ebusiness Use Case  «Prev  Next»

Lesson 4 Brokers/agents
Objective Define the role of an Internet broker/agent.

Brokers and agents

In order to increase access to the Internet economy, brokers/agents offer their services to organizations venturing into the virtual marketplace. Brokers/agents handle many of the behind-the-scenes duties associated with running an e-Commerce site for a company and offer package deals to customers.
With characteristics similar to the marketplace and transactional business models, a broker acts as a middleman between the business producing an item and the consumer.

Airline, Hotel, Car Rental

Some of the traditional business functions performed by a broker/agent include:
  1. Creating and maintaining a Web site
  2. Establishing an ordering/inventory database
  3. Advertising
  4. Maintaining accounts receivable
A good example of a broker is a travel agency. Travel agencies offer package deals to consumers that include airfare, hotel, and car rental services. Some popular travel brokers include:
  1. distributednetworks.com
  2. Travelocity
  3. http://www.interresa.ca