COMMERCECommerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer.

E-COMMERCE It is commonly known as electronic marketing. It consist of buying and selling goods and services

over an electronic system such as internet. E-commerce is the purchasing , selling and

exchanging goods and services over computer network or internet through which transactions or term of sale are performed electronically.

HISTORY OF E-COMMERCEThe beginnings of e-commerce can be traced to the 1960s , when businesses started using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to share business documents with other companies. In 1979, the American National Standards Institute developed ASC X12 as a universal standard for businesses to share documents through electronic networks. After the number of individual users sharing electronic documents with each other grew in the 1980s, in the 1990s the rise of eBay and Amazon revolutionized the e-commerce industry. Consumers can now purchase endless amounts of items online, both from typical brick and mortar stores with e-commerce capabilities and one another

E-COMMERCE APPLICATIONS E-commerce is conducted using a variety of

applications, such as email, online catalogs and shopping carts, EDI, File Transfer Protocol, and web services. This includes business-to-business activities and outreach such as using email for unsolicited ads (usually viewed as spam) to consumers and other business prospects, as well as to send out e-newsletters to subscribers. More companies now try to entice consumers directly online, using tools such as digital coupons, social media marketing and targeted advertisements.

TYPES OF E-COMMERCE Business-to-business (B2B) Business-to-consumer (B2C) Business-to-government (B2G) Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) Government-to-consumer (G2C) Government-to-business (G2B)

PROCESS OF E-COMMERCE

PROCESS OF E-COMMERCE A consumer uses web browser to connect the home

page of merchant’s website on the internet. The consumer browses the catalog of products

featured on the site and selects items to purchase. The selected items are placed in the electronic equivalent of a shopping cart.

When the consumer is ready to complete the purchase of selected items , she provides a bill-to and ship-to address for purchase and delivery.

When he credit card number is validated and the order is completed at the commerce server site , the merchant’s site displays a receipt confirming the customer’s purchase.

The commerce server site then forwards the order to a Processing Network for payment processing and fulfillment.

ADVANTAGES OF E-COMMERCE Easter buying/selling procedure , as well as easy to

find products. Buying/selling 24/7 More reach to consumers , there is no theoretical

geographic limitatiuons. Low operational costs and better quality of services. No need of physical company set-ups. Easy to start and manage a business. Customers can easily select products from different

providers without moving around physically.

DISADVANTAGES OF E-COMMERCE

Unable to examine products personally. Not everyone is connected to the internet. There is the possibility of credit card number theft. Mechanical failures can cause unpredictable effects on

the total processes.

Government regulations for e- commerce

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council are among the primary agencies that regulate e-commerce activities. The FTC monitors activities such as online advertising, content marketing and customer privacy, while the PCI Council develops standards and rules including PCI-DSS compliance that outlines procedures for proper handling and storage of consumers' financial data.