E-COMMERCE

WHAT IS E-COMMERCE?

Ä E-commerce (or electronic commerce) is used to describe business that is conducted over the Internet using any of the applications that rely on the Internet, such as e-mail, instant messaging, shopping carts, Web services, FTP, and EDI (electronic data interchange), among others.

ÄElectronic commerce can be between two businesses transmitting funds, goods, services and/or data or between a business and a customer.

Ä Includes:

Ø  Online business to business transactions

Ø  Online business to consumer transactions

Ø  Digital delivery of products and services

Ø  Online merchandising

Ø  Automated telephone transactions eg phone banking

Ä E-commerce can be divided into:

Ø E-tailing or "virtual storefronts" on Web sites with online catalog, sometimes gathered into a "virtual mall“

Ø The gathering and use of demographic data through Web contacts.

Ø  EDI, the business-to-business exchange of data.

Ø  E-mail and fax and their use as media for reaching prospects and established customers (for example, with newsletters)

Ø  Business-to-business buying and selling.

Ø  The security of business transactions.

Ä Example of e-commerce:

Ø  Online Shopping

Ø  Electronic Payments

Ø  Online Auctions

Ø  Internet Banking

Ø  Online Ticketing

Ä Type of e-commerce:

Ø  Business to Consumer (B2C)
When businesses sell electronically to end-consumers, it is called B2C ecommerce.

Ø  Consumer to Consumer (C2C)
Some of the earliest transactions in the global economic system involved barter - a type of C2C transaction. But C2C transactions were virtually non-existent in recent times until the advent of ecommerce. Auction sites are a good example of C2C ecommerce.

Ä Advantages of e-commerce:

Ä Disadvantages of e-commerce:

WHAT IS E-BANKING?

Ä Online banking (or Internet banking or E-banking) allows customers of a financial institution to conduct financial transactions on a secure website operated by the institution, which can be a retail or virtual bank, credit union or building society.

Ä Must have personal Internet access - must register with the institution for the service, and set up some password (under various names) for customer verification.

Ä An Internet banking customer accesses accounts from a browser— software that runs Internet banking programs resident on the bank’s World Wide Web server.

Ä Provides account balances and some transactional capabilities to retail customers over the World Wide Web. Internet banks are also known as virtual, cyber, net, interactive, or web banks.

Ä The common features:

SECURITY (ONLINE TRANSACTION)

}     Exchanging sensitive information without the appropriate encryption technology or security measures can make a computer user or identity particularly vulnerable.

}  Online transactions take place at record speed, oftentimes faster than a standard credit card transaction or check processing.

}   Online transactions can be monitored, recorded, and key logged by a variety of hackers and third parties without the knowledge or consent of the user.

}  There are several ways to help ensure safe transactions on the Internet:

1. Stored-value cards (cards that you can buy with specified, loaded dollar amounts)

2.  Smart cards (cards that can act as credit cards, debit cards and/or stored-value cards)

3.     Point-of-sale (POS) devices (PDA or mobile phone)

4.     Digital cash

5.     E-wallets

6.     Online payment services like PayPal

}  The following list provides some tips on how to make sure your transaction is secure:

1.       Use the latest Internet browser.

2.      Look for digital certificates

3.    Read the privacy only use one credit card for all of your online purchases.

4.     Never give out passwords or user ID information online unless you know who you are dealing with and why they need it.

5.      Keep records of all of your Internet transactions.

6.  After you've made purchases online, check your e-mail Not sharing passwords with any other person.

ENTERPRISE WIDE TECHNOLOGIES AND METHODOLOGIES

}  Collaboration Key Breaking Barriers

}  Supercharged Kiosks 

}  IM's New Role 

}  Speeding Things Up

}  On the Same Page 

}  Wireless e-commerce