Ecommerce What it is and How it Works!
A Home Business Article Contributed by Elizabeth Fox-Wise
You Hear Ecommerce Used Everywhere Today - but do You Know What it Is?
Simply put, Ecommerce is nothing more than conducting a business through electronic means. Typically, we think of ecommerce as the sale of goods and often it is, but there are many other types service ecommerce businesses as well.
What are the Elements of Ecommerce?
Basically the same as commerce - the only difference being that most of the business' activity is conducted Electronically (hence the E in Ecommerce) .
When you get down to the actual specifics of Commerce and Ecommerce it gets more complicated because you have to deal with specifics. However, these specifics all boil down to a few basic steps.
If you would like to sell something to someone - at the root of the transaction is the something. You must have a product or a service to sell.
You must also have a place from which to sell your product. With Ecommerce this place can be ephemeral as a phone number coupled with a catalog or a website.
You must find a way to get people to come to your place. This process is known as marketing.
You must have a way to accept and process orders. For Ecommerce this often a website checkout process, and email system and/or a phone order call in.
You also need a way to accept money. For most ecommerce businesses this means credit card processing and some will accept on-line checks or other online payment systems such as PayPal.
You must have a way to deliver the product once the purchase is made. This is known as fulfillment. Many ecommerce businesses use the shipping through US Postal or other delivery carriers to meet order fulfillment.
Additionally, most ecommerce will need a way to accept returns when the need arises and, depending on the nature of your business, a way to offer customer support and technical service. This is often done through email or on-line live help operators.
Why All the Hype over Ecommerce?
Considering the similarities to catalog sales, which have been around for a long time. Why all the excitement over ecommerce?
Lots of reasons! The World Wide Web has opened up a whole new area of shopping for American Consumers who love to consume!
Online sales through ecommerce sights are already in the billions and rising every day! World Wide business access to the Web is projected to grow at a much faster rate than the US Market. Nearly 70% of all Internet users access the Internet at home and more than 60% off all Internet users use the Internet to Shop! In general, the more difficult and time consuming a purchasing category is, the more likely consumers are to use the Internet to research and make their purchase.
This sort of hype driving American Consumers to ecommerce includes many categories of the sales - but the biggest product categories include computer products, Music, Books, Entertainment, Home Electronics, Apparel, Gifts, Toys, Tickets, Travel and Financial Services.
