E-Commerce Since the First Time

e-Commerce Since the first time that humans exchanged one thing for something else mankind has searched for new and better ways to carry out the transactions. Smaller units that were of greater value enhanced the process and ultimately the creation of money enabled people to trade with a known unit of exchange thus further improving the process. Various other systems have since been created to further advance the methodology of exchange but the mechanics reached a technological plateau in the last quarter of the 20th century.

However, with the advent of the Internet and subsequent e-commerce technologies, mankind found a new and unexplored territory for the process of buying and selling that has changed the way that the world thought about exchange. A e-Commerce is one of the most important aspects of information systems because of the dramatic impact it has had and continues to have on the field.

The reason e-commerce is so influential has to do with its ever expanding ability to make the lives of consumers easier and for the appeal that it has for the general public. Similarly, the concept is attractive to businesses because of the many advantages that it provides not just in the form of communication and customer interaction but also for the role it plays in helping to track inventory, shipping and various other functions essential for companies to manage.

In order to understand the basic concept of e-commerce it is important to answer three important questions. 1. How does e-commerce affect business and consumer relations? 2. What are some of the major concerns regarding e-commerce? 3. What are some of the key components involved in the transactions? Results Clearly e-commerce is impacting the way most people in the United States and indeed many people around the world are doing business.

But beyond the applications that involve business to business transactions is the rapidly developing field of consumer to business transaction that is managed by web-based e-commerce software. There is virtually no good or service that is not available for purchase on the World Wide Web including those things that are illegal.

The growth of this field is so broad that it includes everything from a recent offering of a mother to sell her daughter's 'monster under the bed' on eBay to the ability to purchase sunglasses and software from a thousand sites all over the world. As a function of these developments, consumers and businesses have learned to interact in a way that is wholly new for both groups. For business, this has meant learning new skills and embracing the emerging technology.

Many companies that resisted the initial call from the internet have found themselves behind the development curve or have simply been put out of business because of their failure to act. Other companies have discovered that the competencies required for internet-based selling are beyond their skill set which has given rise to an entire cottage industry of freelance programmers, vendors and consultants who have specialized in so-called e-commerce solutions.

For many companies this has also required additional considerations for shipping and contact with customers who are not only miles away but are frequently oceans away. "Enterprise/consumer interactions extend e-commerce beyond a corporation's bounds. That includes reaching external customers in both consumer and business-to-business settings and supporting those contacts with information access distributed through the company." (Piturro 56) This has required new marketing strategies, international considerations and a view of the world that is more global.

For consumers, the availability of goods and services through the internet has been both a dramatic benefit and has come with its own peculiar set of problems. Consumers now have the opportunity to shop for the goods and services they want virtually 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Many consumers have already come to realize this and have gained a substantial advantage as a result. "The profitability of Internet services has been part of a changing shopping culture for many major retailers like Macy's, J.C.

Penny's, and Dillard's on a national basis, or Gottschalks on a regional basis." E-Commerce: Economics and Regulation" 39) However, since consumers frequently deal with interfaces rather than human beings there is a certain degree of faith that accompanies each transaction. This is especially true the first time consumers purchase something from a particular company where the relationship has not been established. Another difficulty that consumers face is what to do when a product does not meet their satisfaction.

Since shipping is of such a significant cost, consumers and suppliers are both reluctant to ship product back and forth in the hopes of resolving a concern. Therefore, consumers must constantly be vigilant to assure that they are carefully reading the agreements that businesses attach to their online sites so that they are fully aware of the obligations that come with the transaction. Perhaps the greatest concern that has emerged from the world of internet-based transactions has to do with security.

"External security threats originate from outside the organization, usually in the form of a hacker breaking into a system. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, nine out of ten organizations have experienced security breaches; cybercrime has doubled from 1998 to 1999." (Tribunella) Identify theft is an age-old crime that has been technologically enhanced as a result of the spread of e-commerce. Credit cards, bank accounts, social security information and passwords are just some of the information that is stolen from consumers or from businesses.

The impact of identity theft is significant so businesses have taken special measures to encrypt sensitive information and safeguard that information once it has been received. Consumers are also taking extra measures to protect their transactions by using specialized web-based funds and credit cards with additional security. The net result is a consumer group that is more attentive and a business group that is more secure. Nevertheless, breakdowns in the process still occur which is a constant concern in the field.

Understanding how e-commerce works in a fundamental sense can be facilitated by examining one model for how a transaction takes place. To be sure, there are many models that can be used to support internet-based sales but examining one helps to place other systems in perspective. An e-commerce system can be broken out into three major components: the online catalog, the shopping cart/order management system and the credit card authorization system.

Sometimes these components are broken out differently or provide integrated functions for example, a shopping cart that also serves as an online catalog but for the sake of this explanation these components have been separated. The components function simply enough once they have been implemented but getting them functional can be a considerable undertaking especially for novice programmers or companies with little experience. The online catalog is essentially the images of the products that the consumer sees with any variables that a consumer can choose from.

For example, in the online catalog for t-shirts a customer should be able to choose size and color. The shopping cart functions like a shopping cart at a grocery store. When the consumer selects their item, the e-commerce program adds the item to a table along with the variables chosen by the customer and the accompanying price. Once the consumer is ready to complete the transaction by paying for the items, the credit card authorization system is employed. These systems are available from banks such as Wells.