E-Commerce

Electronic commerce (also referred to as EC, e-commerce or ecommerce) consists primarily of the distributing, buying, selling, marketing, and servicing of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. The information technology industry might see it as an electronic business application aimed at commercial transactions. It can involve electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, e-marketing, online marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), automated inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. It typically uses electronic communications technology such as the Internet, extranets, e-mail, e-books, databases, catalogues and mobile phones.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
The meaning of the term electronic commerce has changed over the last 30 years. Originally, electronic commerce meant the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, usually using technology like Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), where both were introduced in the late 1970s, for example, to send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically. The electronic or e in e-commerce or e-business refers to the technology / systems; the commerce refers to be traditional business models. The growth and acceptance of credit cards, Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the 1980s were also forms of e-commerce. However, from the 1990s onwards, this would include enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
This system, known as Automation of Procurement and Accounting Data Entry (APADE). In the dot com era, it came to include activities more precisely termed Web Commerce. The purchase of goods and services over the World Wide Web via secure servers (note HTTP, a special server protocol which encrypts confidential ordering data for customer protection) with eshopping carts and with electronic payment services, like credit card payment authorizations.

SUCCESS FACTORS IN E-COMMERCE

(1) Technical and Organizational Aspects (a) Sufficient work done in market research and analysis good business planning (b) A good management team armed with good and sound information technology strategy companys IT strategy of business re-design process (c) Providing an easy and secured way for customers to effect transactions credit cards (d) Providing reliability and security parallel servers, hardware redundancy, fail-safe technology, information encryption and firewall (e) Providing a 360-degree vies of the customer relationship defined as ensuring that all employees, suppliers and partners have complete view

SUCCESS FACTORS IN E-COMMERCE

(1) Technical and Organizational Aspects (f) Constructing a commercially sound business model If this key success factor had appeared in textbooks in textbooks in 2000, many of the dotcoms might not have gone into bankruptcy. (g) Engineering an electronic value chain in which one focuses on a limited number of core competencies. (h) Operating on or near the cutting edge of technology as technology changes (i) Sufficient alertness to respond quickly to any changes in the economic, social and physical environment (j) Providing an attractive website with use of colour, graphics, animation, photographs, fonts (k) Streamlining business processes possibly through re-engineering and information technologies (l) Providing complete understanding of the products or services offered, includes complete product information, sound advisors and selectors

SUCCESS FACTORS IN E-COMMERCE

(2) Customer-Oriented (a) Providing value to customers (b) Providing service and performance (c) Providing an incentives (d) Providing personal attention (e) Providing a sense of community (f) Owning the customers total experience (g) Letting customers help themselves (h) Helping customers do their hob of consuming

SUCCESS FACTORS IN E-COMMERCE

(3) Acceptance (a) Concerns about security (b) Lack of instant gratification (c) The problem to access to web commerce, particularly for poor households and for developing countries. (d) The social aspect of shopping (e) Poorly designed, bug-infected eCommerce web sites that frustrute online shoppers and drive them away. (f) Inconsistent return policies (Investment Returns) among e-tailers of difficulties in exchange / return

FEATURES OF E-COMMERCE
Ubiquity In traditional commerce, a marketplace is a physical place we visit in order to transact. For e.g. television and radio are typically directed to motivating the customer to go to some place to make a purchase. E-commerce is available just about everywhere at all times. Global Reach E-commerce technology permits commercial transactions to cross cultural and national boundaries far more conveniently and effectively as compared to traditional commerce. Universal Standards shared by all the nations around the world Interactivity allow for two-way communication between merchants and consumer Information Density and Richness E-commerce technologies reduce information collection, storage, communication and processing costs. Personalization E-commerce permits personalization. Merchants can target their marketing messages to specific individuals by adjusting the message to a persons name, interest and past purchases.

LIMITATIONS / FAILURES OF E-COMMERCE

Failure to understand customers, why they buy and how they buy Failure to consider the competitive situation Inability to predict environment reaction Over-estimation of resource competence Failure to co-ordinate Failure to obtain senior management commitment Failure to obtain employee commitment Under-estimation of time requirements Failure to follow a plan Becoming the victim of organized crime