E-commerce as a Revenue Stream
for editorial web sites
E-commerce Models
E-commerce has grown to a billion-dollar industry, but how does it work?
Regular commerce consists of a customer buying a product from a supplier. The e-commerce model is no different, other than the customer uses electronic signals, usually through the Internet, as the means of purchasing. In general, if customers see a product they are interested in on a web site they have the opportunity to buy it over the web.
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| E-commerce allows people to purchase goods from anywhere with a computer. |
This model offers many advantages over regular shopping. It is more convenient for consumers because they can shop for whatever they want from home. It also allows customers the opportunity to compare prices on goods so they can find the best deals. Finally, it gives customers the opportunity to purchase exotic items they could not find locally.
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| Southwest.com lets customers purchase tickets on a bare-bones web site. |
A specific example of e-commerce is the online air ticketing industry, which has seen a boom in recent revenues. Online travel booking will account for about $22 billion in sales in 2001, according to Jupiter Media Metrix. Southwest.com, for example, lets customers indicate when and where they want to fly and gives them a chance to rent a car and hotel room directly from the site. Because Southwest offers electronic ticketing, customers only need to remember their identification to board the plane.
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| Time offers users the chance to subscribe to the magazine on their web site. |
Time.com is an example of how an editorial site uses e-commerce. It gives users the chance to subscribe to the magazine by offering four free issues. When the user clicks on the subscribe to Time link, he or she is asked for name, address, credit card number and other information. Flora Garcia, Time's marketing manager, said the web site has helped subscription numbers.
"We think some people come to our sites to subscribe," Garcia said. "We wouldn't be doing it if we didn't think it was working."