Look at the list of business models below and describe the
features of each of these business models, on your blog page, giving an
example of each. The basic categories of business models discussed in
the table below include:
Brokerage
According to
http://www.investopedia.com a broker is someone or something that facilitates the buying and selling of a product. There for a web based business model will offer products to be bought and sold. From my understanding this could either be a website like
http://www.wotif.com that offers a service to customers, a website like
http://www.alibaba.com/ that allows bulk buying to other companies or a website like
www.ebay.com.au/ (auction broker) where individuals offer products to customers. Interesting to note that eBay also uses another broker within the site, PayPal which is a transaction broker.
In each of the examples above the website itself is not in charge of selling the product nor do they have anything to do with the delivery of the product. They get a percentage paid to them for facilitating the transaction.
The brokerage model offers several strengths, its centralized, consider eBay again there are very few products that you wont find on this site. If you have a taste for all things Japanese eBay will provide you with an array of products to suit your taste and it does not matter if you are in England, Africa or Iceland.
The brokerage model can also facilitate trust, I might not know the seller "hotProduct98" but I trust eBay and therefore the chances are greater of me trusting this unknown seller. A negative aspect though is that is does not ensure protection, if you do not receive or the product is not the described quality there is very little that this third party can do.
Advertising
This business model is derived from the traditional media broadcast model, for example radio broadcasts. You have the privilege of listening to a radio station of your choice free of charge, in exchange the radio station will advertise throughout the day. The middleman (radio station) gets money from the companies that uses its advertising and in exchange the company puts itself and its product out there. The advertising model works on this same concept, you get to view the website for free but in exchange the website has advertisements.
Examples of the advertising model on a website is:
Banner
Sidebar
With the sidebar below, the add is on the right hand side and entices you to click and the image to enroll into classes that will teach you how to organize your photos
The strengths of implementing this type of model is that it allows access to all market types, it can also be used to track users.
Weaknesses are that there are a fine line between informing customers and annoying them, some websites play an advertisement the moment the website has loaded and do not offer the customer a way to mute the video. It is true that it will draw attention better than a static advertisement that does nothing, but most internet users will close the website and never return. The same is true for pop-ups, personally I can live with a website having one or two pop-ups, I have gotten so use to it that 90% of the time I close them before they load, but that in itself should tell the website implementing it that it servers no purpose and again if people are flooded with unwanted pop-ups the will close the website and not return.
Infomediary
The infomediary model collects and stores behavioral information of its users, this information is collected and then sold to other stakeholders or the stakeholders will approach the website and ask them to collect data for a fee. Google is a great example of this type of website, it will gather data based on searches done by users, this data is known as metadata.
Metadata is basically information about information, the next step is data-mining which will result in reports, for example in 2013 which country had the most searches on depression, hypothetically lets say it is Great Britain. The next step is data analytics, what does this mean, does people in Britain get more depressed, do they have a greater thirst for this knowledge than another country?
This information is extremely valuable to companies, for instance if you know what product appeals to what country you know where your start-up company or new product will be more successful, if you know what age group in this country is more interested you know what your target audience is and therefore you know who to aim advertising at. This does not mean you will be a success but it does allow you to make decisions based on calculated risks.
www.surveymonkey.com/ is a good example of the infomediary model known as audience management, this site gathers information on what products appeal to what type of person based on age, education level, geography, etc. Incentive marketing is another infomediary business model that offers you an incentive for taking part in something, an example of this is the chance to go into a prize draw if you shop at a specific site, or that you will get 5% discount.
One strength of this model is that can be paired with the advertising model and in this aids the effective use of advertising funds. Unfortunately the quality of the trade can not be ensured, personal data may be at risk and there are many legal, ethical and cultural considerations that come into play.
Merchant
This model is very old, think before the invention of the car, think before the invention of money. An example of this model is Harvey Normal selling its product online.
An example of a merchant business model business is
www.audible.com they implement the bit vendor model and they only trade in digital products (audio books), another example is a virtual market which is a business that only has an online presence for example
http://shopping.rediff.com/shopping/index.html.
The merchant model offers several strengths such as its simplicity, low transaction costs and the fact that it easily translates to the web, it also allows customers the benefit of 24/7 shopping. Weaknesses are that it is an easy target for online fraud, customer security and data are at risk and the inventory control and delivery systems used can pose problems it is also a highly competitive market.
Manufacturer (Direct)
In this model the normal retail channels is bypassed and the manufacturer sells its product directly to the customer. An example of this model is the lease for instance
http://www.radio-rentals.com.au/ allows you to choose a product to rent for a specified time. Then you have License for instance
http://www.adobe.com/ allows you to purchase a license in order to use their product.
The manufacturer model offers lower cost to customers, product customization and increased customer relations and communications. Unfortunately it offers lower profit margins to the business and has higher maintenance of supplier relations, this model can not be applied to all industries.
Affiliate
The affiliate allows another business or person to make a profit by implementing a click through link. An example of this is when a website offers you a discount when you shop on a certain website using a provided link, this is known as revenue sharing.
A big strength of this business is that it does not need a lot of start-up revenue, and offers a broader market base. Unfortunately the owner of the website can only make a profit based on 1 click-through and the website owner stands a chance of loosing its customers to the affiliated website.
Community
Through this model money is earned from donations or products and services tied to the community. Examples are social networking sites like
MySpace or online broadcasting like
The New Boston
The negative aspect of this type of business model is that management have very little control over the quality of the content generated by the users, the community also needs "critical content" in order to be sustainable. But this model ties in with existing communities and often evolves into this business model when the community has outgrown its free hosting, this model also allows exponential growth through word-of-mouth and member-to-member interactions.
Subscription
This model provide content to its customers for a fee, online paid newspapers and magazines are a great example of this type of model. Another great example is the content service provider
Netflix or the person to person services site
RSVP.
A strength of this model is that the service is available at all times and you have unlimited usage once the subscription fee is paid. But users that do not use the service often might feel overcharged, and the business that implements this model need to provide continuous content to keep customers interested.
Utility
In this model the users are charged based on the amount of the service they consume for example metered usage and metered subscriptions.
The fee structure of this model is a great advantage it offers users the choice to pay for some but not all of what is on offer, although the accuracy of the pricing might pose some problems.
"Broker." Investopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. <http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/broker.asp>.
Rappa, Michael . "Business Models on the Web | Professor Michael Rappa." Business Models on the Web | Professor Michael Rappa. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. <http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Brokerage>.
1) What is the Mobile phone use /100 population - compare Australia, USA, China, India, Your Country?
Mobile Phone Subscriptions
|
| Country |
Rank
|
Value
|
| Australia |
70
|
101.04
|
| USA |
88
|
89.86
|
| China |
113
|
64.04
|
| India |
117
|
61.42
|
| South Africa |
72
|
100.48
|
2) Internet use / 100 population - compare Australia, USA, China, India, Your Country?
-
|
Internet Usage
|
Country
|
Rank
|
Value
|
Australia
|
19
|
76
|
USA
|
22
|
74
|
China
|
76
|
34.3
|
India
|
124
|
7.5
|
South Africa
|
108
|
12.3
|
3) Compare main strengths and weaknesses of Australia or your home country in the survey?
Australia provides more access to its people, this allows more people to stay informed through the internet. I believe it also believe it shows that it is easier for people to afford what is seen as luxuries in other countries.
4)
What does the survey suggest to you about the Information Technology
readiness of Australian business compared to Australian consumers?
Australian Consumers and businesses have met technology with open arms and have grown with technological growths. Businesses are keen to take advantages presented to them with IT and consumers are keen to implement the advantages offered to them.
