E-Commerce:
Electronic commerce, e-commerce or ecommerce
consists primarily of the distributing, buying,
selling, marketing, and servicing of products
or services over electronic systems such as
the Internet and other computer networks. The
information technology industry might see it
as an electronic business application aimed
at commercial transactions. It can involve electronic
funds transfer, supply chain management, e-marketing,
online marketing, online transaction processing,
electronic data interchange, automated inventory
management systems, and automated data-collection
systems. It typically uses electronic communications
technology such as the Internet, extranets,
e-mail, Ebooks, databases, and mobile phones.
According to Forrester Research (as cited in
Kessler, 2003), electronic commerce generated
sales worth US $12.2 billion in 2003.
The meaning of the term "electronic commerce"
has changed over time. Originally, "electronic
commerce" meant the facilitation of commercial
transactions electronically. |