This document provides an overview of e-commerce, including definitions, demographics of online users, benefits and risks of e-commerce for consumers and businesses, common e-commerce business models, statistics on retail e-commerce sales growth, and predictions that e-commerce sales will continue growing significantly in coming years as more consumers shop online using broadband and mobile devices.

1. E-COMMERCE
OVERVIEW
Terry A. Morris, Ed.D.
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2. E-Commerce Overview
Agenda
Describe E-Commerce
Demographics and Statistics
 Who’s online?
 Who’s buying online?
Benefits and Risks of E-Commerce
E-Commerce Business Models
E-Commerce Retail Sales Statistics
E-Commerce Growth
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3. What is E-Commerce?
Take a few moments and jot down some
phrases that come to mind when you think
about e-commerce…
What does e-commerce mean to you?
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4. What is E-Commerce?
You may have thought about…
Shopping online
Purchasing online
Selling or bidding on eBay
Paying bills online
Banking online
E-Commerce provides these functions and
many more.
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5. What is E-Commerce?
Here is a formal definition…
The integration of communications, data management,
and security technologies to allow individuals and
organizations to exchange information related to the
sale of goods and services.
Major functions of E-Commerce include:
 the buying of goods,
 the selling of goods, and
 performance of financial transactions on the Internet.
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6. Who is Online?
If you are like most U.S. adults, you are
regularly online and use the Web.
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7. Who is Online?
Per Pew Internet & American Life Project,
May 2010 Survey
Internet Users:
 Wide range of ages, ethnicity, and income
 82% of Adult Women
 80% of Adult Men
 94% of age 18-29
 89% of age 30-49
More statistics:
http://www.pewinternet.org/Static-Pages/Trend-Da
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8. Who is Buying Online?
Have you shopped or made a purchase
online?
Researched a purchase: 78%
Make a purchase: 71%
Online travel reservations: 65%
Online Banking: 61%
http://www.pewinternet.org/Static-Pages/Trend-Data-(Adults)/Online-Activi
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9. Use by Generation
9 http://www.pewinternet.org/Infographics/2010/Generations-2010-Summary.aspx

10. E-Commerce
Benefits for Consumers
Convenience
Easier Comparison Shopping
Wider Selection of Goods
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11. E-Commerce Risks
for Consumers
Possible Security Issues
Possible Privacy Issues
Purchasing from photos &
descriptions
Possible difficulty with returns
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12. E-Commerce Benefits
for Businesses
Reduced Costs
Increased Customer Satisfaction
More Effective Data Management
Potentially Higher Sales
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13. E-Commerce Risks
for Businesses
Need for a robust, reliable web site
Fraudulent transactions
Customer reluctance to purchase
online
Increased competition
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14. E-Commerce
Business Models
B2C – Business-to-Consumer
B2B – Business-to-Business
C2C – Consumer-to-Consumer (eBay!)
B2G – Business-to-Government
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15. Dept. of Commerce Census Bureau
Retail E-Commerce Stats
 Estimated Quarterly U.S. Retail E-commerce Sales
(Billions of dollars)
http://www.census.gov/retail/

16. E-Commerce Growth
Forrester Research:
Online Retail Sales Will Grow To $250 Billion By 2014
http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/08/forrester-forecast-online-retail-sales-will-grow-to-250-billion-by-2014/

17. The Influence
of the Web on Commerce
 Forrester Predicts Growth in Web-influenced Sales
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18. E-Commerce Growth
More consumers moving from dial up to broadband
connections
Retailers improving their coordination between online
and in-store operations
Sales are shifting away from stores
Mobile Commerce
Social Commerce
Daily Deal Websites (http://groupon.com)
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/03/08/e-commerce-growth-slows-but-still-out-paces-retail/
http://www.sescommerce.com/ecommerce-growth.asp
http://www.emarketer.com/Report.aspx?code=emarketer_2000770
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19. The End
Interested in E-Commerce?
Consider enrolling in:
WEB 240 E-Commerce Development
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