E Commerce

SEMINAR STRUCTURE ON

e-Commerce Presented by B. Narasimha Kumar Reg.No:Y1MC35027

Department of MCA SVH COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING Machilipatnam-521001.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I express my deep gratitude to Sri V.CHANDRASEKHAR, Asst.Prof., Department of M.C.A under whose esteemed guidance this topic was successfully completed.

B.Narasimha Kumar

PREFACE Electronic Commerce is the business environment in which information for the buying, selling and transportation of goods and services moves electronically. Electronics Commerce includes any technology that enables a company to do business electronically. Electronic commerce is the use of telecommunication and data processing technology to improve the quality of the transactions between business partners. It has exited in some form since the inversion of the telegraph and early commerce improves organization efficiencies by leveraging data processing, database storage and data communication technologies. With electronics commerce, there is better and more efficient communication with customers. In addition, customers. In addition customers, can also enjoy the convenience of shopping at any hour, any where in the world. This presentation of E-commerce deals with overview, technologies, issues, applications and future of E-commerce in India.

INDEX S.No S.N 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.5 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.2.1 2.2.2 2.2.3 2.2.4

Contents Electronic Commerce: An Overview. Introduction. What is E-commerce? Advantages. Types of E-commerce. Electronic Payments Methods Security. Technologies in E-commerce. Introduction. Electronic Data Interchange(EDI). What is EDI? Use of EDI. How EDI works. EDI security.

3.0 3.1 3.2

Security Issues. Authentication: passwords. Viruses.

4.0 4.1

Applications of E-Commerce. Obstacles in adopting Applications.

5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3

E-Commerce in India. Growth of E-Commerce in India. Future of E-Commerce. Summary

Page No.

Introduction: The increased computerization of our society is triggering major changes in the organization of work. Paper driven processes is being reengineered to capture the benefits of doing business electronically. Businesses are implementing electronic commerce to meet the imperatives of an increasingly competitive world. The idea of doing business electronically over networks is nothing new: we Think nothing of ordering the products we’ve seen advertised on television or In printed catalogs with a phone call or a fax, and ATMs are always within Reach for quick, easy and automatic banking. Corporations advertise through Broadcasting networks, and consumers flock to local outlets of national and international franchise networks .As the world becomes increasingly interconnected ,particularly through the Internet with its open protocols, forward –looking business will be able to make their products available to a global market, the largest possible market, without having to create and maintain their own private networks for sales, delivery , and customer support. Electronic commerce is the use of telecommunications and data processing technology to improve the quality of transactions between business partners. It is existed in some form since the invention of the telegraph and early automated data processing equipment but its use has greatly increased. E-commerce improves organizational efficiencies by leveraging data processing , database storage, and data communications technologies. Existing network facilities can be utilized to achieve great savings in labor costs and the reduction of paper storage and handling facilities .It has enabled firms to be more effective in improving the quality of standard goods and services and to offer a variety of new services. The global marketplace has become larger and wider than ever because of the expansion of e-commerce activity.

What is e-commerce? E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet, especially the worldwide web. In practice, this term and a new term “ebusiness, ”are often used interchangeably. For online retail selling, the term e tailing is sometimes used. •

• • •

• •

E-tailing or “virtual storefronts” on web sites with online catalogs, sometimes gathered into a “virtual mall” The gathering and use of demographic data through Web contacts. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), the business-to-business exchange of data. E-mail and fax and their use as media for reaching prospects and established customers (for example, with newsletters). Business-to-business buying and selling The security of business transactions

Electronic Commerce is the business environment in which information for the buying, selling and transportation of goods and services moves electronically. Electronic Commerce includes any technology that enables a company to do business electronically.

Advantages:

Some of the benefits of electronic commerce are: Improved productivity Cost savings Standard Business Processes Better Customer Service Opportunities for new business

Improved productivity: Using electronic commerce, the time required to create, transfer and process a business transaction between trading partners is significantly reduced. Furthermore, human errors and other problems lie duplications of records are largely eliminated with the reduction of data-entry and re-entry in the Process . The improvement in speed and accuracy, plus the easier access to document and information , will result in increase in productivity.

Cost Savings: Based on the experience of a wide variety of early adopters of Electronic Commerce . Forester Research has estimated that doing business on the Internet can result in cost savings of about 5% to 10% of sales. This cost savings stem from efficient communication, Quicker turnaround time and closer access to markets.

Streamline business processes: Cost savings are amplified when businesses go a step further and adapt their internal processes and back-end legacy systems to take advantage of electronic commerce. Inventories can be shaved if businesses use the Internet to share such information as promotional plans, point-of-sale data, and sales forecasts. Business processes can also be made more efficient with automation.

Better customer service: With electronic commerce, there is better and more efficient communication with customers. In addition customers can also enjoy the convenience of shopping at any hour, anywhere in the world.

Opportunities for new businesses: Business over the Internet has a global customer reach. There are endless possibilities for business to exploit and their customer base. The services that help build the foundations of successful electronic commerce solutions are as follows:

 Operating System Services  Developer Services  Data Services  Application Services  Store Services  Client Services

Operating System Services: Provide security ,management ,communication and application hosting Services. For example, Microsoft windows NT server, UnixWare, etc.

Developer services: Provide the tools necessary for component development ,enterprise database Development ,team development, and development lifecycle support. For Instance, Microsoft Visual Studio-Applications infrastructure and development suite of tools to enable the Microsoft Windows Distributed Network Architecture and provide tight integration and easy programmability across the platform.

Data Services: Provides services aimed towards data storage ,simplified programmatic access, and legacy data connectivity. Microsoft SQL Server can be used to store the information about users ,products , orders , status, and so on. OLEDB provides a mechanism to access any type of data store and to expose the data in a standard tabular format. Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects(ADO) provides a high level, object-oriented mechanism to access all OLE DB and ODBC compliant data. Microsoft SNA Server allows connectivity to mainframe-based systems and enables application developers to expose and Extend mainframe transaction applications through Component Object Model(COM) components.

Application Services:

Process information supplied by the user based upon business and data logic provides web services, application security as a point of integration for store and data services. The following Application Services of Microsoft Windows NT Server, can be used.

•

Internet Information Server (IIS)- Web, FTP, SMTP Services, Active Server Pages providing an Integration point to the store, and Data services.

•

Component objects Model(COM)-Architecture for distributed Application development Encapsulation business and Data logic.

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Microsoft Message Queue (MSMQ)- Provides transactional, Asynchronous communication Between distribute Applications.

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Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS)- Simplifies the deployment Of server-centric applications Built using COM technologies And to ensure transactional Integrity of transactions.

Business Customers Consumer

Distributors And Retailers

Corporation

Suppliers

Microsoft Visual Studio/Script/HTML/Application/ Component Development

Developer Services

Client services Browsers/Custom Application/DHTML/HTML/Internet Explorer

Data Services Information Storage & Retrieval Microsoft SQL Server

Application Services Web Server/Data Connectivity Internet Information Server

Store Services Commerce platform Site Serer 3.0 Commerce Edition

Operating System Services Windows NT server Directory Services/Security Services/Management Services

Types of E-commerce: E-commerce is of four types. They are: Business-to-consumer  Business-to-business  Consumer-to-business  Consumer-to-consumer

Business-to-consumer: Let’s say you want to buy a new music system. Instead of going physically to ten Different shops, you log into the Internet. Or in other words you dial through your PC to connect to The computers of your Internet service provider, which in turn is plugged into the Internet. you search For websites , "libraries" that offer information and/or “electronic stores” that also sell music systems After comparing a few, you choose one that sells your favorite band. You go through the electronic Catalog-a huge database of information and pictures made available by the company you select one model that fits your budget and requirements you click on the color of your choice, the types of sparkers, and other options. You type in your name, address and your credit card number, information that is protected by high-security software you then click on the buy button on the screen to confirm the purchases. The company records your purchase ;let’s call it E-Music. To do business electronically, E-Music has connected all the computers in all its department and locations. Even suppliers far away are linked to their network, which has a lot of customized e-com software.

Your order is purchased and sent on to the factory computers, and to the suppliers, who know What parts they have to dispatch to E-music. A message is sent to the credit card company to transfer the amount from your account to its account .At the factory ,an electronic tag identifies the model that’s being custom-built for you. Marketing meanwhile analyses your chices, along with thousands of others to track the popularity of different models. Another message is sent the finance department, which processes the purchase and sends out a bill to dispatch, which packs it along with your music system that arrives from the factory. In a few days, you are enjoying the latest music system without having visited a single showroom!

Business-to-business: On the Internet, B2B(business-to-business), also known as e-biz, is the exchange Of products, services, or information between business rather than between business and consumers. Although early interest centered on the growth of retailing in the Internet(sometimes called e tailing),forecasts are that B2B revenue will far exceed Business-to-consumers(B2C)revenue in the near feature. According to studies published in early 2000, the money volume of B2B exceeds that of e tailing by 10 to 1.Over the next five years,B2B is expected to have a compound annual growth of 41%.The Gartner Group estimates B2B revenue worldwide to be $7.29 trillion dollars by 2004.In early 2000, the volume of investment in B2B by venture capita lists was reported to be accelerating sharply although profitable B2B sites were not yet easy to find.

B2B Web sites can be sorted into: • • • • •

Company Web Sites. Product Supply And Procurement Exchanges. Specialized Or Vertical Industry Portals. Brokering Sites. Information Sites

Many B2B sites may seem to fall into more than one of these groups. Models For B2B sites are still evolving. another type of B2B enterprise is software for building B2B websites, including site building tools and templates, databases, and methodologies as well as transaction software.B2B is e-commerce between businesses. An earlier and much more limited kindof online B2B prior to the Internet was Electronic Data Interchange(EDI).

Consumer-to-Business: www.priceline.com is a good example. It allows prospective airline travelers to visit the website and name their price for travel between any pair of cities. If an airline is

willing to issue a ticket at the requested price, the passenger is obligated to buy. Priceline .com issues thousand tickets a day, and the number is growing every day.

Consumer-to-consumer: That last type of E-commerce takes place on the Internet , without any business as middleman. You put an announcement at any of the “Consumer Exchange “ website that you are selling, say a 1950’s motorbike. Other with similar interest then “bid” against each other for the objects, you get a price we normally couldn’t dream of. One of the most successful online auctioneers is e-bay (www.ebay.com) Essentially a national classifieds listing in USA; e-Bay has more than 900,000 products for sale in 1086 categories. The website receives 140 million hits a week.

Customer

Distributors And Retailers Business customers

Corporation

Electronic Payments: Electronic payments are services , which allow business parties to pay directly or to debit accounts via telecommunications systems. This area is frequently called Electronic Funds Transfer(EFT), but that term is best reserved for credit transfers between banks where funds flow directly from one bank account to another. The earliest applications of electronic payment systems, and the one most widely used, is the credit card which came into use during the 1950s.Because of the great potential advantages in eliminating physical payments, and the need to integrate payment schemes with electronic sales and other transaction processing applications, new forms of electronic payments are being tried throughout the world. Electronic payment technologies can grouped into three broad application areas . They are : Retailing payments-the old familiar credit, the charge cards. Electronic banking-applications such as Electronic Fund Automated Teller Machines(ATM) home banking. Direct payments between buyer and sellers-Smart cards.

ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS METHOD : • • • • • • • • •

Offline And Online Transactions Secure Online Transaction Models Secure Web server Secure Server Purchasing Secure Server Selling Required Facilities Hardware Software Services

Transfer, the familiar

Security: The uses of wide are networks to invoke transactions between organization supplies and customers highness the concerns about electronic security. This concern is especially grave when dealing with electronic transfer of funds. Several multi-million dollar frauds concerning EFT have occurred that transactions over networks are safe and reliable. Security concerns involves both accidental and deliberate misuses of electronic commerce concerns about computer and network security, but certainly can increase the magnitude of the problem. Providing public access to organizational computers and networks increases the vulnerability to “hacker attacks” Passwords are used to defect this, but they can often be guessed or stolen.

Enterprise A Sales Manufacturing Distribution Purchasing

Finance

Enterprise B •

Structured business Document

•

Standard formats

•

Application to application

•

Direct connection Through VAN

Sales Manufacturing Distribution Purchasing

Finance

Introduction: In any E-commerce systems implementation, integration between business processes within a company and across companies is very important for a successful implementation. Within a company integration needs include interfacing with legacy systems, communicating with third party products, and integrating business processes across distributed E-commerce systems. The two most commonly deployed technologies for this type of integration are ALE(Application link and Enabling) and EDI technologies, which make use of the popular IDoc interface for exchanging data. EDI provides business process integration across companies by exchanging business documents such as purchase orders, invoices, and shipment notices in electronic form, using industry standard formats such as ANSI X1.2 and EDIFACT.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): Traditionally, the transfer of data from one company to another has been by paper documents. This is known as a paper-based system. These documents have to be manually forwarded and entered to the destination computer. EDI is the electronic exchange of standard business information, in standard formats, between computers. EdI eliminates the need for a paper-based system by providing an electronic link between companies. This reduces data entry tasks and improves business cycle times. EDI is the electronic transfer of structured business documents in an organization internally among groups of departments or externally with its suppliers, customers and subsidiaries. The documents likely to be used in EDI are invoices, purchase orders, shipping requests, acknowledgements and payments. EDI is quite different from generic correspondence like e-mail and involves the exchange of specific documents with management and tracking procedures designed to efficiency. The information that EDI handles includes, for example, purchase order and invoices .However , any type of business document can be sent, providing it conforms to current industry, national or international format standards. Examples of current users of EDI include automatic teller machine(ATMs) in banks where EDI is used for transferring and withdrawing funds between different bank accounts, airline reservation systems, stock exchange transactions and car reservation systems.

Use of EDI: The data from one computer is normally not in a form suitable to be entered directly into another computer. The data may have to be arranged differently before it can be entered into another computer or some items of data may not be needed at all. With EDI, all the data is converted into an agreed standard format before it is sent over the network. The computer that receives the data can then extract the information it requires.

Using EDI implies three things:  Information is transferred electronically rather than on paper. This means that there is no need to enter the data manually in the destination computer.  Information is transferred between trading partners who have negotiated trading agreements and have formalized their data transfer system.  Information that is transferred complies with agreed standard for the format of the content and the transmission control mechanisms.

How EDI Works ? Regardless of the format chosen, companies using EDI communicates with their trading partners in one of two ways:  They exchange data with several trading partners directly.  They interact with multiple companies through a central information clearing-house.

Basically, here is how EDI works:  Prior to any computer work, representatives of two companies interested in exchanging data electronically meet to specify the applications in the EDI standard , which they will implement.  Each company adds EDI programs to its computer to translate company data into standard formats for transmission, and for the reverse translation on the data it receives.  Then, as often as operationally required the two companies exchange data electronically in the standard formats.

The data transmitted originates from records in the sender’s database after the sender conforms that the receiver is an authorized recipient for such data. The sender composes a transmission formatted in the EDI standards; the receiver translates the formatted message to a computer record to be processed and used internally. All transmissions are checked both electronically and functionally and the protocol includes procedures for error detection and correction. Once a company has established standardized communications with another company, it is now in a position to communicate with any other company that is also using the EDI standards.

EDI Security: Today, in paper-driven systems there are many checks to ensure that the expected clerical errors are detected and corrected the scrutiny of the pieces of paper by experienced clerical staff, for example, often identifies errors made by trading partners. In an EDI system, it is necessary to replace these procedures with new procedures that are at least as effective. The replacement not only involves the trading partners but also the other parties in the EDI system. Security procedures will be in place for each party to the EDI system, it is necessary to ensure that these procedures when taken together will provide security to the whole. Each of the parties contributing to the whole system will have different prioritiessecurity is more important to some organizations than to others. Absolute security is impossibility, mistakes will happen, machines do break down, software does contain bugs. Management therefore needs to determine how acceptable commercial security can be achieved in a cost-affective way.

Security will be looked at under the following areas: Hijacking EDI Messages in Transmit. Security of EDI systems while creating , processing and data retention. Security mechanisms. Technological Mechanisms Security Management.

Security: To protect confidential data from intruders, there are several security measures available today. Passwords, Encryption , Firewalls and Virus protection are measures used to secure companies confidential internal information. If companies want to share data on the Internet, they have to consider security issues:

Passwords Viruses Authentication: passwords The most inexpensive and perhaps the easiest method of security are achieved through password protection. There are several different areas in which passwords can be used. Having an internal network strategy where users require a net work identification name and a password will protect data internally. In addition requiring password and user identification for all protocols for remote access via the Internet or through telephone dial in will create a first layer for protection from unauthorized access. When utilizing a password protection strategy there are several guidelines that should be followed. These guidelines will examine the benefits of a password protection scheme. The length of a password greatly affects the effort required to break the password. With this in mind , users should be required to make their passwords greater than five characters long. Words that are found in the dictionary should also be avoided when creating a password. People may try to obtain unauthorized access by writing programs that test all dictionary words as possible passwords. Another area that threatens the security of passwords is the use of common passwords like birthdays, social security numbers, and names of relatives. This information is not difficult to obtain, and is very often used as a password. Firewalls do their authentication using IP addresses, which are assigned to each server, client, and network device and can be spoofed. So if you want to give certain users access over the Internet to sensitive internal files and data, you’ll want to make sure to authenticate the actual user. Authentication simply describes the numerous methods that positively identify a user. Passwords are the most common method of authentication used today, but users are notorious for making poor passwords choices that can be guessed by an experienced hacker. In addition to passwords, which are often called ‘something you know’, many organizations are turning to solutions that also required ‘something you have’, such as tokens and smart cards. Tokens are small, credit card-or calculator size devices that the remote user carries around.

Smart cards used for authentication are similar to tokens, except they require a smart card to process the challenge, though these devices have shrunk in size over the past few years, they’re still additional devices that the user has to carry and can find cumbersome.

Viruses : Viruses are also an important topic in Internet security computer viruses is a computer program that clones itself when an infected piece of program code is executed. Executable files and all other code that controls your hard disk can be effected. Basically computer virus is a piece of code that will copy its code into one or more larger host programs when it is activated .As infected programs are run, the destructive viral code is executed and the virus replicates, causing damage like messages on your screen to wiping out your hard drive. Viruses may spread through modems and networks, and this is of great concern to any organization wishing to make use of the Internet. Viruses are mainly transmitted from computer through contaminated diskettes. A program that is remedied through installation of virus protecting software. The Internet is a different entry point for viruses. Firewalls alone can not protect against virus. There are too many ways of encoding binary files for transfer over networks, And too many different architectures and viruses to try to search for all of them. A firewall cannot protect against a data-driven attack. In other words, attack in which something is mailed or copied to an internal host where it is executed.

Applications of

e-commerce:

Electronic commerce is doing business online. It is about using the power of digital information to understand the needs and preferences of each customer and each partner; to customize products and services for them; and then to deliver the products and services as quickly as possible. Personalized, automated services offer business the potential to increase revenues, lower costs, and establish and strengthen customer and partner relationships. To achieve these benefits, many companies today engage in electronic commerce for direct marketing, selling, and customer service; online banking and billing; secure distribution of information; value chain trading; and corporate purchasing . While the benefits of electronic commerce systems are enticing, developing, deploying, and managing these systems is not always easy. In addition to adopting new technology , many companies will need to reengineer their business processes to maximize the benefits of electronic commerce. Business communicate with customers and partners through channels. The Internet is one of the newest and, for many purposes , best business communications channel. It is fast ,reasonably reliable, inexpensive, and universally accessible-it reaches virtually every business and more than 100 million consumers. Joint business online is electronic commerce, the four main areas where companies conduct business online today:

• Direct marketing and selling • Online banking and billing • Secure distribution of information • Value chain trading and corporate purchasing

Direct marketing & Selling: Today, more web sites focus on directs marketing, selling, and service than on any other type of electronic commerce. Direct selling was the earliest type of electronic commerce, and has proven to be a stepping-stone to more complex commerce operations for many companies. Successes such as Amozon.com, Barnes& Noble,Dell computer and the introduction of e-tickets by major airlines have catalyzed the growth of this segment, proving the reach and customer acceptance of the Internet.

This business-to-consumer electronic commerce increases revenue by reaching the right customers more often. Targeted and automated up selling and cross selling in new fundamentals online retailing. Sites that most frequently provide the best and most appropriate products and services are rewarded with stronger customer relationships, resulting in improved loyalty and increased value.

Value Chain Integration: No other business model highlights the need for tight integration across supplier’s manufactures, and distributors quite like the value chain. Delays in inventory tracking and management can ripple from the cash register all the way back to raw material production, creating inventory shortages at any stage of the value chain. The resulting out-of-stock events can mean lost business. The Internet promises to increase business efficiently by reducing reporting delays and increasing reporting accuracy. Speed is clearly the business imperative for the value chain. Unfortunately, sped can be costly. Today, approximately 50,000 businesses exchange business documents such as orders and invoices with their trading partners through a standard communication and content protocol called Electronic Data Interchange. Most EDI implements use leased lines or value Added Networks that require significant integration for each trading partner.

Supply chain Integration: Supply chain integration, also known as Value Chain integration , uses the low cost of the Internet to highlight a tighter integration across suppliers, manufactures, and distributors . Many of the fundamentals of building a site, extensible order processing and integration with other systems remain the same as that in the Direct Marketing & Selling scenario. But in the supply chain scenario, new requirements arise including authenticated login, generating custom catalogs for key customers and pricing and payment based on custom agreements. Suppliers need to be able to provide their catalogs into another business’s systems, with the ability to maintain these product catalogs when pricing and/or inventory changes.

Corporate Procurement: Business want to leverage the Intranet and the Internet to make existing business processes more efficient. At the heart of this business model are commerce solutions that facilitate that processes of purchasing low-cost, high volume goods for maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) of a business. Labor and paper –intensive operations reconverted into self-service applications where purchase approvals and business polices are enforced through automated business rules. Approved purchase orders then need to be sent to the suppliers. Corporate Procurement commerce solutions allow for transactions to made with partnering businesses, suppliers and distributors, regardless of the data format , and data is communicated, whether it be over the internet, an EDI VAN(Value-Added Networks), e-mail, or simply fax.

Obstacles in Adopting E-commerce Applications: Many companies and government agencies use electronic commerce to facilitate internal operations and interact seamlessly with their trading partners, but they usually require highly structured, previously established agreements on communications, data formats and security. The resulting costs and lead times create economic barriers to widespread use of electronic commerce applications by small and medium sized companies. Other barriers to electronic commerce include real or potential problems with scalability, interoperability, and ease of use. Developing and Implementing electronic commerce is a top priority throughout the federal government.

The barriers in implementing applications of electronic commerce are: The difficulty in reengineering the business process The difficulty in using complex electronic information systems The lack of security on existing networks

Growth of E-commerce in India: Indian companies are joining the E-com revolution .Today, you can order the CD of the latest Indian film over the internet from an E-com company in Mumbai for your cousin in South America . While your boss in Madras can accept orders for his company’s range of electrical motors from all over the world on his website and your aunt in south Delhi can shop for vegetables or pizza’s online . According to experts , in the new millennium 80% of all business will happen electronically.

Indian companies are rapidly computerizing their organization to stay competitive and linking up with their suppliers. In fact ,banks and public sectors understandings are in the forefront of investing information technology. Just as the growth of the STD telecom centers has made communication accessible to the common man in towns across India , experts predicts the growth of the cyber cafes and cyber Dhabas equipped with Indian language PC’s to bring e-commerce to the Indian bazaar.

Market Research: In early 1999, it was widely recognized that because of the interactive nature of the Internet, companies could gather data about prospects and customers in unprecedented amounts-through site registration, questionnaires, and as part of taking orders. The issues of whether data was being collected with the knowledge and permission of market subjects had been raised.(Microsoft referred to its policy of data collection as “profiling” and a proposed standard has been developed that allows Internet users to decide who can have what personal information.)

Future of Electronic Commerce: Moving forward ,all businesses will be affected by the global move to electronic commerce . Business operations will change , and new processes will be created Companies that start learning in this new environment today will be leaders in the future. It is difficult to say the future of e-commerce in India. They are only now beginning to be aware of the potential and the possibilities of the Internet . It will at least take another few months for Indian companies to adapt to doing business electronically . Most business rely on large networks ,or efficient of partners, suppliers and customers. If they are interested at all in making their networks more efficient , they will consider faster, better ways to communicate and transact. Moreover , in the information age , the marketplace is increasingly global. The Internet makes the world more accessible.

Summary: Electronic Commerce is the business environment in which information for the buying , and selling of goods and services moves electronically. Electronic commerce include any Technology that enables a company to do business electronically. Electronic commerce is the use of telecommunication and date processing technology to improve the quality of transaction between business partners . It has existed in some form since the invention of the telegraph and early automated data processing equipment but its use has greatly increased . E-commerce improves organizational efficiencies by leveraging data processing database storage , and data communication technologies .Existing network facilities can be utilized to achieve great savings in labor costs and the reduction of paper storage and handling facilities. It has enabled firms to be more effective in improving the quality of standard goods and services and to offer a variety of new services. The global marketplace has become larger and wider than ever because of the expansion of e-commerce activity.

The growth of electronic commerce gas been fueled by the availability of worldwide telecommunication networks along with enhanced information delivery techniques utilizing the various multimedia technologies. Client-Server architecture allows system with different hardware and software platforms to interact in an open system-computing environment. Using electronic commerce , the time required to create, transfer and process a business transaction between trading partners is significantly reduced. Furthermore , human errors and other problems like duplications of records are largely eliminated with the reduction of data-entry and re-entry in the process. The improvement in speed and accuracy , plus the easier access to document and information, will result in increase in productivity. With electronic commerce, there is better and more efficient communication with customers. In addition, customers can also enjoy the convenience of shopping at any hour, anywhere in the world. The business done through E-commerce via Extranet which maintain the relation ships of the organization with its suppliers, distributors employees and customers . E-Commerce not only limit the business world wide it also maintains effective relationships with the help of highly developed methodologies which are able to implemented through the available faster communication media.

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E-COMMERCE.

: Dec 1999 July 2000

3.www.itpapers.com 5.Electronic Commerce by Pete Loshin & Paul Murphy