Introduction of E-commerce
1
CHAPTER
ELECTRONIC COMMERCE—
TECHNOLOGY AND PROSPECTS
1.1
INTRODUCTION
Commerce (the trading of goods) has been a major impetus for human survival since the beginning of recorded history and beyond. The mass adoption of the Internet has created a paradigm shift in the way businesses are conducted today. The past decade has seen the emergence of a new kind of commerce: e-commerce, the buying and selling of goods through human-computer interaction over the Internet. Traditional physical trading of goods and currency is becoming increasingly unpopular and more businesses are jumping on the e-commerce bandwagon. Today, the line between e-commerce and traditional commerce is becoming more blurred as more businesses start and continue to integrate the Internet and e-commerce technologies into their business processes.
1.2
DEFINITION OF E-COMMERCE
The e-commerce can be defined as a modern business methodology that addresses the needs of organizations, merchants, and consumers to cut costs while improving the quality of goods and services and increasing the speed of service delivery, by using Internet.
It differs from the traditional electronic commerce (e-commerce) in the way that it enables the trading of goods, money and information electronically from computer to computer. Business is done electronically and there is no longer a need for physical currency or goods to conduct business.
1.3
EVOLUTION OF E-COMMERCE
Evolution of e-commerce can be attributed to a combination of regulatory reform and technological innovation. Though Internet (which played an important role in evolution) appeared in the late 1960s, e-commerce of today took off with the arrival of World Wide
Web and browsers in early 1990s. The liberalization of the telecommunications sector and innovations such as optic fiber, DSL etc. (which has helped to expand the volume and capacity of communications) have helped in the process of that rapid growth.
CHAPTER
ELECTRONIC COMMERCE—
TECHNOLOGY AND PROSPECTS
1.1
INTRODUCTION
Commerce (the trading of goods) has been a major impetus for human survival since the beginning of recorded history and beyond. The mass adoption of the Internet has created a paradigm shift in the way businesses are conducted today. The past decade has seen the emergence of a new kind of commerce: e-commerce, the buying and selling of goods through human-computer interaction over the Internet. Traditional physical trading of goods and currency is becoming increasingly unpopular and more businesses are jumping on the e-commerce bandwagon. Today, the line between e-commerce and traditional commerce is becoming more blurred as more businesses start and continue to integrate the Internet and e-commerce technologies into their business processes.
1.2
DEFINITION OF E-COMMERCE
The e-commerce can be defined as a modern business methodology that addresses the needs of organizations, merchants, and consumers to cut costs while improving the quality of goods and services and increasing the speed of service delivery, by using Internet.
It differs from the traditional electronic commerce (e-commerce) in the way that it enables the trading of goods, money and information electronically from computer to computer. Business is done electronically and there is no longer a need for physical currency or goods to conduct business.
1.3
EVOLUTION OF E-COMMERCE
Evolution of e-commerce can be attributed to a combination of regulatory reform and technological innovation. Though Internet (which played an important role in evolution) appeared in the late 1960s, e-commerce of today took off with the arrival of World Wide
Web and browsers in early 1990s. The liberalization of the telecommunications sector and innovations such as optic fiber, DSL etc. (which has helped to expand the volume and capacity of communications) have helped in the process of that rapid growth.