E-COMMERCE

E-commerce

E-commerce

Introduction

Electronic business transactions, which are wholly or partially conducted over the Internet, are known as E-commerce. There are three types of e-commerce; B2B, which refers to the business transactions between, companies, B2C which is business between companies and consumers and, C2C which are transactions between consumers.

Two companies, which have been successful with E-commerce, are Egghead and Paypal. Egghead was a retail software vendor who attempted, unsuccessfully, to transition to E-commerce. After being acquired by Amazon.com and merging, their extensive customer database with Amazon they have found new life. "We are thrilled to re-launch the Egghead.com site with all the power and benefits of the Amazon.com platform, " said Steve Frazier, vice president for Amazon.com`s electronics, tools and kitchen segment (2001).

Paypal is an E-commerce website, which began as a means to provide safer internet money transfers or transactions. They interfaced with clients' bank accounts to transfer funds into a user's Paypal account. When a purchase was made, the vendor would access their Paypal account for the funds. This eliminated the need for users to provide their credit card numbers. The service promoted safety and security for those who were uncomfortable entering credit card information on the internet. Since their inception, they have merged with E-bay and are largely responsible for the consumer-to-consumer financial transactions that occur as a result of auctions.

There are five components to a successful e-commerce endeavor. A well-designed website is paramount to the success of e-commerce. It is the primary marketing tool and its' professionalism will define the level of trust your prospective consumers feel about making purchases there. The website should include searchable cataloguing features so customer's can find what they want quickly and easily. The catalogue may interface with current inventory so customers can see the quantity on hand and the company can replenish the stock. It ...