E-commerce :: Business and Management Studies

E-commerceUnless you claim been living under a rock for the last two years, you befuddle heard about e-commerce And you take a crap heard about it from severaldifferent angles. For exampleYou have heard about all of the companies that offer e-commercebecause you have been bombarded by their TV and radio ads.You have read all of the news stories about the shift to e-commerceand the hype that has developed around e-commerce companies.You have seen the huge valuations that web companies get in the stockmarket, charge when they dont make a profit.And you may have actually purchased something on the web, so you havedirect personal experience with e-commerce.Still, you may feel like you dont get wind e-commerce at all. Whatis all the hype about? Why the huge valuations? And most importantly,is there a way for you to participate? If you have an e-commerce idea,how might you get started implementing it? If you have had questionslike these, so this edition of How Stuff Works will help ou t byexposing you to the entire e-commerce space. Lets have a lookCommerce forward we get into a complete discussion of e-commerce, it is helpfulto have a grievous mental image of plain old commerce first. If youunderstand commerce, then e-commerce is an easy extension.Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary defines commerce as followscom.merce n MF, fr. L commercium, fr. com- + merc-, merx merchandise(1537) 1 social intercourse interchange of ideas, opinions, orsentiments 2 the transmute or buying and selling of commodities on alarge scale involving transportation from place to place 3 sexualintercourseWe tend to be enkindle in the second definition, but that third oneis interesting and unexpected - maybe thats what all of the hype isaboutSo commerce is, quite simply, the exchange of goods and services,usually for money. We see commerce all around us in in millions ofdifferent forms. When you buy something at a grocery store or atWal-mart you are participating in commerce. In the same way, if youcart half of your possessions onto your front lawn for a yard sale,you are participating in commerce from a different angle. If you go towork each day for a company that produces a product, that is yetanother link in the chain of commerce. When you pretend about commercein these different ways, you instinctively recognize several differentrolesBuyers - these are people with money who want to purchase a good orservice.Sellers - these are the people who offer goods and services to buyers.Sellers are generally recognized in two different forms retailers who