E-Commerce

E-commerce at the consumer level  Online shopping (B2C transactions)  Online banking  Online Finance E-commerce at the business level  Business-to-Business (B2B) transactions Security  Paying on web Bidding / Auction  Buying and selling

E-Commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet.

E-Commerce Retail goods can be classified into two categories: 1.Hard goods are those that can be viewed and priced online, such as computers, clothes, groceries, and furniture, but are then sent to buyers by mail or truck. 2.Soft goods are those that can be downloaded directly from the retailers site, such as music, software, travel, tickets and greeting cards.

E-Commerce E-Commerce is: 1.E-commerce at the consumer level 2.E-commerce at the business level.

E-commerce at the Consumer Level Thousands of online businesses provide services to meet the needs of consumers. These companies web sites provide information about products and services, take orders, receive payments, and provide on-the-spot customer service. Consumer oriented e-commerce web sites take many forms and cover the range of products and services, but can be divided into two general categories: 1.Shopping sites 2.Personal finance sites.

Online shopping Online shopping means buying a product or service through a website. Another term for online shopping is B2C(business-to- consumer) transaction. Amazon and Buy.com are just two of the many popular web sites where consumers can buy any sorts of things. What can you buy online? The list is almost limitless- including everything from car to appliances, electronics to jewelry, clothes to books, drinks to candies.

Online shopping There are thousands of consumer web sites and each has its own look, feel, and approach to customer satisfaction. But effective online shopping sites share a few essential features: A catalog where you can search for information about products and services. A “checkout” section where you can securely pay for the items you want to purchase. A customer service page, where you can contact the merchant of assistance.

Online Banking and Finance Retailers are not the only businesses reaching out to consumers over the web. No matter where you live in, there’s good chance that your local bank has a web site where you can manage your accounts. If you are interested in investing, borrowing money, buying insurance, applying for a credit card, or doing some other task involving personal finance, you can do that online, too.

Online Banking The term online banking refers to using a bank’s web site to handle banking-related tasks. Individuals and businesses alike can visit any bank’s web site and do the following:  Create an account  Transfer funds  Record or view transactions  Pay bills.

Online Finance The term online finance refers to any kind of personal financial transaction you can conduct online, other than managing your bank accounts. These activities include:  Investing  Applying for loans  Applying for credit cards  Buying insurance  Paying taxes  Seeking financial advice.

E-Commerce at the Business Level Beyond individual consumer transactions, e-commerce has given companies an entirely different way to conduct business. Using powerful web sites and online databases, companies not only sell goods to individual customers, but also track inventory, order products, send invoices, and receive payments. Using e-commerce technologies, companies are rapidly forming online partnerships to collaborate on product designs, sales and marketing campaigns, and more. By giving one another access to their private networks, corporate partners access vital information and work together more efficiently.

Business-to-Business (B2B) transactions Although millions of consumer transactions take place each day on the web, business-to-business transaction actually accounts for most of the money that is spent online. As it name implies, a business-to-business transaction is one that takes place between companies; consumers are not involved. In fact, companies were doing business electronically long before the rise of the web, by using private networks and computer systems to handle transactions. But internet technologies have made the process easier, more efficient, and available to virtually all businesses.

Business-to-Business (B2B) transactions Any financial transaction between two companies can be considered a B2B transaction, and probably can be handled over the internet. Consider some examples: A store orders an out-of-stock product from a distributor. A car manufacturer orders parts from a wide range of suppliers. A stock broker buys shares for a client by using an electronic exchange.

Security Until 1998, e-commerce was slow to gain acceptance among consumers who were concerned about security. Many people feared that it was not safe to provide personal or credit card information over the internet because it was possible for criminals to intercept data and use it, or to steal it from unprotected web servers. Those fears have largely been eliminated, however, with improved security measures and public perception of the internet’s safety. It is actually very easy to make sure that you are surfing safely and keeping your personal information secure while online, even when you are giving credit card numbers to web merchant.

Security Reputable e-commerce web sites (especially those run by well-known companies) use sophisticated measures to ensure that customer information cannot fall into the hands of criminals. Online merchants typically protect customers by providing secure web pages where customers can enter credit card and account numbers, passwords, and other personal information. To secure the data transmit to a web site, online merchants can encode pages using secure sockets layer (SSL) technology, which encrypts data.

Security Encryption technology secures data by converting it into a code that is unusable by anyone who does not possess a key to the code. When using e-commerce site, you can determine if the current page is secure in two ways. 1.Check the URL. If the page’s URL begins with the page is secure. The letter s indicates security measures. 2.Check your browser’s status bar. If you use Microsoft IE or Netscape navigator, a closed padlock symbol will appear in the browsers status bar when a secure web page is open.

Bidding (Auctions): Linking Individual Buyers & Seller Today millions of buyers and sellers are linking up at online auctions, where everything is available. There are generally two types of auction sites: 1.Person-to-person auctions: person-to-person auctions, such as ebay, connect buyers and sellers for a listing fee and a commission on sold items. 2.Vendor-based auctions: vendor based auctions, such as onsale, buy goods and sell it at discount. Some auctions are specialized, such as price line, an auction site for airline tickets and other items.