Definition and Concept of Electronic Commerce

2003-10-27

Electronic commerce is narrowly defined as buying and selling products/services over the Internet. The concept has been broadened to include all business activities of a sales cycle. The distinction between Ecommerce and E-business has become blurred. Ecommerce and Electronic Commerce has been used interchangeably, Electronic Business, however, has not been a widely accepted terminology. David Kosiur described the Components of Electronic Commerce in three dimensions (Processes, Institutions and Networks) in his 1997 book Understanding Electronic Commerce. We expand Institutions as Ecommerce Players, Networks as Technologies and add Markets as the fourth dimension of Ecommerce. Business Activities (Processes) of a sales life cycle Product and Market Research Marketing (Search Engine Promotion) Sales Payment Fulfillment Customer Support Technologies for automating sales life cycle Ecommerce system architecture Web Interface Application Development and data management Web Hosting Website Monitoring Network Internet Security Players Regulations (Government Agencies) Corporate Consumers Institutions Markets (Industries) E-Learning, online learning or distance learning E-tailing Online Trading and financial services Online Dating Services ... The fifth possible dimension is market segments by geographical regions. Related Topics Benefits of Ecommerce - digitalization and networking History of Ecommerce Future of Ecommerce Internet Users Regulations Institutions Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) - Overview and Standards Key success factors in e-commerce E-commerce problems Ecommerce Product suitability - What Sells Best Online?