Electronic commerce, commonly known as E-Commerce consists of the buying and selling of products and services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks.
For most companies today Electronic -commerce is more than just buying and selling products online.
It encompasses the entire online process of developing , marketing, selling, delivering, servicing, and paying for products and services transacted on inter- networked, global marketplaces of customer, with the support of a worldwide network of business partners.
Table of Contents
The Scope of E-Commerce
- The range of business processes involved in marketing, buying, selling and servicing of products and services in companies that engage e-commerce.
- Companies involved in it as either buyer or sellers rely on Internet based technologies and e-commerce applications and services to accomplish marketing, discovery, transaction processing, and product and customer service processes.
Categories of Electronic-Commerce
Many companies today are participating in or sponsoring four basic categories of e-commerce applications:
- Business-to-consumer (B2C) : Business develop attractive electronic marketplaces to sell products and services to customer.
- Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C): The huge success of online auctions like e-bay, where consumer can buy from and sell to another in an auction process at an auction web site, makes this model an important e-commerce strategy.
- Business-to-Business (B2B) : This category of e-commerce involves both e-business marketplace and direct market links between businesses.
Essential Electronic-Commerce Processes
There are seven key components of Electronic-Commerce processes architecture that is the foundation of its initiatives of many companies today.
Access Control and Security
E-commerce must establish mutual trust and secure access between the parties in an e-commerce transaction by authenticating users, authorizing access, and enforcing security features.
Security process protect the resources of its sites from threats such as hacker attacks, theft of passwords or credit card numbers, and system failures.
Profiling and Personalizing
Once gained access to an e-commerce site, profiling processes can occur that gather data on you and your web sit behavior and choices, as well as build electronic profiles your characteristics and preferences.
These profiles are used to recognize you as an individual user and provide you with a personalized view of the contents of the site, as well as product recommendations.
Search Management
Efficient and effective search processes provide a top e-commerce web site capability that helps customers find the specific product or service they want to evaluate or buy.
E-commerce software packages can include a web site search engine components, or a company may acquire a customized e-commerce search engine from search technology companies like google.
Content and Catalogue management
Content management software helps electronic-commerce companies develop, generate, deliver, and archive text data and multimedia information at e-commerce web sites.
It contents frequently take the form of multimedia catalogs of product information.
Workflow Management
- Many of the business in Electronic-commerce applications can be managed and partially automated with the help of workflow management software.
- Workflow management in both e- business and electronic-commerce depends on the workflow search engine containing software models of the business process to be accomplished.
- Workflow system ensures the that the proper transactions, decisions, and work activities are performed, and the correct data and documents are routed to right employees, customers, suppliers, and other business stakeholders.
Event Notifications
- Most Electronic-commerce applications are event driven systems that responds to a multitude of events- from a new customer’s first website access, to payment and delivery processes, to innumerable customer relationship and supply chain management.
- Customers, suppliers, employees and other stakeholders must be notified of all events that might affect their status in a transaction.
- Event notification software works with the workflow management software to monitor all e-commerce processes and record all relevant events, including unexpected changes or problem situations.
Collaboration and Trading
- Vital collaboration arrangements and trading services needed by customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders to accomplish its transactions.
- Customer focused e- business uses tools such ae e-mail, chat systems and discussion groups to nurture online communities of interest among employees and customers to enhance customer service and build customer loyalty in e-commerce.
Electronic Payment Process
- Payment for the products and services purchased is an obvious and vital set of processes in e- commerce transaction.
- E-commerce payment processes are also complex because of the wide variety of debit and credit card alternatives, as well as the financial institutions and intermediaries that may be a part of the process.
- Therefore the variety of electronic payment systems have evolved over time.
Web Payment Process
- Most Electronic-commerce systems on the web involving business and consumers (B2C) depends on credit card payment processes, but many B2B systems rely on more complex payment processes based on the use of purchase orders.
- I typically use an electronic shopping cart process, which enables customers to select products from website catalog displays and put them temporarily in a virtual shopping basket for later checkout and processing.
Electronic Fund Transfer
Electronic fund transfer systems are a major form of electronic payment systems in banking and retailing industries.
EFT uses variety of technologies to capture and process money and credit transfer between banks and business and their customers.
Eg. ATM, PAYPAL, Internet bill payment
Secure Electronic Payments
Online purchase on the internet, makes credit card information vulnerable to interception by network sniffers.
Several basic security measures are being used to solve this security problem.
- Encrypt the data passing between customer and merchant
- Encrypt the data passing between the customer and the company authorizing the credit card transaction
- Take sensitive information offline.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is E-Commerce?
Online purchasing and selling of goods and services via platforms, apps, and websites is known as e-commerce.
What are the types of E-Commerce?
Types include B2B (Business-to-Business), B2C (Business-to-Consumer), C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer), and C2B (Consumer-to-Business).
What are the benefits of E-Commerce?
Benefits include global reach, convenience, reduced operational costs, and 24/7 availability.