INTRODUCTION OF E-COMMERCE

Electronic commerce encompasses the entire online process of developing, marketing, selling, delivering, servicing, and paying for products and services. The Internet and related technologies and e-commerce websites on the World Wide Web and corporate intranets and extranets serve as the business and technology platform for E-commerce marketplaces for consumers and businesses in the basic categories of business-to-consumer (B2C), (C2C) e-commerce. The essential processes that should be implemented in all e-commerce applications – across control and security, personalizing and profiling, search management, content management, catalogue management, payment systems, workflow management, event notification, and collaboration and trading – are summarized in Figure 7. 5.

E-Business is the creation of new, and the redesigning of existing value chains and business processes through the application of information technology. Naturally, e-Business is more than e-commerce. It expands the scope of e-commerce to transform the company and the industry itself.

Electronic Commerce or e-commerce is the trade of products and services by means of the Internet or other computer networks. E-commerce follows the same basic principles as traditional commerce that is, buyers and sellers come together to swap commodities for money. But rather than conducting business in the traditional way in shopping stores or through mail order catalogs and telephone operators — in e-commerce buyers and sellers transact business over networked computers.
E-commerce offers buyers maximum convenience. They can visit the web sites of multiple vendors round the clock a day to compare prices and make purchases, without having to leave their homes or offices from around the globe. In some cases, consumers can immediately obtain a product or service, such as an electronic book, a music file, or computer software, by downloading it over the Internet.
For sellers, e-commerce offers a way to cut costs and expand their markets. They do not need to build, staff, or maintain a physical store or print and distribute mail order catalogs. Automated order tracking and billing systems cut additional labor costs, and if the product or service can be downloaded then e-commerce firms have no distribution costs involved. Because the products can be sold sell over the global Internet, sellers have the potential to market their products or services globally and are not limited by the physical location of a store. Internet technologies also permit sellers to track the interests and preferences of their customers with the customer’s permission and then use this information to build an ongoing relationship with the customer by customizing products and services to meet the customer’s needs.
E-Commerce is about setting your business on the Internet, allowing visitors to access your website, and go through a virtual catalog of your products / services online. When a visitor wants to buy something he/she likes, they merely, "add" it to their virtual shopping basket. Items in the virtual shopping basket can be added or deleted, and when you're all set to checkout...you head to the virtual checkout counter, which has your complete total, and will ask you for your name, address etc. and method of payment (usually via credit card). Once you have entered all this information (which by the way is being transmitted securely) you can then just wait for delivery. It’s that simple. According to a CNN Opinion Poll, 62% of respondents who were surveyed said they plan to shop online during the Christmas season. Newsweek devoted its front page story to "shopping.com" in its December 7, 1998 issue (Asian Edition). The title was "Why Online Stores are the Best Thing since Santa Claus".S
E-Commerce is not about just online stores, it’s about anything and everything to do with money. If you pay (via cash, check, credit card, etc.) E-Commerce is about to make an introduction into your life soon. Banks like Bank of America and Wells Fargo are now giving their clients accessibility to their bank accounts via the web. Soon enough, banks in Pakistan would be following suit. Days are not far away (yes in Pakistan!) when you would be able to order and reserve your request for a movie at the local video store (all online) be able to browse through various titles, etc. and if you are feeling hungry