What is E-Commerce?

Introduction

Electronic commerce, or ecommerce, is the process of making transactions or facilitating business on the Internet. Any form of business conducted electronically is ecommerce. Ecommerce covers a wide range of business from consumer based retail sites, to auction sites, to music sites, to personal communication sites, to businesses and corporations exchanging goods and services – and everything in between. Ecommerce allows consumers and businesses to exchange goods and services with no barriers of time or distance. In this microlesson we will review some of the many types of ecommerce.

Types of ECommerce

Now, we will take a look at some of the many types of ecommerce. In your challenge activity, you will research some of the various categories of ecommerce. Ecommerce is drastically growing and by the time you are in this lesson, new avenues of ecommerce most likely will be developed or in the process of development. Here ,you will be exposed to some of the current elements of ecommerce.

Review the graphic below:

Let's Review!

Take a moment to participate in the following activity to practice your understanding of the topics in this module. Reach out to your instructor if you have any questions.

Final Thoughts

As technology advances and the international divide grows smaller, ecommerce will continue to expand. There are many benefits to the availability of ecommerce. Ecommerce eliminates the limitations of time – online buying, selling, and trade can take place most any day and any time of the day. It also eliminates geographical distances – if you have Internet access and capabilities you can make an online transaction from most anywhere in the world to most anywhere in the world. Ecommerce also provides vast competitive advantages for businesses – as it is usually faster, cheaper, and more convenient than traditional methods of doing business.

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