E-commerce
common activity associated with e-business is electronic commerce (e-commerce), which can be described as using technology to conduct business transactions, such as buying and selling goods and services. However, e-commerce involves more than merely conducting electronic transactions; it also encompasses a wide range of associated activities, such as after-sales support and even logistics. The importance of e-commerce can be illustrated by looking at the rapid growth of online sales. In 2010 Forrester Research (www.forrester.com), for instance, predicted that online sales in the UK will grow at the rate of 10 per cent each year for the next five years. Online retail will reach 40 billion by 2014 and the number of online shoppers will grow from 31 million to 40 million over the same period. The UK has the largest proportion of consumers who make monthly online purchases: around 48 per cent,compared with a European average of 32 per cent.
Western Europe, online retailing will grow at a rate of approximately 11 per cent each year, reaching 114 million by 2014. The number of Europeans who shop online will grow from 141 million to 190 million over the same period. In the United States, online retail sales will grow to $249 billion by 2014, accounting for 8 per cent of all retail sales.
E-commerce activities can be broken down into five basic types:
common activity associated with e-business is electronic commerce (e-commerce), which can be described as using technology to conduct business transactions, such as buying and selling goods and services. However, e-commerce involves more than merely conducting electronic transactions; it also encompasses a wide range of associated activities, such as after-sales support and even logistics. The importance of e-commerce can be illustrated by looking at the rapid growth of online sales. In 2010 Forrester Research (www.forrester.com), for instance, predicted that online sales in the UK will grow at the rate of 10 per cent each year for the next five years. Online retail will reach 40 billion by 2014 and the number of online shoppers will grow from 31 million to 40 million over the same period. The UK has the largest proportion of consumers who make monthly online purchases: around 48 per cent,compared with a European average of 32 per cent.
Western Europe, online retailing will grow at a rate of approximately 11 per cent each year, reaching 114 million by 2014. The number of Europeans who shop online will grow from 141 million to 190 million over the same period. In the United States, online retail sales will grow to $249 billion by 2014, accounting for 8 per cent of all retail sales.
E-commerce activities can be broken down into five basic types:
- . Business-to-business (B2B). Transactions take place between companies. Approximately 80 per cent of all e-commerce is of this type.
- Business-to-consumer (B2C). Companies sell products directly to consumers. B2C can involve activities such as product research (where consumers gather information and compare prices) and electronic delivery (where information products are delivered to consumers via e-mail or other means).
- Business-to-government (B2G). Transactions take place between companies and publicsector organisations.
- Consumer-to-consumer (C2C). Transactions take place between private individuals. Perhaps the best examples of C2C commerce are online auction sites and peer-to-peer systems
- . Mobile commerce (m-commerce). M-commerce is a relatively new development and involves selling goods or services via wireless technology, especially mobile phones and PDAs. A report from Juniper Research has found that annual retail payments on mobile handsets and tablets are expected to reach $707 billion by 2018, representing 30 per cent of all eRetail by that time. This compares with mobile retail spend of $182 billion in 2013, when mobile accounted for around 15 per cent of eRetail.
There are many new types of e-commerce activity starting to appear or growing in popularity. As an example, exchanges between governments and citizens, employees and businesses are often described using the term e-government. These exchanges are also described using abbreviations like G2C (government-to-citizen), C2G (citizen-togovernment), G2E (government-to-employee) or G2B (government-to-business).
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