited is the https://www.xero.com/. The screenshot of the homepage of those websites is given below.

(Figure 1: Homepage of Wave Financial Inc.)

(Source: https://www.waveapps.com/)

(Figure 2: Homepage of the Xero Limited)

(Source: https://www.xero.com/)

In this case, the both of the chosen websites work as the business to the business e-commerce system. By analysing the homepage of both the website it can be easily understood that the organizations belong to the business to the business e-commerce system. In the homepage of the Wave Financial Inc., it is clearly shown that they are operating to help the small businesses. Wave Financial Inc. is an online business itself and providing the services to other small businesses in the sector of financial services. As a business organization, the Wave Financial Inc. is doing the business with another business organization (Wave 2018). Thus it fulfils the requirements to be a B2B e-commerce model (Andam, Z.R., 2014).

Another chosen website is the Xero Limited. The Xero Limited is famous for providing the cloud accounting software for the small businesses. Like the Wave Financial Inc., the Xero Limited also helps the small businesses by providing online accounting software to its users (Xero Accounting Software 2018). As the Xero Limited is providing services to the small businesses in the field of accounting it also fulfils the requirements to be a business to business e-commerce because it is a business itself which operates through online cloud system.

The principal goal of the Wave Financial Inc. is to change the finance managing technique of millions of small businesses. The main aim of the Wave Financial Inc. is to deliver award-winning software and providing advanced financial services to the small business globally. The Wave Financial Inc. believes in the journey of the business growth and in the entrepreneurs. The Wave Financial Inc. simplify the business of millions of small business and helping them to make money, track money and to spend money (Wave. 2018).

Principal Goals of the chosen organizations

The main principle goal of the Xero is changing the game for the businesses which are relatively small. The cloud-based software of the Xero Limited helps the small businesses by connecting them with the right number anywhere, anytime on any type of devices. The online collaboration of the Xero Limited helped them to build a trusted relationship with the small businesses such as bookkeepers and accountants. As per the statement of the Xero Limited, it is the core point of the global economy. The business goals of the Xero Limited is to help these small businesses by providing better connection, information and tools (Xero Accounting Software 2018). To fulfil their business goals the Xero Limited works with their partners and customers very closely to thrust the revolution forward which will make the Xero Limited one of the best business platforms in the world.

Assessment table of the websites on the five-point semantic differential scale:

	Wave Financial Inc.		Xero Limited
Qualities	Ratings	Comment	Ratings	Comment
1. How does the website URL relate to the business name?	5	The URL of the Wave Financial Inc. contains the name of the business which is good for finding the website.	5	The URL of the Xero Limited also contains the business name which helps to find the website easily.
2. How easily is the website found using general internet search engines (e.g. Google, Ask, AltaVista, Bing, Yahoo!)?	5	This website can be easily found in the popular search engines when searched with the correct keyword.	5	It is very much easy to find the Xero Limited using the general internet search engines when searched with the correct keyword.
3. Does the website give me all the organizational information a user could reasonably require?	5	The website of the Wave Financial Inc. is providing all the information which a user reasonably require including the product related information, organization related information and a contact support (Wave. 2018).	4	Product-related information is not clear on the website of the Xero Limited but other information which is organizational information, stock price, financial information and contacts support available on the website.
4. Are requirements to provide a user’s (personal or sensitive) information appropriate?	5	Only some basic information is needed for the signup process in the Wave Financial Inc. No sensitive information of the user is required.	4	Only the name, contact number and email id are required for the signup process in the Xero Limited. The contact number can be a sensitive information for some users.
5. How well does the website reassure users about the security and use of their information?	5	The Wave Financial Inc. securely use the personal information of the users by following 10 fair information principle.	5	The Xero provides data protection by four key principles which are transparency, security, enablement and stewardship.
6. How well does the website foster user trust in the organization?	4	In the website of the Wave Financial Inc. partners of this organization is listed and also it allows the users to create free accounts for tests purpose which foster user trust in the website in a good manner.	5	With 30 days of free trial, the Xero Limited included their success story and the number of subscribers in their website which greatly foster the trust of the users in the Xero Limited.
7. How well does the website address legal issues associated with the use of the site or engagement in transactions?	2	Legal issues are not clearly defined in the website of the Wave Financial Inc.	5	A separate section is available which provides the complete information about the legal issues in transactions.
8. How well does the website provide for the accessibility needs of users?	5	The website of the Wave Financial Inc. provides full accessibility to the users.	5	Easy navigation of the websites gives the users full accessibility to the users which are needed by the users.
9. How well does the website address the language or cultural needs of users?	1	This website is only available in a single language which is English. Also, no cultural needs are fulfilled by the website.	1	The website of the Xero Limited only supports the English language and this also does not fulfil any cultural needs of the users.
10. Does the website contain all the product information that a user could reasonably require?	5	In the website of the Wave Financial Inc. product information section is available which includes three type of products Accounting, Invoicing and Receipts.	5	Product-related information is listed in the “Features & Tools” section of the website which contains all the services and products given by the Xero Limited.
11. Does the website allow all the customization (user-managed features) that a user could reasonably expect?	5	User customization is available on the website of the Wave Financial Inc. The users can change the information related to their profile.	5	In this case, also the user customization is available. The website of the Xero Limited allows its users to make changes in the user profiles.
12. How well does the website personalize the experience for users?	5	The overall user experience of the website is good. All the headings and images utilized beautifully.	5	The design of the website helps to improve the user experience by organizing the website in a proper manner.
13. Does the website identify sufficient channels for user service/support?	5	The website of Wave Financial Inc. has a dedicated support section for its users.	4	Xero central is available for the support to the customers but it is not advanced like the Wave Financial Inc.
14. How easy is it to find any information on the website about the organization, their products or services?	5	All the product related information is available on the website of the Wave Financial Inc. It very much easy to find as it is available in the top section of the website.	5	In this case, product related information can be easily found as it also available at top of the website (Xero Accounting Software 2018).
15. How easy is the information on the website to read (i.e. is provided information inappropriate language and with sufficient detail for most users)?	5	All the details are provided on the websites is easy to read and eye pleasing. Good background color and font color is used.	5	Implementation of the fonts and the background colors on this website is very good. The fonts and the images are clear enough to see.
16. Is the website easy to navigate (i.e. move through the site to find information, products, or services, and engage in transactions with the organization)?	5	All the section is differentiated in a good manner and for that, it is easy to navigate the website to reach to the particular point of the website. Also, the drop-down menu provides extra facility to move through the website easily.	5	It also uses the drop-down menu for the navigation. It is very much easy to move through the website. Also, a search bar is available to search a particular thing.
17. How appropriate are the website aesthetics (e.g. use of layout, colours, imagery, fonts, etc) for the target audience?	4	Wave Financial Inc. website is based on a simple design which is very good actually. The color combination used in this website is great.	4	The layout of the website is very good. The fonts and the images are clearly visible.
18. How well does the website foster community among users?	5	The website of the Wave Financial Inc. maintains a community, help center and a blog for its users.	4	The Xero Limited maintains a community for the developers and for the business.
19. How quickly does the website load into your browser and do all website features, links and embedded objects (eg: media files or applets) work as intended?	4	The server of the website of the Wave Financial Inc. is very fast and loads up quickly in any browser with good internet connection.	4	The loading time of the website of the Xero Limited was very good. It was very much responsive to a good internet connection.
20. How well does the website support different web-browsers or platforms (e.g. mobile devices)?	4	This website is fully compatible with both the mobile and desktop devices.	5	Optimization for both the desktop and mobile view of the website is great. This website also has a dedicated mobile application.
21. Does the website provide a sufficient range of payment options as could be reasonably expected?	4	Debit card payment and the credit card payment is accepted in this website which is sufficient enough for payment.	4	This also supports the debit card and credit card payment option which is sufficient enough.
22. Does the website provide a sufficient range of delivery options as could be reasonably expected?	4	The delivery of the product is made through the online internet system which is sufficient enough for this type of business.	4	This website also delivers only through the online system. This is sufficient enough to deliver the product to the user.

From the comparison of the two website, it can be stated that the two websites are related with the business to business e-commerce model where these two business provides the service to the small businesses. The detailed analysis of the websites confirmed that the Xero Limited will be more successful compared to the Wave Financial Inc. This is because the Xero Limited is offering a wide range of services to its customers where the Wave Financial Inc. is able to deliver only three type of services to its customers. Also, the Xero Limited provides a 30 days free trial which attracts more customers (Xero Accounting Software 2018). The Wave Financial Inc. provides all the service free but the processing fees are charged (Wave. 2018). In this way, the Xero Limited will be more successful and their recent successes are reflected on their website.

Conclusion:

From the above discussion, it can be concluded that the both of the Wave Financial Inc. and the Xero Limited is B2B e-commerce platform is providing the best services in their area of business. In this document, a brief description of the Wave Financial Inc. and the Xero Limited is discussed. Also, the URL and screenshot of their websites are shared. Following that why the discussed websites belong to the B2B model e-commerce is discussed thoroughly. Also, an assessment table is given which contains a five-point semantic differential scale for the websites. Finally, a comparison of both the website is done in this document.

References:

Andam, Z.R., 2014. e-Commerce and e-Business.

Gangeshwer, D.K., 2013. E-commerce or Internet Marketing: A business Review from Indian context. International Journal of u-and e-Service, Science and Technology, 6(6), pp.187-194.

Laudon, K.C. and Traver, C.G., 2013. E-commerce. Pearson.

Sila, I., 2013. Factors affecting the adoption of B2B e-commerce technologies. Electronic commerce research, 13(2), pp.199-236.

Turban, E., King, D., Lee, J.K., Liang, T.P. and Turban, D.C., 2015. Business-to-business E-commerce. In Electronic Commerce (pp. 161-207). Springer, Cham.

Victor Chen, J., Chen, Y. and Paolo S. Capistrano, E., 2013. Process quality and collaboration quality on B2B e-commerce. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 113(6), pp.908-926.

Wave. 2018. Wave Financial: Financial Software for Small Businesses. [online] Available at: https://www.waveapps.com/

Xero Accounting Software. 2018. Online Accounting Software – Free Trial, Free Support | Xero. [online] Available at: https://www.xero.com/au/

Xu, S.X., Cheng, M. and Huang, G.Q., 2015. Efficient intermodal transportation auctions for B2B e-commerce logistics with transaction costs. Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, 80, pp.322-337.