Semester:
Spring 2000
Semester:
Spring 2000
What is E-Commerce?
E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet, especially the World Wide Web. E-Commerce allows trading partners to transfer critical business data and information, integrating with back office systems. Using E-Commerce, a company can maximize revenues, improve relationships with trading partners, reduce cost, and improve customer service. Ernst & Young says it believes, "E-commerce spending in the banking and financial-services industry will account for 14 percent of total technology budgets by the year 2001," which would lead to "26 percent of all transactions in financial ser vices conducted via e-commerce by the year 2001." Internet technology is having a profound effect on the global trade in services. World trade involving computer software, entertainment products (motion pictures, videos, games, sound recordings), informat ion services (databases, online newspapers), technical information, product licenses, financial services, and professional services (businesses and technical consulting, accounting, architectural design, legal advice, travel services, etc.) has grown rapidly in the past decade, now accounting for well over $40 billion of U.S. exports alone.
The Internet will also revolutionize retail and direct marketing. Consumers will be able to shop in their homes for a wide variety of products from manufacturers and retailers all over the world. They will be able to view these products on their computers or televisions, access information about the products, visualize the way the products may fit together (constructing a room of furniture on their screen, for example), and order and pay for their choice, all from their living rooms.
Commerce on the Internet could total tens of billions of dollars by the turn of the century. For this potential to be realized fully, governments must adopt a non-regulatory, market-oriented approach to electronic commerce, one that facilitates the eme rgence of a transparent and predictable legal environment to support global business and commerce. Official decision makers must respect the unique nature of the medium and recognize that widespread competition and increased consumer choice should be the defining features of the new digital marketplace. Electronic commerce is about doing business on the web. It is about being able to contact millions of people 24 hours a day seven days a week. People shop only when they have time to shop. If they know they can browse your store with a couple clicks of the mouse from their home or office computer they are more apt to visit often. So, if you have a great idea and some spare time e-commerce offers the perfect opportunity for you to set up a business in a record amount of time. Market researchers are indicating that e-commerce has a very bright future. All the predictions about the future of e-commerce are extremely positive. There are many different projections about how much dollar volume will be transacted over the web by the year 2002. These predictions range from about $12 billion a year to over $400 billion a year. These kind of numbers tell us that consumer buying habits are going to vastly change over the next 4 years. Now is the time to jump on the e-commerce bandwagon and start getting your share of the multi-billion dollar emerging market.
An article from cnn.com stated that 25% of web users conduct regular monetary transactions on line. That is a high percentage. This high percentage shows that people are beginning to trust electronic transactions more and more. E-commerce seems to be an excellent opportunity to conduct a whole different type of business. Of course its success will depend on how much trust consumers will have for what they see available on the web. A site must be reputable and be able to offer quick delivery, because the consumer could easily go out the store and purchase what they wanted immediately. Yes , its the right time for your dot com venture.