Technology — AQA GCSE Business
Test yourself on Technology with AQA GCSE practice questions.
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Technology explained
E-commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services online.
Read the full explanation
It allows businesses to reach a wider market, operate 24/7, and reduce physical store costs. For example, a small clothing retailer can sell nationwide via its website. However, e-commerce also brings challenges such as increased competition, cybersecurity risks, and the need for reliable logistics. Students should understand how e-commerce influences business operations, marketing, and customer service. It requires investment in technology and can change the competitive landscape. The impact on stakeholders, such as customers gaining convenience and employees needing new skills, should also be considered.
Digital communication
Digital communication means sending and receiving information electronically, for example email, instant messaging, video calls, social media and shared cloud documents. For a business it changes how staff, suppliers and customers exchange information. Email and messaging give fast, written contact and create a record; video calls allow remote meetings, cutting travel time and cost; cloud platforms let several people edit one file at once. Drawbacks include dependence on reliable internet connections, cyber-security risks, information overload and reduced face-to-face contact. A small firm may use video calls to meet an overseas supplier weekly, saving air fares, while a retailer may use social media to answer customer queries quickly. The skill is explaining how a named digital tool affects communication in a given business context.
Students should understand the impact of the changing use of ICT and how it influences business activity.
ICT covers the hardware, software and networks a business uses to store, process and share information. Its changing use means faster broadband, cloud storage, mobile devices, e-commerce, social media and data analytics become cheaper and more widespread. This influences business activity in several ways: online selling widens the market beyond a local area; cloud systems let staff work remotely and cut premises costs; automation and data analysis speed up stock control and decision making; social media supports low-cost marketing and customer service. There are also impacts on cost, staffing, skills and security. A small shop moving to an online store may reach national customers but must invest in websites, training and data protection. The skill is explaining how a specific ICT change alters a named business activity.
E-commerce to access wider markets.
E-commerce means buying and selling goods or services online, often through a business's own website or a marketplace app. It lets a small firm reach customers far beyond its local area without opening more shops, because the website is open 24 hours a day and orders can come from other towns, regions or countries. For example, a bakery in Leeds that sells celebration cakes only locally might add an online order form and courier delivery, so a customer in Cornwall can buy. Wider markets bring more potential sales and revenue, but also extra costs such as delivery, secure payment fees, website upkeep and returns handling. The business must also manage stock, customer service and data protection across a larger area. E-commerce is therefore a way to grow the market served, not a guarantee of profit.
Digital communication changing the way businesses communicate with stakeholders. Students are expected to know relevant examples of digital technology/communication.
Digital communication covers tools such as email, video calls, instant messaging, social media, websites and apps. These change how a business communicates with stakeholders, including customers, employees, suppliers, investors and the local community. For example, a manager may brief staff by video call, answer a customer complaint on social media, send purchase orders by email and update investors through a website. Messages can be faster, cheaper and reach many people at once, and some tools allow two-way replies. However, digital communication can cause problems: not all stakeholders have reliable access, messages can be misunderstood without tone, and poor use of social media can damage reputation. Businesses therefore choose the channel that suits the stakeholder and the message.
Your focus
- Define e-commerce and identify its main features.
- Explain the advantages and disadvantages of e-commerce for businesses.
- Assess how e-commerce can affect a business's competitiveness and operations.
Show all 15 objectives
- Describe at least three forms of digital communication used by businesses.
- Explain one benefit and one drawback of digital communication for a named business.
- Apply digital communication to a business context and reach a supported judgement.
- Describe how the changing use of ICT affects at least two business activities.
- Explain the impact of an ICT change on the costs, revenue or staffing of a named business.
- Analyse the overall influence of changing ICT use and reach a supported judgement.
- Define e-commerce and identify at least two online selling channels.
- Explain how e-commerce allows a named business to reach customers beyond its local area.
- Evaluate one benefit and one drawback of using e-commerce to access wider markets.
- Identify relevant examples of digital communication technology.
- Explain how one digital tool changes communication with a named stakeholder group.
- Assess one benefit and one limitation of using digital communication in a business context.
Technology exam tips
Marking Points
- Define e-commerce as online transactions of goods and services.
- Explain advantages: wider market, 24/7 trading, lower overheads.
- Explain disadvantages: competition, security issues, logistics complexity.
- Analyse how e-commerce affects business functions like marketing and operations.
- Evaluate the impact of e-commerce on small versus large businesses.
- Identifies a named form of digital communication, such as email, instant messaging, video conferencing, social media or shared cloud documents.
- Explains how that method speeds up information flow between the business and its stakeholders, for example staff, suppliers or customers.
- Explains a cost or time benefit, such as reduced travel for meetings or lower spending on printed letters and postage.
- Explains a limitation, such as reliance on a stable internet connection, cyber-security risk, information overload or loss of face-to-face contact.
- Applies the point to the context given, for example a small business contacting an overseas supplier or a retailer handling customer queries.
- Reaches a supported judgement comparing the benefit with the drawback for the business described.
- Identifies a specific change in ICT use, such as faster internet, cloud computing, mobile devices, e-commerce, social media or data analytics.
- Explains how that change affects a named business activity, for example marketing, sales, stock control, recruitment, finance or customer service.
- Explains an effect on costs, such as lower premises or travel costs, or on revenue through a wider market reach.
- Explains an effect on staffing or skills, such as remote working, new training needs or changed job roles.
- Applies the impact to the context given, for example a small retailer selling online or a manufacturer using automated stock systems.
- Reaches a supported judgement on whether the overall impact on the business is positive or negative.
- Defines e-commerce as trading online, for example through a website, app or online marketplace.
- Explains that e-commerce removes distance as a barrier, so a business can sell to customers outside its local catchment area.
- Links wider markets to increased potential sales, revenue and customer numbers, using a named product or business context.
- Recognises that online selling can operate continuously, allowing orders outside normal opening hours.
- Balances the benefit with drawbacks such as delivery costs, payment platform charges, website maintenance, returns and the need for reliable logistics.
- Applies the point to a specific business situation, for example a small retailer deciding whether to add an online shop.
- Identifies relevant digital communication examples, such as email, video conferencing, instant messaging, social media, websites or apps.
- Names specific stakeholder groups, for example customers, employees, suppliers, investors or the local community.
- Explains how a digital channel changes communication, for example by increasing speed, lowering cost or allowing messages to reach many people at once.
- Uses a concrete business example, such as a supermarket using social media to reply to customer complaints or a firm using video calls to meet overseas suppliers.
- Recognises limitations, such as unequal access, reduced personal contact, misinterpretation or reputational risk.
- Links the choice of channel to the needs of the stakeholder and the purpose of the message.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Use examples of well-known e-commerce businesses to illustrate points.
- 💡Discuss both benefits and drawbacks to show balanced evaluation.
- 💡Relate e-commerce to other topics like technology and globalisation for synoptic answers.
- 💡Name the digital method first, then state the effect on the business, then add a because clause to secure explanation.
- 💡Use the business in the case study by name and refer to its actual stakeholders rather than writing about businesses in general.
- 💡For a judgement question, weigh one clear benefit against one clear drawback and state which matters more for that business.
- 💡Anchor each point to a named business activity so the impact is specific rather than general.
- 💡Use connectives such as therefore and which means that to turn a description into an explained impact.
- 💡When evaluating, compare the benefit against a cost or risk and state a clear overall effect for the business.
- 💡Name a specific business or product in your answer so the wider-market benefit is concrete rather than general.
- 💡Use connectives such as therefore and however to show the link from online selling to wider markets and then to a possible cost.
- 💡If the question asks for one benefit, develop it with a because chain rather than listing several undeveloped points.
- 💡Use a named stakeholder and a named digital tool in the same sentence to show the link clearly.
- 💡Develop each point with a consequence, for example faster replies may improve customer satisfaction and repeat sales.
- 💡For a higher-tariff question, include both an advantage and a disadvantage before reaching a judgement.
Common Mistakes
- Thinking e-commerce only involves selling physical goods; it includes services and digital products.
- Assuming e-commerce eliminates all costs; it still requires website maintenance and marketing.
- Overlooking cybersecurity risks, which can lead to data breaches and loss of customer trust.
- Listing digital tools without explaining any effect on business communication; correct by linking each tool to a specific change in speed, cost, reach or record-keeping.
- Treating digital communication as always beneficial; correct by balancing benefits with drawbacks such as connection failure or security risk.
- Writing about communication in general rather than the digital element; correct by naming the electronic method and describing how information is sent or received through it.
- Describing ICT devices without linking them to a business activity; correct by naming the activity affected, such as sales or stock control, and explaining the change.
- Assuming all businesses gain equally from ICT; correct by considering size, budget, skills and the market the business operates in.
- Confusing ICT with digital communication only; correct by covering the wider range of hardware, software, networks and data use.
- Treating e-commerce as only having a website; correction: e-commerce is the online buying and selling transaction, which may happen through a marketplace app or social media shop as well as a website.
- Assuming wider markets automatically raise profit; correction: extra revenue may be offset by delivery, packaging, payment fees and returns, so costs must be considered.
- Confusing e-commerce with advertising; correction: advertising promotes a product, while e-commerce is the online transaction itself, although the two are often used together.
- Listing digital tools without linking them to a stakeholder; correction: state who is being communicated with and why the chosen channel suits them.
- Claiming digital communication is always better; correction: it has drawbacks such as lack of access, technical faults and loss of tone, so a balanced answer is stronger.
- Confusing internal and external stakeholders; correction: employees are internal, while customers, suppliers and investors are external, and the channel may differ for each.