eCommerce involves the sale or purchase of goods and services by businesses, individuals, governments or other organisations and is conducted over computer networks. eCommerce builds on traditional commerce by adding the flexibility and speed offered by electronic communications. This can facilitate improvement in operations leading to substantial cost savings as well as increased competitiveness and efficiency through the redesign of traditional business methods.
eCommerce is the application of current and emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs) to conduct business. These include telephone, fax, TV, electronic payment and money transfer systems, electronic data interchange (EDI) and the Internet.
• Mobile phones, email and the Internet provide most scope for small businesses. Applications include Internet retailing, Internet banking and electronic settlements, browsing and customer selection of products and services. The Internet provides access 24 hours a day, seven days a week – any time – anywhere. Thus, time and place are no longer binding factors.
• Participation in eCommerce is important not only for conducting commercial transactions, but rather in the way eCommerce encourages transformation of internal systems and increases efficiencies in terms of cost, responsiveness to customers, customisation of offerings, and through the potential emergence of new products and services.
• eCommerce also offers a landscape of opportunities for improving people management, strengthening communication-intensive business processes, and for deepening affiliation among employees, and workforce capabilities.
eCommerce solution may involve selling directly from businesses to consumers (B2C eCommerce). eCommerce can also be conducted directly between businesses (B2B eCommerce). This is where eCommerce is growing most rapidly. These include portals that operate as electronic marketplaces (e.g., www.axismarkets.com) or as auction sites (e.g., www.matexnet.com). Benefits of eMarketplaces can include reduced costs, better research and quicker transactions for buyers. Rewards for sellers include improved customer service levels and cheaper exposure to customers.
There is also business-to-government (B2G) eCommerce that refers to the growth in supply of goods and services for online government procurement – potentially a large growth area in India.
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tags: Beginners, Ecommerce, Solution
