Introduction:
Electronic Commerce or e-commerce, the exchange of goods and services by means of the Internet or other computer networks. E-commerce follows the same basic principles as traditional commerce that is,, buyers and sellers come together to exchange goods against money. But rather than conducting business in the traditional way in stores and other “brick and mortar” buildings or through mail order catalogs and telephone operators in e-commerce buyers and sellers transact business over networked computers.
E-commerce offers buyers convenience. They can visit the World Wide Web sites of multiple vendors 24 hours a day and seven days a week to compare prices and make purchase, without having to leave their homes or offices. In some cases, consumers can immediately obtain a product or service, such as an electronic book, a music file, or computer software by downloading it over the Internet.
Definitions:
According to British Department of Trade & Industry:
“E-Commerce is the exchange of information in electronic networks, at any store in the supply chain whether within the organization between businesses, between businesses & consumers, between the public and private consumers, weather paid or unpaid.”
In simple words:
“E-commerce is usually associated with buying and selling over the Internet, or conducting any transaction involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods or services through a computer-mediated network”.
“Electronic commerce or e-commerce refers Dfa Ho to a wide range of online business activities for products and services. It also pertains to any form of business transaction in which the parties interact electronically rather than by physical exchanges or direct physical contact.”
