E-commerce - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 1 of 8 E-commerce From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, is a type of industry where the buying and selling of products or services is conducted over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. 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 at least at one point in the transaction's life-cycle, although it may encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail, mobile devices social media, and telephones as well. Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the exchange of data to facilitate the financing and payment aspects of business transactions. This is an effective and efficient way of communicating within an organization and one of the most effective and useful ways of conducting business. E-commerce can be divided into: ◾ E-tailing or "virtual storefronts" on websites with online catalogs, sometimes gathered into a "virtual mall" ◾ Buying or Selling on various websites ◾ The gathering and use of demographic data through Web contacts and social media ◾ Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), the business-to-business exchange of data ◾ E-mail and fax and their use as media for reaching prospective and established customers (for example, with newsletters) ◾ Business-to-business buying and selling ◾ The security of business transactions Contents ◾ 1 Timeline ◾ 2 Business applications ◾ 3 Governmental regulation ◾ 4 Forms ◾ 5 Global trends ◾ 6 Impact on markets and retailers ◾ 7 Distribution channels ◾ 8 See also ◾ 9 References ◾ 10 Further reading ◾ 11 External links Timeline A timeline for the development of e-commerce: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-commerce 21/09/2013 E-commerce - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 2 of 8 ◾ 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 e-commerce" in John Markoff's book What the Dormouse Said.[1] ◾ 1979: Michael Aldrich demonstrates the first online shopping system.[2] ◾ 1982: Minitel was introduced nationwide in France by France Télécom and used for online ordering. ◾ 1983: California State Assembly holds first hearing on "electronic commerce" in Volcano, California.[3] 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 SIS/Tesco is first B2C online shopping and Mrs Snowball, 72, is the first online home shopper[4] ◾ 1984: In April 1984, CompuServe launches the Electronic Mall in the USA and Canada. It is the first comprehensive electronic commerce service.[5] ◾ 1984: California becomes first US state to enact an Electronic Commerce Act defining basic consumer rights online.[citation needed] ◾ 1990: Tim Berners-Lee writes the first web browser, WorldWideWeb, using a NeXT computer.[6] ◾ 1992: Book Stacks Unlimited in Cleveland opens a commercial sales website (www.books.com) selling books online with credit card processing. ◾ 1992: St. Martin's Press publishes J.H. Snider and Terra Ziporyn's Future Shop: How New Technologies Will Change the Way We Shop and What We Buy.[7] ◾ 1992: Terry Brownell launches a fully graphical, iconic navigated Bulletin board system online shopping using RoboBOARD/FX.[citation needed] ◾ 1993: Paget Press releases edition No. 3 of the first[citation needed] AppStore, The Electronic AppWrapper[8] ◾ 1994: Netscape releases the Navigator browser in October under the code name Mozilla. Netscape 1.0 is introduced in late 1994 with SSL encryption that made transactions secure. ◾ 1995: The US National Science Foundation lifts its former strict prohibition of commercial enterprise on the Internet.[9] ◾ 1995: Thursday 27 April 1995, the purchase of a book by Paul Stanfield, Product Manager for CompuServe UK, from W H Smith's shop within CompuServe's UK Shopping Centre is the UK's first national online shopping service secure transaction. The shopping service at launch featured W H Smith, Tesco, Virgin Megastores/Our Price, Great Universal Stores (GUS), Interflora, Dixons Retail, Past Times, PC World (retailer) and Innovations.[10] ◾ 1995: Jeff Bezos launches Amazon.com and the first commercial-free 24-hour, internet-only radio stations, Radio HK and NetRadio start broadcasting. Dell and Cisco begin to aggressively use Internet for commercial transactions.[citation needed] eBay is founded by computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as AuctionWeb. ◾ 1996: IndiaMART B2B marketplace established in India. ◾ 1996: ECPlaza B2B marketplace established in Korea. ◾ 1996: Sellerdeck, formerly Actinic, the UK's first PC/LAN e-commerce platform established. [citation needed] ◾ 1998: Electronic postal stamps can be purchased and downloaded for printing from the Web. [11] ◾ 1999: Alibaba Group is established in China. Business.com sold for US $7.5 million to eCompanies, which was purchased in 1997 for US $149,000. The peer-to-peer filesharing software Napster launches. ATG Stores launches to sell decorative items for the home online. ◾ 2000: The dot-com bust. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-commerce 21/09/2013 E-commerce - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 3 of 8 ◾ 2001: Alibaba.com achieved profitability in December 2001. ◾ 2002: eBay acquires PayPal for $1.5 billion.[12] Niche retail companies Wayfair and NetShops are founded with the concept of selling products through several targeted domains, rather than a central portal. ◾ 2003: Amazon.com posts first yearly profit. ◾ 2004: DHgate.com, China's first online b2b transaction platform, is established, forcing other b2b sites to move away from the "yellow pages" model.[13] ◾ 2007: Business.com acquired by R.H. Donnelley for $345 million.[14] ◾ 2009: Zappos.com acquired by Amazon.com for $928 million.[15] Retail Convergence, operator of private sale website RueLaLa.com, acquired by GSI Commerce for $180 million, plus up to $170 million in earn-out payments based on performance through 2012.[16] ◾ 2010: Groupon reportedly rejects a $6 billion offer from Google. Instead, the group buying websites went ahead with an IPO on 4 November 2011. It was the largest IPO since Google. [17][18] ◾ 2011: Quidsi.com, parent company of Diapers.com, acquired by Amazon.com for $500 million in cash plus $45 million in debt and other obligations.[19] GSI Commerce, a company specializing in creating, developing and running online shopping sites for brick and mortar businesses, acquired by eBay for $2.4 billion.[20] ◾ 2012: US eCommerce and Online Retail sales projected to reach $226 billion, an increase of 12 percent over 2011.[21] ◾ 2012: US eCommerce and Online Retail holiday sales reach $33.8 billion, up 13 percent.[22] Business applications Some common applications related to electronic commerce are the following: ◾ Document automation in supply chain and logistics ◾ Domestic and international Payment systems ◾ Enterprise content management ◾ Group buying ◾ Automated online assistants ◾ Instant messaging ◾ Newsgroups ◾ Online shopping and order tracking ◾ Online banking ◾ Online office suites ◾ Shopping cart software ◾ Teleconferencing An example of an automated ◾ Electronic tickets online assistant on a ◾ Social-Networking merchandising website. Governmental regulation In the United States, some electronic commerce activities are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). These activities include the use of commercial e-mails, online advertising and consumer privacy. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 establishes national standards for direct marketing over e-mail. The Federal Trade Commission Act regulates all forms of advertising, including online http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-commerce 21/09/2013 E-commerce - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 4 of 8 advertising, and states that advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive.[23] Using its authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive practices, the FTC has brought a number of cases to enforce the promises in corporate privacy statements, including promises about the security of consumers' personal information.[24] As result, any corporate privacy policy related to e-commerce 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.[25] 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 co-operating on tackling consumer problems connected with cross-border transactions in both goods and services, and to help ensure exchanges of information among the participants for mutual benefit and understanding. From this came econsumer, as an initiative of ICPEN since April 2001. www.econsumer.gov 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