78. E-commerce

Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown extraordinarily since the spread of the Internet. A wide variety of commerce is conducted in this way, spurring and drawing on innovations in electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at some point in the transaction's lifecycle, although it can encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail as well.

Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. So you must be thinking that I like to dig up definitions and digest etymologies and the history of words? Strangely I do! What I quickly realized was that although this massages the brain a little, I loose the value of really knowing unless I strive to truly understand exactly what eCommerce means to my customers. If my ideal customer is anyone who makes up the rapidly growing and profitable SME (Small to Medium Size Enterprise) in South Africa looking to sell products and services on the internet mostly within the B2C (Business to Consumer) arena, then it's important that I know what they think ecommerce is.

Ecommerce involves multiple transactions or the transfer of payment information across a secure Internet connection in exchange for goods and services. Commercial ecommerce represents trade, commercialism, mercantilism and all other business transactions for business, personal or commercial activities that has the sole objective of supplying commodities via an online storefront. Ecommerce is governed by the Department of Commerce, created in 1913, is the federal organization with the United States that promotes and administers domestic and foreign trade. The DOC monitors B2B and B2C ecommerce dealings both online and off-line. It covers a broad range of markets from consumer based retail sites, auctions and peer-to-peer sites, to business exchanges negotiating commodities between corporations. These organizations help to regulate ecommerce operations and corresponding business rules.

Ecommerce has penetrated markets for quite some time in the form of E Data Interchange. EDI requires each supplier and customer to set up a dedicated data link, which provides a cost-effective method for companies to set up multiple, ad-hoc links. This development has lead to the emergence of marketplaces where suppliers and potential customers are brought together to conduct mutually beneficial trade. On the consumer level, electronic commerce is mostly conducted on the World Wide Web. An individual can go online to purchase anything from books or groceries, to expensive items like real estate. Another example would be online banking, i.e. online bill payments, buying stocks, transferring funds from one account to another, and initiating wire payment to another country. All of these activities can be done with a few strokes of the keyboard. On the institutional level, big corporations and financial institutions use the internet to exchange financial data to facilitate domestic and international business. Data integrity and security are very hot and pressing issues for electronic commerce today.