Business

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Prepared for

Mrs. Emma A. Faulk

Associate Professor Business Education

Prepared by

LaCourtney Mitchell and Tamala Simmons

May 8, 2008

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E-Commerce is the online transaction of business, featuring linked computer systems of the vendor, host, and buyer. Electronic commerce (e-commerce) consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. A gentleman by the name of Mark Trinder invented e-commerce in 1862. In today’s society, there are different types of “e-commerce” systems. Use of the World Wide Web is the most expressed way for e-commerce to be the type if system that it is today. From electronic funds transfer to buying and selling goods over the internet, there are many different aspects of the e-commerce system. A large percentage of electronic commerce is conducted entirely electronically for virtual items such as access to premium content on a website, but most electronic commerce involves the transportation of physical items in some way.

Being an online retailer is an example of e-commerce. Almost all big retailers have electronic commerce presence on the World Wide Web. Electronic commerce that is conducted between businesses is referred to as Business-to-business or B2B. B2B can be open to all interested parties (e.g. commodity exchange) or limited to specific, pre-qualified participants (private electronic market). The meaning of electronic commerce has changed over the last 30 years. Originally, electronic commerce meant the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, using technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These were both introduced in the late 1970s, allowing businesses to send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically. The growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the 1980s were...