Electronic Commerce

Electronic Commerce

Edward Caputo

Many new and exciting business and purchasing opportunities are becoming available due to the phenomenal growth of the Internet and peoples interest to save time and money by purchasing goods via the web. If you think about all the companies that you know that don't use computers for their everyday business than you either are stumped or just thought of one that will soon be forced to evolve or will soon go out of business. There are very few successful companies that do not use computers in their everyday business activities. There are also few companies do not use some form of e-commerce. Just as an example to hit home this point, the effect of the Internet is so widespread in today's business communities, one online article stated that more than 100000 companies have Internet addresses, and 20000 companies have home pages on the Internet as of February 1999. (DataQuest, 1999). Since the beginning of the 1990's these numbers have quadrupled. Now you might be thinking, "Just what exactly is e-commerce?" To most casual Internet surfers, e-commerce means online shopping or simply purchasing Christmas presents via your personal computer and any Internet browser. As we will soon find out this is not exactly the definition of e-commerce but rather on entity of its capabilities.

In Layman's terms, e-commerce is the exchange of business information between two or more organizations. An example of this would be buying and selling products or services over the Internet. After e-commerce proved to be an efficient means to conduct long distance transactions it became very accepted. This paper shall discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of e-commerce, as well as predicting its potential for the future of business.

Electronic commerce, or e-commerce has developed exponentially in the last few years and has left some in the cold. The majority of people think e-commerce is just about buying and selling things over the Internet like through auctioning sites such as E-Bay and U-Bid. However, E-commerce is a broad term describing the electronic exchange of business data between two or more organizations' computers. Some examples might be the electronic job applications, on-line services like America online, and on-line billing that automatically pays specified bills each month so you don't have to mail a check. E-commerce also includes buying and selling any item over the Internet, electronic banking so you can transfer funds between accounts or stocks, smart cards, and all other methods of conducting business over digital networks. "The primary technological goal of e-commerce is to integrate businesses, government agencies, and contractors into a single community with the ability to communicate with one another across any computer platform."(Edwards, 1998)

Electronic commerce started 130 plus years ago by telegraph technology. This is similar to wiring money though an electronic agency for a small fee. The advent of credit cards as a payment system began the revolution of the automated process of commerce that we are so familiar to today. The introduction of the ATM card in the mid 80's was one of the most recent improvements to electronic commerce and its capabilities. In 1969 when the Department of Defense began funding the research of computer networking and the idea Internet was conceived. By the 80's the Internet was still in its youth and very few households had access to the Internet, but at very grueling speeds. The Internet, as a means for commerce, did not become reality until the 1990's. Before this time, it was mainly a tool for the army, and a research device for some American universities. When faster more readily available and relatively cheep means of accessing the Internet were introduced, it was only then did people start to realize how they could capitalize on a greater market and also use the Internet for a fast and efficient means to conduct long distance transactions, as well as an effective way to distribute information

Clearly, E-commerce will change the face of business forever. Companies that were one thought too far away to conduct business, can complete business transactions in a matter of seconds as well as exchange information. "Dell Computers sells more than $14 million worth of computer equipment a day from its web-site. By taking their customer service department to the web Federal Express began saving $10,000 a day. The Internet provides businesses with the opportunity to sell their products to millions of people, 24 hours a day." (Baxton, 1999)

In 1998, revenue equaled almost 74 billion dollars and experts predicting that it will climb to as much as 1,234 billion dollars by the year 2002. With statistics like this, anyone can see that e-commerce will be the thing of the future. One article stated, "Without a doubt, the Internet is ushering in an era of sweeping change that will leave no business or industry untouched. In just three years, the Net has gone from a playground for nerds into a vast communications and trading center where some 90 million people swap information or do deals around the world. Imagine: It took radio more than 30 years to reach 60 million people, and television 15 years. Never has a technology caught fire so fast." (Edwards, 1998)

The advantages of e-commerce are its speed, savings, international distribution and customer service available. However, the disadvantages are privacy and security, consumer willingness to pay, technical challenges for new e-businesses and the organizational commitment. These advantages and disadvantages will be discussed henceforth.

The number one advantage that e-commerce possesses is speed. The Internet and World Wide Web give businesses opportunities to exchange messages or complete transactions almost instantaneously. Even with the slowest connections, doing business electronically is much faster than traditional modes. With increased speeds of communication, the delivery time is expedited and that makes the whole transaction from start to finish more efficient. Also, you can find practically any product available for sale on the Internet, from books and compact disks to, performance car parts. Even more significant is the fact that information appearing on the Internet can be changed extremely rapidly. This gives business owners the ability to inform customers of any changes to the service that you are offering. This also allows for you to update marketing and promotional materials as often and as frequently