It was the early 90th when the development of the Internet boosted with a startling speed. And e-commerce has become an important element of the economical process of the Internet sphere. Before e-commerce was invented, web sites were mainly built to present companies or other publishing activities. Electronic commerce is regarded as the first major move towards direct communication between users through the Internet. After overcoming some technical obstacles, like slow and unstable Internet connection, the economical role of the online marketplace became more and more important. In 2006, sales from e-commerce sites in the USA reached $102.1 billion. According to the recent forecasts, by 2009 the Internet will account for 25% of all retail sales.

If you have not gone online so far, you must have been thinking of it. Rapid e-commerce development has brought about increasing numbers of entrepreneurs launching their businesses into the virtual marketplace. So why should your company consider e-commerce? Well, examine the following issues:
1.    Your competitors already operate on the web market
2.    Percentage of business being handled through the Internet
3.    Cutting down business expenses
4.    Chance to ‘own’ clients
5.    Great opportunities for new markets exploration
6.    Gives scope for experimenting with brand, product offerings and pricing
Also think about how your e-commerce web site will influence client perception and recognition of your brand and its value. It strongly supports customer access to the brand and client understanding of the brand proposition. But a mere web presence is not enough any more and has passed into history. It must be professional and well thought of. To succeed online you have to fully understand client needs and satisfy them so that customers will keep on coming back for more. You need to promote your e-commerce business, provide rich information on products and services, offer great client service, give decision support tools. Keep your e-commerce site updated and fully client-oriented. You need to work hard for good online reputation and visibility to build a successful e-commerce business.

ecommerce

E-commerce or electronic commerce or ecommerce is simply buying and selling products/services over the Internet. So ecommerce is an online business transaction and it covers all business activities of a sales cycle. The terms e-commerce and electronic commerce are used interchangeably as synonyms. Ecommerce development has been extraordinary over the past few years. Despite a downturn in the economy Internet sales and the interest in online shopping are growing rapidly.
The distinction and the difference between e-business (electronic business) and e-commerce has been somewhat blurred. But electronic business is not just electronic commerce, It goes far beyond e-commerce. There is so much more to e-business than simply selling products, it is about marketing, procurement, client education. We can say that e-commerce is the sales side of e-business. One element of transforming your company from a brick-and-mortar business to an e-business is when you integrate e-commerce into your company’s flow.

The biggest e-commerce in the present time is B2B (Business-to-Business), which means selling goods to other businesses. Other form of online commerce includes C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer) where consumers sell to each other through auction sites for example. And another popular type is P2P (Peer-to-Peer) with users sharing resources and files directly.

E-commerce provides buyers with a hugely positive online shopping experience. The Internet gives the variety and options that are not possible in traditional stores. E-consumers browse online product catalogues from the comfort of their homes or workplace. They are not restrained by global time differences or geographical location.  They can shop online when it is most convenient for them and all over the world. Online shoppers are given unique services to make more informed purchase decisions and better choices. Buyers have a quick and easy access to product ratings and comments. So they can read goods evaluations and reviews left by others who already used those products. E-commerce is also a great money and time saver offering cheaper prices and quick shopping.

The next main stage came in 1992 with the Mosaic web-browser. It was the first available ‘point and click’ browser which evolved into Netscape, a downloadable browser. Now access to e-commerce became easier than ever before.
In 1995 two of the biggest names in online commerce are launched: Amazon.com and eBay.com.
Then DSL, Digital Subscriber Line, was developed providing fast, always-on connection to the Internet. And so people got the motivation to spend more time and money online.
In 1998 retail spending over the Internet reached $20 billion.
In early 2000 a major boost for e-commerce growth came from the merger between AOL and Time Warner – a chief online company with a traditional one.

Over the years e-commerce has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. Successful business strategy nowadays is to have both online and offline stores.