GLOBAL IMPACT E-COMMERCE

Global Impact E-Commerce



Global Impact E-Commerce

Introduction

The world is continually changing and the online world is changing even faster. These changes bring about technological improvements, making all types of tasks and processes more efficient. E-commerce is a prime example of how technology can help a business in its everyday operations, making processes easier and more efficient. This directly results in greater profits, which makes everyone happy. Simply put, E-commerce is the online transaction of business, featuring linked computer systems of the vendor, host, and buyer. Electronic transactions involve the transfer of ownership or rights to use a good or service (Wikipedia, 2009, p1). The most popular way of doing E-commerce online is business-to-consumer. Most companies employ this method already, some well known examples are: Amazon.com, llbean.com, CompUSA.com, travelocity.com, and hotels.com just to name a few (Wikipedia, 2009, p1).

Ecommerce can be divided into a variety of different areas. E-tailing, which are virtual storefronts online with catalogues, sometimes gathered into a "virtual mall". These are everyday websites that people use for their own needs to either gather information or do their shopping from home or the office or wherever their location may be (Wikipedia, 2009, p3). E-Commerce also includes the gathering and use of demographic data through web contacts. Clients can sign up for an account to speed up their order process or to get updates on sales or new products. Companies can use this information to determine where the demand for their product or service may be and can gather all types of information on their demographic. Information such as sex, age, location, product preference, purchase history, and type of payment used are all examples data that can be gathered through this process.

Background Information on E-Commerce

E-Commerce was invented in the United Kingdom in 1979. During the 1980's online shopping was used extensively in the United Kingdom by auto manufacturers such as Ford, GM, and Nissan. All of these organizations had to patiently use dial up systems as the wireless broadband system had not yet been created (Wikipedia, 2009, p2). E-commerce continued to evolve throughout the 1990's and additionally included enterprise resource planning systems, data mining, and data warehousing. In 1990 the World Wide Web was invented and e-commerce began evolving with information technology. After about 5 years, security protocols and DSL were introduced to allow continuous internet connections. By the year 2000 European and American companies were offering their services through the internet. The word 'e-commerce' was then introduced and people had the ability to purchase various goods by using the internet (Wikipedia, 2009, p2). This was a revolution in the production and selling industry, it made processes more efficient than ever. This allowed companies to realize better profits and focus their time and energy on improving other areas.

Impact of E-Commerce in a blue chip organisation

E-Commerce can facilitate a company's needs in a variety of different ways. These different ways can also be described as different “sites” that companies can ...