Module 0-Introduction-Conducting business in the 4th industr

Pre-Reading: Conducting Business in the 4 th Industrial Revolution

Learning Outcomes :

At the end of this module, you will be able to:

 Explain the differences between traditional business and online based business  Define and understand the terms online, digital, e-commerce and 4 th industrial revolution  Describe how business will be impacted by the rapid pace of technological development

1. Traditional business versus Online-based business

A traditional business is one in which we are all familiar with. There is a building that contains a shop, or office that customers go to, to buy a product or service. Think of your spaza shops, your shopping malls, etc. Customers will go to a particular place and people tend to shop at places that are near to them to avoid transport costs for example. There is an exchange of money, and the aim is to make a profit. A digital business is one that can be set up anywhere in the world provided you have access to a computer, electricity, access to data and the Internet. People will visit your website to buy products and/or services.

Both traditional and digital businesses have their advantages and disadvantages.

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