Electronic Commerce
The Revolution Is Just Beginning
Types of Commerce
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Traditional Commerce
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What is Commerce?
Commerce = com- (together)+ mercis-
(merchandise).
1530s, from Middle French commerce (14c.),
from Latin commercium "trade, trafficking,"
from com- "together" + merx (genitive mercis)
"merchandise“
Source: Online Etymology Dictionary, retrieved on 29.09.2013 from http://www.etymonline.com
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Introduction – What is E-commerce
The use of the Internet, the Web, and apps to
transact business. More formally, digitally enabled
commercial transactions between and among
organizations and individuals.
The process of buying, selling, or exchanging
products, services, or information via computer
networks
All electronically mediated information exchanges
between an organization and its external
stakeholders
Kalakota and Whinston (1997) refer to a range of different
perspectives for e-commerce:
1 A communications perspective – the delivery of information,
products or services or payment by electronic means.
2 A business process perspective – the application of technology
towards the automation of business transactions and work-
flows.
3 A service perspective – enabling cost cutting at the same time
as increasing the speed and quality of service delivery.
4 An online perspective – the buying and selling of products and
information online.
What is Electronic Business?
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Different perspectives on EC
Doing business electronically by completing business
processes over networks
A tool to cut service costs while improving the quality of
customer service and increasing the speed of service
delivery
Enabler of online learning and training
Framework for inter- and intra-organizational
collaboration
A gathering place for community members to learn,
transact, and collaborate such as in social networks
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E-Commerce
Digitally enabled transactions include all transactions
mediated by digital technology. For the most part, this means
transactions that occur over the Internet, the Web and/or via
mobile apps. Commercial transactions involve the exchange of
value (e.g., money) across organizational or individual
boundaries in return for products and services.
Exchange of value is important for understanding the limits of
e-commerce.
Without an exchange of value, no commerce occurs.
Origins
Although e-commerce is not very old, it already has a
tumultuous history. The history of e-commerce can be
usefully divided into three periods:
1995–2000, the period of invention;
2001–2006, the period of consolidation;
2007–present, a period of reinvention with social,
mobile, and local expansion.
Origins and Growth of E-commerce
1995: Beginning of e-commerce
beginning in 1995 with the first widespread use of the Web to advertise,
First sales of banner advertisements products
E-commerce meant selling retail goods, usually, quite simple goods, on the
Internet. There simply was not enough bandwidth for more complex
products. Marketing was limited to unsophisticated static display ads and
not very powerful search engines.
E-commerce fastest growing form of commerce in
United States
E-commerce: A Brief History
1995–2000: Invention
Key concepts developed
Dot-coms; heavy venture capital investment
2001–2006: Consolidation
Emphasis on business-driven approach
2006–Present: Reinvention
Extension of technologies
New models based on user-generated content,
social networks, services
E-commerce Trends 2012–2013
Mobile platform solidifies
Mobile e-commerce explodes
Continued growth of social networks
Expansion of social and local
e-commerce
Explosive growth in “Big Data”
E-books gain wide acceptance
Dimensions of Electronic Commerce
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Pure vs. Partial
– Partial, when at least 1 dim is electronic such
as ordering food online
– Pure, when no physical dimensions is involved
Internet vs. Non-Internet EC
– Internet
– Private networks (e.g., ATM)
– LAN (e.g., using services at airports accessed
via intranet)
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Organisations
Brick-and-mortar (old economy) organizations
– Primary business conducted offline
– E.g. the super market around the corner
Virtual (pure-play) organizations
– business conducted purely online
– E.g. online gaming; providing web space
Click-and-mortar (click-and-brick) organizations
– Some EC activities
– E.g., the super store around the SUT Metro
station uses an eShop to sell food, drinks, and
fruit
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Intranet and Extranet
Intranet :
A private network within a single company using
Internet standards to enable employees to
access and share information using web
publishing technology.
Extranet :
A service provided through Internet and web
technology delivered by extending an intranet
beyond a company to customers, suppliers and
collaborators.
Information Systems
Interorganizational information systems (IOSs)
Communications systems that allow routine
transaction processing and information flow
between two or more organizations
Intraorganizational information systems
Communication systems that enable e-commerce
activities to go on within individual organizations
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summarizes the evolution of digital and web-
related technologies
Since the Web 2.0 concept has been widely applied, it is
natural that commentators would try to evolve the concept to
Web 3.0, although the term hasn’t been widely applied to date.
We can suggest that as web functionality evolves, these
approaches which could be deemed ‘Web 3.0’ will become
more important:
1.Web applications. Usage of web-based applications and
services (like Google word processor and spreadsheets) using
the web in this way is sometimes termed ‘cloud computing’
where all that is really needed for many activities is a computer
with a web browser, with local software applications used less
widely.
2. Syndication. Increased incorporation of syndicated content and
services from other sites or a network into a site (using tools
such as Yahoo! Pipes and XML exchange between widgets).
3.Streamed video or IPTV. Increased use of streamed
video from existing TV providers and user-
generated content (as suggested by use of YouTube
and IPTV services such as Joost);
4. Virtual worlds. Increased use of immersive virtual
environments such as Second Life;
5. Personal data integration. Increased exchange of
data between social networks fulfilling different
needs (as indicated by the recent Google
development of OpenSocial);
6. The semantic web. Increased use of semantic
markup leading to the semantic web envisioned by
Tim Berners-Lee over 10 years ago.
Figure 1.7 Evolution of web technologies
Source: Adapted from Spivack (2007)
