Electronic Commerce
Electronic commerce consists of the buying and selling of products and services via the Internet. It includes business-to-business, business-to-consumer, and consumer-to-consumer transactions. These transactions can include online retail sales, supplier purchases, online bill paying, and Web-based auctions. Electronic commerce utilizes a variety of technologies including electronic data interchange, electronic fund transfers, credit cards, and e-mail.
The term e-commerce is often used interchangeably with e-business. The common element is the effective implementation of business activities using Internet technologies. However, e-business is the broader, more encompassing strategy and related activities. In addition to retail sales it includes vendor-partner communication, electronic procurement, customer relationship management, data-mining, and numerous other business functions.
History
The development of the World Wide Web during the early 1990s dramatically changed the use of the Internet. The expansion of the Web, and along with it the Web browser, opened the Internet to anyone with basic computer experience and an online connection. As online activity increased, companies quickly saw the Internet's marketing potential. Subsequently, there was a rush to take products and services into this expanding electronic realm, and to redefine business itself.
According to studies demonstrating the growth of the Internet and electronic commerce:
