E-commerce refers to business transactions conducted online over the internet. It allows companies to market directly to consumers anywhere in the world using technology. While selling was previously limited by social and geographical boundaries, e-commerce has challenged this by giving consumers more information on prices and quality globally. There are various types of e-commerce including business-to-business, business-to-consumer, consumer-to-consumer, and mobile commerce. The technology is expected to continue growing and propagating throughout more commercial activities in the future.

1. What is e-commerce
e-commerce
An Introduction
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2. What is e-commerce?
• The use of the internet and web to
transact business.
• Digitally enabled commercial
transactions between and among
organizations and individuals.
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3. Before e-commerce
• Prior to e-commerce, the process of marketing was a mass
marketing and sales force driven process
• Selling was conducted in well defined, insulated channels
• Social and geographical boundaries limited consumer to
information on price and quality. This created information
asymmetries which was profitable for the firm.
• E-COMMERCE HAS NOW CHALLENGE MUCH OF THIS .
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4. Features of e-commerce
Technology
• Ubiquity: available everywhere and elsewhere
• Global Reach: transcend national boundaries
• Universal standards: only one set of technology standard-
internet standards.
• Richness: audio,video, text
• Interactivity: the technology works through interaction
with the user
• Information density: reduces information costs and raises
quality
• Personalisation/Customisation: allows personalisation of the
message to individual as well as groups.
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5. Business significance
• Ubiquity: marketplace is beyond traditional boundaries; marketspace is
created; consumer convinience is enhanced and shopping costs are reduced.
• Global reach: commerce is enbaled across cultural and national boundaries.
• Universal standard: there is one technical standard across the globe.
• Richness: marketing messages are integrated into a single message and rich
experience.
• Interactivity: consumers are engaged in a dialogue that dynamically adjusts
the experience to the individual. Consumers can participate in the
experience of the purchase and delivery.
• Information density: information processing, storage and communication
costs drop dramatically.
• Personalisation/customisation: Personalisation of marketing messages are
based on individual characterics which has been more possible by the
internet.
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6. Types of e-commerce
• B2C-Business to Consumer
• B2B-Business to Business
• C2C-Consumer to Consumer
• B2G-Business to Government
• P2P-Peer to Peer
• M-commerce-Mobile commerce
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7. Origins and Growth of e-
commerce
• Baxter Healthcare B2B telephone based
modem in the 1970s
• 1980 development of Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI). Allowed firms to
exchange commercial documents and
conducted commerce over a private
network.
• In B2C Minitel was introduced in France in
1981
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8. Features of E-commerce I
1995-2000
• Explosive growth
• Disintermediation: displacement of market
middlemen who traditionally where intermediaries
between producers and consumers.
• Friction-free commerce: information is equally
distributed, transaction costs are low, prices can
be dynamically adjusted to reflect actual demand,
intermediaries decline
• First mover: the firm that moves first wins
• Network effect: users receive value by the fact
everyone else uses the same tool or product.
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9. Features of E-commerce II
2001-2007
• Business Driven
• Earnings and profit emphasis
• Traditional financing
• Stronger regulation and governance
• Mixed strategies (clicks and bricks)
• Imperfect markets, brands, and network
effects.
• Strenghening of intermediaries
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10. In Perspective:Technology
and e-commerce
• Cars and Radio were technologies that had
profound changes on commerce.
• In 1915 there were 250 automobile
manufacturers in the US. By 1940 there were 5.
• In 1925, there were over 2000 radio stations
across the United States-most run by amateurs
and focus on local areas. By 1990 there were
fewer than 500
• There is reason to believe that e-commerce will
follow a similar pattern, with some notable
differences.
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11. Potential limitations on the
growth of B2B e-commerce
• Expensive technologies
• Complex software interface
• Sophisticated skill set
• Persistent cultural attraction of physical
markets and traditional shopping
experience
• Persistent global inequality limiting access
to telephones and personal computers
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12. The Future of e-
commerce
• The technology will continue to propagate
throughout all commercial activities
• Provide a reasonable return to investors
• Margins will rise
• The players will change
• Pure online companies will decline
• Growth of regulatory activity
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