E-commerce

E-commerce Introduction to Electronic Commerce What is E-commerce' In this course, we use the term e-commerce in its broadest sense, i.e. anything using computers and the Internet to conduct their activities. It's more than the WWW Banks use Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT); known as Bank Automatic Clearing System (BACS) in the UK Businesses use Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Secure, but expensive, private Value Added Networks (VANs) connecting Trading Partners (TPs) as illustrated in Figure 1. Figure 1 : Value Added Network Monthly rental plus per-transaction charge. Moving onto the Internet/WWW changes the business model => Intranets => Extranets => Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). Traditional Commerce According to Schneider & Perry [Schneider 2000], this started in pre-history when our ancestors decided to specialise their everyday activities and so Self-sufficiency => Bartering => Currency => Commerce. Figure 2 considers a commercial transaction from two points of view. Buyer\'s Standpoint Seller\'s Standpoint Needs XXX Search for suitable products Choose vendor Negotiate purchase (complex) Arrange for delivery Make payment After-sales requirements Identify markets Create products Advertise products Negotiate purchase (complex) Ship goods and invoice customer Receive payment After-sales support Figure 2 : Commercial Transaction Business Processes Each of these elements outlined above can include a number of e-commerce, figure, business, electronic, commerce, organisations, new, traditional, systems, products, payment, services, processes, on-line, network, legal, infrastructure, disadvantages, customer, advantages, activities, transactions, transaction, technology, technological, suited, standards, internet, framework, changes, www, value, travel, strategies