E-commerce

E-Commerce Origins of e-commerce: What kinds of business information systems did they use then and now? Boston Computer Exchange was the worlds first e-commerce company, and conquered electronic trading in used systems in the US in the 1980s. At first it was a paper database but rapidly moved into a computerized database using Alpha 2 database manager on a dual floppy IBM PC. But it wasn’t until the late 90’s, as the olden times of e-commerce reflects, things really began to speed up. Now such systems are replaced by high speed internet connections, combination of security protocols and quicker online transaction capability which has also provided a boost to e-commerce (Alexranda, 2008).
2. (Historical ” blast from past”): What was interesting / informative here? What still applies?
E-commerce has progressed from online billboards to a entirely functional, personalized shopping incidence over the past decade. This whole process was full of experiments and had lots of troubles along the way. The e-commerce technologies first came to sight in the late 1970’s when the implementation of electronic transactions between businesses, in addition to the exchange of information, which was done in the form of electronic purchase orders and invoices. The evolution period discussed is interesting which has allowed consumers to have online shopping experience and this is the concept which still applies. The example which we can relate here is Amazon. com which has spent years in reaching the position where it stands today (chagger, 2007).
3. (How to create a successful e-commerce Web site): What do you need to have/do? Use your own words, dont copy/paste from copyrighted material online (yes, everything online is copyrighted even if its free!)
Starting an e-commerce business these days is easier than it has ever been. Now we have an abundance of tools, software, expert professionals and numerous resources which can easily teach us the exact path. Next it is required to choose a definite and targeted niche market. After selecting this it is suggested to go for ready-made e-commerce shopping cart systems that are web-based, which allows you to save time. You can use this time to market your site and get more traffic. The last thing which is required to focus is carefully designing and testing back end processes. If appropriate time is not spent on the front and back-end processes it may end up with a lot of irritable customers which will affect your brand or profitability in the long run. Example of a specific company which we can relate here is the ebay. com which has made long term investments in research and development and made a perfect online solution (Allbusiness. com, 2006).
4. (E-commerce evolution): How was it different from now? Give specific examples from your own experience and what you have been reading/hearing about
The apparent differences are the method the products are displayed to customers and the way in which they come into your store to browse around. Customers are able to actually touch and handle items they are interested in buying. Online retailers are compulsory to display items using only pictures, and text based product descriptions. It can be harder to communicate with customers through an online store as evaluated to the face-to-face communication customers get by shopping from a physical location. Online retailers are not restricted to one location and have no geographical boundaries. Smaller towns now and again have catalogue stores, where a large merchant doesn’t see a local requirement to keep a store stocked with products, so they instead provide a storefront where clients can come in and look at catalogues, and order. Sears is a company that functions as a catalogue stores (or at least they used to), and Service Merchandise operates as a catalogue store for much of their “ stock” (ware, 2009).
References
Alexranda. Origins of E-Commerce. 9 Jan 2008. 5 March 2012 http://www. youtube. com/watch? v= wan896ZO4aY&feature= related .
Allbusiness. com. How to Create a Successful E-Commerce Web Site. 31 Oct 2006. 5 March 2012 http://www. youtube. com/watch? v= lWW5TAVQtLw&feature= fvw .
chagger, sandeep. e-commerce – evolution. 27 Feb 2007. 5 March 2012 http://www. youtube. com/watch? v= LW4X3b_j0eE .
ware, demand. eCommerce Evolution. 31 August 2009. 5 March 2012 http://www. youtube. com/watch? v= IZp_X5IQgIU&feature= related .