How E-Commerce Has Changed the Way to Do Business Research Paper

How E-Commerce Has Changed the Way to Do Business - Research Paper Example This essay will also give a brief history concerning E-Commerce and also state the advantages and disadvantages of E-Commerce to customers/ businesses. Earlier on, E-Commerce was branded as the facilitation of marketable business electronically by means of technologies like Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). These technologies were introduced early in the 1970s. Technological advancement led to introduction of other systems like automated teller machines (ATM), telephone banking, airline reservation system and credit cards which are also forms of E-Commerce (Reynolds, 2009). In the early 90s, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web which profoundly altered a scholarly telecommunication system to a global communication system named www or the internet (Plant, 2012). In time, many European and American business firms offered their services through the Worldwide Web. Since then, people are much conversant to E-Commerce with the ability to purchase various goods through the internet using electronic payment services and secure protocols. As defined earlier, E-Commerce is the process of buying and selling products and services from the internet, especially the World Wide Web. When retail selling is used, then the term e-tailing can be used. E-Commerce is divided into several categories. They include E-tailing, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), business-to-business transactions, gathering and use of demographic data through Web contacts, E-Mail and fax and the security of business transactions (Plant, 2012). E-Commerce has a number of benefits to customers and other businesses. They include efficient buying and selling procedures as well as an easy way of finding products. Buying and selling of products is not limited. The customers are able to purchase products and get services 24 hours daily. E-Commerce also allows customers to select products from various providers without the need of moving physically from one point to ano ther. This process, therefore, cuts down the rate associated with processing, inventory management, marketing, customer care and information storage (Reynolds, 2009). This in turn, reduces the burden influenced by infrastructure to conduct businesses. This form of business is easier to start and run. Moreover, this invention allows more customers to find products and services without hypothetical geographic boundaries. Lastly, there is no need for physical company setups since the business is run on a network. Since the early 1990s, the internet has tremendously grown as a technologically enthusiastic tool to many corporations. Improvement in technology and other forms of E-Commerce also came in play. There are four principal categories of E-Commerce business models. They are business to consumer (B2C), business to business (B2B), consumer to business (C2B) and consumer to consumer (C2C) (Plant, 2012). In E-Commerce, there are eight unique features that enable this web shopping proc ess run successfully. They are global reach, ubiquity, richness, universal standards, interactivity, personalization and customization and information density (Plant, 2012). Ubiquity is the leading factor in the success of any E-Commerce business. Online stores never close and they are available every time and anytime. Global reach is also essential in ensuring a successful E-Commerce busines