E-commerce refers to the use of electronic means and, technologies to conduct trade (purchase, sale, transfer, or exchange of products, services, and/or information), including within business, B2C (business-to-consumer) and, B2B (business-to-business)relations. The internet is fundamentally changing the way firms conduct their businesses. E-commerce entails the process of transacting business over the internet.

Charm City Mortgage is a wholesale lender that works with other businesses, that is, it conducts its business directly with other businesses. The best e-commerce site for Charm would be B2B (Business-to-Business) e-commerce. B2B e-commerce is whereby companies conduct businesses with each other. In this case, Charm is directly conducting its business with other businesses. It is lending to other businesses represented by mortgage brokers and, real estate agents. Charm would derive several benefits from B2B e-commerce. First, businesses have evolved a trading culture and, associated legal framework, which makes intercompany trading somewhat simpler than transacting directly with consumers. Secondly, B2B ecommerce needs less concern with consumer behavior. In current B2B relationships, little requirements exists to track consumer behavior or to create a high degree of personal rapport. Third, a large proportion of B2B transactions are repeat orders. Hence, it makes it easy for a business to track the orders they make to trading partners. The predicted pattern of transactions can, therefore, be built into the business-to-business ecommerce relationship in a way that is currently rare in the business-to-consumer world (May 85). Hence, Charm should focus on business-to-business e-commerce because the benefits are numerous as opposed to other e-commerce sites.

Charm City Mortgage is also considering choosing the business model that would make most sense. A business model refers to architecture for the service, product and information flow, including a description of the various business actors and, their roles. The best business model Charm would make use of is the Distributor or Value Added Reseller (VAR) model. In this model, the transaction occurs between the distributor and, the customer. Charm lends to its main distributors who are the real estate agents and, mortgage brokers. The distributors of the mortgages work directly with the general public.The wholesale lender builds the products and, supplies it to the distributor. There might be other incentives between the wholesaler and, the distributors. For instance, Charm offers loans at a lower cost to its distributors. Fundamentally, the VAR or distributor resells the product at a margin to the customers. In this case, Charm’s distributors add their own fee which is passed on to the customer. The VAR model is preferable since it enables the wholesaler to receive payment on a predictable basis. The distributors work together throughout the term of their relationship with the wholesaler so that uncertainty of credit with the customer is eliminated (Annacchino 208). Hence, VAR model would be the preferred choice for Charm.

Finally, to ensure business continuity, Charm would also have to adopt the best revenue model available. A revenue model basically describes how a business will utilize the available resources to generate profits higher than the average ROI (Return on Investment). A revenue model is essential in determining the short- and long-term profit projections. The best revenue model Charm should utilize is the affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is basically commission sales. An affiliate is paid based on the commissions obtained from the sales generated. Additionally, an affiliate may be paid based on the number of referrals made. For instance, the mortgage brokers and, the real estate agents are the affiliates of Charm. They obtain their commissions from the sales they make on behalf of the company. Affiliate marketing is preferable since Charm would not incur any marketing expenses because the affiliates market the products on its behalf. Moreover, the Charm affiliates would bear all the costs that are related to the product they are selling, that is, the mortgages. Hence, Charm’s operational costs would be greatly reduced making them maximize on profits. In conclusion, affiliate marketing would be the best revenue model for Charm to utilize.

Works Cited

Annacchino, Marc A.. The pursuit of new product development the business development   process. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2007. Print.

May, Paul. The business of ecommerce from corporate strategy to technology. Cambridge:             Cambridge University Press :, 2000. Print.

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