E-commerce 2021–2022: Business.

Technology. Society.
Seventeenth Edition, Global Edition

Chapter 1
Introduction to E-commerce

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Learning Objectives
1.1 Understand why it is important to study e-commerce.
1.2 Define e-commerce, understand how e-commerce differs from e-
business, identify the primary technological building blocks underlying
e-commerce, and recognize major current themes in e-commerce.
1.3 Identify and describe the unique features of e-commerce
technology and discuss their business significance.
1.4 Describe the major types of e-commerce.
1.5 Understand the evolution of e-commerce from its early years to
today.
1.6 Describe the major themes underlying the study of e-commerce.
1.7 Identify the major academic disciplines contributing to e-commerce.

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The First Thirty Seconds
• First two decades of e-commerce
– Just the beginning
– Rapid growth and change
• Technologies evolve at exponential rates
– Disruptive business change
– New opportunities
• Why study e-commerce
– Understand opportunities and risks
– Analyze e-commerce ideas, models, issues

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Introduction to E-commerce
• Use of Internet to transact business
– Includes Web, mobile browsers and apps
• More formally:
– Digitally enabled commercial transactions between
and among organizations and individuals

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The Difference Between E-commerce and
E-business

• E-business:
– Digital enabling of transactions and processes within
a firm, involving information systems under firm’s
control
– Does not include commercial transactions involving
an exchange of value across organizational
boundaries

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Technological Building Blocks
Underlying E-commerce

• Internet
• World Wide Web
– HTML
– Deep Web v s “surface” Web
ersu

• Mobile platform
– Mobile apps

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Major Trends in E-commerce
• Business trends include:
– Covid-19 pandemic fuels surge in retail e-commerce,
m-commerce, and certain on-demand services
• Technology trends include:
– Mobile platform and cloud computing
– Big data and Internet of Things
• Societal trends include:
– Increased concern about impact of social networks
– Concerns about increasing market dominance of big
technology firms

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Unique Features of E-commerce
Technology (1 of 2)

1. Ubiquity
2. Global reach
3. Universal standards
4. Information richness

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Unique Features of E-commerce
Technology (2 of 2)

5. Interactivity
6. Information density
7. Personalization/customization
8. Social technology

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Types of E-commerce
• Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
• Business-to-Business (B2B)
• Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)
• Mobile e-commerce (M-commerce)
• Social e-commerce
• Local e-commerce

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Figure 1.5 The Growth of B2C E-commerce
in the United States

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Figure 1.7 The Growth of B2B E-commerce
in the United States

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Figure 1.8 The Growth of M-commerce
in the United States

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E-commerce: A Brief History (1 of 4)
• Precursors
– Baxter Healthcare modem-based system (1970s)
– Order entry systems (1980s)
– Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards (1980s)
– French Minitel (1981)

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E-commerce: A Brief History (2 of 4)
• 1995–2000: Invention
– Sale of simple retail goods
– Limited bandwidth and media
– Euphoric visions of
▪ Friction-free commerce
▪ First-mover advantages
– Dot-com crash of 2000

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E-commerce: A Brief History (3 of 4)
• 2001–2006: Consolidation
– Emphasis on business-driven approach
– Traditional large firms expand presence
– Start-up financing shrinks
– More complex products and services sold
– Growth of search engine advertising
– Business web presences expand

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E-commerce: A Brief History (4 of 4)
• 2007–Present: Reinvention
– Rapid growth of:
▪ Web 2.0, including online social networks
▪ Mobile platform
▪ Local commerce
▪ On-demand service economy
– Entertainment content develops as source of
revenues
– Transformation of marketing

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Figure 1.10 Periods in the Development
of E-commerce

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Copyright

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