Marketing: Digital Business and E-Commerce
An introduction of marketing: digital business and e-commerce. (EBS-10).
This is article ten in the Educational Business Series (EBS).
Introduction
Kerin et al (2006) defines marketing as “an organizational function and set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders” (p. 24).
This definition aligns with marketing’s general objective which is to determine (or create) the needs of consumers and satisfy them.
I. Standard marketing topics include:
"1. Market Research: Understanding customer needs, preferences, and market trends through data analysis, surveys, and competitive analysis. This informs product development and positioning.
2. Target Audience Segmentation: Dividing the market into distinct groups based on demographics, behaviors, or needs to tailor marketing efforts effectively.
3. Branding: Creating a unique identity and value proposition for a product or service, ensuring consistent messaging across channels.
4. Marketing Mix (4 Ps):
a. Product: Designing offerings that meet customer needs.
b. Price: Setting a price that reflects value and aligns with market positioning.
c. Place: Ensuring products are available through appropriate distribution channels.
d. Promotion: Communicating value through advertising, social media, email campaigns, and other channels.
5. Digital Marketing: Leveraging online platforms (e.g., social media, SEO, PPC advertising, content marketing) to reach audiences. For example, 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine, highlighting the importance of SEO (source: web analysis, 2024).
6. Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Building long-term relationships through personalized communication and loyalty programs" (xAI, Grok 4, 2025).
II. Current trends, as of 2025, include:
"1. AI-Driven Marketing: Tools like predictive analytics and chatbots enhance personalization and campaign efficiency.
2. Sustainability and Ethics: Consumers increasingly favor brands with transparent, eco-friendly practices.
3. Social Media Influence: Platforms like X drive real-time engagement, with 62% of marketers using social media for brand awareness (source: web analysis, 2025).
4. Omnichannel Strategies: Seamless integration of online and offline touch-points to enhance customer experience" (xAI, Grok 4, 2025).
Chaffey et al (2019) define digital business as “how businesses apply digital technology and media to improve the competitiveness of their organization through optimizing internal processes with digital and traditional channels to market and supply” (p. 612).
They define e-commerce as “all electronically mediated information exchanges between an organization and its external stakeholders” (p. 613).
It’s important to understand that digital business has a greater scope than e-commerce. Again, digital business encompasses all application of digital technology and media in business while e-commerce “can be considered as all electronically mediated transactions between an organization and any third parties it deals with” including non-financial transactions that are “considered to be part of e-commerce” (p. 11-13).
Body
An organization’s marketing activities impact the whole organization. “People, groups, and forces interact to shape the nature of activities. Foremost is the organization itself, whose mission and objectives determine what business it is in and what goals it seeks. Within the organization, management is responsible for establishing these goals. The marketing department works closely with a network of other departments and employees to provide the customer-satisfying products required for the organization to survive and prosper” (Kerin et al, 2006, pp. 8-9).
Organizations, and their marketing departments, operate in a large ecosystem that consists of common components, industry components, and sometimes even components unique to a specific organization. Consider the common components of a business ecosystem shown in Figure 2.1.
Next examine Figure 1-3 to see how expansive an organization’s marketing interactions are. In addition to the ongoing marketing interactions which occur within an organization; note the key people, groups, and forces which exist outside the organization that influence an organization’s marketing activities as well.
For an in-depth general treatment of marketing, the author recommends ISE Marketing (2022) by Kerin & Harley. For an in-depth general treatment digital business and e-commerce, the author recommends Digital Business and E-Commerce Management (2024) by Chaffey et al.
This introductory article will now focus on some key topics regarding digital business and e-commerce which relate to modern marketing.
Now examine Figure 1.7 to view the key aspects of marketing in a digital company.
Areas may have other associated bullet points not listed; however, this graphical representation acts as a starting point introducing key aspects of modern marketing that every organization needs to successfully address.
As organizations moved from mainframe/terminal to LAN/Internet-client/server to today's smart solutions incorporating mobile broadband, big data/analytics, social business, and cloud services; they learned to leverage digital platforms and exploit new services (or services done in new ways).
An example would be data management platforms (DMPs) which collect information that organizations use to adjust products and/or services in line with better marketing strategies (see Ronteau et al, 2023 for a more in-depth look). DMPs employ data aggregation, modeling, and correlation with regard to Internet user behavior and real-time information sharing. DMP providers include Oracle, Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, etc (Bartczak, 2024, p. 46).
Presently, DMPs are being enhanced with the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IOT) or (A-IOT) when AI and the IOT work together.
AI “is the capability of computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making” while the Internet of Things (IoT) “refers to a network of physical devices, vehicles, appliances, and other objects that are embedded with sensors and software, allowing them to connect and exchange data over the internet. This technology enables devices to communicate with each other and perform tasks autonomously, impacting various industries and everyday life” (see Slama et al, 2023 for an in-depth look at AIoT) ("Artificial Intelligence," 2025; "Internet of Things," 2025).
As stated, an organization’s e-commerce is a subset of its digital business. Figure 1.4 highlights the distinction between buy-side and sell-side e-commerce. Each side represents different aspects of the supply chain in an organization’s digital business with respect to e-commerce (see supply chain management [SCM] for more information about managing supply chains).
“Buy-side e-commerce refers to transactions to procure resources needed by an organization from its suppliers” while “sell-side e-commerce refers to transactions involved with selling products to an organization’s customers” (Chaffey et al, 2019, p. 13).
E-commerce includes business activities such as social media commerce, online retail stores, digital marketplaces, subscription services, business-to-business transactions, etc. which typically present in the following models:
“1. Business-to-Consumer (B2C): Direct sales to consumers.
2. Business-to-Business (B2B): Transactions between businesses, such as wholesale suppliers providing goods to retailers.
3. Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C): Platforms where individuals sell to other individuals.
4. Consumer-to-Business (C2B): Individuals offer services or products to businesses.
5. Direct-to-Consumer (D2C): Brands selling directly to customers without intermediaries” (xAI, Grok 4, 2025).
There are other models besides, such as those around government (e.g. G2C, G2B, and G2G) for example.
The sell-side of e-commerce includes the following functions: transactional e-commerce, services-oriented relationship building, brand-building, publishing/media, and social networking. Digital marketing enhances e-commerce through search marketing, online public relations, online partnerships, offline communications, interactive ads, opt-in email, and social media (Chaffey et al, 2019, pp. 14-23).
Organizations adopt and engage in digital business and e-commerce activities when they perceive a benefit to do so, primarily based on generating profitability or value. This must be balanced against strategic and practical risks such as making a wrong decision that costs the organization in either the present or the future.
Organizations use various strategic and accounting methods to weigh the benefits of adoption against the risks. A traditional example would be the strength, weakness, opportunity, threat (SWOT) analysis while newer examples include stage modeling to assess consumer demand and digital value proposition (DVP) to assess and market content, customization, community, convenience, choice, and cost reduction benefits to consumers. Opportunity analysis for digital business and e-commerce involves various analysis and mapping (see digital marketplace mapping for example) which ultimately should be incorporated into a grand strategy process model.
Another important analysis is the marketplace analysis which helps organizations define the main types of digital business and e-commerce which they will engage in as part of their online ecosystem. They need to weigh strategies such as multichannel strategy versus omnichannel strategy, market structures, architecture/platforms, solution offerings, and revenue models.
A host of factors in the ecosystem must be correctly accounted for including those in the macro-environment which are outside the organization but which indirectly influence its operations as well as the micro-environment consisting of internal factors directly influencing the organization (Chaffey et al, 2019, pp. 25-175).
As stated, the result of necessary analysis should result in a grand strategy process model which “provides a framework that gives a logical sequence to follow to ensure inclusion of all key activities of digital business strategy development” which “ensures that digital business strategy can be evolved as part of a process of continuous improvement” (Chaffey et al, 2019, pp. 192-193).
Consider the following grand strategy models which may be leveraged to assist with this: Jelassi and Enders (2008) digital business strategy framework, Johnson and Scholes (2017) parallel corporate strategy model, McDonald (1999) sequential marketing strategy model, and the Smith (1999) SOSTAC sequential marketing strategy model; each of which has their strengths and weaknesses. Each of these grand strategic models incorporate internal and external strategic analysis (environment, resources), strategic objectives (vision, mission, objectives), strategic definition (option generation, option evaluation, option selection), and strategic implementation (planning, execution, control) (Chaffey et al, 2019, p. 192-247).
With respect to an organization’s grand strategy model, the digital business marketing strategy and the digital marketing plan are often separate. The digital marketing plan implements the digital marketing strategy. In their respective ways, both address customer acquisition, customer conversion, and customer retention and growth. Neither; however, exists in its own silo. Each exists in the context of other plans.
For example, the digital marketing plan exists in conjunction with the digital business strategy and the information systems (IS)/information technology (IT) strategy all of which together are part of the larger organizational (corporate business) strategy.
Also considered in these plans are cost reduction and value chain efficiencies, revenue generation, channel partnership, communications and branding, situational analysis such as customer demand analysis, competitor analysis, audits, etc. Market and product positioning and branding, target market strategies, digital communications, etc are also included (Chaffey et al, 2019, pp. 303-364).
Customer relationship management (CRM) and digital approaches (eCRM) are integral to increase loyalty and improve all aspects of customer service. CRM/eCRM has many parts today having become sophisticated over time (Chaffey et al, 2019, pp. 365-447; 449-521).
Evaluating, implementing, and managing digital business, e-commerce, and customer relationship management is both necessary and complex. Organizations need to do it successfully and in a manner that adopts digital innovations rather than simply adopting technologies (Chaffey, 2019, pp. 522-608).
Conclusion
Today, e-commerce is an integral part of an organization's digital business and marketing activities. An organization’s e-commerce is a subset of its digital business.
Organizations operate in a larger ecosystem. Marketing activities affect an organization's entire supply chain as well as affecting the organization as a whole and externalities related to the organization.
There are many factors that need to be correctly assessed in order for an organization to create and manage their activities successfully; activities that include marketing, digital business, and e-commerce. Standardized analysis methods, tools, strategies, and plans provide a way to accomplish this assuming the necessary expertise is available and utilized properly.
Successful e-commerce typically fields "user-friendly platforms, strategic marketing, efficient operations, and data-driven optimization while prioritizing customer trust and adaptability. These elements enable businesses to attract, convert, and retain customers in a competitive digital marketplace." Aims include "user-centric website design, effective product and market strategies, robust digital marketing, seamless operations and logistics, data analytics and optimization, customer trust and security, and scalability and adaptability" (xAI, Grok 4, 2025).
This concludes a brief introduction to Marketing: Digital Business and E-Commerce.
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