A seminar on" E-Commerce - Scope and Perceptives" (Abstract)

Introduction

E-commerce as anything that involves an online transaction. E-commerce provides multiple benefits to the consumers in form of availability of goods at lower cost, wider choice and saves time. The general category of e-commerce can be broken down into two parts: E-merchandise: E-finance. E commerce involves conducting business using modern communication instruments: telephone, fax, e-payment, money transfer systems, e-data interchange and the Internet. 
This paper is outcome of a review of various research studies carried out on E-commerce. This paper examines different opportunities of e-commerce viz., E-business, E-learning, E-commerce education integration, E-insurance, E-commerce for the WTO and developing countries and future media of e-commerce. It raises key challenges that are being faced by consumers relating to e-commerce viz., Ethical issues, Perceptions of risk in e-service encounters, challenges for e-commerce education, It act 2000 and legal system. 

Online businesses like financial services, travel, entertainment, and groceries are all likely to grow. Forces influencing the distribution of global e-commerce and its forms include economic factors, political factors, cultural factors and supranational institutions.

Elizabeth Goldsmith and others (2000) reported that the general category of e-commerce can be broken down into two parts:
1 E-merchandise: selling goods and services electronically and moving items through distribution channels, for example through Internet shopping for groceries, tickets, music, clothes, hardware, travel, books, flowers or gifts.
2 E-finance: banking, debit cards, smart cards, banking machines, telephone and Internet banking, insurance, financial services and mortgages on-line(Elizabeth Goldsmith and others,2000). 


*Opportunities
1. E-business
2. E-commerce integration

3.Open and distance learning

4 E-commerce and E-insurance

5 Future media of e-commerce:

6 Economic issues raised by e-commerce for the WTO and developing countries.

*CHALLENGES FOR E COMMERCE:

1 Ethical issues:

a) Privacy

b) Security concerns

c) Other ethical issues

2 Perceptions of risk in e-service encounters

3 E-commerce Integration

4 It act 2000 and legal system

  Farooq Ahmed(2001) reported that Some of the multifaceted issues raised are summarized in following manner.

1. Formation of e-contracts
a) Contracts by e-data interchange
b) Cyber contracts

2. Validity of e-transactions.

3. Dichotomy of offer and invitation to treat.

4. Communication of offer and acceptance

5. Mistake in e-commerce

a) Mutual mistake
b) Unilateral mistake

6. Jurisdiction: cyber space transactions know no national and international boundaries and are not analogous to 3- dimensional world in which common law principles involved.

7. Identity of parties

5 Human skills required for E-Commerce:

Internet-enabled Electronic Commerce:

·  Web site development

·  Web Server technologies

·  Security

·  Integration with existing applications and processes

Developing Electronic Commerce solutions successfully across the Organization means building reliable, scalable systems for

1) security,

2) E- commerce payments

3) Supply- chain management

4) Sales force, data warehousing, customer relations

5) Integrating all of this existing back-end operation.

Concluding remarks:

With the development of computer technology, the World Wide Web has become the connection medium for the networked world. Computers from locations that are geographically dispersed can talk with each other through the Internet. As with any new technology, there are positives and negatives associated with its use and Adoption. Finally, an e-marketplace can serve as an information agent that provides buyers and sellers with information on products and other participants in the market.

E-commerce creates new opportunities for business; it also creates new opportunities for education and academics. It appears that there is tremendous potential for providing e-business education.

As discussed earlier about the different media of e-commerce such as TV, PC or Mobile these new media will be a major preoccupation for marketers over the few years that especially how to combine them within an integrated bricks and clicks marketing mix.

Shiju Koodaranhji.