E-Commerce The Business Aspect

Business as we know it is forever changing. Companies are reaching customers all over the world from the World Wide Web? How is this all possible? E-Commerce is the fastest growing way of selling products today.

The start of E-Commerce was a benchmark in the history of business. In 1984 the EDI was invented. The technical name for this device was the electronic data exchange. This made it possible to make transactions electronically from business to customer. The EDI influence can be seen everywhere in our daily lives. When we make a deposit in our bank account from an ATM, when we write a check at the grocery store, when we pay our bills online. The EDI outreach did not only affect the consumers spending online (History).

The EDI brought with it three different types of E-Commerce, Electronic Catalogues, Electronic Auctions, and Electronic Data Interchange. Electronic Catalogues is when a company puts their catalogue into electronic form for customers to view online. This makes it possible for a company to open up their whole inventory to the customer on the click of a mouse. These could range anywhere from a Sears catalog to an industrial farm equipment catalog. Electronic catalogues were very influential in the way companies reached consumers because they could open up the entire "store" to the customers in a cost efficient way. They no longer had to endure costs of printing and distributing. Electronic auctions can be seen everywhere on the world-wide web. Ebay.com is the biggest example of electronic auctioning. Consumers can view products from individuals, businesses, dealerships etc., from their personal computer and competitively bid on the item. Electronic auctioning has opened up new horizons for all kinds of businesses. Dealerships can post vehicles on the net and have potential buyers from all around the world. They no longer have to rely on the local consumers. This goes for all companies using the World Wide Web to reach consumers. Electronic Data Interchange, or EDI, is the father all of three of these types of E-Commerce. EDI is responsible for most types of exchanges that are done electronically today (Clark).

Who was the first company to try out this new form of Business? CompuServe was the very first company to use E-Commerce to reach customers over the world-wide web. In 1992 CompuServe offered its products online to customers. From this risky idea millions of businesses followed CompuServe's lead.