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E-Commerce: What on earth is it?

What is e-commerce? 

E-commerce is the contemporary buzzword you will hear describing income producing activities on the Internet. It is much more than a term however; it describes a whole process of transacting and conducting business affairs online.

E-commerce is the paperless exchange of business information using electronic data interchange, e-mail, electronic bulletin boards, fax transmissions, and electronic funds transfer.  It refers to a whole host of commercial transactions including Internet shopping, online stock and bond transactions, the downloading and selling of e-books, and business-to-business transactions. 

What is so great about e-commerce?

E-commerce is all about using the Internet to conduct business faster and better.  It is about allowing people control over their computer systems and allowing them the opportunity to serve themselves.  For business, it is all about recognizing the importance of the online market, in increasing the presence of off-line businesses through the use of the Internet.  It is about integrating a business web site into the heart of their business.

A way of understanding the importance of an Internet business is to compare it to a telephone.  It is a way for people to communicate with each other about important information for both personal and business affairs.  It is also a way for the consumer to communicate with a business computer system without the need for human intervention. 

E-commerce enhances the way we communicate our business affairs in the contemporary business market. If you think about the ways that you communicate with other people in your business life, you use body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions to help you understand what the person is trying to communicate.  If you cannot meet face-to-face, you may also use a telephone, a fax machine, Federal Express, the U.S. Postal Service, or maybe even a messenger service.  These are all ways that you can provide or receive information, authorization, and even transact shipments of goods and merchandise. 

The Internet and the use of e-commerce is an exceptional alternative to all of these forms of communication.  It is in operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Almost any way that you communicate with your customers off-line, can probably be conducted in a similar way online, saving money, time, and personnel costs as well as enhancing the communication process.  That is the incredible power of the Internet and e-commerce. 

E-commerce is exceptional if you cannot meet face-to-face.  You may send an e-mail with an attached photograph or use a webcam.  When it comes time to pay for merchandise, you may use a secure server to pay by credit card, or even electronic checks.  The opportunities and situations in which online business through e-commerce is possible are absolutely limitless. 

Information from The Everything Online Business Book by Rob Liflander 

Web page by Paul Susic M.A. Licensed Psychologist  Ph.D. Candidate   CEO/President Susic Psychological Consulting P.C.