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Unit1 Introduction to Electronic Commerce
学习指导：
本章将介绍：
·什么是电子商务
·电子商务的发展
·电子商务的类型
·电子商务的优势
·电子商务的劣势
1.1
Electronic
Commerce and Electronic Business
To
many people, the term
the Internet
called the World Wide Web (the Web). However,
electronic commerce (or
e-commerce)
also
includes
many
other
activities,
such
as
businesses
trading
with
other businesses and internal processes
that companies use to support their buying,
selling,
hiring,
planning,
and
other
activities.
Some
people
use
the
term
“
electronic
business
(or
e-business)
”
when
they
are
talking
about
electronic
commerce
in
this
broader
sense. For example, IBM defines electronic
business as
of key business processes
through the use of Internet
technologies.
the
terms
commerce
and
business
interchangeabl
y.
In
this
book,
the term electronic commerce (or e-commerce) is
used in its broadest sense
and
includes
all
business
activities
that
use
Internet
technologies.
Internet
technologies includes the Internet, the
World Wide Web, and other technologies such
as wireless transmissions on mobile
telephone or personal digital assistants (PDAs).
1.2 The Development and Growth of
Electronic Commerce
Over the thousands
of years that people have engaged in commerce with
one
another,
they
have
adopted
the
tools
and
technologies
that
became
available.
For
example, the advent of
sailing ships in ancient times opened new avenues
of trade to
buyers and sellers. Later
innovations, such as the printing press, steam
engine, and
telephone, have each
changed the way in which people conduct commerce
activities.
The
Internet
has
changed
the
way
people
buy,
sell,
hire,
and
organize
business
activities in more ways and more
rapidly than any other technology has in the
history
of business.
Although the Web has made online
shopping possible for many businesses and
individuals in a broader sense,
electronic commerce has existed for many years.
For
more
than
30
years,
banks
have
been
using
electronic
funds
transfers
(EFTs,
also
called
wire
transfers),
which
are
electronic
transmissions
of
account
exchange
information over private communications
networks.
Businesses also
have been engaging in a type of electronic
commerce, known
as
electronic
data
interchange,
for
many
years.
Electronic
data
interchange
(EDI)
occurs when one business transmits
computer-readable data in a standard format to
another business. In the 1960s,
businesses realized that many of the documents
they
exchanged
were
related
to
the
shipping
of
goods,
for
example,
invoices,
purchase
orders, and bills
of lading. These documents included the same set
of information for
almost every
transaction. Businesses also realized that they
were spending a good
deal of time and
money entering this data into their computers,
printing paper forms,
and
then
reentering
the
data
on
the
other
side
of
the
transaction.
Although
the
purchase order, invoice,
and bill of lading for each transaction contained
much of the
same information---such as
item numbers, descriptions prices, and quantities
---each
paper
form
usually
had
its
own
unique
format
for
presenting
that
information.
By
creating
a
set
of
standard
formats
for
transmitting
that
information
electronically,
businesses were able to reduce errors,
avoid printing and mailing costs, and eliminate
the
need
to
reenter
the
data.
Businesses
that
engage
in
EDI
with
each
other
are
called trading partners.
The U.S. government, which is one of the largest
EDI trading
partners in the world, also
was instrumental in bringing businesses into EDI.
1.3 Categories of Electronic Commerce
Some
people
find
it
useful
to
categorize
electronic
commerce
by
the
types
of
entities
participating
in
the
transactions
or
business
processes.
The
five
general
electronic
commerce
categories
are
business-to-consumer,
business-to-business,
business processes, consumer-to-
consumer, and business-to-government. The three
categories that are most commonly used
are:
·
Consumer shopping on
the Web, often called business-to-consumer (or
B2C)
·
Transactions
conducted
between
businesses
on
the
Web,
often
called
business-to-business(or B2B)
·
Transactions and business
processes in which companies, governments, and
other
organizations
use
Internet
technologies
to
support
selling
and
purchasing
activities.
To
understand
these
categories
better,
consider
a
company
that
manufactures
stereo
speakers.
The
company
might
sell
its
finished
product
to
consumers
on
the
Web, which would be B2C electronic
commerce. It might also purchase the materials
it uses to make the speakers from other
companies on the Web, which would be B2B
electronic
commerce.
Businesses
often
have
entire
departments
devoted
to
negotiating purchase
transactions with their suppliers. These
departments are usually
named
supply
management
or
procurement.
Thus,
B2B
electronic
commerce
is
sometimes called
e-procurement.
In
addition
to
buying
materials
and
selling
speakers,
the
company
must
also
undertake
many
other
activities
to
convert
the
purchased
materials
into
speakers.
These
activities
might
include
hiring
and
managing
the
people
who
make
the
speakers, renting or
buying the facilities in which the speakers are
made and stored,
shipping
the
speakers,
maintaining
accounting
records,
purchasing
insurance,
developing
advertising campaigns, and designing new versions
of the speakers. An
increasing number
of these transactions and business processes can
be done on the
Web.
Manufacturing
processes
(such
as
the
fabrication
of
the
speakers)
can
be
controlled using Internet
technologies within the business. All of these
communication,
control, and
transaction-related activities have become an
important part of electronic
commerce.
Some people include these activities in the B2B
category; others refer to
them as
underlying or supporting business processes.
Figure
1-1
shows
the
three
main
elements
of
electronic
commerce.
The
figure
presents a rough approximation of the
relative sizes of these elements. In terms of
dollar volume and number of
transactions, B2B electronic commerce is much
greater
than
B2C
electronic
commerce.
However,
the
number
of
supporting
business
processes is greater than the number of
all B2C and B2B transactions combined.
Figure1-1 Elements of electronic
commerce
The large oval in Figure
1-1 that represents the business processes that
support
selling and purchasing
activities is the largest element of electronic
commerce.
Some
researchers
define
a
fourth
category
of
electronic
commerce,
called
consumer-to-consumer
(or C2C), which includes individuals who buy and
sell items
among themselves. For
example, C2C electronic commerce occurs when a
person
sells an item through a Web
auction site to another person. In this book, C2C
sales
are included in the B2C category
because the person selling the item acts much as a
business would for purposes of the
transaction.
Finally, some researchers
also define a category of electronic commerce
called
business-to-government (or B2G);
this category includes business transactions with
government agencies, such as paying
taxes and filing required reports. In this book,
B2G transactions are included in our
discussions of B2B electronic commerce.
1.4 Advantages of Electronic Commerce
Firms
are
interested
in electronic
commerce
because, quite
simply,
it
can
help
increase
profits.
All
the
advantages
of
electronic
commerce
for
businesses
can
be
summarized
in one statement: electronic commerce can increase
sales and decrease
costs.
Advertising
done
well
on
the
Web
can
get
even
a
small
firm
’
s
promotional
message
out
to
potential
customers
in
every
country
in
the
world.
A
firm
can
use
electronic
commerce
to
reach
small
groups
of
customers
that
become
ideal
target
markets for specific
types of products or services.
Just
as
electronic
commerce
increases
sales
opportunities
for
the
seller,
it
increases
purchasing
opportunities
for
the
buyer.
Businesses
can
use
electronic
commerce
to
identify
new
suppliers
and
business
partners.
Negotiating
price
and
delivery
terms
is
easier
in
electronic
commerce
because
the
Internet
can
help
companies
efficiently
obtain
competitive
bid
information.
Electronic
commerce
increases the speed
and accuracy with which businesses can exchange
information,
which
reduces
costs
on
both
sides
of
transactions.
Many
companies
are
reducing
their costs of
handling sales inquiries, providing price quotes,
and determining product
availability
by
using
electronic
commerce
in
their
sales
support
and
order-taking
processes.
Electronic
commerce
provides
buyers
with
a
wider
range
of
choices
than
traditional
commerce
because
buyers
can
consider
many
different
products
and
services from a wider
variety of sellers.
The
benefits
of
electronic
commerce
extend
to
the
general
welfare
of
society.
Electronic payments of tax refunds,
public retirement, and welfare support cost less
to
issue and arrive securely and
quickly when transmitted over the Internet. To the
extent
that electronic commerce enables
people to telecommute, everyone benefits from the
reduction
in
commuter-caused
traffic
and
pollution.
Electronic
commerce
can
also
make
products
and
services
available
in
remote
areas.
For
example,
distance
education is making
it possible for people to learn skills and earn
degrees no matter
where they live or
which hours they have available for study.
1.5 Disadvantages of Electronic
Commerce
Some business processes may
never lend themselves to electronic commerce.
For example, perishable foods and high-
cost, unique items, such as custom-designed
jewelry, might be impossible to inspect
adequately from a remote location, regardless
of any technologies that might be
devised in the future. In addition to technology
and
software
issues,
many
businesses
face
cultural
and
legal
obstacles
to
conducting
electronic
commerce.
Some
consumers
are
still
fearful
of
sending
their
credit
card
numbers over the Internet and having
online merchants-merchants they have never