ch 1 ecommerce

Business

While technology provides the infrastructure, it is the business applications—the potential for extraordinary returns on investment that create the interest and excitement in ecommerce.

Interactivity

allows for two-way communication between merchant and consumer.

Social ecommerce

is ecommerce that is enabled by social networks and online social relationships.

Technology

To understand ecommerce, you need a basic understanding of the information technologies upon which it is built, including the Internet and the Web, and a host of complementary technologies.

C2C

is a means for consumers to sell to each other. In C2C ecommerce, the consumer prepares the product for market, places the product for auction or sale, and relies on the market maker to provide catalog, search engine, and transaction clearing capabilities so that products can be easily displayed, discovered, and paid for.

Information density

is the total amount and quality of information available to all market participants.

Personalization and customization

merchants can target their marketing messages to specific individuals by adjusting the message.

B2C

involves businesses selling to consumers and is the type of ecommerce that most consumers are likely to encounter.

B2B ecommerce

involves businesses selling to other businesses and is the largest form of e-commerce.

ECommerce

involves digitally enabled commercial transactions between and among organizations and individuals. Digitally enabled transactions include all those mediated by digital technology, meaning, for the most part, 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 or services.

Mobile commerce

involves the use of wireless digital devices to enable transactions on the Web.

Local ecommerce

is a form of ecommerce that is focused on engaging the consumer based on his or her current geographic location.

Society

Understanding the pressures that global ecommerce places on contemporary society is critical to being successful in the ecommerce marketplace. The primary societal issues are intellectual property, individual privacy, and public policy.

Ubiquity

available just about everywhere, at all times.

Global reach

permits commercial transactions to cross cultural and national boundaries.

Social technology

provides a many to many model of mass communications.

Richness

refers to the complexity and content of a message.

Universal standards

shared by all nations around the world.