Electronic commerce, commonly written as e-commerce, is the trading or facilitation of trading in products or

services using computer networks, such as the Internet. Electronic commerce draws on technologies such
as mobile commerce,electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction
processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data
collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web for at least one part of the
transaction's life cycle, although it may also use other technologies such as e-mail.
E-commerce businesses may employ some or all of the following:

Online shopping web sites for retail sales direct to consumers

Providing or participating in online marketplaces, which process third-party business-to-consumer or

consumer-to-consumer sales

Business-to-business buying and selling

Gathering and using demographic data through web contacts and social media

Business-to-business electronic data interchange

Marketing to prospective and established customers by e-mail or fax (for example, with newsletters)

Engaging in pretail for launching new products and services

Contents
[hide]

1Timeline

2Business applications

3Governmental regulation

4Forms

5Global trends

6Impact on markets and retailers

7Impact on supply chain management

8The social impact of e-commerce

9Distribution channels

10Examples of new e-commerce systems

11See also

12References

13Further reading

14External links

Timeline[edit]
A timeline for the development of e-commerce:

1971 or 1972: The ARPANET is used to arrange a cannabis sale between students at the Stanford Artificial
Intelligence Laboratory and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, later described as "the seminal act of ecommerce" in John Markoff's book What the Dormouse Said.[1]

1979: Michael Aldrich demonstrates the first online shopping system.[2]

1981: Thomson Holidays UK is first business-to-business online shopping system to be installed. [3]

1982: Minitel was introduced nationwide in France by France Tlcom and used for online ordering.

1983: California State Assembly holds first hearing on "electronic commerce" in Volcano, California.
[4]

Testifying are CPUC, MCI Mail, Prodigy, CompuServe, Volcano Telephone, and Pacific Telesis. (Not permitted

to testify is Quantum Technology, later to become AOL.)

1984: Gateshead SIS/Tesco is first B2C online shopping system [5] and Mrs Snowball, 72, is the first online
home shopper[6]

1984: In April 1984, CompuServe launches the Electronic Mall in the USA and Canada. It is the first
comprehensive electronic commerce service.[7]

1990: Tim Berners-Lee writes the first web browser, WorldWideWeb, using a NeXT computer.[8]

1992: Book Stacks Unlimited in Cleveland opens a commercial sales website (www.books.com) selling
books online with credit card processing.

1993: Paget Press releases edition No. 3 [9] of the first[citation needed] app store, The Electronic AppWrapper [10]

1994: Netscape releases the Navigator browser in October under the code name Mozilla. Netscape 1.0 is
introduced in late 1994 with SSL encryption that made transactions secure.

1994: Ipswitch IMail Server becomes the first software available online for sale and immediate download via
a partnership between Ipswitch, Inc. and OpenMarket.

1994: "Ten Summoner's Tales" by Sting becomes the first secure online purchase. [11]

1995: The US National Science Foundation lifts its former strict prohibition of commercial enterprise on the
Internet.[12]

1995: Thursday 27 April 1995, the purchase of a book by Paul Stanfield, Product Manager
for CompuServe UK, from W H Smith's shop within CompuServe's UK Shopping Centre is the UK's first national
online shopping service secure transaction. The shopping service at launch featured W H Smith, Tesco, Virgin
Megastores/Our Price, Great Universal Stores (GUS), Interflora, Dixons Retail, Past Times, PC World
(retailer) and Innovations.

1995: Jeff Bezos launches Amazon.com and the first commercial-free 24-hour, internet-only radio stations,
Radio HK and NetRadio start broadcasting. eBay is founded by computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as
AuctionWeb.

1996: IndiaMART B2B marketplace established in India.

1996: ECPlaza B2B marketplace established in Korea.

1998: Electronic postal stamps can be purchased and downloaded for printing from the Web.[13]

1999: Alibaba Group is established in China. Business.com sold for US $7.5 million to eCompanies, which
was purchased in 1997 for US $149,000. The peer-to-peer filesharing software Napster launches. ATG
Stores launches to sell decorative items for the home online.

2000: The dot-com bust.

2001: Alibaba.com achieved profitability in December 2001.

2002: eBay acquires PayPal for $1.5 billion.[14] Niche retail companies Wayfair and NetShops are founded
with the concept of selling products through several targeted domains, rather than a central portal.

2003: Amazon.com posts first yearly profit.

2003: Bossgoo B2B marketplace established in China.

2004: DHgate.com, China's first online b2b transaction platform, is established, forcing other b2b sites to
move away from the "yellow pages" model.[15]

2007: Business.com acquired by R.H. Donnelley for $345 million.[16]

2009: Zappos.com acquired by Amazon.com for $928 million.[17] Retail Convergence, operator of private sale
website RueLaLa.com, acquired by GSI Commercefor $180 million, plus up to $170 million in earn-out
payments based on performance through 2012.[18]

2010: Groupon reportedly rejects a $6 billion offer from Google. Instead, the group buying websites went
ahead with an IPO on 4 November 2011. It was the largest IPO since Google.[19][20]

2011: Quidsi.com, parent company of Diapers.com, acquired by Amazon.com for $500 million in cash plus
$45 million in debt and other obligations.[21] GSI Commerce, a company specializing in creating, developing and
running online shopping sites for brick and mortar businesses, acquired by eBay for $2.4 billion.[22]

2014: Overstock.com processes over $1 million in Bitcoin sales.[23] Indias e-commerce industry is estimated
to have grown more than 30% from 2012 to $12.6 billion in 2013.[24] US eCommerce and Online Retail sales
projected to reach $294 billion, an increase of 12 percent over 2013 and 9% of all retail sales. [25] Alibaba
Group has the largest Initial public offering ever, worth $25 billion.

Business applications[edit]

An example of an automated online assistant on a merchandising website.

Some common applications related to electronic commerce are:

Document automation in supply chain and logistics

Domestic and international payment systems

Enterprise content management

Group buying

Print on demand

Automated online assistant

Newsgroups

Online shopping and order tracking

Online banking

Online office suites

Shopping cart software

Teleconferencing

Electronic tickets

Social networking

Instant messaging

Pretail

Digital Wallet

Governmental regulation[edit]
In the United States, some electronic commerce activities are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
These activities include the use of commercial e-mails, online advertising and consumer privacy. The CAN-SPAM
Act of 2003 establishes national standards for direct marketing over e-mail. The Federal Trade Commission
Act regulates all forms of advertising, including online advertising, and states that advertising must be truthful and
non-deceptive.[26] Using its authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive practices, the
FTC has brought a number of cases to enforce the promises in corporate privacy statements, including promises
about the security of consumers' personal information.[27] As result, any corporate privacy policy related to ecommerce activity may be subject to enforcement by the FTC.
The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008, which came into law in 2008, amends
the Controlled Substances Act to address online pharmacies.[28]
Conflict of laws in cyberspace is a major hurdle for harmonisation of legal framework for e-commerce around the
world. In order to give a uniformity to e-commerce law around the world, many countries adopted the UNCITRAL
Model Law on Electronic Commerce (1996) [29]
Internationally there is the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN), which was
formed in 1991 from an informal network of government customer fair trade organisations. The purpose was stated
as being to find ways of co-operating on tackling consumer problems connected with cross-border transactions in
both goods and services, and to help ensure exchanges of information among the participants for mutual benefit
and understanding. From this came Econsumer.gov, an ICPEN initiative since April 2001. It is a portal to report
complaints about online and related transactions with foreign companies.
There is also Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was established in 1989 with the vision of achieving
stability, security and prosperity for the region through free and open trade and investment. APEC has an Electronic
Commerce Steering Group as well as working on common privacy regulations throughout the APEC region.
In Australia, Trade is covered under Australian Treasury Guidelines for electronic commerce, [30] and the Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission[31]regulates and offers advice on how to deal with businesses online,[32]
[33]

and offers specific advice on what happens if things go wrong. [34]

In the United Kingdom, The Financial Services Authority (FSA)[35] was formerly the regulating authority for most
aspects of the EU's Payment Services Directive(PSD), until its replacement in 2013 by the Prudential Regulation
Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.[36] The UK implemented the PSD through the Payment Services
Regulations 2009 (PSRs), which came into effect on 1 November 2009. The PSR affects firms providing payment
services and their customers. These firms include banks, non-bank credit card issuers and non-bank merchant
acquirers, e-money issuers, etc. The PSRs created a new class of regulated firms known as payment institutions
(PIs), who are subject to prudential requirements. Article 87 of the PSD requires the European Commission to report
on the implementation and impact of the PSD by 1 November 2012.[37]
In India, the Information Technology Act 2000 governs the basic applicability of e-commerce.
In China, the Telecommunications Regulations of the People's Republic of China (promulgated on 25 September
2000), stipulated the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) as the government department
regulating all telecommunications related activities, including electronic commerce. [38] On the same day, The
Administrative Measures on Internet Information Services released, is the first administrative regulation to address
profit-generating activities conducted through the Internet, and lay the foundation for future regulations governing ecommerce in China.[39] In 28 August 2004, the eleventh session of the tenth NPC Standing Committee adopted The
Electronic Signature Law, which regulates data message, electronic signature authentication and legal liability
issues. It is considered the first law in Chinas e-commerce legislation. It was a milestone in the course of improving
Chinas electronic commerce legislation, and also marks the entering of Chinas rapid development stage for
electronic commerce legislation.[40]

Forms[edit]
Contemporary electronic commerce involves everything from ordering "digital" content for immediate online
consumption, to ordering conventional goods and services, to "meta" services to facilitate other types of electronic
commerce.
On the institutional level, big corporations and financial institutions use the internet to exchange financial data to
facilitate domestic and international business. Data integrity and security are pressing issues for electronic
commerce.
Aside from traditional e-Commerce, the terms m-Commerce (mobile commerce) as well (around 2013) tCommerce[41] have also been used.

Global trends[edit]
In 2010, the United Kingdom had the biggest e-commerce market in the world when measured by the amount spent
per capita.[42] As of 2013, the Czech Republic was the European country where ecommerce delivers the biggest
contribution to the enterprises total revenue. Almost a quarter (24%) of the countrys total turnover is generated via
the online channel.[43]
Among emerging economies, China's e-commerce presence continues to expand every year. With 384 million
internet users, China's online shopping sales rose to $36.6 billion in 2009 and one of the reasons behind the huge
growth had been the improved trust level for shoppers. The Chinese retailers have been able to help consumers feel
more comfortable shopping online.[44] E-commerce transactions between China and other countries increased 32%

to 2.3 trillion yuan ($375.8 billion) in 2012 and accounted for 9.6% of China's total international trade

[45]

In

2013, Alibaba had an e-commerce market share of 80% in China.[46]

In 2013, Brazil's eCommerce was growing quickly with retail eCommerce sales expected to grow at a healthy
double-digit pace through 2014. By 2016, eMarketer expected retail ecommerce sales in Brazil to reach $17.3
billion.[47] India has an internet user base of about 243.2 million as of January 2014. [citation needed] Despite being third
largest userbase in world, the penetration of Internet is low compared to markets like the United States, United
Kingdom or France but is growing at a much faster rate, adding around 6 million new entrants every month. [citation
needed]

In India, cash on delivery is the most preferred payment method, accumulating 75% of the e-retail activities. [citation

needed]

E-Commerce has become an important tool for small and large businesses worldwide, not only to sell to customers,
but also to engage them.[48][49]
In 2012, ecommerce sales topped $1 trillion for the first time in history.[50]
Mobile devices are playing an increasing role in the mix of eCommerce. In 2014, one estimate saw purchases made
on mobile devices making up 25% of the market by 2017. [51]
In 2014, there were 600 million Internet users in China (twice as many than in the US), making it the world's biggest
online market.[52]
For traditional businesses, one research stated that information technology and cross-border e-commerce is a good
opportunity for the rapid development and growth of enterprises. Many companies have invested enormous volume
of investment in mobile applications.The DeLone and McLean Model stated that 3 perspectives are contributed to a
successful e-business, including information system quality, service quality and users satisfaction. [53] There is no limit
of time and space, there are more opportunities to reach out to customers around the world, and to cut down
unnecessary intermediate links, thereby reducing the cost price, and can benefit from one on one large customer
data analysis, to achieve a high degree of personal customization strategic plan, in order to fully enhance the core
competitiveness of the products in company[54]

Impact on markets and retailers[edit]

Economists have theorized that e-commerce ought to lead to intensified price competition, as it increases
consumers' ability to gather information about products and prices. Research by four economists at the University of
Chicago has found that the growth of online shopping has also affected industry structure in two areas that have
seen significant growth in e-commerce, bookshops and travel agencies. Generally, larger firms are able to
use economies of scale and offer lower prices. The lone exception to this pattern has been the very smallest
category of bookseller, shops with between one and four employees, which appear to have withstood the trend.
[55]

Depending on the category, e-commerce may shift the switching costsprocedural, relational, and financial

experienced by customers.[56]
Individual or business involved in e-commerce whether buyers or sellers rely on Internet-based technology in order
to accomplish their transactions. E-commerce is recognized for its ability to allow business to communicate and to
form transaction anytime and anyplace. Whether an individual is in the US or overseas, business can be conducted
through the internet. The power of e-commerce allows geophysical barriers to disappear, making all consumers and
businesses on earth potential customers and suppliers. Thus, switching barriers and switching costs my shift.

[56]

eBay is a good example of e-commerce business individuals and businesses are able to post their items and sell

them around the Globe.[57]

In e-commerce activities, supply chain and logistics are two most crucial factors need to be considered. Typically,
cross-border logistics need about few weeks time round. Based on this low efficiency of the supply chain service,
customer satisfaction will be greatly reduced.[58] Some researcher stated that combining e-commerce competence
and IT setup could well enhance companys overall business worth.[59] Other researcher stated that e-commerce
need to consider the establishment of warehouse centers in foreign countries, to create high efficiency of the
logistics system, not only improve customers satisfaction, but also can improve customers loyalty.[weasel words].
Some researcher investigated that if a company want to enhance international customers satisfaction, where
cultural website need to be adapted in particular country, rather than solely depending on its local country. However,
according to this research findings, the researcher found that German company had treated its international website
as the same local model, such as in UK and US online marketing. [60] A company could save money and make
decision quickly via the identical strategy in different country. However, opportunity cost could be occurred, if the
local strategy does not match to a new market, the company could lose its potential customer.[61]

Impact on supply chain management[edit]

For a long time, companies had been troubled by the gap between the benefits which supply chain technology has
and the solutions to deliver those benefits. However, the emergence of e-commerce has provided a more practical
and effective way of delivering the benefits of the new supply chain technologies. [62]
E-commerce has the capability to integrate all inter-company and intra-company functions, meaning that the three
flows (physical flow, financial flow and information flow) of the supply chain could be also affected by e-commerce.
The affections on physical flows improved the way of product and inventory movement level for companies. For the
information flows, e-commerce optimised the capacity of information processing than companies used to have, and
for the financial flows, e-commerce allows companies to have more efficient payment and settlement solutions. [62]
In addition, e-commerce has a more sophisticated level of impact on supply chains: Firstly, the performance gap will
be eliminated since companies can identify gaps between different levels of supply chains by electronic means of
solutions; Secondly, as a result of e-commerce emergence, new capabilities such implementing ERP systems have
helped companies to manage operations with customers and suppliers. Yet these new capabilities are still not fully
exploited. Thirdly, technology companies would keep investing on new e-commerce software solutions as they are
expecting investment return. Fourthly, e-commerce would help to solve many aspects of issues that companies may
feel difficult to cope with, such as political barriers or cross-country changes. Finally, e-commerce provides
companies a more efficient and effective way to collaborate with each other within the supply chain. [62]

The social impact of e-commerce[edit]

Along with the e-commerce and its unique charm that has appeared gradually, virtual enterprise, virtual bank,
network marketing, online shopping, payment and advertising, such this new vocabulary which is unheard-of and
now has become as familiar to people. This reflects that the e-commerce has huge impact on the economy and
society from the other side.[63] For instance, B2B is a rapidly growing business in the world that leads to lower cost
and then improves the economic efficiency and also bring along the growth of employment. [64]

To understand how the e-commerce has affected the society and economy, this article will mention three issues
below:
1. The e-commerce has changed the relative importance of time, but as the pillars of indicator of the countrys
economic state that the importance of time should not be ignored.
2. The e-commerce offers the consumer or enterprise various information they need, making information into total
transparency, will force enterprise no longer is able to use the mode of space or advertisement to raise their
competitive edge.[65] Moreover, in theory, perfect competition between the consumer sovereignty and industry will
maximize social welfare.[66]
3. In fact, during the economic activity in the past, large enterprise frequently has advantage of information
resource, and thus at the expense of consumers. Nowadays, the transparent and real-time information protects the
rights of consumers, because the consumers can use internet to pick out the portfolio to the benefit of themselves.
The competitiveness of enterprises will be much more obvious than before, consequently, social welfare would be
improved by the development of the e-commerce.
4. The new economy led by the e-commerce change humanistic spirit as well, but above all, is the employee loyalty.
[67]

Due to the market with competition, the employees level of professionalism becomes the crucial for enterprise in

the niche market. The enterprises must pay attention to how to build up the enterprises inner culture and a set of
interactive mechanisms and it is the prime problem for them. Furthermore, though the mode of e-commerce
decrease the information cost and transaction cost, however, its development also makes human being are overly
computer literate. In hence, emphasized more humanistic attitude to work is another project for enterprise to
development. Life is the root of all and high technology are merely an assistive tool to support our quality of life.
The e-commerce is not a kind of new industry, but it is creating a new economic model. Most of people agree that
the e-commerce indeed to be important and significant for economic society in the future, but actually that is a bit of
clueless feeling at the beginning, this problem is exactly prove the e-commerce is a sort of incorporeal revolution.
[68]

Generally speaking, as a type of business active procedure, the e-commerce is going to leading an

unprecedented revolution in the world, the influence of this model far exceeded the commercial affair itself. [69] Except
the mentioned above, in the area of law, education, culture and also policy, the e-commerce will continue that rise in
impact. The e-commerce is truly to take human beings into the information society.

Distribution channels[edit]
E-commerce has grown in importance as companies have adopted pure-click and brick-and-click channel systems.
We can distinguish pure-click and brick-and-click channel system adopted by companies.

Pure-click or pure-play companies are those that have launched a website without any previous existence
as a firm.

Bricks-and-clicks companies are those existing companies that have added an online site for e-commerce.

Click-to-brick online retailers that later open physical locations to supplement their online efforts. [70]

Examples of new e-commerce systems[edit]

According to eMarketer research company, "by 2017, 65.8 per cent of Britons will use smartphones". [71]
Bringing online experience into the real world, also allows the development of the economy and the interaction
between stores and customers. A great example of this new e-commerce system is what the Burberry store in
London did in 2012. They refurbished the entire store with numerous big screens, photo-studios, and also provided
a stage for live acts. Moreover, on the digital screens which are across the store, some fashion shows images and
advertising campaigns are displayed (William, 2014). In this way, the experience of purchasing becomes more vivid
and entertaining while the online and offline components are working together.
Another example is the Kiddicare smartphone app, in which consumers can compare prices. The app allows people
to identify the location of sale products and to check whether the item they are looking for is in stock, or if it can be
ordered online without going to the `real store (William, 2014). In the United States, the Walmartapp allows
consumers to check product availability and prices both online and offline. Moreover, you can also add to your
shopping list items by scanning them, see their details and information, and check purchasers ratings and reviews.

Process Of E-commerse

1. Sitting at her computer, a customer tries to order a book online. Her Web browser
communicates back-and-forth over the Internet with a Web server that manages the
store's website.
2. The Web server sends her order to the order manager. This is a central computer
that sees orders through every stage of processing from submission to dispatch.
3. The order manager queries a database to find out whether what the customer
wants is actually in stock.
4. If the item is not in stock, the stock database system can order new supplies from
the wholesalers or manufacturers. This might involve communicating with order
systems at the manufacturer's HQ to find out estimated supply times while the
customer is still sitting at her computer (in other words, in "real time").
5. The stock database confirms whether the item is in stock or suggests an estimated
delivery date when supplies will be received from the manufacturer.
6. Assuming the item is in stock, the order manager continues to process it. Next it
communicates with a merchant system (run by a credit-card processing firm or
linked to a bank) to take payment using the customer's credit or debit card number.
7. The merchant system might make extra checks with the customer's own bank
computer.
8. The bank computer confirms whether the customer has enough funds.
9. The merchant system authorizes the transaction to go ahead, though funds will not
be completely transferred until several days later.
10.
The order manager confirms that the transaction has been successfully
processed and notifies the Web server.
11.
The Web server shows the customer a Web page confirming that her order
has been processed and the transaction is complete.
12.
The order manager sends a request to the warehouse to dispatch the goods
to the customer.

13.
A truck from a dispatch firm collects the goods from the warehouse and
delivers them.
14.
Once the goods have been dispatched, the warehouse computer e-mails the
customer to confirm that her goods are on their way.
15.

The goods are delivered to the customer

Trading companies are businesses working with different kinds of products which are sold for consumer, business
orgovernment purposes. Trading companies buy a specialized range of products, maintain a stock or a shop, and
deliver products to customers.
Different kinds of practical conditions make for many kinds of business. Usually two kinds of businesses are defined
in trading. Importers or wholesalers maintain a stock and deliver products to shops or large end customers. They
work in a large geographical area, while their customers, the shops, work in smaller areas and often in just a small
neighbourhood.
When talking about "trading companies", today we refer mainly to global B2B traders, highly specialized in one
goods category and with a strong logistic organization.
Changes in practical conditions such as faster distribution, computing and modern marketing have led to changes in
their business models.
The Winding-up and Restructuring Act, an act of the Parliament of Canada, uses the following definition"
trading company means any company, except a railway or telegraph company, carrying on business similar to that
carried on by apothecaries, auctioneers, bankers, brokers, brickmakers, builders, carpenters, carriers, cattle or
sheep salesmen, coach proprietors, dyers, fullers, keepers of inns, taverns, hotels, saloons or coffee houses, lime
burners, livery stable keepers, market gardeners, millers, miners, packers, printers, quarrymen, sharebrokers, shipowners, shipwrights, stockbrokers, stock-jobbers, victuallers, warehousemen, wharfingers, persons using the trade
of merchandise by way of bargaining, exchange, bartering, commission, consignment or otherwise, in gross or by
retail, or by persons who, either for themselves, or as agents or factors for others, seek their living by buying and
selling or buying and letting for hire goods or commodities, or by the manufacture, workmanship or the conversion of
goods or commodities or trees;[1]

Manufacturing is the production of merchandise for use or sale using labour and machines, tools, chemical and
biological processing, or formulation. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech,
but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on
a large scale. Such finished goods may be used for manufacturing other, more complex products, such
as aircraft, household appliancesor automobiles, or sold to wholesalers, who in turn sell them to retailers, who then
sell them to end users and consumers.

Manufacturing takes turns under all types of economic systems. In a free market economy, manufacturing is usually
directed toward the mass production of products for sale to consumers at a profit. In a collectivist economy,
manufacturing is more frequently directed by the state to supply a centrally planned economy. In mixed market
economies, manufacturing occurs under some degree of government regulation.
Modern manufacturing includes all intermediate processes required for the production and integration of a product's
components. Some industries, such as semiconductor and steel manufacturers use the term fabrication instead.
The manufacturing sector is closely connected with engineering and industrial design. Examples of major
manufacturers inNorth America include General Motors Corporation, General Electric, Procter & Gamble, General
Dynamics, Boeing, Pfizer, and Precision Castparts. Examples in Europe include Volkswagen Group, Siemens,
and Michelin. Examples in Asia includeSony, Huawei, Lenovo, Toyota, Samsung, and Bridgestone.

Economics of manufacturing[edit]
According to some economists, manufacturing is a wealth-producing sector of an economy, whereas
a service sector tends to be wealth-consuming.[1][2] Emerging technologies have provided some new growth in
advanced manufacturing employment opportunities in the Manufacturing Belt in the United States. Manufacturing
provides important material support for national infrastructure and for national defense.
On the other hand, most manufacturing may involve significant social and environmental costs. The clean-up costs
of hazardous waste, for example, may outweigh the benefits of a product that creates it. Hazardous materials may
expose workers to health risks. These costs are now well known and there is effort to address them by
improving efficiency, reducing waste, using industrial symbiosis, and eliminating harmful chemicals.[3] The increased
use of technologies such as 3D printing also offer the potential to reduce the environmental impact of producing
finished goods through distributed manufacturing.[4]
The negative costs of manufacturing can also be addressed legally. Developed countries regulate manufacturing
activity with labor laws and environmental laws. Across the globe, manufacturers can be subject to regulations and
pollution taxes to offset the environmental costs of manufacturing activities. Labor unions and craft guildshave
played a historic role in the negotiation of worker rights and wages. Environment laws and labor protections that are
available in developed nations may not be available in the third world. Tort law and product liability impose additional
costs on manufacturing. These are significant dynamics in the ongoing process, occurring over the last few
decades, of manufacture-based industries relocating operations to "developing-world" economies where the costs of
production are significantly lower than in "developed-world" economies.

Manufacturing and investment[edit]

Capacity utilization in manufacturing in the FRG and in the USA

Surveys and analyses of trends and issues in manufacturing and investment around the world focus on such things
as:

the nature and sources of the considerable variations that occur cross-nationally in levels of manufacturing
and wider industrial-economic growth;

competitiveness; and

attractiveness to foreign direct.

In addition to general overviews, researchers have examined the features and factors affecting particular key
aspects of manufacturing development. They have compared production and investment in a range of Western and
non-Western countries and presented case studies of growth and performance in important individual industries and
market-economic sectors.[5][6]
On June 26, 2009, Jeff Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, called for the United States to increase its
manufacturing base employment to 20% of the workforce, commenting that the U.S. has outsourced too much in
some areas and can no longer rely on the financial sector and consumer spending to drive demand. [7] Further, while
U.S. manufacturing performs well compared to the rest of the U.S. economy, research shows that it performs poorly
compared to manufacturing in other high-wage countries.[8] A total of 3.2 million one in six U.S. manufacturing
jobs have disappeared between 2000 and 2007.[9] In the UK, EEF the manufacturers organisation has led calls for
the UK economy to be rebalanced to rely less on financial services and has actively promoted the manufacturing
agenda.

Service
1.
an act of helpful activity; help; aid:
to do someone a service.
2.
the supplying or supplier of utilities or commodities, as water,electricity, or gas, required or
demanded by the public.
3.
the providing or a provider of accommodation and activities required bythe public, as mainte
nance, repair, etc.:
The manufacturer guarantees service and parts.
4.
the organized system of apparatus, appliances, employees, etc., forsupplying some accomm
odation required by the public:
a television repair service.
5.
the supplying or a supplier of public communication and transportation:
telephone service; bus service.
6.

the performance of duties or the duties performed as or by a waiter orservant; occupation or

employment as a waiter or servant.
7.
employment in any duties or work for a person, organization,government, etc.

Business Opportunity
Definition: Legal definitions vary; in its simplest terms, a business opportunity is a
packaged business investment that allows the buyer to begin a business. The
Federal Trade Commission and 25 states regulate the concept. .
A business opportunity, in the simplest terms, is a packaged business investment
that allows the buyer to begin a business. (Technically, all franchises are business
opportunities, but not all business opportunities are franchises.) Unlike a franchise,
however, the business opportunity seller typically exercises no control over the
buyer's business operations. In fact, in most business opportunity programs, there's
no continuing relationship between the seller and the buyer after the sale is made.
Although business opportunities offer less support than franchises, this could be an
advantage for you if you thrive on freedom. Typically, you won't be obligated to
follow the strict specifications and detailed program that franchisees must follow.
With most business opportunities, you would simply buy a set of equipment or
materials, and then you can operate the business any way and under any name you
want. There are no ongoing royalties in most cases, and no trademark rights are
sold.
Business opportunities are difficult to define because the term means different
things to different people. In California, for example, small businesses for sale-whether a liquor store, delicatessen, dry-cleaning operation and so on--are all
termed business opportunities, and individuals handling their purchase and sale
must hold real estate licenses.
Making matters more complicated, 23 states have passed laws defining business
opportunities and regulating their sales. Often these statutes are drafted so

comprehensively that they include franchises as well. Although not every state with
a business opportunity law defines the term in the same manner, most of them use
the following general criteria:

A business opportunity involves the sale or lease of any product, service,

equipment and so on that will enable the purchaser-licensee to begin a business.

The licenser or seller of a business opportunity declares that it will secure or

assist the buyer in finding a suitable location or provide the product to the
purchaser-licensee.

The licenser-seller guarantees an income greater than or equal to the price

the licensee-buyer pays for the product when it's resold and that there's a market
present for the product or service.

The initial fee paid to the seller to start the business opportunity must be more
than $500.

The licenser-seller promises to buy back any product purchased by the

licensee-buyer in the event it can't be sold to prospective customers of the
business.

Any products or services developed by the seller-licenser will be purchased by

the licensee-buyer.

The licenser-seller of the business opportunity will supply a sales or marketing

program for the licensee-buyer that many times will include the use of a trade
name or trademark.

These are the most common types of business opportunity ventures:

Distributorships. A distributorship involves entering into an agreement to offer and
sell the product of another, without being entitled to use the manufacturer's trade
name as part of the agent's trade name. Depending on the agreement, the
distributor many be limited to selling only that company's goods or may have the
freedom to market several different product lines or services from various firms.
Rack Jobbing. This involves selling another company's products through a
distribution system of racks in a variety of stores that are serviced by the rack
jobber. In a typical rack-jobbing business opportunity, the agent or buyer enters into
an agreement with the parent company to market their goods to various stores by
means of strategically-located store racks. Under the agreement, the parent
company obtains a number of locations in which it places racks on a consignment
basis. It's up to the agent to maintain the inventory, move the merchandise around
to attract the customer, and do the bookkeeping. The agent presents the store
manager with a copy of the inventory control sheet, which indicates how much
merchandise was sold, and then the distributor is paid by the store or location that
has the rack, less the store's commission.
Vending Machine Routes. These are very similar to rack jobbing. The investment
is usually greater for this type of business opportunity venture since the
businessperson must buy the machines as well as the merchandise being sold in
them, but here the situation is reversed in terms of the payment procedure. The
vending machine operator typically pays the location owner a percentage based on
sales. The secret to a route's success is to get locations in high-traffic areas and as
close to one another as possible. If your locations are spread far apart, you waste
time and traveling expenses servicing them, and such expenses can spell the
difference between profit and loss.