Before i share my further knowledge to you about the e-commerce works and what really it is in our life. Let’s give you some brief explanation on E-commerce, and the importance pros and cons of it in our daily life.
Introduction to Electronic Commerce
E-commerce or electronic commerce, is the buying and selling of products or services via the Internet. Electronic commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems.
Electronic Commerce VS Business Commerce
To many people, the term “ELECTRONIC COMMERCE” means shopping on the part of the Internet called the World Wide Web (the Web).Electronic Commerce is the process of selling and buying which done via the web or the internet. Unlike the physical store, in E-Commerce, there is no need for the buyer and the seller to meet with each other in order to do the whole selling and buying process.
Categories of E-Commerce
Some people find it useful to categorize electronic commerce by the types of entities participating in the transactions or business processes. The five general electronic commerce categories are:
1. Business to Business (B2B) Transactions conducted between businesses on the Web.
2. Business to Consumer (B2C) Consumer shopping on the Web.
This is probably the most common form of E-Commerce.
3. Consumer to Consumer (C2C) This kind of E-Commerce includes all electronic transactions of products or services between the customer and another customer.
4. Business Process Transactions and business processes in which companies, governments, and other organizations use Internet technologies to support selling and purchasing activities.
5. Business to Government (B2G) covers any kind of transactions that carry out between business and government with the internet as their medium. It includes a large variety of services, such as social security, fiscal, legal documents, employments, etc.
In other side some people use the term “ELECTRONIC BUSINESS” (or e-business) when they are talking about electronic commerce in this broader sense. ‘E-Business or Electronic Business refers to the use of internet, extra-net, web, and intranet to conduct businesses. E-Business is quite similar to E-Commerce, but it is more than just a simple act of buying and selling products and services online.
E-Business includes a wider kind of business processes, such as electronic ordering processing, supply chain management, customer relationship management, etc. So basically, E-Commerce is a part of E-Business.
Difference Between E-Commerce and E-Business
there is a big differences between e-commerce and e-business because
Buying and selling things via the internet is known as E-Commerce. On the other hand, E-Business isn’t limited to just buying and selling activities. All the business activities that conducted via the internet will be considered as E-Businesses. For example, the information and computing technologies used to enhance one’s business.
Advantage and Dis-advantage of Electronic Commerce
Advantage
All the advantages of electronic commerce for businesses can be summarized in one statement: electronic commerce can increase sales and decrease costs. Advertising done well on the Web can get even a small firm’s promotional message out to potential customers in every country in the world. A firm can use electronic commerce to reach small groups of customers that are geographically scattered. The Web is particularly useful in creating virtual communities that become ideal target markets for specific types of products or services. A virtual community is a gathering of people who share a common interest, but instead of this gathering occurring in the physical world, it takes place on the Internet. In recent years, virtual communities have taken advantage of Web 2.0 technologies
Disadvantages
Most of the disadvantages of electronic commerce today, however, stem from the newness and rapidly developing pace of the underlying technologies. These disadvantages will disappear as electronic commerce matures and becomes more available to and accepted by the general population. Many products and services require that a critical mass of potential buyers be equipped and willing to buy through the Internet.
In addition to technology and software issues, many businesses face cultural and legal obstacles to conducting electronic commerce. Some consumers are still fearful of sending their credit card numbers over the Internet and having online merchants—merchants they have never met—know so much about them. You will learn more about electronic commerce
security, privacy issues, and payment systems later in this book. Other consumers are simply resistant to change and are uncomfortable viewing merchandise on a computer screen rather than in person. The legal environment in which electronic commerce is conducted is full of unclear and conflicting laws.
SUMMARY
In this chapter, you learned that commerce, the negotiated exchange of goods or services, has been practiced in traditional ways for thousands of years. Electronic commerce is the application of new technologies, particularly Internet and Web technologies, to help individuals, businesses, and other organizations conduct business more effectively. Electronic commerce is being adopted in waves of change. The first wave of electronic commerce ended in 2000. Today, a second wave with new approaches to integrating Internet technologies into business processes is under way.
In this second wave, businesses are focusing less on overall business models and more on improving specific business processes.
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