The 1990’s gave us the creation of Netscape 1.0, which was a browser that the public could use to buy and sell products online. Netscape 1.0 began developing technologies that would make online transactions private and safe for the individual consumer. DSL was also created around this time, which allowed for faster and continuous connection to the internet. This made businesses and individuals from all over the world capable of selling their products online. By the new-found ability to conduct business on the internet, different divisions of E-commerce began to form. These divisions would supplement all aspects of the business and consumer relationships. The following are the main divisions we see today: Business to Business (B2B), which consists of wholesalers like Cisco; Business to Consumer (B2C), which are the retailers like Amazon; and Consumer to Consumer (C2C), which are often auction sites like eBay.
E-Commerce has had a major impact on the markets that businesses can reach. Businesses now had the ability to reach a large global market allowing for a greater return on their product sales. The retailers would be able to sell more product at a lower cost, as a result of business being done online and not by man power alone. They did not have to employ as many workers at multiple stores which gave them the ability to lower prices and increase sales. This also had an effect on the consumers’ productivity as a result of less time being spent physically shopping. Although we may take advantage of E-commerce and the ease it creates in our daily lives, its benefit to the global economy is always changing and ever-increasing as technologies continue to develop. Everyday we see new businesses from all over the world implementing E-commerce into their business strategies, resulting in the growth of a “global community”.
Here is a list of resources that discuss, in greater detail what, how, and why E-commerce is such an important factor in all of our lives:
- E-commerce and Globalization – This article looks as E-commerce and the Global Market, its influences, the use of E-commerce technologies, and Integration Strategies.
- E-commerce and the Market – This article discusses different views about how E-commerce is impacting markets and changing market structures.
- E-Payment – This website discusses E-Payment, an essential part of E-commerce. It includes government regulations and policies, as well as country studies that discuss their e-commerce and e-payments.
- Taxation of E-commerce – An E-commerce taxation links page that has links to E-commerce tax issues, reports about those issues from the federal government other organizations.
- E-commerce Impact on Small Businesses – This article examines the impact that E-commerce has had a small and rural businesses through individual case studies.