Buyer-Carts for B2B EC: The b-Cart Approach

• Main Authors: LIM, Gyoo Gun, LEE, Jae Kyu
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2003
• Subjects: intermediary-cart; i-cart; B2B; EC; e-cart; shopping; cart; CIS; ERP; integration; b-cart; buyer-cart; s-cart; seller-cart; Computer Sciences; E-Commerce
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/1292; http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S15327744JOCE133&4_08
• Institution: Singapore Management University

To support the purchasing process in the B2B EC platform, we analyze various architectures of buyer-carts. The desired features for buyer-carts are collection, recording, trashing, tracking, identification, ordering, payment, purchasing decision support, and transmission to e-procurement systems. Buyer-carts can be categorized as s-cart, i-cart, and b-cart depending upon its residing sites: seller, intermediary, and buyer sites. To design the architectures of B2B e-marketplaces considering the role of buyer-carts, we analyzed the meaningful combinations of marketplace operators, pricing mechanisms, and existing types of buyer-carts, Eleven types of B2B EC architectures are proposed in this regard, and their pros and cons are evaluated. Based on this framework, we design a prototype system MyCart, which allows the buyer to use b-cart along with s-cart and i-cart. By using b-cart, a buyer can visit multiple sites collecting information in his/her own cart. This will allow the tight integration of b-cart with the e-procurement system. We propose the b-cart approach can be a framework of integrating the e-marketplaces with e-procurement systems including ERP systems.