What is E-Commerce

E-Commerce involves the sale or purchase of goods and services over computer networks by businesses, individuals, governments or other organizations. E-commerce builds on traditional commerce by adding the flexibility and speed offered by electronic communications. This can facilitate improvement in operations leading to substantial cost savings as well as increased competitiveness and efficiency through the redesign of traditional business methods. ECommerce is the application of current and emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs) to conduct business. These include existing technologies like landline telephone and fax, but the ICTs offering most scope for small businesses are mobile phones, electronic mail and other Internet-based services. However, E-commerce is not just about using new technologies. E-Commerce can also help support profitable business relationships and assist you to more effectively manage and run your business enterprise. This will involve creating more effective external interactions with customers, clients, collaborators and suppliers, but it can also mean improving internal business efficiency and even the emergence of new products and services.

Types of E-commerce
E-commerce types represent a range of various schemas of transactions which are distinguished according to their participants. Business-to-Business (B2B) Business-to-Consumer (B2C) Business-to-Employee (B2E) Business-to-Government (B2G) (also known as Business to Administration or B2A) Business-to-Machines (B2M) Business-to-Manager (B2M) Consumer-to-Business (C2B) Consumer-to-Consumer (2C) Citizen-to-Government (also known as Consumer-to-Administration or C2A) Government-to-Business (G2B) Government-to-Citizen (G2C) Government-to-Employee (G2E) Government-to-Government (G2G) Manager-to-Consumer (M2C) Peer-to-Peer (P2P)

Business-to-consumer (B2C)
E-Commerce may involve selling directly from businesses-to-consumers (B2C ecommerce). Example: A number of craft producers and tourism enterprises have already found some success dealing directly with customers.

Business-to-business (B2B)
E-Commerce can also be conducted directly between businesses (B2B eCommerce). This is by far the most common type of eCommerce at present. B2B activity includes portals that operate as electronic marketplaces or as auction sites. Benefits of emarketplaces can include reduced costs, better research and quicker transactions for buyers. Rewards for sellers include improved customer service levels and cheaper exposure to customers. Example: Many inter-networked enterprises customer-to-customer-driven & market-driven. They continually monitor & evaluate online information of their customers, suppliers & competitors from their websites & discussion groups. This information is available via internets to all business functions & is used to shape a companys product development, marketing programs, customer services & competitive strategies.

Business-to-Government (B2G)
There is also business-to-government activity (B2G e-commerce) that refers to the growth in supply of goods and services for online government procurement potentially a large growth area in developing countries.

History of E-Commerce
Early development
Originally, electronic commerce was identified as 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 also forms of electronic commerce. Another form of e-commerce was the airline reservation system typified by Sabre in the USA and Travicom in the UK. From the 1990s onwards, electronic commerce would additionally include enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing. In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee invented the Worldwide Web browser and transformed an academic telecommunication network into a worldwide everyman everyday communication system called internet/www. Commercial enterprise on the Internet was strictly prohibited by NSF until 1995.[1] Although the Internet became popular worldwide around 1994 with the adoption of Mosaic web browser, it took about five years to introduce security protocols and DSL allowing continual connection to the Internet. By the end of 2000, many European and American business companies offered their services through the World Wide Web. Since then people began to associate a word "ecommerce" with the ability of purchasing various goods through the Internet using secure protocols and electronic payment services.

Timeline
1979: Michael Aldrich invented online shopping. 1981: Thomson Holidays, UK is first B2B online shopping. 1982: Minitel was introduced nationwide in France by France Telecom and used for online ordering. 1984: Gateshead SIS/Tesco is first B2C online shopping and Mrs Snowball, 72, is the first online home shopper. 1985: Nissan UK sells cars and finance with credit checking to customers online from dealers' lots. 1987: Swreg begins to provide software and shareware authors means to sell their products online through an electronic Merchant account.

1990: Tim Berners-Lee writes the first web browser, WorldWideWeb, using a NeXT computer. 1994: Netscape releases the Navigator browser in October under the code name Mozilla. Pizza Hut offers online ordering on its Web page. The first online bank opens. Attempts to offer flower delivery and magazine subscriptions online. Adult materials also become commercially available, as do cars and bikes. Netscape 1.0 is introduced in late 1994 SSL encryption that made transactions secure. 1995: Jeff Bezos launches Amazon.com and the first commercial-free 24 hour, internetonly radio stations, Radio HK and NetRadio start broadcasting. Dell and Cisco begin to aggressively use Internet for commercial transactions. eBay is founded by computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as AuctionWeb. 1998: Electronic postal stamps can be purchased and downloaded for printing from the Web. 1998: Alibaba Group is established in China. And it leverage China's B2B and C2C, B2C(Taobao) market by it's Authentication System. 1999: 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. 2002: eBay acquires PayPal for $1.5 billion.[3] Niche retail companies CSN Stores 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. 2007: Business.com acquired by R.H. Donnelley for $345 million. 2009: Zappos.com acquired by Amazon.com for $928 million.[5] Retail Convergence, operator of private sale website RueLaLa.com, acquired by GSI Commerce for $180 million, plus up to $170 million in earn-out payments based on performance through 2012. 2010: Groupon reportedly rejects a $6 billion offer from Google. Instead, the group buying websites plans to go ahead with an IPO in mid-2011. 2011: US eCommerce and Online Retail sales projected to reach $197 billion, an increase of 12 percent over 2010.[8] Quidsi.com, parent company of Diapers.com, acquired by Amazon.com for $500 million in cash and plus $45 million in debt and other obligations.

Benefits of E-Commerce
Benefits for Small Business
E-commerce can provide substantial benefits to small enterprises via improved efficiencies and raised revenues. It enables a new way of working to emerge as businesses face the future and embrace the new economy. ECommerce enables small business entrepreneurs to gain access to better quality information, and thus empowers them to take informed decisions in their businesses. Most importantly, eCommerce can give a competitive advantage. It can help strengthen market position and open up new business opportunities with the potential to improve profits. Benefits of eCommerce can arise in the following ways: Cost Reduction Benefits: Reduced travel costs: by using a mobile phone, email and other ICTs to substitute for journeys. Reduced cost of materials: more information means better choice of suppliers and more competitive prices. Reduced marketing and distribution costs: for example, publishing a brochure online can reach an unlimited number of potential export customers and allow regular update. Reduced sales costs: the Internet provides unprecedented opportunities for businesses to reduce the costs of trade locally and, even more, across borders. More efficient supply chain management: can eliminate the need for middlemen leading to lower transaction costs (including marketing, sales, transaction processing), reduced overhead, and reduced inventory and labor costs. Improved internal functions: cutting down on meetings, improving the exchange of critical knowledge, eliminating red tape, and streamlining communications. Market Benefits: Greater reach: a web presence can allow entrepreneurs to reach out to customers far beyond their immediate location. More brand awareness: offering new avenues of promotion for products and services. Improved customer service: providing more responsive order taking and aftersales service to customers; this, in turn, can lead to increased customer loyalty. Increased market awareness: entrepreneurs can become more aware of competition within their market and more aware of market changes, which can lead to product/service innovation or quality improvement.

Other Competitiveness Benefits: Increased efficiency: E-commerce not only reduces costs but it can also increase the speed of transactions; both buying and selling. Continuous trading: suppliers and customers, if they wish, can access a 24hour/7-day sales service particularly important when trading through time zones. Specialization: eCommerce can help entrepreneurs focus their activities making it easier to build relationships with other enterprises and communicate their needs to support agencies.

Many of these benefits can be gained through relatively modest investments in new technology and systems. Greater benefits may accrue as the enterprise moves up the eCommerce adoption ladder (see Section B1). It is important to realize, however, that the benefits outlined are not exclusively tied to eCommerce. For example, market benefits may be achieved more effectively through better business networking and the building of personal business relationships, rather than through use of the Internet. This emphasizes the importance of adopting an approach towards eCommerce that puts business objectives first, rather than believing that technology alone can deliver the benefits described above. Other Benefits of E-Commerce: Organizations engage in E-Commerce to achieve improvement are expected to result in these benefits: Improve customer service. Improve relationship with suppliers and financial community. Increased return on stockholder and owner investment. Reduce inventory level. Increased ability to compete. Improving trading partner relationship. Reduced transaction costs. Higher information quality. Improved cash flows. Increased operational efficiency

Risks of E-Commerce
There are great potential benefits but there are also pitfalls of going into e-commerce. They are the financial costs, the business 'opportunity costs' and the dangers of failure. These are detailed below. It will be important for your agency to identify the pitfalls and help minimize the risks for clients. E-Commerce will bring extra costs as well as cost savings! Developing e-commerce for a business will almost certainly bring an increase in costs before such time that either savings due to greater efficiency or increased revenue become evident. Initial start-up costs (investment in a computer, network connection, etc) can be significant, and there are additional running costs too. Even after start-up, e-commerce activity will need to run in parallel with existing business methods. For example, enterprises will need to continue to produce paper-based marketing material (brochures, stationery, leaflets, etc) as well as building up your web presence. This will duplicate some activities adding to overall costs. These costs are definite whereas the new revenue streams from e-commerce are not, particularly given the relatively lower numbers of people online and with credit cards in developing countries. Hence, many small businesses you deal with may be perhaps rightly skeptical about eCommerce, and should be encouraged to approach it in the step-by-step manner outlined in Section B1. E-commerce may divert attention away from more important 'offline' activities! It is important that online and offline efforts are not in competition with each other within a business. In fact, for most MSEs, offline activities (such as face-to-face meetings) will remain far more important than online communication. In the long term, risks can be minimized through effective integration of online and offline activities using ecommerce to complement existing business processes. In the short and medium term, there is a risk that a business owner could lose sight of his/her true business needs if ecommerce is oversold, as happened during the dot.com boom during the late 1990s. An e-commerce venture may well fail completely! Any new business venture is likely to fail. As the dot.com boom and subsequent bust demonstrated, e-commerce ventures may be more likely to fail than conventional businesses. This emphasizes the importance for small businesses of not throwing all their eggs into the e-commerce basket. Failure can be avoided in one of two ways. First, by deciding not to adopt e-commerce at all. Second, and probably more appropriately, by taking a step-by-step approach that minimizes risk. However, there are also risks of ignoring e-commerce! Technology and innovation are often described as the catalyst for change. Ignoring new technology may have significant implications for the ways business is done in the future. For example, having no website, or a badly designed or marketed website, may put a business at a disadvantage as compared with competitors. Over the medium and long term, unsuitable

or inadequate technology can mean that your client enterprises remain without the communications systems that they will need to compete effectively

Steps to E-Commerce
The 'steps' model can help you understand the different types of eCommerce business applications you may encounter. It may also help you to identify the types of assistance you may provide to small enterprises.

Step 1: Starting Out: Simple messaging using mobile communications

Currently 'wireless' communications including short messaging services (SMS) provide a cheap and widely available option for enterprises. Mobile phones offer a number of key advantages over fixed line communications for small businessessuch as instant communications with customers and suppliers, even when on the move. They also provide greater connectivity and network coverage than landlines users can be instantly connected by text messages and mobile chat a powerful marketing and advertising tool.
Step 2: Getting Online: Email messaging You can send or receive emails from a computer terminal either located on your business premises or via a facilitator (such as an Internet caf or telecentre). Email is a cheap, quick and reliable way to exchange business information with customers, suppliers, and business contacts that are also connected to email. A variety of information can be sent not just messages, but documents, photographs, drawings, or any other computer data file (see Advice Sheet 2 for more information on email).

Step 3: Web Publishing

Web publishing can be used to make enterprise information availableby using an online brochure, for example. Its simplest form may consist of a 3-4 page website giving a basic business profile, some information about products and services, and contact information physical and postal address, telephone and fax, and email contact. In a more advanced form it may include an online cataloguean online version of a conventional catalogue that can be easily updated. Even a simple web presence offers the ability to access a wide potentially globalmarket with 24/7 accessibility.
Step 4: Web Interacting

Web interaction will allow customers (for example) more scope to browse through images, descriptions and specifications relating to your products and services. It may allow them to submit email enquiry forms, to order online, to use online services or to use a shopping cart facility and order confirmation that could be paid for and fulfilled (delivered) offline. Interaction over the web can improve customer service and response to customer queries.

Step 5: Web Transacting

This can be termed as having a full eCommerce capability that covers the whole transaction process from the placing of an order to online payment for goods and services via secure networks. For B2C eCommerce this will involve making use of secure credit card payment systems, and for B2B eCommerce will involve payment through secure banking systems.

Step 6: Web Integration

E-commerce may also take on a wider role within a business through web integration. Web integration provides an electronic platform that links customer-facing processes such as sales and marketing (the "front office") with internal processes such as accounts, inventory control and purchasing (the "back office"). This is often called e-business or the business may be described as becoming fully "e-enabled". E-business links internal systems with external networks (customers, suppliers and collaborators) via the Internet. Integrating systems can make it easier and cheaper to do business, and it can encourage customer loyalty and repeat business.

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Users of E-Commerce
E-commerce users are those people, enterprises or organizations that are likely to interact with your clients via e-commerce. E-commerce solutions for your clients should be driven by usersby the external business relationships and networks that are important to the enterpriseprimarily customers and those involved in the enterprise supply chain. These networks and relationships can be usefully classified as follows: Target Audience An enterprise will be competing with many other enterprises to reach its target audience (customers), offering similar products and services via the web. This highlights the importance of product/service differentiation and careful targeting. E-commerce plans can be tailored to small, easily identifiable groups. E-commerce plans should be designed around user needs after consultation with potential users (primarily existing or potential customers or key actors in the supply chain) to make sure the correct needs are identified. Existing Customers E-commerce allows an enterprise to communicate and interact with customers in a far more productive way than ever before. E-commerce plans can focus on nurturing individual relationships with existing customers. For example, data can be gathered on customer preferences the ways they prefer to purchase and the specification of products and services. This data can then be collated and analyzed to show buying trends.

Potential Customers E-commerce via the Internet can make your clients' businesses known to vast numbers of potential customers. For example, careful marketing of a website can increase 'traffic' or 'hits' from the right kind of potential customers. Maintaining this marketing activity will ensure that the right people know how to find your clients' enterprises. Suppliers Sourcing enterprise inputs (or information about inputs) online can be cheaper than offline. It is far easier to compare costs and availability. An enterprise can get full details of products and services at the touch of a computer key. Once a trading relationship with a supplier has been forged online, order status can be monitored and

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stock availability and delivery times can be checked, often without time-consuming phone calls. Partners and Collaborators Your clients' collaborators and business partners, such as distributors or agents, are a key part of their supply chain. E-commerce will allow enterprises to establish regular and speedy contact with these partners and with wider business networks. Enterprise Employees Computers can liberate staff rather than constrain them. E-commerce can help automate some routine administrative and communication tasks, leaving employees to carry out more satisfying and cost-effective work such as attending directly to customer service.

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Technology of E-Commerce
E-commerce architecture & activities are dependent on following: The internet, intranet & extranet are the network foundation of e-commerce. Security of information, marketing, transaction process & payment services must be provided to the customer. Companies employees depend on a variety of internet resources of communicate & collaborate in support of e-commerce activities. Internet service professionals & users can use a variety of software tools to develop & manage contents & operations of the websites.

E-Commerce technology services Application services

Examples Business-to-consumer Business-to-business Internal business process

Brokerage & data management Interface services Secure messaging

Secure payment systems Clearing house for virtual malls Interactive catalogs Software agents Secure Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (SHTTP) Remote programming interface Hypermedia document management Web/legacy systems interface Internet ,intranet & extranet Client & other networks

Middleware services

Network infrastructure

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E-Commerce and Developing Countries: SWOT Analysis

ECommerce in developing countries has a number of key qualities found in most applications of ICTs: The level of eCommerce adoption is much lower than in industrialized countries because of many constraints that exist, for example in relation to available infrastructure, skills and finance. The growth rate of eCommerce is higher in developing than in industrialized countries, partly because it is starting from such a small base and is nowhere near 'saturation' or 'plateau'. ECommerce is and will be very unevenly spread; concentrating in urban areas and in sectors with global links and high-income customers. There may also be gender, education, age and ethnic biases in the spread of eCommerce. The potential benefits in developing countries may be higher because MSEs here use eCommerce as a rapid lever to significantly improve their operations. The potential threat of eCommerce in developing countries may be higher because, as well as helping local firms, it can also help foreign firms enter the local market.

Table 1 summarizes these and other points in a SWOT analysis of eCommerce in developing countries; an analysis that you can repeat for your particular region of responsibility to see what the overall prospects for eCommerce are. Table 1: SWOT Analysis for e-commerce in Developing Countries
Strengths: these indicate areas where drivers or enablers are strong in the country and/or where constraints are being overcome: Growing competition plus other diffusion-friendly strategies and government policies to develop ICT infrastructure. High ICT infrastructure investment and growth rates, including growth of mobile telephony. High growth of intermediated access to ICTs e.g. via Internet cafs and telecentres plus sharing of ICTs so there can be many users per Internetlinked PC. Falling costs of many aspects of eCommerce including hardware and telecommunications charges. Growing pool of ICT skills and Weaknesses: these indicate areas where constraints are still strong in the country and/or where drivers and enablers are weak:

Lack of ICT infrastructure, knowledge and skills compared to industrialized countries. Very uneven distribution of infrastructure in rural-urban terms. Uneven distribution of ICT access capacities between various social groups. Large proportions of mobile phones are not Internet-capable. Poor Western language skills and/or lack of support for ICT usage in local languages. High cost of ICT usage relative to costs in industrialized countries.

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growing IT sector provide a foundation for eCommerce growth. Active promotion of eCommerce specifically and ICT usage generally by government agencies, NGOs and large private firms. Reasonable Western language proficiency in some countries.

Lack of large mass of local customers using or with potential to use eCommerce. Lack of eCommerce awareness and skills among entrepreneurs. Lack of eCommerce awareness and skills among support agencies. Absence of an 'eCommerce culture', e.g. dislike of operational transparency, and preference for personal contact in commerce. Poor financial and logistics infrastructure to support secure online payment and eCommerce fulfillment. Poor ICT reliability and security combined with relatively slowspeed. Limited export-orientation and export-capability among MSEs. Lack of support to MSE innovation by local financial system. Multiple gaps in current legal and regulatory frameworks.

Opportunities: local, regional or global opportunities that are or may be available to eCommerce-enabled MSEs: Primary product export sectors such as agriculture, horticulture, fisheries, forestry and mining products. Manufactured exports. IT-based services that are readily traded over the Internet such as software, data entry, call centre operations, etc. Tourism and travel-related sectors. "Traditional" sectors with export market appeal such as handicrafts, textiles, art, natural medicines, etc. Fair traded goods, which are often sold via the Web in Western markets. Growing opportunity to leverage low labour costs. Strengthening local supply chains and driving down input prices. Main export markets are OECD

Threats: risks that face MSEs in the country specifically due to growth of eCommerce: Competition and penetration of local or existing export markets by eCommerce-capable overseas firms. Growth of larger firms able to invest more in eCommerce at the expense of MSEs. Increased disparities between few early adopters of eCommerce and many 'laggards'. Increased disparities between urban and rural areas. Wasted investments in eCommerce by early adopters. Growing automation leading to loss of low labor cost advantages.

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nations with already high levels of eCommerce. Main opportunities in early steps of eCommerce (see Section B1) including online ordering but offline payment. Large and young population profile, who may more-readily take to eCommerce. Domestic use of eCommerce using mobile networks and communications ('mCommerce'). Diffusion of new generations of Internet-capable mobile phones. Plenty of 'virgin' markets providing opportunities for eCommerce first movers. Improved processes and products/services through closer interaction with customers.

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E-Commerce is the same as E-Business

While some use e-commerce and e-business interchangeably, they are distinct concepts. In e-commerce, information and communications technology (ICT) is used in Inter-business or inter-organizational transactions (transactions between and among firms/organizations) and in business-to-consumer transactions (transactions between firms/organizations and individuals). In e-business, on the other hand, ICT is used to enhance ones business. It includes any process that a business organization (either a for-profit, governmental or non-profit entity) conducts over a computer-mediated network. A more comprehensive definition of e-business is: The transformation of an organizations processes to deliver additional customer value through the application of technologies, philosophies and computing paradigm of the new economy. Three primary processes are enhanced in e-business: 1. Production processes, which include procurement, ordering and replenishment of stocks; processing of payments; electronic links with suppliers; and Production control processes, among others; 2. Customer-focused processes, which include promotional and marketing efforts, selling over the Internet, processing of customers purchase orders and Payments and customer support, among others. 3. Internal management processes, which include employee services, training, internal information-sharing, video-conferencing, and recruiting. Electronic applications enhance information flow between production and sales forces to improve sales force productivity. Workgroup communications and electronic publishing of internal business information are likewise made more efficient. 17

Essentials of E-Commerce
You cant just open an online store and expect customers to flock to it. Find out if your niche market is one that you can reach through a website. How? Does your niche market have an identifiable need for your web offering? Do they have the wherewithal to pay for it? Is the niche group sizeable, i.e., will it provide enough business to produce the income you need? If the answers are yes, you have found a good niche. Now dig deep within that niche to understand the consumer behaviours that drive it. Every e-commerce operator should assume that his or her customers are sophisticated shoppers who demand prompt delivery of a product that is exactly as portrayed on their website. The most common mistake made by inexperienced web operators is to fail to be responsive to their customers order processing and fulfilment needs. But those services are the very underpinnings of all successful e-commerce ventures neglect those areas and you have a business catastrophe. To help in the follow-through, you and your customers must be able to track the status of each purchase. Most new e-commerce businesses, however, fail to integrate this necessary backend support. Another must is to make certain that your customers know that your web-based business will not only deliver a value online that cannot be found offline, but that it is just as responsive with customer service issues as the most wellregarded offline business. By keeping customer service and product fulfilment as an immediate priority you can build a valuable relationship with your customer. In doing so, you earn that customers loyalty. That helps to stem the natural flow of attrition as customers who pursue the lowest price find that the trade-off is a void in the cut-rate businesss customer service department. Another common problem for new e-commerce businesses is misinterpreting the power of the Web. Yes, a website with the right infrastructure can economically automate transactions. However, the real power of the Web is its role as a relationship-building magnet through its ability to provide numerous opportunities for interactivity. If you are careless with automated processes this very real advantage will vanish. Use your website to provide not only useful and interesting information about your products/services, but also about your entire niche market. The group that makes up a niche market always yearns for more information. They will return time and again to your website if they are appealed to on the basis of their special interests detailed articles and content-rich advertising specifically targeted to them. The dot-com bust of 2000 was a failure of business plans; the concept itself has not failed. And while numerous news articles over the last few years detail how various

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websites lost sales and customer confidence due to inadequate prelaunch planning, there have also been many successes, especially in the small business arena.

Internet Economy Synonymous with E-Commerce & E-Business

The Internet economy is a broader concept than e-commerce and e-business. It includes e-commerce and e-business. The Internet economy pertains to all economic activities using electronic networks as a medium for commerce or those activities involved in both building the net-works linked to the Internet and the purchase of application services7 such as the provision of enabling hardware and software and network equipment for Web-based/online retail and shopping malls (or e-malls). It is made up of three major segments: Physical (ICT) infrastructure, business infrastructure, and commerce. The CREC (Center for Research and Electronic Commerce) at the University of Texas has developed a conceptual framework for how the Internet economy works. The framework shows four layers of the Internet economy-the three mentioned above and a fourth called intermediaries

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Internet Economy Layer Internet Economy

Layer 1 - Internet Infrastructure: Companies that provide the enabling hardware, software, and networking equipment for Internet and for the World Wide Web

Layer 2 Internet Applications Infrastructure: Companies that make software products that facilitate Web transactions; companies that provide Web development design and consulting services

Layer 3 Internet Intermediaries: Companies that link ecommerce buyers and sellers; companies that provide Web content; companies that provide marketplaces in which ecommerce transactions can occur

Layer 4 - Internet Commerce: Companies that sell products or services directly to consumers or businesses.

Types of companies

Types of Networking MpHardware/Software Companies Line Acceleration Hardware Manufacturers PC and Server Manufacturers Internet Backbone Providers Internet Service Providers (ISPs) Security Vendors Fiber Optics Makers

Internet Commerce Applications Web Development Software Internet Consultants Online Training Search Engine Software Web-Enabled Databases Multimedia Applications

Market Makers in Vertical Industries Online Travel Agents Online Brokerages Content Aggregators Online Advertisers Internet Ad Brokers Portals/Content Providers

E-Tailers Online Entertainment and Professional Services Manufacturers Selling Online Airlines Selling Online Tickets Fee/SubscriptionBased Companies

Examples

Cisco AOL AT&T Qwest

Adobe *Microsoft *IBM Oracle

e-STEEL Travelocity eTrade Yahoo! ZDNet

Amazon.com Dell

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How to Make Money with

How do those people earn full-time incomes selling on eBay? Professional eBay Power Seller Jason James has put together a great website that reveals the exact step-by-step methods he uses to make over $11,000 in profit per month right from his kitchen. If you are tired of all the "Get rich on eBay" hype and simply want the facts about staring an eBay business, then this site is exactly what you're looking for. Jason shows you where to find hot products to sell, exactly how to sell these products, tips to maximize your profits and more (great for beginners). Jason has been selling products on eBay for over 4 years and is a respected eBay Power Seller. His website, "The Auction Resource Network" is a no holds barred look at the inner workings of his very successful eBay business from the inside out.

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Step 1: Register as an eBay seller for

free

If you've never used eBay before, you'll soon find that it is very easy (and fun) to use. It can even get addicting! eBay shows you the basics of making money with their userfriendly system. In just a few minutes, you'll be ready to start Making Money on eBay Register Free as an eBay Seller Step 2: Make More Money with Step-by-Step eBay How to Start a Business on eBay These 2 guides tell you everything you need to know to start and grow your eBay business: See How to Make Money Faster with Entrepreneur's Start-Up Guide

Guides

All about the different types of online auctions The most profitable items to sell online How to use eBay tools to sell more on eBay Inside secrets from successful eBay entrepreneurs Learn how to make money on eBay

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Step 3: Find hot eBay Products at Wholesale

Sell Products on eBay without Purchasing Products Up Front If you want to sell products on eBay without buying them first, use a wholesale supply & drop shipping company like Doba. It's simple: you can list hot-selling products on eBay (from Sony, Apple, Nautica, KitchenAid & more!), get paid on sales and have the items shipped to your customers directly from Doba.

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Drawbacks of E-commerce
E-commerce activities include several pitfalls, some are: Access, security & privacy problems. Skill shortage. Small cash transaction problem. Stock shortage. High delivery cost for long distance. Slow download time owing to poor information foundation in many countries. Very high delivery time for far distances

Recommendation
If you have determination and patience you are sure to prosper in an E-commerce. According to me, its easy to start an E-business. There are ways in which there is no cost at all for starting it, only few hours of dedication and smart thinking. Creativity also plays an important role as its all about being unique and different that will attract valuable customers. The most important aspect for me is marketing of the E-commerce. If this is carried out effectively no one can stop you from earning a lakh per month.

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Conclusion

The feeding frenzy surrounding e-commerce may be new to this generation, but the same patterns of behaviour occurred in the development of earlier technologies, including the steam engine, telegraphy, automobiles, airplanes, and radio. Similar to those culturechanging technologies, many lessons were learned during the e-commerce gold rush. Surely, its confusing, too many thought everything e was a magic bullet. But the technology that fuelled that initial Internet bubble is what fuels the successful businesses of today. So, in the long term, e-business changed how business is conducted and it is here to stay. We are looking at the future business of the world.

References Chaudhury, Abijit; Jean-Pierre Kuilboer (2002). e-Business and e-Commerce Infrastructure. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-247875-6. Frieden, Jonathan D.; Roche, Sean Patrick (2006-12-19). "E-Commerce: Legal Issues of the Online Retailer in Virginia" (PDF). Richmond Journal of Law & Technology 13 (2) Graham, Mark (2008). "Warped Geographies of Development: The Internet and Theories of Economic Development" (PDF). Geography Compass 2 (3): 771. doi:10.1111/j.1749-8198.2008.00093.x Kessler, M. (2003). More shoppers proceed to checkout online. Retrieved January 13, 2004 Nissanoff, Daniel (2006). FutureShop: How the New Auction Culture Will Revolutionize the Way We Buy, Sell and Get the Things We Really Want (Hardcover ed.). The Penguin Press. pp. 246 pages. ISBN 1-59420-077-7. Seybold, Pat (2001). Customers.com. Crown Business Books (Random House). ISBN 0-609-60772-3. Miller, Roger (2002). The Legal and E-Commerce Environment Today (Hardcover ed.). Thomson Learning. pp. 741 pages. ISBN 0-324-06188-9. Kotler, Philip (2009). Marketing Management. Pearson:Prentice-Hall. ISBN 978-81317-1683-0. www.wikepedia.com www.scribd.com

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