E-Commerce

1982 Words4 Pages

ECommerce

Electronic commerce, or e-commerce has developed exponentially in the last few years and has left some in the cold. The majority of people think e-commerce is just about buying and selling things over the Internet like through auctioning sites such as E-Bay and U-Bid. However, E-commerce is a broad term describing the electronic exchange of business data between two or more organizations' computers. Some examples might be the electronic job applications, on-line services like America online, and on-line billing that automatically pays specified bills each month so you don’t have to mail a check. E-commerce also includes buying and selling any item over the Internet, electronic banking so you can transfer funds between accounts or stocks, smart cards, and all other methods of conducting business over digital networks. “The primary technological goal of e-commerce is to integrate businesses, government agencies, and contractors into a single community with the ability to communicate with one another across any computer platform.”(Edwards, 1998)

Electronic commerce started 130 plus years ago by telegraph technology. This is similar to wiring money though an electronic agency for a small fee. The advent of credit cards as a payment system began the revolution of the automated process of commerce that we are so familiar to today. The introduction of the ATM card in the mid 80’s was one of the most recent improvements to electronic commerce and its capabilities.

As the Internet grows in popularity every day, so does electronic commerce. E-business can be anything from purchasing clothes from a department store online to checking your bank statement. All are examples of the many aspects of e-business. There are many forms of e-business similar to this. When comparing traditional business to e-business, one can see that there are some differences amongst the two. The most obvious difference when buying standard goods (such as a toaster, a book, or a new computer) is the store. When dealing with e-business there is no "real" store or merchandise to look at. It is all presented through the merchant's web page, or by other electronic means. You will not be able to touch, or inspect potential purchases. All you will have to go on is perhaps a picture and a brief description of the item in question. This is obviously a big change from traditional st...

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...ne transactions for goods and services. There are many things to consider when buying something online. Firstly you should be dealing with a company that you are totally comfortable with. After you have that established, online shopping is safer than any other form of commerce because of the use of encrypted data transfer. Online banking is another aspect that is worth looking into. You can get information about your accounts anytime for little or no charge. Online banking, of course requires a stronger method of encryption, so you may need to download the newest security plug in for your browser. Finally, e-business is the new business of the future. You can buy anything, any time, and get information from your home. Which makes being antisocial just that much easier.

Bibliography

Baase, Sara. A Gift of Fire. Pretence-Hall Inc. 1997.

Coates,Vary. Buying and Selling on the Internet:Retail Electronic Commerce. Washington,D.C. 1998.

May,Paul. The Buisness of E-Commerce: From Corporate Strategy to Technology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2000

Bibliography Webpages

http://www.amazon.com

http://www.ecommerce.internet.com

http://www.ecommercetimes.com

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