e part of a series onecommerce online goods and services digital distribution ebooks software streaming media retail services banking dvdbymail flower delivery food ordering grocery pharmacy travel marketplace services advertising auctions comparison shopping social commerce trading communities wallet mobile commerce payment ticketing customer service call centre help desk live support software eprocurement purchasetopayvte ecommerce is the activity of buying or selling of products on online services or over the internet electronic commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce electronic funds transfer supply chain management internet marketing online transaction processing electronic data interchange edi inventory management systems and automated data collection systems modern electronic commerce typically uses the world wide web for at least one part of the transactions life cycle although it may also use other technologies such as email typical ecommerce transactions include the purchase of online books such as amazon and music purchases music download in the form of digital distribution such as itunes store and to a less extent customizedpersonalized online liquor store inventory services ecommerce businesses may also employ some or all of the followings online shopping for retail sales direct to consumers via web sites and mobile apps and conversational commerce via live chat chatbots and voice assistants providing or participating in online marketplaces which process thirdparty businesstoconsumer or consumertoconsumer sales businesstobusiness buying and selling gathering and using demographic data through web contacts and social media businesstobusiness b2b electronic data interchange marketing to prospective and established customers by email or fax for example with newsletters engaging in pretail for launching new products and services online financial exchanges for currency exchanges or trading purposes timeline a timeline for the development of ecommerce 1971 or 1972 the arpanet is used to arrange a cannabis sale between students at the stanford artificial intelligence laboratory and the massachusetts institute of technology later described as the seminal act of ecommerce in john markoffs book what the dormouse said 1979 michael aldrich demonstrates the first online shopping system 1981 thomson holidays uk is the first businesstobusiness online shopping system to be installed 1982 minitel was introduced nationwide in france by france tlcom and used for online ordering 1983 california state assembly holds first hearing on electronic commerce in volcano california testifying are cpuc mci mail prodigy compuserve volcano telephone and pacific telesis not permitted to testify is quantum technology later to become aol 1984 gateshead sistesco is first b2c online shopping system 1984 in april 1984 compuserve launches the electronic mall in the usa and canada it is the first comprehensive electronic commerce service 1989 in may 1989 sequoia data corp introduced compumarket the first internet based system for ecommerce sellers and buyers could post items for sale and buyers could search the database and make purchases with a credit card 1990 tim bernerslee writes the first web browser worldwideweb using a next computer 1992 book stacks unlimited in cleveland opens a commercial sales website wwwbookscom selling books online with credit card processing 1993 paget press releases edition no 3 1994 netscape releases the navigator browser in october under the code name mozilla netscape 10 is introduced in late 1994 with ssl encryption that made transactions secure 1994 ipswitch imail server becomes the first software available online for sale and immediate download via a partnership between ipswitch inc and openmarket 1994 ten summoners tales by sting becomes the first secure online purchase through netmarket 1995 the us national science foundation lifts its former strict prohibition of commercial enterprise on the internet 1995 thursday 27 april 1995 the purchase of a book by paul stanfield product manager for compuserve uk from w h smiths shop within compuserves uk shopping centre is the uks first national online shopping service secure transaction the shopping service at launch featured w h smith tesco virgin megastoresour price great universal stores gus interflora dixons retail past times pc world retailer and innovations 1995 jeff bezos launches amazoncom and the first commercialfree 24hour internetonly radio stations radio hk and netradio start broadcasting ebay is founded by computer programmer pierre omidyar as auctionweb 1996 the use of excalibur bbs with replicated storefronts was an early implementation of electronic commerce started by a group of sysops in australia and replicated to global partner sites 1998 electronic postal stamps can be purchased and downloaded for printing from the web 1999 alibaba group is established in china businesscom sold for us 75 million to ecompanies which was purchased in 1997 for us 149000 the peertopeer filesharing software napster launches atg stores launches to sell decorative items for the home online 1999 global ecommerce reaches 150 billion 2000 the dotcom bust 2001 alibabacom achieved profitability in december 2001 2002 ebay acquires paypal for 15 billion niche retail companies wayfair and netshops are founded with the concept of selling products through several targeted domains rather than a central portal 2003 amazoncom posts first yearly profit 2004 dhgatecom chinas first online b2b transaction platform is established forcing other b2b sites to move away from the yellow pages model 2007 businesscom acquired by rh donnelley for 345 million 2014 us ecommerce and online retail sales projected to reach 294 billion an increase of 12 percent over 2013 and 9 of all retail sales alibaba group has the largest initial public offering ever worth 25 billion 2015 amazoncom accounts for more than half of all ecommerce growth selling almost 500 million skus in the us business application an example of an older generation of avatarstyle automated online assistant on a merchandising website some common applications related to electronic commerce are conversational commerce ecommerce via chat digital wallet document automation in supply chain and logistics electronic tickets enterprise content management group buying instant messaging newsgroups online banking online office suites online shopping and order tracking pretail print on demand shopping cart software social networking teleconferencing virtual assistant artificial intelligence domestic and international payment systems governmental regulation in the united states certain electronic commerce activities are regulated by the federal trade commission ftc these activities include the use of commercial emails online advertising and consumer privacy the canspam act of 2003 establishes national standards for direct marketing over email the federal trade commission act regulates all forms of advertising including online advertising and states that advertising must be truthful and nondeceptive as a result any corporate privacy policy related to ecommerce activity may be subject to enforcement by the ftc the ryan haight online pharmacy consumer protection act of 2008 which came into law in 2008 amends the controlled substances act to address online pharmacies conflict of laws in cyberspace is a major hurdle for harmonization of legal framework for ecommerce around the world in order to give a uniformity to ecommerce law around the world many countries adopted the uncitral model law on electronic commerce 1996 internationally there is the international consumer protection and enforcement network icpen which was formed in 1991 from an informal network of government customer fair trade organisations the purpose was stated as being to find ways of cooperating on tackling consumer problems connected with crossborder transactions in both goods and services and to help ensure exchanges of information among the participants for mutual benefit and understanding from this came econsumergov an icpen initiative since april 2001 it is a portal to report complaints about online and related transactions with foreign companies there is also asia pacific economic cooperation apec was established in 1989 with the vision of achieving stability security and prosperity for the region through free and open trade and investment apec has an electronic commerce steering group as well as working on common privacy regulations throughout the apec region in australia trade is covered under australian treasury guidelines for electronic commerce and the australian competition and consumer commission in the united kingdom the financial services authority fsa in india the information technology act 2000 governs the basic applicability of ecommerce in china the telecommunications regulations of the peoples republic of china promulgated on 25 september 2000 stipulated the ministry of industry and information technology miit as the government department regulating all telecommunications related activities including electronic commerce forms contemporary electronic commerce can be classified into two categories the first category is business based on types of goods sold involves everything from ordering digital content for immediate online consumption to ordering conventional goods and services to meta services to facilitate other types of electronic commerce the second category is based on the nature of the participant b2b b2c c2b and c2c on the institutional level big corporations and financial institutions use the internet to exchange financial data to facilitate domestic and international business data integrity and security are pressing issues for electronic commerce aside from traditional ecommerce the terms mcommerce mobile commerce as well around 2013 tcommerce have also been used global trends in 2010 the united kingdom had the highest per capita ecommerce spending in the world among emerging economies chinas ecommerce presence continues to expand every year with 668 million internet users chinas online shopping sales reached 253 billion in the first half of 2015 accounting for 10 of total chinese consumer retail sales in that period recent research clearly indicates that electronic commerce commonly referred to as ecommerce presently shapes the manner in which people shop for products the gcc countries have a rapidly growing market and characterized by a population that becomes wealthier yuldashev as such retailers have launched arabiclanguage websites as a means to target this population secondly there are predictions of increased mobile purchases and an expanding internet audience yuldashev the growth and development of the two aspects make the gcc countries to become larger players in the electronic commerce market with time progress specifically research shows that ecommerce market is expected to grow to over 20 billion by the year 2020 among these gcc countries yuldashev the ecommerce market has also gained much popularity among the western countries and in particular europe and the us these countries have been highly characterized with consumerpackagedgoods cpg geisler 34 however trends show that there are future signs of a reverse similar to the gcc countries there has been increased purchase of goods and services in online channels rather than offline channels activist investors are trying hard to consolidate and slash their overall cost and the governments in western countries continue to impose more regulation on cpg manufacturers geisler 36 in these senses cpg investors are being forced to adapt ecommerce as it is effective as a well as a means for them to thrive in 2013 brazils ecommerce was growing quickly with retail ecommerce sales expected to grow at a doubledigit pace through 2014 by 2016 emarketer expected retail ecommerce sales in brazil to reach 173 billion the future trends in the gcc countries will be similar with that of the western countries despite the forces that push business to adapt ecommerce as a means to sell goods and products the manner in which customers make purchases is similar in countries from these two regions for instance there has been an increased usage of smartphones which comes in conjunction with an increase in the overall internet audience from the regions yuldashev writes that consumers are scaling up to more modern technology that allows for mobile marketing however the percentage of smartphone and internet users who make online purchases is expected to vary in the first few years it will be independent on the willingness of the people to adopt this new trend the statistics portal for example uae has the greatest smartphone penetration of 738 percent and has 919 percent of its population has access to the internet on the other hand smartphone penetration in europe has been reported to be at 647 percent the statistics portal regardless the disparity in percentage between these regions is expected to level out in future because ecommerce technology is expected to grow allowing for more users the ecommerce business within these two regions will result in a competition government bodies at country level will enhance their measures and strategies to ensure sustainability and consumer protection krings et al these increased measures will raise the environmental and social standards in the countries factors that will determine the success of ecommerce market in these countries for example an adoption of tough sanctions will make it difficult for companies to enter the ecommerce market while lenient sanctions will allow ease of companies as such the future trends between gcc countries and the western countries will be independent of these sanctions krings et al these countries need to make rational conclusions in coming up with effective sanctions the rate of growth of the number of internet users in the arab countries has been rapid 131 in 2015 a significant portion of the ecommerce market in the middle east comprises people in the 3034 year age group egypt has the largest number of internet users in the region followed by saudi arabia and morocco these constitute 34th of the regions share yet internet penetration is low 35 in egypt and 65 in saudi arabia ecommerce has become an important tool for small and large businesses worldwide not only to sell to customers but also to engage them in 2012 ecommerce sales topped 1 trillion for the first time in history mobile devices are playing an increasing role in the mix of ecommerce this is also commonly called mobile commerce or mcommerce in 2014 one estimate saw purchases made on mobile devices making up 25 of the market by 2017 for traditional businesses one research stated that information technology and crossborder ecommerce is a good opportunity for the rapid development and growth of enterprises many companies have invested enormous volume of investment in mobile applications the delone and mclean model stated that three perspectives contribute to a successful ebusiness information system quality service quality and users satisfaction modern 3d graphics technologies such as facebook 3d posts are considered by some social media marketers and advertisers as a more preferable way to promote consumer goods than static photos and some brands like sony are already paving the way for augmented reality commerce wayfair now lets you inspect a 3d version of its furniture in a home setting before buying logistics logistics in ecommerce mainly concerns fulfillment online markets and retailers have to find the best possible way to fill orders and deliver products small companies usually control their own logistic operation because they do not have the ability to hire an outside company most large companies hire a fulfillment service that takes care of a companys logistic needs contrary to common misconception there are significant barriers to entry in ecommerce impact on markets and retailers store closing flags outside a toys r us in new jersey despite investments the chain struggled to win market share in the age of digital commerce ecommerce markets are growing at noticeable rates the online market is expected to grow by 56 in 20152020 traditional markets are only expected 2 growth during the same time brick and mortar retailers are struggling because of online retailers ability to offer lower prices and higher efficiency many larger retailers are able to maintain a presence offline and online by linking physical and online offerings ecommerce allows customers to overcome geographical barriers and allows them to purchase products anytime and from anywhere online and traditional markets have different strategies for conducting business traditional retailers offer fewer assortment of products because of shelf space where online retailers often hold no inventory but send customer orders directly to the manufacture the pricing strategies are also different for traditional and online retailers traditional retailers base their prices on store traffic and the cost to keep inventory online retailers base prices on the speed of delivery there are two ways for marketers to conduct business through ecommerce fully online or online along with a brick and mortar store online marketers can offer lower prices greater product selection and high efficiency rates many customers prefer online markets if the products can be delivered quickly at relatively low price however online retailers cannot offer the physical experience that traditional retailers can it can be difficult to judge the quality of a product without the physical experience which may cause customers to experience product or seller uncertainty another issue regarding the online market is concerns about the security of online transactions many customers remain loyal to wellknown retailers because of this issue security is a primary problem for ecommerce in developed and developing countries ecommerce security is protecting business websites and costumers from unauthorized access use alteration or destruction the type of threats include malicious codes unwanted programs ad ware spyware phishing hacking and cyber vandalism ecommerce websites use different tools to avert security threats these tools include firewalls encryption software digital certificates and passwords impact on supply chain management supply chain management for a long time companies had been troubled by the gap between the benefits which supply chain technology has and the solutions to deliver those benefits however the emergence of ecommerce has provided a more practical and effective way of delivering the benefits of the new supply chain technologies ecommerce has the capability to integrate all intercompany and intracompany functions meaning that the three flows physical flow financial flow and information flow of the supply chain could be also affected by ecommerce the affections on physical flows improved the way of product and inventory movement level for companies for the information flows ecommerce optimised the capacity of information processing than companies used to have and for the financial flows ecommerce allows companies to have more efficient payment and settlement solutions in addition ecommerce has a more sophisticated level of impact on supply chains firstly the performance gap will be eliminated since companies can identify gaps between different levels of supply chains by electronic means of solutions secondly as a result of ecommerce emergence new capabilities such implementing erp systems like sap erp xero or megaventory have helped companies to manage operations with customers and suppliers yet these new capabilities are still not fully exploited thirdly technology companies would keep investing on new ecommerce software solutions as they are expecting investment return fourthly ecommerce would help to solve many aspects of issues that companies may feel difficult to cope with such as political barriers or crosscountry changes finally ecommerce provides companies a more efficient and effective way to collaborate with each other within the supply chain impact on employment ecommerce helps create new job opportunities due to information related services software app and digital products it also causes job losses the areas with the greatest predicted jobloss are retail postal and travel agencies the development of ecommerce will create jobs that require highly skilled workers to manage large amounts of information customer demands and production processes in contrast people with poor technical skills cannot enjoy the wages welfare on the other hand because ecommerce requires sufficient stocks that could be delivered to customers in time the warehouse becomes an important element warehouse needs more staff to manage supervise and organize thus the condition of warehouse environment will be concerned by employees impact on customers ecommerce brings convenience for customers as they do not have to leave home and only need to browse website online especially for buying the products which are not sold in nearby shops it could help customers buy wider range of products and save customers time consumers also gain power through online shopping they are able to research products and compare prices among retailers also online shopping often provides sales promotion or discounts code thus it is more price effective for customers moreover ecommerce provides products detailed information even the instore staff cannot offer such detailed explanation customers can also review and track the order history online ecommerce technologies cut transaction costs by allowing both manufactures and consumers to skip through the intermediaries this is achieved through by extending the search area best price deals and by group purchase the success of ecommerce in urban and regional levels depend on how the local firms and consumers have adopted to ecommerce however ecommerce lacks human interaction for customers especially who prefer facetoface connection customers are also concerned with the security of online transactions and tend to remain loyal to wellknown retailers distribution channels ecommerce has grown in importance as companies have adopted pureclick and brickandclick channel systems we can distinguish pureclick and brickandclick channel system adopted by companies pureclick or pureplay companies are those that have launched a website without any previous existence as a firm bricksandclicks companies are those existing companies that have added an online site for ecommerce clicktobrick online retailers that later open physical locations to supplement their online efforts types of digital channels ecommerce may take place on retailers web sites or mobile apps or those of ecommerce marketplaces such as on amazon or tmall from alibaba those channels may also be supported by conversational commerce eg live chat or chatbots on web sites conversational commerce may also be standalone such as live chat or chatbots on messaging apps recommendation the contemporary ecommerce trend recommends companies to shift the traditional business model where focus on standardized products homogeneous market and long product life cycle to the new business model where focus on varied and customized products ecommerce requires the company to have the ability to satisfy multiple needs of different customers and provide them with wider range of products with more choices of products the information of products for customers to select and meet their needs become crucial in order to address the mass customization principle to the company the use of recommender system is suggested this system helps recommend the proper products to the customers and helps customers make the decision during the purchasing process the recommender system could be operated through the top sellers on the website the demographics of customers or the consumers buying behavior however there are 3 main ways of recommendations recommending products to customers directly providing detailed products information and showing other buyers opinions or critiques it is benefit for consumer experience without physical shopping in general recommender system is used to contact customers online and assist finding the right products they want effectively and directly information technology portal alternative payments comparison of free software ecommerce web application frameworks comparison of shopping cart software comparison of payment systems digital economy ecommerce credit card payment system electronic bill payment electronic money nonstore retailing paid content payments as a service types of ecommerce timeline of ecommerce laudon kenneth c guercio traver carol 2014 ecommerce business technology society 10th edition pearson isbn9780133024449 chaudhury abijit kuilboer jeanpierre 2002 ebusiness and ecommerce infrastructure mcgrawhill isbn0072478756 frieden jonathan d roche sean patrick 19 december 2006 ecommerce legal issues of the online retailer in virginia pdf richmond journal of law and technology 13 2 graham mark 2008 warped geographies of development the internet and theories of economic development pdf geography compass 2 3 771 doi101111j17498198200800093x archived from the original pdf on 20081029 humeau philippe jung matthieu 21 june 2013 in depth benchmark of 12 ecommerce solutions pdf kessler m 22 december 2003 more shoppers proceed to checkout online usa today retrieved 13 january 2004 lowry paul benjamin wells taylor moody gregory d humpherys sean and kettles degan 2006 online payment gateways used to facilitate ecommerce transactions and improve risk management communications of the association for information systems vol 176 pp148 httpaiselaisnetorgcaisvol17iss16 kotler philip 2009 marketing management pearson prenticehall isbn9788131716830 miller roger 2002 the legal and ecommerce environment today hardcover ed thomson learning isbn0324061889 741 pp nissanoff daniel 2006 futureshop how the new auction culture will revolutionize the way we buy sell and get the things we really want hardcover ed the penguin press isbn1594200777 246 pp seybold pat 2001 customerscom crown business books random house isbn0609607723 ecommerceat wikipedias sister projects definitions from wiktionary media from wikimedia commons news from wikinews textbooks from wikibooks resources from wikiversity data from wikidata small business ecommerce resources us sba vtemajor fields of computer sciencenote this template roughly follows the 2012 acm computing classification systemhardware printed circuit board peripheral integrated circuit very large scale integration systems on chip socs energy consumption green computing electronic design automation hardware acceleration computer systemsorganization computer architecture embedded system realtime computing dependability networks network architecture network protocol network components network scheduler network performance evaluation network service software organization interpreter middleware virtual machine operating system software quality software notationsand tools programming paradigm programming language compiler domainspecific language modeling language software framework integrated development environment software configuration management software library software repository software development software development process requirements analysis software design software construction software deployment software maintenance programming team opensource model theory of computation model of computation formal language automata theory computational complexity theory logic semantics algorithms algorithm design analysis of algorithms algorithmic efficiency randomized algorithm computational geometry mathematicsof computing discrete mathematics probability statistics mathematical software information theory mathematical analysis numerical analysis informationsystems database management system information storage systems enterprise information system social information systems geographic information system decision support system process control system multimedia information system data mining digital library computing platform digital marketing world wide web information retrieval security cryptography formal methods security services intrusion detection system hardware security network security information security application security humancomputerinteraction interaction design social computing ubiquitous computing visualization accessibility concurrency concurrent computing parallel computing distributed computing multithreading multiprocessing artificialintelligence natural language processing knowledge representation and reasoning computer vision automated planning and scheduling search methodology control method philosophy of artificial 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