Look before You Leap : Marketing research is most useful when you first plan and define goals. Do you just want to explore and get a feel for the market, or are you trying to solve a specific problem? What will you measure? How? Why? Once you have answered these questions you are ready to embark on your quest to know the customer. Your information on the whole should play a major role in shaping important business decisions.

Start with Secondary Market Research : Secondary research entails gathering and interpreting ready-to-use data. It should be done before primary market research because with little effort, you can get large amounts of information that can play a crucial role in guiding primary research, which tends to be much more time-consuming and/or costly. Some sources for secondary research are as follows:

• - Demographic studies
• – Marketing research studies
• – Newspaper and magazine articles
• – Opinion polls

Money is only green paper if we do not know what to do with it. Like­wise, we’ve got the sources, but so what ? You have to know your customers well. Let’s take a look at consumer  demo­graphics. If you are interested in, for instance, selling women clothing, you would probably want to know the age range of females in an area. How many females are there? What is their income? Are they single or married?

Secondary information can be stored in two forms: print or online. News­papers, magazines, microfilm, and CD-ROMs are all considered printed ma­terial. Helpful CD-ROM databases are as follows:

• - Moody’s
• – Business Newsbank
• – General Business File
• – Standard and Poor’s Register

Online information is in the form of computer databases. The benefits are that it is faster and it’s free if your library computer system is hooked up to the net. There are many different kinds databases.

Move On to Primary Market Research : Secondary information has its limitations. Statistics and studies are useful only to a certain extent. A customer is a human being, and if you really want to understand him or her, you cannot rely solely on data. Primary research humanizes the customer, as it in­volves collecting information directly from potential customers. Three very common sources of primary research are interviews, focus groups, and customer surveys.

Now, you are probably wondering, How do I find the right people to interview and fill out my surveys? What you need is a list of prospects for your product or service. The best list is made up of those people you wish were your customers — the people you have identified as your prospects. Researching from a bad list is like asking a goldfish about the landscape of the Sahara desert—you probably wouldn’t get very good information.

There are thousands of quality lists compiled in many different ways, ranging from attendees of trade shows to voter registrations. You can buy or rent them from list vendors, who can be found in the telephone book under “Mailing Lists.” There are even list compilers who can create a cus­tomized list of prospects for your company. Once you compile a list and contact prospects, you can begin gathering information, using such tac­tics as interviews and questionnaires.

Interviews : Interviews include personal interviews, focus groups, and telephone interviews.

• - Personal interviews. A face-to-face encounter fosters in-depth discus­sions that will allow you to address complex issues. Remember, get­ting a pat on the back tells you you’re going in the right direction, but you also need criticism to tell you when you are not on the right path. A downside to personal interviews is that there is an interview bias: Interviewees may be afraid of expressing their true feelings for fear of insulting you.
• - Focus groups. You can interview more than one customer at the same time.
• - Telephone interviews. A personal interview can easily be conducted over the phone. The interview bias is reduced, because people tend to be less shy about telling a stranger what is really on their mind.

Questionnaires : Since prospects can respond to questionnaires anony­mously, the interview bias is not a problem. Questionnaires should be concise and easy to complete. The principles of a good questionnaire are that the questions should be worded simply, address marketing problems and/or issues, and should not conflict with each other. Before you start handing it out, test your questionnaire by asking prospects about the quality of the questionnaire.

Remember, your goal is to learn what your potential customers think by getting them to talk. People tend to be less inhibited when they are re­laxed, so don’t be afraid to use informal ways to mingle with prospects, such as in casual conversations or at parties.

You should make the most use of internet marketing to foster your online business; you can promote your offline business via online marketing channels also. Below, in this article you will find some marketing strategies, which can be adopted collaboratively to produce a great effect without spending much. But you have to keep patience and carry out these marketing mix strategies properly to witness decent results.

Affiliate Marketing Strategies
Affiliate marketing is a process of recruiting numerous small sites and blogging sites which will be called as affiliates of your site and will bring potential customer to your site. If any revenue generated by the visitors sent by those affiliates, then you will share the profit with them. You will provide all the advertising material to them and they will use those materials to send targeted visitors to your site.

Newsletters Strategy
You can send newsletters regarding what is happening new in your site to the mail ids of the visitors, who have willingly provided their mail ids to you. This is a great and inexpensive way to stay in touch with the customers. You do not have to spend anything to send newsletters to the visitor’s mail id; but the impact of the newsletter on visitor’s mind is quite great. The visitors will think that you have still remembered him and taking care of him. Make sure that the newsletter, you are sending are sweet, short, and written for common people.

Email Marketing Strategy
You can market your products, services, or website by sending e-mail to different mail ids. That e-mail would contain some basic information about your products or services. You can also send email describing any new product lunch or something of that kind. To carry out this marketing strategy, you do not have to spend single penny apart from the internet bill.

Article Marketing
There are numerous article submission site is present over the web space, where you can submit articles without paying any fee. So, you should write quality article about your products and services and submit those articles in different article submission sites. You can place a link to your site, by clicking which a customer can come to your site. This kind of article submission will really help you to better the rank of your site on different online search engine pages like that of Yahoo, Google, Bing and many more.

All the above mentioned strategies hardly require any money, but these strategies can bring a revolution to your online business. Try these out.

Before the internet came, you have to get to a ticketing office to get that done, but with the internet, you can do your booking online as long as you have the means; internet connection and the means of online payment. Also, technological advancement in the aviation industry has enabled scientists to visit outer space which has enhanced more changes in business.
Technology In Road Transportation
Technology has changed the shape, model and features we have in the automobiles of today. The speed at which vehicles can go, the ruggedness they possess, the rate at which they emit carbon dioxide, among other things, have all changed because of technological advancement in the ways vehicles are made. Automobile makers have been able to respond to the changing needs of their customers as dictated by the changing environment.

Some decades ago, there was no need for automobile makers to worry about making vehicles that emit lesser carbon dioxide, but the advocacy for a greener environment has forced them to seek out technology that will help in this regard. We now have cars that emit very low carbon dioxide. Also, the fuel which vehicles run on has changed considerably over the years; we have cars that can run on other kinds of fuel apart from the traditional gasoline.

Technology In Rail Transportation
When rail transportation started, the trains available then were just the locomotives that used coal to run. The trains back then will have to travel for days; even weeks to get to their destination, but the story is different today. We have trains that can go on speed that were before now unimaginable, and the trains do not run on coal anymore, they run on all kinds of fuel.

Technology In Sea Transportation
Sea transportation too has had a fair share of advancement in business technology. From small boats, technology offered us ferries, and then we business technology moved on to provide ships. The advancement went further into the production of submarines. We now have cargo ships that can carry heavy materials like oil, cars and other automobiles, among all other kinds of items, heavy or light. I even heard of a new ship that has been made recently. The ship was built to be able to carry one thousand eight hundred (1800) cars at once. Submarines have extended research into places we could not think any one could reach before now, under water.

Many companies are now even hiring full time social media coordinators to communicate with their followers and post updates and comments to their social networking feeds. However, one thing is for certain, social media would not be effective if it weren’t for friends, fans, and followers who are interested in the posts, updates, and feeds of these companies. One excellent way to increase your followers, spread the word about your business, and get others interested in your website is to incorporate all of your social media accounts into your website.

Many design sites out there have a number of embeddable codes that allow you to display icons that link directly to your Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace accounts, as well as a number of other social media sites as well. Sites like share this and add this also have some really useful embeddable icons that can help to not only add friends and followers to your social media sites, but also help you with social media sharing through social bookmarking.

Social bookmarking is another form of social media that is tremendously beneficial for any business website. When you write content or an article on your site that is interesting to others, they can tweet about it or bookmark it on popular social bookmarking sites like Stumble Upon or Digg to spread the word to their friends. This can immensely help drive even more traffic to your site and also help to improve your site’s search engine rankings, which then becomes an eternally evolving method of generating traffic and increasing revenue and sales.

In addition, Facebook fan pages and Facebook groups are also great ways to spread the word and reach a large number of people about your business or products. It can also be beneficial for generating feedback and hosting group conversations about what your company does and what other people feel is important about it. While many of these tasks can be done easily by yourself, there are times when hiring a social media consultant can be beneficial for helping you to achieve the desired results from your social media campaigns, particularly if you are less technologically inclined or want to launch a large campaign to get things off the ground quickly.

One thing is for sure, social media is one aspect of business, marketing, and social interaction that is here to stay, and experts estimate that the next 20-30 years of business will be dominated by the internet and the opportunities that social media creates.

This is not to say that the role of human beings will change in business marketing. Their role has been changing and will continue to change because modern business demands efficiency. In order to achieve efficiency firms must be able to utilize all the tools that are available to them. Technology is but one of those tools. Technology is operating by and on behalf of human beings. The role of human beings is then re-defined as operators of technology.

Nevertheless I find this thinking slightly unnerving. Surely human beings are a lot more than people who operate machines. The actual functionality of switching technological devices is within the realms of automation. What human beings bring is their humanity by way of decision making, estimation, compromise and response. A lot of the financial and production data is quite readily understood by computers but they cannot interpret moods or social situations.

Perhaps the greatest guarantor of human involvement in business marketing is their fellow human beings. We are social animals who prefer to communicate with one another than to communicate with machines. The implication of this assertion is that those organizations which completely removed human involvement in their marketing activities would risk alienating those very human beings who purchase the goods and services.

The counter argument to this is that machines would be able to communicate with organizations with less reliance on human capabilities. This argument does not hold much water either. All organizations are ultimately run by people on behalf of people or for the benefit of people. Thus although they might appear wholly inanimate, they do represent the aspirations of human beings. In any case the end consumer will be a human being anyway. Even when governments make large purchases, they are ultimately going to be consumed by the population.

In the final analysis, it is clear that technology will continue to play a vital role in the development and growth of business marketing. Those who refuse to accept this fact will be left behind and will not be able to participate in the commercial world. However the role of the people who market goods and services will merely change. They will not be excluded from the marketing models. Rather they will have to learn to cope with technology and to harness its abilities so that they can complement and supplement their own. This to me is the true future of business marketing.

A company, DigiCash, has leaded the way the utilization of electronic cash or e-cash. Mystery of the purchaser is the key characteristic of this system. There are three members in it, namely, purchaser, mercantile and depository. Both, symmetric and asymmetric kind of cryptography is used in this scheme. Purchasers and mercantile, in cooperation, have accounts in the E-cash depository. Buyers pull out coins alongside their account and stock up them in e-cash wallet software (Cyber wallet) on their computer. Cyber wallet provisions and manages coins and records every business deal.

E- Cash:

The prevalence used in this payment system is called an e-cash coin or just coin.

A coin consists of three fundamentals or parts:

• serial #
• Key version and
• Serial no. signed by the confidential or confidential key of certain value of the e-cash depository.

Each coin has a distinctive value, partially minted by the customer and partially by the e-cash depository.

Minting of the coin:

An extended serial no. is arbitrarily generated by the customer’s Cyber wallet in array to mint a coin. This serial no. is unsighted, which means that it is multiplied with an unsighted factor “r” and propel to the e-cash depository for marks. Thus, the e-cash depository cannot observe the serial no. it is signing. Key version (matching community key of the depository) is also part of the coin, and is propel typically at the occasion of account opening. An e-cash depository may have 1 dollar signature, 5 dollar signature or 10 dollar signature etc. If the customer wants to issue a coin of 2 dollars then e-cash depository would use its confidential or confidential enter of 2 dollars to mark the serial no.

How depository marks blindly?

Cyber-wallet produces a serial # and an unsighted factor ‘r’. This unsighted factor “r” is only known to the customer. Community key of the depository consists of modulus ‘m’ and a no. ‘E’. Depository marks with its confidential key of 5 dollars (d5) such that Depository cannot see serial # it is marking since it does not know ‘r’.

E-cash depository marks the serial nos. and debits the bank account of the customer. A customer must maintain his account with the depository. The coins are encrypted with the community key of the depository and are forwarded to the mercantile for onwards deposit to the depository. The mercantile cannot, therefore, view these coins. E-cash depository decrypts the coins using its matching confidential key and contrasts the serial nos. thus exposed, with its catalog of spent coins to make sure the soundness of the coins.

Electronic Checks:

An electronic check holds an instruction to the payer’s depository to create a specified imbursement to a payee. The person paying and the payee are issued digital official documents. All individuals able of issuing electronic checks will have an electronic check book machine. An electronic check book machine is a mixture of safe hardware such as a smart card and suitable software. A smart card is typically the dimension of a credit card having particular software laden on it. Information concerning confidential/confidential key, certificate information and list of what checks has been checked/ endorsed is usually stored in the smart card.

Branding is one of the key tactics used especially by the wholesaler or manufacturer to ensure that the product is delivered in a particular format to particular standards. Obviously this may cause some tensions between the two parties but it enables to have some quality control and allows the manufacturer to provide direct enhancements to the final customer by way of minimum standards. The branding can take the form of the product features themselves or even add enhancements in terms of the customer service that is expected if someone decides to purchase that particular product.

The second strategy involves targeting a particular segment of society on the basis that they are the most likely to want the product in hand and that they are the most likely to be able to buy it. The whole business marketing model is then focused on identifying those end consumers and directing marketing activity directly to them. The manufacturer may even decide to run a marketing campaign on behalf of the retailer with the express aim of targeting that segment of the consumer spectrum. It is a costly and involved process but it can focus production and marketing directly to the end buyer.

Pricing and promotion are particularly powerful tools in marketing the product. The price variations can be adjusted to such an extent that the end consumer will feel benefit, even where the retailer is making substantial profits. Promotions are self explanatory in as much as they provide to the end buyer a perceived additional benefit beyond the strict return on payment for a good or service. The promotions can be undertaken between the retailer and the manufacturer or even between the manufacturer and the final consumer themselves. The level of promotional activity is then adjusted according to fluctuating demands and changes in consumer patterns.

The final element of the marketing mix is the place or distribution channels. The geographical location at which buyers can access products can have a significant impact on the level of sales and the nature of sales. With the advent of modern technology some organizations have gone as far as removing physical geography so that items can be purchased online. In fact where the buyer is only an intermediary, they might never see the product at all. Enhancements can be provided in terms of convenience and access as well as transportation. Discounts and special concessions can be given for long term purchase contracts or bulk buying. These four elements are then put into the business plan and form the marketing mix for the company.

Branding can be one alternative for a wholesale to extend some of the organizations business influence down to the relationship between the retailer and the consumer. The brand will have certain characteristics which make it desirable and thereby give the wholesaler the discretion to dictate terms.

The retailer can be persuaded that the wholesaler needs certain minimum standards so that the brand image can be obtained. In fact these can be written into the contract. Some brands are created not just on the physical characteristics of the product but also the way it is delivered. For instance a brand might request that faulty products are replaced or that all products cannot be at anything other than a particular price.

Given the complexities of the business marketing relationship, branding offers a solution in terms of allowing the original producer of a product to determine the manner in which it is delivered to the consumer. If the brand is strong enough then most retailers will be more than happy to be associated with the product. Consequently they will accept terms which they would never contemplate in another situation.

Branding is not without its problems. First of all the process of creating a brand takes a very long time. It requires a multiplicity of resources and factors. It may even involve a great deal of direct marketing and sponsorship. Many small businesses do not have this kind of outlay to be able to compete. Furthermore if the other members within the business marketing chain are not branding their products, those organizations that choose to brand theirs may end up high cost and higher prices which will eventually eat into sales.

Retailers will also find that they have their own customs and terms for dealing with consumers in their own marketing situation. Any interference from the manufacturer or wholesaler could cause resentment and the whole contract could end up collapsing on that basis. Branding is a risky business because it ends up upsetting the traditional balance between the business trading elements and the consumer elements of commerce. It also involves the wholesaler venturing further down into areas of marketing which were traditionally handled by the retailer.

En conclusion branding is one tool that can be used if the wholesaler feels that the retailer is not marketing their product in the way that was intended. Branding sets minimum standards for the delivery of the product and these standards are crucial in affecting the behavior of the retailer. Given the incredible investment required in terms of money, time and creativity branding should only be used when there is a certainty about the results.

There is no serious businessman who believes that technology will not be a competitive advantage in the future. The internet is merely a manifestation of those realities. As the technology develops and new enhancements are added, there will be a debate about how marketers need to make the best use of it. Will the internet be an ally of old face to face negotiations or will it completely overtake them and make them obsolete.

The internet now dictates many of the customer relationship models that most businesses use. Customer service has been a beneficiary of internet development in as much as it has enabled businesses to link directly to their target consumers in a fast and efficient manner. It has also opened up the avenue for the customers to communicate back with their own ideas or grievances depending on the situation they find themselves in. The distribution channels between retailers and manufacturers have also not escaped this phenomenon to the extent that each chain of communication is now linked by internet based services.

The internet has the unique ability to bring together a wide variety of stake holders in the market onto the table. For instance a search engine such as Google provides the basis for individual affiliates to run marketing programs in conjunction with conduit industries such as affiliate management programs. This then feed back to retailers and manufacturers. Furthermore these relationships are not rigid in structure or hierarchical. This means that those on a lower scale can go directly to the manufacturer and are no longer trapped into strict convention. The internet is in this instance a liberating force.

The internet aims to be a democratic instrument in as much as it offers the possibility for people in ordinary situations to access vast amounts of information within the privacy of their homes. This has implications for the behavior of firms involved in business marketing. They can no longer simply assume that they are the custodians of information by right and will not be faced with questioning eyes from their consumers. Rather the opposite is now true. Any mergers, company failures and examples of good practice are promptly reported on the internet and find their way into the browsers of ordinary people.

This will then affect the ability of the big firms to control the market. A viral campaign is now able to derail a whole business marketing strategy. This is not to say that the internet has not created opportunities for business marketing. By democratizing commercial interaction, it has allowed the big companies to explore previously untapped resources and markets. The internet is not only a place to check up on the companies. It is also a place where the companies can check up on ordinary people.

In simple terms, collaborative marketing is based on the purpose of building an interactive platform among the producers and the customers. Due to globalization, the world has become a global village and people stay connected with various forms of social media such as internet, social networking sites, and search engines and so on. This has led to the growth of the concept of collaborative communities between producers and consumers, on which the marketing concept is based.

With the gradual increase in the popularity and usage of the internet and web based applications, more and more innovative techniques like collaborative marketing came into existence. Apart from the conventional channels, companies and entrepreneurs across the world felt a growing need to make their presence felt online as well. As the internet brought people closer, it started becoming a very popular marketing tool to build a huge customer base and promote products and services. This scope for better marketing was one of the main factors behind the evolution of collaborative marketing.

With more and more internet applications coming up, companies are constantly trying to modify and upgrade their online marketing strategies for positive results. Collaborative marketing is also a type of this modified process in which both marketing strategies and technological advancements are utilized for better promotion and sales.

This form of marketing puts emphasis on building a relationship between the customer and the seller. There is constant interaction and exchange of information between both the parties through various social networking channels. Through this process, the consumer is able to get the desired product or service and the seller is also able to build the customer base and earn more revenue.

Being an interactive process, collaborative marketing offers a scope for the consumers to participate in the marketing process by offering valuable suggestions on the quality of the product or service, the ways to improve it and so on. In fact, it has become a wonderful way to bring customers together to create more value in the business exchanges.

Collaborative marketing, no doubt, is a great step in the direction of relationship marketing and will surely be beneficial to both buyers and sellers.

Advanced Functions of E-Commerce Software:

Big or multifaceted e-commerce websites also employ software that put in other features and abilities as follows:

• Middleware
• Application integration
• Web services
• Amalgamation along with ERP(Enterprise Resource Planning Software) Software
• Supply Chain Administration Software
• CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Software
• Content Administration Software

Middleware:

Large companies develop relations stuck between their e-commerce software and their presented accounting scheme. They can employ a type of software also known as Middleware that is an element of E-commerce software parcel.

Application integration Software:

It is a program that executes a certain task like developing invoice or bills or dispensation imbursement received from customers is known as an application program. As we all are familiar with that DMS (Database Management Software) saves information in an ordered way.

Experts should appropriately think that their Electronic commerce software claim programs should be similar and completely incorporated along with the DMS (Database Management Software). For instance, if a corporation has offered store database then the specialists must choose that Electronic-commerce application program that shackles like a system.

Web Services:

These services can be distinct as a combination of software apparatus that authorizes application software in one association to be familiar along with the remaining programs or applications. These can be over a network and can communicate by using a fastidious deposit of normal protocols. For instance, a corporation that needs to gather all its monetary organization information in single worksheet can employ web services.

By using them, they can mechanically obtain bank account particulars, information regarding debts etc, from a variety of self-governing resources. Likewise, web services can be employed to obtain cost and release information regarding merchandise from a variety of dealers and follow the order until consignment is acknowledged.

Amalgamation along with ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning Software) Software:

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is an idea that combines every feature of commerce like secretarial, logistics, developed etc, at a solitary position. An ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system like SAP is very mush costly. E-commerce websites or software must have to completely integrate along with ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software, anywhere it is employed.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software:

Major goal of customer relationship management is to recognize each customer’s needs and modify the product/service to meet those requirements. CRM software collects data from customer’s behavior over the web-sites of E-Businesses. The customer relationship management software employs this information to assist managers to conduct investigative revising related to their commerce or advertising.

Supply Chain Administration Software:

Supply Chain Administration Software engages every action connected with stream and exchange of merchandise from unprocessed stuff stage to the completed stage and their delivery to the end consumers. Supply Chain Administration Software help the companies to systematize planning and operations with their allies in industry.

SCM planning software assists corporations to build up demand forecasts using information from each performer in supply chain. SCM implementation software assists with responsibilities like the organization of storehouses and shipping services. Similarly other software can also be used and can have certain effect on your e-business.

Marketing Through Endorsements:

E-business Endorsements can magnetize guests to your website and cheer them to buy. These endorsements messages can be convey through both online ways and offline ways. Some well-liked endorsement techniques are following:

Marketing Through Frequent-flyer miles:

The internet commerce has an accord with the airline companies so that the client of the commerce gets exacting miles through the airline. This offer is without charge if he buys from the online commerce substances up to a convinced worth.

Marketing Through Point-based rewards:

Under the presentation of a pre-determined act, clients can be allowed to point-based loot such as garments, robs etc. along with the company’s symbol etc.

Marketing Through Discounts:

Discount announcements by periodicals, correspondents, web-sites etc. can grasp the concentration of novel and replicate clients.

Marketing Through Free-trials:

Clients must sign-up for no cost of charge service. Like, they can be permissible to download software for definite figure of days without any cost, but on trial basis prior to purchasing it.

Marketing Through Free shipping:

Sometimes companies do not charge the Shipping cost on the deliverance of definite substances for inducement for the clients.

Marketing Through Coupons:

Internet coupons are located on definite well-liked sites to draw clients for internet purchasing. They can employ such coupons for purchasing by visiting the particular web- sites.

Marketing Through E-Business Advertising:

Along with these promotions advertising is another necessary part of your e-mail marketing.  Advertising is an attempt to publicize information for the sake of affecting a purchaser-vendor deal. This way is little unfriendly and single-way mass announcement salaried for by the backers. TVs, shows, correspondents and periodicals are customary traditions for e-business marketing.

But on the opposite side, Television-marketing and Express-marketing are ways to personalize publicity for the purpose of making it additional well-organized. For e-business advertising it is significant that your brand is distinctive and easy to remember. Promotional website-links on express e-mails or commerce visiting-cards can enlarge trade name consciousness. You can also use the poster publicity as an effectual publicity alternative.

Marketing Through Poster Advertising:

Web page poster advertisements are similar to little bill-boards enclosing pictures and an endorsement point. These endorsing messages are positioned on well-known web-sites (swarm websites) that are frequently contacted. The swarm website accuses definite payment for offering place to the posters over its web-site and so produces income/revenue. This idea therefore is equally helpful for the both members.

Posters have diverse dimensions and are located on diverse locations over the web-site. Posters can be merely used for appearance as fine as containing web-link to the main web- page of the manufactured goods or offered service. Commerce symbol on a poster may enhance brand identification.

Blinking, rolling wording, arise boxes and shade altering capture viewer’s concentration. So, these techniques can efficiently be employed for producing a poster. Be a salesperson you must make a note about how numerous announcements the swarm web-site previously takes. You must also note down about which place has an improved likelihood of hit it off to it. There can be exact period for poster announcement. Poster advertising place can be expensive for climax traffic period.

You will need to know their location so that you can offer them the goods and services that you want to sell. Without knowing your customer the process of buying and selling cannot even begin. This article aims to discuss some of the principles that would assist people in a business marketing situation to identify their customer.

Where we are talking about consumer marketing, the customer is easily distinguishable and identifiable. The challenge for the seller is then to project their product in such a way as to attract the buyer or even wean them away from other buying situations with competitors. It is in essence a fairly direct relationship between the buyer and seller without the added complication of an intermediary. The problem for those sellers in a business marketing situation is that the buyer is a retailer who will then sell on to someone else.

This creates a dilemma for the parties concerned. Should the wholesaler limit the extent of their involvement to the strict transactions between him and the retailer or should he explore further down the line to assess the methods through which the final product is delivered? In other words they are faced with the issues of identifying their customer. Given the importance of understanding the customer, the type of definition they adopt can have serious implications on their bottom line.

Branding has also created further problems in this definition dilemma. These days’ consumers will purchase brands and their identity. The brand has become a business personality on its own and requires development. Companies will go to great lengths to protect their brands even to the extent of losing manner.

By selling their product to a retailer they are opening themselves up to take responsibility for the actions and sales tactics of the retailer. Therefore the decision to simply concern their marketing practice with the business to business selling situation is short sighted. When a brand name is tarnished by the activities of the retailer, their overall revenue will fall.

One of the key distinguishing features is that in a consumer marketing situation you are usually dealing with a single person or entity whereas in a business marketing situation you will be dealing with an industry that has various elements which affect and can be affected by the market conditions within the group.

This means that there are great many unknowns and variables which have to be effectively managed if the sales situation is not going to collapse. This is what causes the inherent complexity within business marketing and makes it exceptionally challenging to fully understand the customer. Some might even say that consumer marketing is easier than business marketing.

Apart from social networking, Twitter offers a wonderful business platform through which an individual or a company can promote or market their goods and services to others in a quick and hassle free way, find a prospective target market, interact with customers to know about their tastes and preferences and so on. In addition, one can as well use the application to provide various types of customer service and support, make or respond to product queries, offer information about some new product launch or even formulate a marketing strategy and make some general discussion with others.

Applications like Twitter have really increased the scope for a business to extend its base to far off places across the world. This is adding to the target market in a significant way which is helping the business to diversify and earn good profits.

Using Twitter is very easy and convenient as you just need to create an account to interact with millions of users. For business purposes, you can easily create an account of your company and start interacting with potential customers. You can provide them useful information about your product and services and build that goodwill factor for your company. In fact, twitter can be a wonderful promotional channel to advertise and market your product or service to the target audience.

To cater to the phenomenal response, twitter has also come up with some new applications and marketing services. These have enhanced its popularity as a great marketing platform. One of these marketing tools launched by uSocial puts emphasis on social media marketing through which the customers can get a number of services related to bulk marketing.

Once you have become a twitter user, you can make use of the various tools and services offered under the application and give a new marketing dimension to your business. If you can do it properly, it can really broaden the scope of your business.

How much money will you make by selling e-books? This is perhaps the most common question that may pop up in your mind as soon as you conceive the idea of promoting your business by selling e-books. For example, the amount of time you invest in the advertisement of your e-book will have a direct outcome on sales. The market interest in your e-book topic is another key factor. People, who can select the right topics for e-book and promote it, can easily be able to make a lot of money. Some e-book makers lose money in course of a year while some others can make a huge amount of money.

Marketing extras

You can bring into play a common template for your e-books web site. You can also sell them through your existing site. The best thing is to make your own web site to sell e-books. Always try to insert new titles to your stock to bring back the old customers and draw the new ones. Take the help of e-mail option to inform customers of new titles and special sales. You can offer attractive discounts on slow moving titles.

Associate programs can be another way to sell e-books. You will get a commission from the affiliate. If you want to earn more, you can begin with your own affiliate program or connect an affiliate

How to make best use of e-book sales?

The finest way to make sure most advantageous sales is to continually prop up your e-book. Some of the most excellent ways to promote your e-book may include

• Purchase advertising from well-known advertising portals such as Google and Yahoo
• Link exchange
• Write articles for website
• Make up an informative website
• Write great e-book sales pages

While selling e-books, be careful about the following things

• Make your mind up exactly what you’re selling
• Check your website
• Fix on the price
• Get ready to accept payment
• Check everything

You will get numerous online and print books which will help you learn how to enter into the e-book sales. A perfect place to start is to join Affiliatenaire where you will get gradual instructions about how to make money by selling e-books.

The ground-breaking components of electronic commerce include Online Transaction Processing, Electronic Fund Transfer, Internet Marketing, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Supply Chain Management and Automated Data Collection (ADC) System. World Wide Web is the modern tool of electronic commerce at least at one point in the commercial transaction. However, it consists of very wider range of technologies like E-Mail.

Electronic commerce and business:

A great percentage of electronic in conducted for transportation of physical goods, but most electronic commerce involves access to finest content on a website for virtual items as well. Online retailers are most commonly known as e-tailers and online retail is well-known as e-tail. Mostly all big retailers have their presence on the World Wide Web (WWW) through electronic commerce.

Conduction of electronic commerce between different businesses is recognized as Business to Business or B2B. Business to Business can always be open for all concerned parties for example commodity exchange and limited to pre-qualified, definite participants such as private electronic market. On other hand, conduction of electronic commerce between businesses and consumer is referred to as Business to Consumer or B2C.  This kind of electronic commerce is performed by big companies like Amazon.com.

Electronic commerce is mainly use for sales aspect of e-business. It also includes exchange of data to allow the payment and financial aspects of the transaction in business.

History and early development of electronic commerce:

Over the period of last thirty years, the meaning of electronic commerce has been totally transformed. Initially, electronic commerce was used for facilitation of electronic commercial transactions by using Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) technology. These technologies were invented in the 1990s to allow businesses for electronic exchange various commercial documents like invoices and purchase orders.

The development and acceptance of other forms of electronic commerce such as Automated Teller Machines (ATM), credit cards and telephone banking were took place in 1980s. Another revolutionary tool of electronic commerce was reservation in airline systems popularly known as Sabre and Tavicom in the USA and UK respectively.

Online shopping system introduced by Michael Aldrich in the UK in 1979, was one of the significant component of electronic commerce. Later on big retail and auto companies made extensive use of electronic commerce by Aldrich system of online shopping. The limitation of the Aldrich system was that it was based on dial up and leased telephone lines. It had no broadband capability.

World Wide Web (WWW) was invented by Tim Burners in 1990 and changed the network of academic telecommunication into the system of everyday everyman worldwide communication known as internet. Some of the other important tools like Data Mining, Data Warehousing and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System were introduced in electronic commerce during 1990s as well.

After 2000, many western companies started offering their services and products through World Wide Web (WWW).  Since then people started to associate with a word “Electronic Commerce” with the potential to purchase different products and services through the internet.

All other traditional business features can be handled well by e-business other than buying and selling. Online chatting provides the best example for such to supplement technical as well as customer support. Download of small programs is another pattern of getting pertinent information and other specifications related to particular service or product. This is the main motive of turning all business in to e-business virtually today.

Impact of e-commerce on global market:

Electronic commerce plays a vital role in global development approaches to beat the new growth opportunities. E-commerce provides an excellent base for growth and new opportunity of business world wide and business across different nations become smooth with the use of e-commerce.

Authentic and scientific analysis can be done for various aspects of business effectively and this is the basis for a huge impact of e-commerce globally in a short period of time.

Management of Electronic Commerce:

Electronic Commerce comprises of buying, selling, distributing and marketing of goods or services by electronic systems such as internet and other computer networks. The information technology (IT) companies might see this is an electronic application in business aimed for commercial transactions.

In order to put above mentioned functions into the practice (like Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and Automated Inventory Management (AIM) systems) needed by running electronic commerce and to ideally deal with the data involves in caring out electronic commerce, an Enterprise Information System (EIS) is require for management of electronic commerce and offers an overall control structure to restructure and manage all the transaction data within the enterprise or across all other enterprises such as customers and suppliers. One can see very good opportunities with electronic commerce in market level and inter-mediation.

Limitations:

Trust is the major limitation for such business as not all people relay on electronic networks for all type of business.  Furthermore, all the countries and regions do not have internet facility and do not have smooth and easy assess to internet especially in developing country.

In addition, food and regulatory procedures are very complicated and protection is high for such matters and electronic commerce does not provide such protection. All the items can not be purchased using electronic commerce like food items in which selection and delivery become difficult electronically. Not all the people are aware perfectly for the use and function of e-business.

As the main concern for electronic commerce is standard, some modifications should be done and new strategies should be applied to overcome this. Electronic commerce is different to e-business to some extent as electronic commerce is only related to buying and selling where as e-business is a large action.

Electronic commerce provides many advantages and an effective way of e-business. Further modification and large applicability will resolve such problems.

Thus, e-commerce is proved to be an important component of business strategy and very strong channel of economic development over traditional way of business system. “Any form of business transaction in which the parties interact electronically rather than by physical exchanges or direct physical contact is known as e-commerce, electronic commerce or electronic marketing”.

In simple words, it is an act of buying or selling on internet or other communication networks. The development and acceptance of online shopping, telephone banking, credit cards and automated teller machines (ATM), data mining, data warehousing, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and World Wide Web (Internet) are the revolutionary components of electronic commerce.

Reason to be lead:

Non existence of time and geographical restrictions and relatively low cost investment in marketing is the key component of e-commerce to prefer over other catalyst of business. 24/7 availability of business transactions is providing much easy route for buying and purchasing services or products.  On one hand where it gives the customer better opportunity to choose between multiple products of desired needs at reasonable price, on the other hand, it provides brilliant customer care service and promotional approaches to business companies.  Parties, customer as well as business owner are benefited using this approach.

Business applications:

Some of the most common applications of electronic commerce are given below:

1)  E-Mail

2)  Online Shopping

3)  Teleconferencing

4)  Online Office Suites

5)  Instant Massaging

6)  International & Domestic payment systems

7)  News Groups

8)  Online Banking

9)  Enterprise Content Management

10)  Electronic Tickets

11)  Shopping Cart Software

Hurdles and boundaries to be take care of:

A group of people who still hesitate to use internet financial transaction due to lack of trust or knowledge about such medium, it do not reach to greater population. Secondly, returning of product becomes more difficult by such transactions in case of any damage or dissatisfaction.

As advantages over weigh the drawbacks, specific and more addressed strategy should be planned to build the faith in the mind of customers.

Types of electronic commerce:

1)  Business to Business (B2B) electronic commerce that is between companies.

2)  Business to government electronic commerce that is between companies and government body.

3)  Customer to customer electronic commerce that is between customers

4)  Mobile commerce that is business through wireless network

It is difficult to depict about electronic commerce entirely in few words, an effort is made to understand various issues, terminologies and related information to the readers. Internet e-commerce relation is another vital subject of discussion.

Internet provides potential show case for exchange of information about services or products and gives more clear idea to customers to choose between various interests. Management of internal as well as global transactions and other commercial information turn into trouble-free approach with electronic commerce.

Electronic commerce also includes use of the internet and the World Wide Web for manufacturing, marketing, financial negotiations through Teleconferencing, File Transfer, Video Conferencing, interaction via electronic mail (e-mail).

Electronic commerce can also be defined from the following viewpoints:
Communications– From a communication point of view, e-commerce is the supply of products, services, payments and information over computer networks or by any other electronic means.

Commercial (Trading) – From a commercial point of view, e-commerce offers the potential of buying and selling goods, services and information on the Internet and through other online services

Business Process – From a business process point of view, e-commerce is the medium of doing business electronically by completing various business processes over electronic networks

Service – From a service point of view, e-commerce is a component that addresses the desire of governments, companies, consumers, and management to reduce service costs while enhancing the quality of customer service and improving the speed of service delivery

Learning – From a learning point of view, e-commerce is an facilitator of online training and education in schools, universities and other business organizations . The University of Phoenix is one of the universities that offers online education with various of course options for eager students.

Collaborative – From a collaborative point of view, e-commerce is the framework of inter and intra organizational collaboration

Community – From a community point of view, e-commerce offers a gathering place for community members to learn transact and collaborate

Advantages and Disadvantages of Electronic Commerce:

There are several advantages and disadvantages of electronic commerce application for customers, business and non-profit organizations. Different levels of product information can be obtained online globally through the Internet, which makes very easy for customers to compare and evaluate the particular product or service.

Electronic commerce can offer wide range of choices to extend markets and opportunities to both consumers and business firms. Customers could save delivery time because of contribution of digital services and product.

On other hand, business firms could decrease operating and marketing cost and increase profit. The negative aspect of electronic commerce includes different anticipations of products such as clothes when the customers are purchasing online. Another disadvantage associated with electronic commerce includes issues related to security and privacy of customers’ credit card detail.

Effect of Electronic Commerce:

The invention of electronic commerce has changed the conventional means of online exchanges and transaction. It is generating a novel market place and opportunities for the restructure of economic processes in a more competent way.

The world wide structure of the Internet and the very low prize of using it, allows the interconnection of novel and present information and communication technologies. It provides business firms and consumers a pioneering and strong information system and another medium of communication.

This changes the way consumer search and purchase goods or services among the highly customized, distributed and exchanged different products or services.

The information technology companies might see electronic commerce as an electronic business application for commercial transactions. It includes transfer of Electronic Funds, Chain Management Supply, Online Marketing, E-marketing, Online Process of Transaction, Electronic Data Interchange, Automated Inventory Management (AIM) Systems and Automated Data Collection (ADC) Systems. It characteristically uses electronic communication tools such as the Internet, extranets, e-books, e-mail, mobile phones and other databases.

Electronic commerce allows the worldwide access of the Internet to the mainstay business processes of buying and selling products and services. It also helps to produce demand for products and services and better management of order, payment, and support functions. The overall aim is to minimize expenses by decreasing transaction costs and by making all kinds of business processes efficient.

Timeline and development of electronic commerce:

• Introduction of Online Shopping System by Michael Aldrich- 1979
• First recorded Business to Business (B2B) System by Thomson Holidays- 1981
• Invention of Minitel by France Telecom in France and used for online purchasing- 1982
• Jane Snowball was became first online home shopper by using Gateshead SIS/Tesco System- 1984
• Swreg began to supply software and shareware to sell their products online through Electronic Merchant Account- 1987
• First web browser was written by Tim Berners Lee – World Wide Web by using a NeXT computer- 1990
• Terra Ziporyn and J.H.Snider published a book- “Future Shop”- on how new technologies can change the way we buy and what we shop.
• Mozilla was introduced as a Navigator Browser under the code name by Netscape- 1994
• Pizza was offered by various Pazza Huts on their Web pages and the first online bank was also open. Delivery of flowers and subscription of magazine was become available online. Like cars and motor bikes, adult material was also become commercially available- 1994
• Netscape 1.0 was invented with SSL encryption to make transaction secure- 1995
• Amazon.com was launched by Jeff Beroz and broadcasting of the first 24 hour free commercial Internet Radio Station, Radio HK and Net Radio was come into existence. Dell and Cisco started to use internet for commercial transaction effectively. Later on ebay was founded by Pierre Omidyar as AuctionWeb- 1995
• Purchase and download of Electronic Postal Stamps was made available for printing from the Web online- 1998
• File sharing software Napster was introduced and ATG stores were launched to sell home decoration items online- 1999
• The dot com break- 2000
• Concept of selling products through many targeted domains rather than a central portal was accepted by Niche retail companies like CNS Stores and Net Stores- 2002
• Profit of the first year was declared by Amazon.com- 2003
• Drastic increase of over 17 percent was observed by US e-commerce and Online Retails sales and reached to $204 billion- 2008

However each of these methods involves different levels of risks. Because the wholesaler in a business marketing situation can opt to use branding in order to influence the consumer marketing situation, it is worthwhile to examine these relative risks. Understanding those risks might prove crucial in making a decision about the marketing strategy.

The first crucial difference is related to numbers of people involved. The consumer marketing situation would normally involve less people and can involve as few as only two people. It can take such simplistic forms as batter trade. The business marketing people will involve a larger number of people often including competitors within a niche market. With a greater number of people comes the greater propensity to for mistakes to occur.

The resolution of conflicts then becomes a collegiate activity that can take up an inordinate amount of business time. The involvement of actual or even potential business rivals can further complicate the process as they seek to obtain a competitive advantage.  Even where the organization has competitive advantage, the communal nature of trading means that other organizations will soon work out the competitive advantage. They may soon import it within their own companies thus reducing the individual benefit.

The nature of business marketing means that a single mistake at the beginning of the process is amplified. The decision makers are not entirely independently powerful because they do not work outside their own business community. The large-scale nature of the purchases means that any one mistake in a single purchase is multiplied by a very large number of transactions leading to massive losses.

In fact employees who normally transact on behalf of business marketing parties are usually more stringently vetted than those who transact via the commercial route. The messing up during a contraction transaction will almost certainly lead to termination of employment.

Consumer marketing has its own risks such as the lack of guarantees and the relative ease with which each party can withdraw from transactions. However both the parties who are involved in a consumer and retailer relationship have the power and discretion to make a decision. This avoids the bureaucratic nature of the business marketing model. The purchases are also relatively small in number and therefore any generic mistakes can easily be written off when compared to a similar situation in the business marketing model.

What then should the marketing manager do with this information about the relative risks between business marketing and consumer marketing? They will need to make an assessment of where the majority of their business transactions lie. After assessing the relative merits and demerits of each model, they can then choose whether to take a dual approach or use just one of the methods.

It is the mainly essential and mainly straightforward kind of E-business Model. Purchasers and vendors interrelate directly. This is fairly accepted in B2C dealings. Merchants systematize online index of products, get orders throughout their websites, admit payments in a safe environment and propel items to the patrons. They can also stock up and direct client information in databases. A storefront sculpts uses the shopping lug technology which lets clients to accumulate things that they want to purchase during shopping. For example Books, playthings, gifts and plants etc…

Auction Model:

In this model there are sale websites to which the consumers can log-on and suppose the position of a bidder or vendor. As a vendor, one has to state the smallest amount cost to put up for sale one’s item (called reserve cost the explanation of the thing and the limit to shut the auction. At the ending of the sale, the seller and the bidder are informed by the auction website and the imbursement mechanism and release form is worked out. Auction websites accuse charge on sales.

Online Banking:

There is an online depository provided that banking services to the clients through internet plus services of electronic finances shifting. For instance online Account information etc.

Online Trading and Lending:

Online trading is business and advertising of stocks/shares of scheduled companies by means of internet. Lots of brokerage houses have recognized an online existence. Online loaning is providing lend through an internet deal.

Online Recruiting:

Companies can employ and job searchers can look for for jobs efficiently through online employing web sites.

Online News Services:

Numerous newspapers/periodicals have online existence, provided that 24-hour latest information. Online issuing is good-looking because producing and distribution expenses are not concerned in it.

Online Travel Services:

One can create journey preparations online lacking of going to journey agent. It is suitable and fewer costly. There are online commences which assist clientele find discount charges for airline tickets, lodge rooms and leasing cars or help in case of misplaced baggage.

Online Entertainment:

Internet technology can rapidly give information with elevated quality multimedia. So, such e-businesses have appeared which put up for sale composition albums, film tickets, videotape films etc. The substance can be simply downloaded by the client in this case. You can download movies, betting and Games.

Online Automotive Sites and Energy Online:

Definite web sites permit users to look for and purchase novel and used cars and their extra parts. Also, there are websites where purchasers and vendors can purchase, trade and deal out energy (oil, electricity etc.) on the web.

Selling Intellectual Property Online:

Some e-businesses contract in the auction of academic property rights of companies like patents, deal marks, and deal names etc. copyright

Online Art Dealers:

Artwork can be purchased from the websites at a reduction, e.g. pictures, paintings, placards etc.

E- Learning:

Universities and different training organizations are contribution high-quality coldness teaching above the World Wide Web. E-books and additional reading stuff can be simply downloaded to one’s computer. Virtual University is an instance of this kind of commerce model. Such as E-books and investigate papers.

Online Service Providers:

These e-businesses assist get better policies, events, client service and common processes of other commerce’s. They can offer consultancy/expert services, for instance, web site expansion services, online lawful consultancy services etc such as Doctors, assessors, accountants etc.

Therefore business marketing has a central role in organization structure. This article aims to re-enforce some of the reasons why business marketing cannot be ignored by prudent executives.

Business marketing is distinguished from the normal marketing between customer and seller. In this context business marketing is meant to mean the organization of the buying and selling mechanism between different organizations. The former is called organizational marketing.

Of course there will be some businesses for which they have no other customers other than fellow organizations which resell the items that have been sold to them. The distinction between the two concepts is recognized by various writers but the principles underlying both concepts are almost identical. A good business marketing model can easily be re-configured to become a good organizational marketing model.

Some organization will have operations that cross over between business marketing and organizational marketing which would mean that they would have to create different marketing models to ensure that each section of the sales mix is adequately catered for. This does not mean that they cannot share information or that that one section can be totally independent of the other. There is a possibility that the two concepts will be managed by totally separate teams who rarely have much interaction between them. On the other hand it is entirely possible to have a system where the two work hand in hand. In some cases the staff could even be the same.

Having examined the definition of business marketing, it is quite clear that in order to successfully undertake the activities required of that part of the company’s operations, the sales people or the people who manage its strategic input have to have proper communication with other businesses. This creates an industry market where they are norms and systems that everyone buys into to ensure that business runs smoothly.

The differences in emphasis will arise between a company that earns its keep purely on the basis of business marketing and the one that earns its profits on the basis of both models. Where the organization is entirely reliant on business marketing, the staff within that section will have special privileged status and their concerns will be dealt with in the quickest manner possible. All strategic decisions will have a starting point to the effect that the marketing section takes precedence.

The position in companies that rely on a combination of both marketing system is slightly nuanced. There will develop a covert competition for resources which can mean that managers could use this as a tool to motivate each team to outdo the other. The ability to have another revenue source will also provide some relief for managers from that section who may have had to carry full responsibility for keeping the company afloat.

Note that E-publishing eliminates towering costs of document printing and release of digital substance is much faster. Usually, a client has to pledge to such services by paying definite amount as subscription charge. This charge becomes the major source of generating income for the ebusiness. As a replacement of subscription charge, a credit card charge alternative can be prepared available for rare users.

Charge-for-Transaction Income Model :
There are commerce’s that offer services for which they accusation a charge based on the number or dimension of transactions they practice. The commerce provides information to the customers who are necessary to complete a business deal and income is purely get on that basis.

For instance, online travel agent receives a charge for facilitating a deal that includes the creation of travel understanding for their customers, as well as, advises them about accommodation, transportation etc. Stock brokerage organizations also employ this model as they accuse their customers a charge for each deal of stocks or shares take out in the course of them.

Web Catalogue Income Model :
This is the most straight forward and common kind of e-business model for producing income. This model would employ electronic catalogue and shopping haul providing entrance to clients throughout the globe. Businesses using this kind of a model contain online vendors of computers, electronic substances, books, music, videos, playthings, flowers, gifts, garments etc. Payment conventional from clients is the foundation of earning income.

Advertising Supported Income Model :
In this sculpt, service or information is offered free of charge to definite spectators and the advertising income is enough to support the process of the commerce and its price. For example, Yahoo doorway provides helpful information and a search engine liberated of cost, but earns income through ads on its portal web site to tolerate the operational price.

Advertising Subscription Mixed Income Model :
In this Model, clients disburse a charge and admit some level of publicity. Thus an ebusiness can get its income from both the sources, that is, through contribution and ads. On websites that employ this model, usually, the subscribers are subjected to greatly less publicity than they are on advertising supported websites. For example, in case of definite online newspapers, a client has to disburse subscription charge for definite services/information whereas some services are liberated of charge as they are supported by publicity.

Fee-for-Service Income Model :
Fee-for-Service Income Model does not inform to services provided by managers or brokers to inclusive a deal (the above case). Rather, the bill is charged on the foundation of worth of some service provided. Professional services offered online by lawyers, doctor’s office, accountants etc. relate to this kind of income model. Ecommerce Businesses that offer online activity and online games are too the examples of this kind.

In case of online games, guests disburse to the commerce either by trade and set up gaming softwares on their personal computers or by disbursing a payment charge for playing online games for an inadequate time. This makes income for the commerce.

The most obvious difference between the two concepts is that business marketing tends to concentrate on the sale of goods and services between businesses. On the other hand consumer marketing is just that…it tends to concentrate on the sale of goods and services to consumers.

In this article we will give an overview of the fundamental difference between the two marketing concepts which can have implications on the way we do business. The distinction may appear superficial to lay people or people who are not particularly interested in the science of business practice. However it is very important to grasp the differences between the two issues if you are to run a successful business. Once the subtle or not so subtle differences are understood, then the manager is in a position to adopt an appropriate strategy for dealing with each arm of the business.

Business marketing has been in existence for a very long time in its various forms. The need to create a sales distinction between wholesalers and retailers has been fundamental to almost all business activity. In fact without the role of business marketing there would be no basis for modern economies. Whole profitability structures are constructed and delivered around this distinction.

For instance we understood that the retailer will be dealing in bulk, will enjoy economies of scale, will be able to provide better credit systems on a long-term basis and will ordinarily never be dealing with the public. The retailer would then make a profit by charging for the convenience of delivering the goods and services to the customer direct.

Despite this long history, the real understanding of the concepts of business marketing did not take place until within the last twenty five years. In that period various academicians and professionals defined the characteristics of business marketing and defined rules which would enable the practitioner to make their  marketing strategy. Ordinary entrepreneurs then had an opportunity to apply some of these concepts to their own organizations with varying degrees of success. Management courses will now offer distinct learning paths for each of the concepts.

Consumer marketing has been visible to the public for roughly the same period. It has been both formal and informal. Furthermore it has been repeated over and over again to the extent that the consumers have entered some form of clandestine pact with the retailers to develop conventions and systems that ease the path towards trade.

Issues such as credit and barter as well as cyclic price fluctuations are quite familiar to most consumers. They are nevertheless less comfortable with the concepts of business marketing which tend to be the domain of senior management and long standing retailers. However because of the inter-connectivity of economic activity, there is scope for both types of marketing to be working together.