Electronic Commerce

electronic commerce (EC)

The process of buying, selling, or exchanging products, services, or information via computer networks

EC is defined through these perspectives
- Communications: delivery of goods, services, information over networks
- Commercial (trading): buying and selling products or services
- Business process: completing business processes over electronic networks
- Service: improve quality of service and increase speed of service delivery
Learning
- Collaborative: inter- and intraorganization collaborative
- Community: provide places for community members

e-business

A broader definition of EC that includes not just the buying and selling of goods and services, but also servicing customers, collaborating with business partners, and conducting electronic transactions within an organization

Pure Versus Partial EC
EC takes several forms depending on the degree of digitization (the transformation from physical to digital)
(1) the product (service) sold,
(2) the process,
(3) the delivery agent (or intermediary)