Internet and E-Commerce

According to the editor-in-chief of International Journal of Electronic Commerce, Vladimir Zwass, Electronic commerce is sharing business information, maintaining business relationships and conducting business transactions by means of telecommunications networks. Electronic commerce (e-commerce) remains a relatively new, emerging and constantly changing area of business management and information technology. According to Zwass, electronic commerce has been re-defined by the dynamics of the Internet and traditional e-commerce is rapidly moving to the Internet.

With the advent of the Internet, the term e-commerce began to include:

• Electronic trading of physical goods and of intangibles such as information.
• All the steps involved in trade, such as on-line marketing, ordering payment and support for delivery.
• The electronic provision of services such as after sales support or on-line legal advice.
• Electronic support for collaboration between companies such as collaborative on-line design and engineering or virtual business consultancy teams.

Some of the definitions of e-commerce often heard and found in publications and the media are:

• Electronic Commerce (EC) is where business transactions take place via telecommunications networks, especially the Internet.
• Electronic commerce describes the buying and selling of products, services, and information via computer networks including the Internet.
• Electronic commerce is about doing business electronically.
• E-commerce, ecommerce, or electronic commerce is defined as the conduct of a financial transaction by electronic means.