INTRODUCTION
E-Commerce is the dealing of business electronically with the help of computers and internet tools. Electronic Commerce is a general term applied to the use of computer and telecommunications technologies to support trading in goods and services. It is defined as any form of business transaction in which the parties interact electronically rather than by physical exchanges or direct physical contact. Most people think ecommerce means online shopping. But the shopping is only a small part of the e-commerce picture. The term something refers to any form of business operation or transaction, including online stock and bond transactions, buying services, buying and downloading software, music, and movies. From a customer’s perspective, the purpose of an e-commerce system is to enable the customer to locate and purchase a desired commodity or service over the Internet.
BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS IN E-COMMERCE
With the help internet we can do any business transactions by finger tips. Placing an order to purchase certain things, making payment to the creditors, buying and selling of shares etc, are happening within a second. The Internet tool can connect all businesses to each other, regardless of their location or country or position in the supply chain. This ability presents a huge threat to traditional intermediaries like wholesalers and brokers. Internet connections facilitate businesses to bargain directly with a range of suppliers, thereby eliminating the need for such intermediaries. An example in this category would be a company that uses a network for ordering from its suppliers, receiving invoices and making payments. This category of e-commerce has been well established for several years, over private or Value-Added Networks.
BUSINESS-TO-CONSUMER TRANSACTIONS IN E-COMMERCE
The customer is king of the modern day business. The companies are focusing mainly on customer centric activities. Now e-commerce is focused on the use of a virtual storefront on the World Wide Web that allows an Internet user to browse and order goods or services from the storefront’s online catalogue. This category largely equates to electronic retailing. It is clearly modeled on the real-world shopping experience, with carts to drop your goods into and checkouts to settle your bill with a credit card. There are now shopping malls all over the Internet offering all kinds of consumer goods, from sweets and cakes to computers and cars.
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Companies are rushing to take advantage of this market. Availability of secure web transactions is enabling companies to allow consumers to purchase products directly over the Web. The most prominent of the new paradigms is that of relationship marketing. Because consumer actions can be tracked on the Web, companies are experimenting with this commerce methodology as a tool for market research and relationship marketing. An example of a company that has leveraged the power of Internet interactivity to revolutionize customer relationships is Firefly. Firefly is creating a custom product for each of its customers, based on the customer’s profile and buying behavior.
EXTENT OF E-COMMERCE
Right now all sectors doing their business in the e-commerce route. It reduces the cost, time and human resources involvement. E-commerce encompasses a broad range of activities. The core component includes electronic trading of physical goods and services and of information-based electronic material. The whole of the commercial transaction, including ordering, invoicing and payment, and delivery cycle can be supported electronically. What characterizes electronic commerce is the pervasiveness of technology. The use of the Internet to support marketing and customer-interface is only part of electronic innovations that are changing the way firms do business. With intranets, corporations distribute internal memos and announcements to their employees, and knowledge exchange and scheduling communications flow worldwide in a timely fashion. With direct connection to suppliers using extranet, the same technology is used for manufacturing and supply-chain management.
E-COMMERCE MARKET
The Internet has grown more rapidly than anyone could have imagined even a few years ago. It has changed the way in which the world conducts business. Goods are purchased and sold, services are rendered, stocks are traded, newspaper and magazine subscriptions are sold, and up-to-the-minute news and financial information is readily available. The potential scope, size and overall economic impact of this economic system is much larger than what we can comprehend today. To get an idea, first look at the size, growth and status of this new market, and then will try to find out its potential in future.
ISSUES IN E-COMMERCE
While e-commerce is mounting rapidly, there are numerous issues that must be resolved if its full potential is to be realized. Some unwanted and illegal proceedings are happening from time to time. In automatic teller machine, quite we find that kind of mistakes. The same kind of mischief is happening almost all areas.
CONCLUSION
Now the entire business transactions are doing with the help of internet and intranet, which is extension of e-commerce business. The business required some sort of innovative ideas in the e-commerce technology to equip it. The online share trading, dematerialization of securities, inter-bank settlement requires still some innovative technology. E-commerce is not a revolutionary dream. It is happening now at fast, with many well established success stories and examples. E-commerce is essentially global in both notion and realization. Millions of individuals and companies, around the world, are already buying, selling, bidding, advertising, brokering and collaborating on daily basis. The impact of e-commerce will be persistent, both on companies and on society as a whole.