E-commerce refers to the buying and selling of goods and services over the Internet. While e-commerce applications existed before the Internet in the form of EDI and EFT, the Internet allowed the general public to conduct business online for the first time. E-commerce provides benefits like reduced costs, reduced time, and flexibility. The value chain of e-commerce involves attracting customers, interacting with them, handling orders, and providing customer support. E-commerce is still developing and is expected to further change markets and retailers through increased price competition and advantages for larger firms.

1. E-commerce

2. What is E-commerce
 In its simplest form e-commerce is the buying and
selling of products and services by businesses and
consumers over the Internet.
 People use the term "e-commerce" to describe
encrypted payments on the Internet.
 It Brings the Universal Access of the net to the core
Business Processes of Buying and Selling of Goods and
Services.
 We can look at e-commerce as to a subset of e-business
concerning commerce

3. Origins of e-commerce
 E-commerce applications existed long before Internet
 EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)
 EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer)
 Internet offered the general public the opportunity to
conduct businesses online

4. Benefits of E-Commerce
 Reduced costs by reducing labour, reduced paper work,
reduced errors in keying in data, reduce post costs
 Reduced time-Shorter lead times for payment and
return on investment in advertising, faster delivery of
product
 Flexibility with efficiency-The ability to handle
complex situations, product ranges and customer
profiles without the situation becoming
unmanageable.
 New Markets. The Internet has the potential to expand
your business into wider geographical locations.

5. VALUE CHAIN IN E-COMMERCE

6. The process of e-commerce
1. Attract customers
 Advertising, marketing
2. Interact with customers

Catalog, negotiation
3. Handle and manage orders

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
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Order capture
Payment
Transaction
Fulfillment (physical good, service good, digital good)
4. React to customer inquiries

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Customer service
Order tracking

7. Impact on markets and retailers
 Economists have theorized that e-commerce ought to
lead to intensified price competition, as it increases
consumers' ability to gather information about
products and prices.
 Generally, larger firms have grown at the expense of
smaller ones, as they are able to use economies of
scale and offer lower prices.

8. Conclusions
 New E-commerce is still in its formative stage.
 The capabilities of the new marketplace that combines
the properties of a medium with that of a global
location will be exploited to redefine many products
and marketplaces.
 E-commerce has entered a stage of rapid and sustained
development.
 All of these and many others will require further
experimentation, experience, observation, analysis,
and research.