Electronic commerce is a way of conducting business. This can,
for example, include aspects such as arranging contracts, resolving conflicts.
In that case systems concentrate on personal relationships with confidentiality
an important issue.
Perhaps ultimately it should be an integration of all of the above.
In that case it will support the entire business cycle starting
with developing requirements from client needs, through to marketing sales
and after sales service.
Electronic commerce has evolved rapidly and now covers many aspects
of business. Electronic commerce is a way of conducting business transactions
electronically. It was initially confined to aspects of managing financial
transactions across networks but now has a much wider impact across
businesses. This ranges across different levels of communication, and between
different entities. Some of these are described in the following table.
| Type of Link | Mass Communication | Specialized Communication | Personalized Communication | Knowledge based Communication |
| BUSINESS
TO BUSINESS |
Beginning with transaction
exchange.
Early transaction based systems using EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) to exchange business transactions. |
Supporting specialized exchange of business data.
Supporting distributors or contractors |
Supporting formation of business alliances
Support in making contacts and arrangements |
Formation of virtual organizations
Gathering experts to form teams |
| BUSINESS
TO CLIENT |
Mass marketing
Mass publicity through the WWW (World Wide Web) leading to Electronic commerce is a way of marketing your product. Leading eventually to: |
Electronic purchasing
Using the WWW for electronic ordering and purchasing. |
Providing personalized service
Now there is a trend to personalized support. Electronic commerce is a way of providing client support by responding to problems, providing ways to monitor progress of services, or to build client relationships |
Personalized support in developing requirements
Direct involvement in joint project with client. |
| PERSON
TO PERSON |
Posting personal information
General postings in widely available newsgroups. Usually include contact information. |
Personalized exchange through e-mail | Joint project work
Working on joint documents |
Knowledge sharing communities
|
| . |