Ch 1: The Revolution is Just Beginning

Chapter 1: The Revolution is Just Beginning - Why You Should Study E-commerce E-commerce's Evolution: E-commerce has experienced rapid growth and continuous change over its first quarter-century. Technologies evolve exponentially, leading to disruptive business changes and new opportunities. Understanding E-commerce: E-commerce uses the Internet to digitally enable commercial transactions between organizations and individuals. It encompasses transactions via websites, mobile browsers, and apps. E-commerce vs. E-business: E-business involves digital transactions and processes within a firm, excluding transactions across organizational boundaries handled by e-commerce. Technological Building Blocks: Internet: A global network of interconnected computers using common standards. World Wide Web: Provides access to vast amounts of HTML-based web pages, including the "surface" and "deep" web. Mobile Platform: Includes smartphones, tablets, and apps, facilitating mobile commerce. Major Trends in E-commerce: Business Trends: Retail and mobile commerce stabilize post-COVID, social e-commerce growth, B2B e-commerce expansion. Technology Trends: Embrace of mobile, cloud computing, IoT, big data, AI, blockchain, Web3, metaverse. Societal Trends: Concerns over privacy invasion, dominance of Big Tech, online security. Unique Features of E-commerce Technology: Ubiquity, Global Reach, Universal Standards, Informational Richness, Interactivity, Informational Density, Personalization/Customization, Social Technology. Types of E-commerce: B2C: Business-to-consumer. B2B: Business-to-business. C2C: Consumer-to-consumer. M-commerce: Mobile e-commerce. Social E-commerce, Local E-commerce. E-commerce: A Brief History: Precursors: Early systems like Baxter Healthcare (1970s), EDI standards (1980s), Minitel in France (1981). : Invention phase with simple retail goods, dot-com crash, emergence of network effects. : Consolidation with business-driven approaches, growth in complex products, search engine advertising. 2007-Present: Reinvention with Web 2.0, mobile growth, local commerce, and on-demand services. Assessing E-commerce: Technological success contrasted with mixed business outcomes initially. Early visions faced challenges like price dispersion and new intermediaries. Surprises include fast-follower advantages and the impact of mobile platforms. Themes in Understanding E-commerce: Technology: Development of digital computing and communication technologies. Business: New organizational methods in production and transactions. Society: Issues like intellectual property, privacy, and public welfare policy.