Executive Summary
With the advent of the Internet and the digital age, a new means of doing business has emerged. Companies now have a whole new environment in which to compete. This paper will introduce the world of e-commerce.
Next it will examine the changes to the shopping environment and the implications for businesses and consumers all over the globe. The move to the online arena has been swift. Businesses quickly began to take advantage of the new way to market their goods, while consumers excitedly flocked to a strange and mystical place known as “the Internet” to search for and conveniently buy unique goods and services. Consumers literally have a world of goods to choose from, and the businesses of the world are quick to use this medium to sell their goods.
Then the changes associated with the move to e-commerce will be examined for advantages and disadvantages. The advantages include new relationship opportunities, easier information delivery, small market targeting, expanding brand awareness, establishing customer loyalty, and increasing sales and company profits while decreasing costs. To rival the advantages the disadvantages include problems with technology like network unreliability and failure, impersonal transactions, perceived dwindling customer service, hidden costs, diminishing profit margins, and security, privacy and legal issues.
As a force and medium, e-commerce is here to stay. So finally, the effects and future of e-commerce will be evaluated.
Introduction: The Internet and the Beginnings of E-Commerce
Most people in the developed world today have come to rely on a new invention and phenomenon known as the Internet. The Internet has transformed the way society behaves in many ways. For example, a ...