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.

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Acknowledgements