<p>In this thesis I am going to investigate the trends within e-business, what it is that drive</p><p>these trends and why these drivers are of such importance. I chose this subject since I have</p><p>found it very interesting and useful in my career because of the importance it embraces in</p><p>today’s business world.</p><p>The aspect of e-commerce has changed a lot lately to in the beginning of the 1990s be</p><p>about being present on the Internet with a web site, to being about transactions, meaning</p><p>to buy or sell through digital media at the end of the 1990s, to today be about being used to</p><p>make profitability – an era that can be called e-business, because it is now that e-business</p><p>finally gets its big breakthrough and starts to be recognized as a necessity for companies to</p><p>survive. As long as e-business has existed so have trends in the same matter. What will be</p><p>the trends of e-business in the future? Impossible to say of course, but by taking today’s</p><p>major trends into consideration, and to look at what drives these trends might have, will</p><p>make it possible to get a glimpse of the future of this relatively new business phenomenon</p><p>called e-business.</p><p>To get the best result possible of my thesis I have made a wide literature study in the subject</p><p>by reading and examine accurate literature and articles as well as carried out interviews</p><p>with different IT-gurus and other persons that is thought to withhold a lot of information</p><p>about my chosen subject.</p><p>I have focused on two major trends being customer oriented trends and service digitization.</p><p>Customer oriented trends are trends which have their focus towards customers such</p><p>as customer service, offering more product choices and to have integrated solutions. Service</p><p>digitization is the transformation of paper-based transactions into the new integrated</p><p>multi-channel processes. The driver I have found of most significance and therefore focused</p><p>on is customers. Customers are important as drivers since they have adopted a new</p><p>role in the business process. Customers nowadays have found a way to let their voices to</p><p>be heard. With the help of blogs, social networks and wikis over the Internet they can express</p><p>their feelings and suggestions about products as well as companies and have so to say</p><p>gained a more active role as customers to also taking part of the development. This voice</p><p>of the customers is highly essential to listen to if you as a company want to survive in a</p><p>business world where customers get more and more power.</p><p>After finishing this study I came up with the importance of service, and especially customer</p><p>service as well of personalization and customization (to personalize the shopping experience</p><p>for the customer). Another important conclusion is the importance of customers,</p><p>both as trends to focus on, as well as drivers behind these trends.</p><p>ii</p><p>Acknowledgements</p>

In this thesis I am going to investigate the trends within e-business, what it is that drive these trends and why these drivers are of such importance. I chose this subject since I have found it very interesting and useful in my career because of the importance it embraces in today’s business world. The aspect of e-commerce has changed a lot lately to in the beginning of the 1990s be about being present on the Internet with a web site, to being about transactions, meaning to buy or sell through digital media at the end of the 1990s, to today be about being used to make profitability – an era that can be called e-business, because it is now that e-business finally gets its big breakthrough and starts to be recognized as a necessity for companies to survive. As long as e-business has existed so have trends in the same matter. What will be the trends of e-business in the future? Impossible to say of course, but by taking today’s major trends into consideration, and to look at what drives these trends might have, will make it possible to get a glimpse of the future of this relatively new business phenomenon called e-business. To get the best result possible of my thesis I have made a wide literature study in the subject by reading and examine accurate literature and articles as well as carried out interviews with different IT-gurus and other persons that is thought to withhold a lot of information about my chosen subject. I have focused on two major trends being customer oriented trends and service digitization. Customer oriented trends are trends which have their focus towards customers such as customer service, offering more product choices and to have integrated solutions. Service digitization is the transformation of paper-based transactions into the new integrated multi-channel processes. The driver I have found of most significance and therefore focused on is customers. Customers are important as drivers since they have adopted a new role in the business process. Customers nowadays have found a way to let their voices to be heard. With the help of blogs, social networks and wikis over the Internet they can express their feelings and suggestions about products as well as companies and have so to say gained a more active role as customers to also taking part of the development. This voice of the customers is highly essential to listen to if you as a company want to survive in a business world where customers get more and more power. After finishing this study I came up with the importance of service, and especially customer service as well of personalization and customization (to personalize the shopping experience for the customer). Another important conclusion is the importance of customers, both as trends to focus on, as well as drivers behind these trends. ii Acknowledgements