Ecommerce Definition

Electronic commerce, also known as e-commerce, has been liberally known as buying and selling products and services through the Internet. Conducting business of any sort has been occurring for more than 50 years using telephone systems. Electronic commerce implies performing business transactions using electronic mediums which include telephone, magnetic tapes and the Internet.

Shortly after the development of the telephone people were ordering products and services from vendors such as Sears and Roebuck's, the local general store and many other commercial entities. Banks used telephone systems to transfer money from one banking account to another within the same bank, across state lines and internationally. With the evolution of the automatic teller machines (ATM) in the 1980s consumers were unaware they were performing electronic commerce transactions.

Magnetic tapes were used, and are still used in places, by credit organizations reporting to credit bureaus and transferring funds between banks. Magnetic tapes typically are not considered electronic mediums. However, the mechanisms that build the magnetic tapes require electronics and therefore exist within the arena of electronic commerce.

According to the Electronic Commerce Dictionary, electronic commerce is defined as "the conducting of business communication and transactions over networks and through computers. As most restrictively defined, electronic commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services, and the transfer of funds, through digital communications. However EC also includes all inter-company and intra-company functions (such as marketing, finance, manufacturing, selling, and negotiation) that enable commerce and use electronic mail, EDI, file transfer, fax, videoconferencing, workflow, or interaction with a remote computer. Electronic commerce also includes buying and selling over the World Wide Web and the Internet, electronic funds transfer, smart cards, digital cash, and all other ways of doing business over digital networks."

The average consumer and business owner consider ecommerce to be the purchasing of products through shopping carts. Shopping cart sales have been occurring since December of 1993. Pizza Hut, Inc. was the first company with a shopping cart on the World Wide Web. Since that time we have had companies like Amazon.com, BlueNile.com, and GreenDragonHerbals.com.

When choosing a shopping cart you should look for features that aid in customer acquisition. Customer acquisition features help reduce the cost of advertising and ultimately the cost of acquiring new customers. Most shopping carts focus its primarily upon customer retention ignoring the extremely important need of getting new customers to your web site.

Understanding ecommerce is not limited to the World Wide Web or the Internet can help you expand your scope of business interactions. You will realize that customers can purchase using fax machines, telephone and through shopping cart software. True ecommerce empowers your customer to make purchases through mediums that make them comfortable and increases your success.

Search for ecommerce solutions and shopping cart software and you will find Apple Pie!

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