Electronic Business in Service Industries

1. Electronic Business in Service Industries Dr Sherif Kamel The American University in Cairo

2. Outline • Online broker-based services. • Online travel tourism services • Online job market • Electronic real estate market • Trading stocks online • Cyberbanking • Online publishing • Role of infomediaries

3. Broker-based services • Brokers work as intermediaries between buyers and sellers • Agents basically make the markets and provide services • Most of the value-added tasks of brokers can be automated • Major electronic agent-based services: • travel • employment • real estate • Stocks • electronic auctions • home banking • insurance

4. Broker-based services (Cont’d) • Service Industries versus manufacturing and product’s retailing • Service Industries • pure electronic business  substantially reduced cost • bank and brokerage houses • possible digitization of the entire process • travel and real estate agents • viewing an online video clip or seeing photos of a hotel or a house for sale • Manufacturing and product’s retailing • physical delivery cost may be high

5. Travel and tourism services • By 2003, over 31% of all business-to customer Internet commerce will be related to tourism. • The Internet is an ideal place to plan, explore, and arrange almost any trip.

6. Travel and tourism services (Cont’d) Services Provided Providing maps Information and booking of airlines, hotels, cars, and even golf courses Pictures of major attractions Information about entertainment and ticket purchasing (such as www.ticketmaster.com) Fare comparisons 360 degree video tours of top destinations Tips provided by people that experienced certain situations (like a visa problem) Converting 200 currencies Electronic Travel magazine

7. Travel and tourism services(Cont’d) Frequent flier deals Fare tracker (free e-mail alerts on low fares) Special discount information Restaurant reviews Current status of flights (real time) Major international news Chat rooms and bulletin boards Worldwide business and places locator Special interest vacations Travel news Shopping for travel accessories and books Bed and breakfast recommendations E-mail to intermediary Driving directions in the US Experts’ options Weather watch

8. Benefits Free information is tremendous Free information is accessible anytime Substantial discounts Limitations Not all people use the Internet It may take a long time to find what you want People are still reluctant to provide credit card numbers Travel and tourism services(Cont’d)

9. Employment placement market • The Internet job market • The Internet offers a perfect environment; it is especially effective for technology-oriented jobs. • Job seekers • Job offerings • Recruiting firms • Government agencies and institutions

10. For job seekers Ability to find very detailed and timely information on a large number of jobs world-wide Ability to quickly communicate with potential employers Ability to post resumes for large-volume distribution Ability to search for jobs quickly from any place at any time Obtain several support services at no cost Find employer profile and industry guides www.valuereports.com www.skill-link.net www.careeregypt.com For employers Ability to advertise to a large number of job seekers Ability to save on advertisement costs Lower the cost of processing (using electronic application forms) Ability to provide greater ‘equal opportunity’ for job seekers Ability to find highly skilled employees Ability to conduct tests quickly, online Ability to change and update ads quickly Ability to fill up positions rapidly Interviewing from distance Advantages of the electronic job market

11. Employment placement market (Cont’d) • Limitations of the electronic job market • Many people do not use the Internet • Security • Privacy • Lack of face-to-face contact • Major Services Available on the Net • Finding a job • Writing and posting resumes • Career planning • Newsgroups • The Intranet Job Market • Most companies organize an internal electronic job market • Openings are posted for employees to look at, and search engines enable managers to identify talents even if the people were not actively looking for a job change

12. Real estate and virtual reality • You can view many properties on the screen • You can sort and organize properties • You can find detailed information about the properties • You can search, compare and apply for loans

13. Example of Online Real Estate Agents • There are a number of companies in Egypt that provide such services including: • www.edar.com • www.betna.com • Real estate applications • To find mortgage interest rates online use: • www.bankrate.com • www.eloan.com • www.quickenmortgage.com • To rent an apartment or a house try www.rent.net.

14. Trading stocks online • No waiting on busy telephone lines • No oral communication, less chance for errors • Place orders from anywhere, anytime, day or night • No biased broker to push you • Considerable amount of free information

15. CyberBanking • Saves time and money for users • Offers an inexpensive alternative to branch banking • Using the Extranet • Imaging Systems • Pricing online versus offline services

16. Online Publishing • The electronic delivery of newspapers, magazines, news, and other information through the Internet • Online Publishing Today and Tomorrow • Today— mainly used for disseminating information and for conducting sales transactions interactively • Tomorrow— include more customized material that the reader will receive free, or will pay for • Publishing Modes • newspapers, magazines, news, textbooks, music, artwork, video clips, and movies

17. Knowledge Dissemination • Virtual learning • Many universities are offering limited courses and degrees but use innovative teaching methods and multimedia support • MBA program in Hong Kong • lectures are delivered as an interactive TV (iTV) • students can decide what and when they want to ‘attend’ the lecture • lecture, support material, exercises etc. are provided on the Web • Online consulting • Medical advice— provide consultation with top experts • Management consulting— provide accumulated expertise from knowledge bases • Legal advice— delivery of legal consultation services to business has considerable prospects • Financial advice— offer extensive financial advice • Other service online • insurance, healthcare, future exchanges, matchmaking, venture capital, finding a college, digital delivery of documents, and electronic stamps

18. Role of Intermediaries “Infomediaries” • Changing role of agents • Assist in comparison shopping from multiple sources • Providing total solutions by combining services from several vendors • Providing certifications and trusted third party control and evaluation systems • Issues of concern… • The success of intelligent agents in travel, job matching… • Customer attitudes are important - If you have good experience with online insurance or stock purchasing, or with virtual travel agencies would you ever return to use a human agent? • New roles of electronic marketing intermediaries • To extend what we are familiar with in physical markets to the virtual world (e.g., search services and electronic malls) • To extend payment clearing functions into the Internet (e.g. electronic cash and digital credit card services)