Electronic Commerce & Agents: Electronic Commerce & Agents Frank Dignum
Utrecht University
dignum@cs.uu.nl
Overview: Overview Historical overview
Definition of Electronic Commerce (EC)
Examples of EC
Electronic markets and auctions
Agents
The role(s) of agents in EC
Conclusions
Historical perspective: Historical perspective (Big) calculators
Central databases
distributed information and word processing
client/server connected databases
support of (administrative) internal processes (WFMS)
Historical perspective: Historical perspective Support of internal communication (groupware)
Knowledge management
Support of external communication (Internet & WWW)
Support of external processes (Electronic commerce)
Definition (?): Definition (?) Electronic Commerce is:
Any form of business transaction in which the parties interact electronically rather than by physical exchanges or direct physical contact
Commerce: Commerce Information exchange Product/service/… exchange
Information exchange: Information exchange Partner/product search
negotiation, market, auction
contract
contract fulfilment (directives)
legal information
etc.
Product/service exchange: Product/service exchange (micro-)payment
(intangible) product
logistics of products and services
subscription mechanisms
Stages of Business Transactions: Stages of Business Transactions
Support for stages: Support for stages
Slide11: 12/22 business business Consumer Public agencies
EC Applications: EC Applications Supply chain management
Home shopping
Remote banking
On-line marketing and advertising
Distant learning
Procurement and purchasing
Video on demand
Examples of EC (B-C): Examples of EC (B-C) Retail
Internet bookshop
CDNow
Shopping malls
Auctions
Collective buying
Item watching at e-bay now: Item watching at e-bay now
Examples of EC (B-C): Examples of EC (B-C) Finance
ESI (stock market)
Electronic banking
Publishing: Publishing
Examples of EC (B-B) : Examples of EC (B-B) Business to business support
Maxtrad (business information)
MEMO (Mediating and Monitoring EC)
Secure contracts (ICC)
Bolero (electronic document support)
Markets
Automotive industry (collective buying)
Retail world
Insurance private exchange of virtual products
Role of institutions: Role of institutions Facilitate the transactions
Provide efficient price discovery mechanism
Provide standard transaction protocols
Provide settlement mechanisms
Enhance trust through
Provision of info on potential partners
Legal provisions to back up contracts
Provide securities/guarantees
Provide regulations on behaviour during transactions and means to enforce them
Infrastructure for electronic markets: Infrastructure for electronic markets Banking facilities
Communication
confidentiality
integrity
authentication
non-repudiation
Transfer and storage of products
Advertising
Banking facilities: Banking facilities Different payment methods should be supported
Payment should be safe
Payment and delivery guaranteed
Communication: Communication Some common language should be used.
Constructs in the language should have a precise and formal meaning.
Note: currencies should be clear
Contracts should be legally binding.
Obligations should be visible
Storage and transfer of goods: Storage and transfer of goods Physical products can be sold only once. Their digital representation can easily be copied and sold more than once.
Downloading of digital products should be possible.
Transport should be arranged for other products.
Advertisement: Advertisement How is advertisement arranged?
Blackboard?
Shopping mall?
One-on-one advertisement allowed?
Format of advertisements?
Payed advertisements?
Who can advertise?
Types of markets: Types of markets Direct transactions
shopping mall
classified ads
direct negotiation
Brokered transactions
distributors
brokers
auctions
Types of markets II: Types of markets II Direct transactions
direct contact buyer and seller
less structured transactions
influence market (institution) smaller
Brokered transactions
controlled contact between buyer and seller
transaction protocol very strict
institution has total control
Auctions: Auctions Only “negotiate” about price.
Fixed:
product specification
payment method
transport
delivery terms
etc.
Auctions: Auctions Sealed auctions
First priced sealed bid
Vickrey
Sealed double auction
Open auctions
Dutch auction
English auction
First price sealed bid: First price sealed bid Rules (protocol):
Bidders submit a single sealed bid before deadline
Outcome:
Winner is highest bid at bid price
Optimal strategy:
Bid just below private value of item
With N bidders bid: v(N-1)/N
Vickrey: Vickrey Rules (protocol):
Bidders submit a single sealed bid before deadline
Outcome:
Winner is highest bid at second highest price
Optimal strategy:
Bid private value of item
Sealed double auction: Sealed double auction Rules (protocol):
Bidders and sellers submit a single sealed bid before deadline
Outcome:
Auctioneer determines a single market-clearing price and matches buyers and sellers
Optimal strategy:
Bid private value of item
Dutch auction: Dutch auction Rules (protocol):
Auctioneer calls out descending price.
Bidder calls out a bid
Outcome:
Winner is first bidder to call out at price bid
Optimal strategy:
Bid just below private value of item
English auction: English auction Rules (protocol):
Bidders successively raise bid for item until one bidder remains
Outcome:
Winner is last bidder remaining at price of second-highest bidder
Optimal strategy:
Bid until private value of item, then drop out
Non-private value auctions: Non-private value auctions Value of item depends at least partly on the value others give it.
Resellable products (tasks)
treasury bills
Strategy now also depends on expectation or knowledge of the value others give the product.
Other issues on auctions: Other issues on auctions Bidder collusion
Lying auctioneer
Interrelated auctions
Examples of auctions: Examples of auctions http://www.wehkamp.nl/Veiling/
http://www.ebay.com/aw/
http://www.onsale.com/
http://www.band-x.com/
http://www.auctionconnect.lycos.com/
Technologies in EC: Technologies in EC EDI
WWW
Multimedia
Work Flow Management
Agents
Electronic payment, smart cards, etc.
...
Agents: Agents Agent properties:
autonomous
pro-active
reactive
social ability
learning
Agent functions:
information gathering and filtering
negotiation (simple like auction or ContractNet)
monitor long-term processes
Agents and electronic commerce: Agents and electronic commerce Agents for support:
information gathering and comparison (e.g. shopbots: firefly)
logistics
Agents as delegates:
only when trust is not important or easy
Price and risk are low
Process well defined
Agent operated markets: Agent operated markets http://auction.eecs.umich.edu/
http://www.iiia.csic.es/Projects/fishmarket/
Stock market
Power trade
Agents for negotiation: Agents for negotiation Limited use due to complexity, but
Very useful for e.g. auctions with:
“Simple” world model
Predetermined interactions
Fixed rules
One shot relations
centralised infrastructure
Agents for negotiation: Agents for negotiation Fully automated AMEC first in situations where:
Interactions are fast
Interactions are repeated
Trade is of relative small value
Process is repeated over long periods
Products are easy to specify
Examples: stock trade, power trade and telecom
Item watching at e-bay now: Item watching at e-bay now
Item watching with agents: Item watching with agents Agent watches auctions in which you are interested
Agent warns when your bid is overturned
Agent warns when it gets interesting to start bidding
Agent bid (strategically) up till a predefined level
Conclusions: Conclusions EC contains many, different aspects
EC is per definition multi-disciplinary
Agents can support in information seeking phase (now already)
Agents play a role in transactions when these are well defined and the need for speed or monitoring is high
Vraag: Vraag Als ik mijn auto wil verkopen, kan ik hem dan beter op een Engelse veiling (boden lopen op) of een Nederlandse veiling (veilingmeester laat prijs dalen) aanbieden? Geef aan waarom.
Wat zou een agent op een Nederlandse veiling van bv. bloemen kunnen leren, waardoor hij in de loop van een ochtend beter gaat bieden? Welke informatie moet hij hiervoor bijhouden?