Overview of E-commerce and E-business Introduction The purpose of this essay is to discuss and describe the issues facing

e-commerce and e-business as follows; 1)The early years of e-commerce as a success or failure; 2)The value proposition of a 2!" 2 " !2! and #2# website; $)The ma%or limitations of ecommerce growth and the obstacle potentially as the toughest to overcome Success of e-commerce E-commerce as defined by &audon and Traver '2(())" is the use of the Internet and the *eb to transact business focused on digitally enabled commercial transactions between and amongst organisations and individuals+ E-commerce transactions also involve inputting and receiving orders and payment through electronic mechanisms" such as an electronic data interchange system+ ,owever" it was during the rise of the *orld *ide *eb in the early -(.s that e-commerce was considered a phenomena in the mostly usiness-to- usiness ' 2 ) related industries+ The success stemmed from the hype itself" which came along with the rapid digitali/ation in the political" economical and societal arena mainly to utili/ed e-commerce for adding ma0imum value+ 1 report by Telecordia '2((1) showed an increase of growth starting from the -(.s in the use of personal computers" telephone lines and Internet users+ The latter group mainly dominated by the E2" 231" !anada and 4apan" accounted for more than 5( percent of world total of users+ 1dditionally" the success should also be attributed by the fact that 1mericans were heavily in debt to super credit power+ 6 etween 1--$ and 2(((" the industry more than tripled the amount of credit it offered to customers" from 7888 billion to almost 7$ trillion9 ':raut ; 3ilva" 2(($" p+1$)+ This would have provided impetus for electronic transactions on automated teller machines" phone ban<ing" access clearance and other resource planning systems+ =urthermore" public users were uneducated on the dangers that lur<ed in transactions>authorities not assisting much enacting limited regulations>that provided business operators with e0ploitative opportunities+ orders and boundaries had also been redefined with consumers benefiting from a wide selection of products and suppliers+ Failure of e-commerce ?uch of the failures that accompanied growth were by no means simple+ One of the failures with e-commerce in the -(.s was that" with huge e0plosive success came downright failure from the perspectives of dot+com and to its I#O businesses+ @entures were funded beyond the true capacity" which saw many such investors brought a crash to the bubble and some 72 trillion of stoc< evaporated in a single wee<9 '!assidy" 2((2)+ In a case of #et+com" an online enterprise that went bust selling Apuppet-tal<ing. soc<s" was fabulous for innovation" but a fable for other investors and publicity+ It seemed part of the blame should have been laid on the failure of the 23 government.s lac< of warning and control systems that led to the down spiral" as well as the unwillingness of Aangels. to rescue these listed flops+ Technologically" e-commerce transactions did bring pro0imity" convenience and cheaper prices" but it has also added to the obtrusive woes of privacy intrusion" data security ris<s" fear and costs of machines+

It can be argued that the successes of e-commerce systems in the early years did outweigh the failures+ ,owever" the successes were often instantaneously measured on efficient and financial paybac< schemes" but not measured for long-run effectiveness; consider how information and communications technology training for students in schools co-relate to an increase in adoption of online games technology or personal learning domains+ The purported perception is that intangible elements such as dishonesty" rec<lessness" are future values rather than a past cost+ It is this intangibility associated with e-commerce investments that organi/ations find hard to %ustify+ Value propositions of B2C, B2B, C2C, P2P Electronic business is defined broadly as any business process that relies on an automated information system" enabling companies to lin< their internal and e0ternal data processing systems more efficiently to wor< more closely with suppliers and partners '*i<ipedia" 2((8)+ The model includes; a) usiness-to-consumers; b) usiness-to-business; c)!onsumer-to-consumer; d)#eer-to-peer" all e0tended to the Internet and e-commerce framewor<+ 1 usiness-to-consumer website would be Yell.com" as it endears itself around online retail consumers searching for information pertaining to various household and light products+ Bell.s singular promise of upholding integrity" ethics" reliability" responsibility and e0cellence by consumers. standards are <ey value propositions+ The value proposition of Alibaba.com as a business-to-business 'suppliers to companies) Internet organisation is; A1 smiling community with a dream." from a different perspective of engaging the internal community of staff" and putting customers as everything+ The notion comes from the e0cellent synthesis between staff and customers generated by a wealth of talent" ownership" entpreneurial spirit" harmony" concern+ !lients can find an almost unlimited purview of products" accessing free membership accounts" send inCuiries and post buying leads+ 3eller may post products" search and contact clients+ !onsumer-to-consumer e-commerce involves transactions between consumers through some third party electronically+ 1n e0ample of this could be an online payment system li<e Paypal.com" where people can send and receive money online+ The value propositions from consumers. perspectives are; v Safety: #ay without e0posing your numbers to the merchant v Simple: 3peed through chec<out without retyping financial information v Free: #ay no fees for ma<ing purchases or sending money through email+ This ma<es friendly and affordable e0change of payment between users using a variety of pay options that come with fraud prevention technology+ 1 peer-to-peer website involves participants sharing a part of their own hardware resources through distributed networ< architecture" which are accessible by other peers directly" without passing through mar<et intermediary entities 'Dellerer" 1--5)+ The chosen file sharing website is Youtube.com+ The value proposition for most Aneti/ens. is that it is an open-source" distributed platform for uploading" sharing" e0changing and en%oying music" video and animation" without ris<ing illegal downloads" which is not possible in nature+ It serves as a very effective platform for learning" be it in plumbing" wearing a tie" etc+ eing essentially the offshoot of ecommerce systems" e-business allows new forms of partnership" products and services to evolve" thus underpinning boundaries and cost issues+

E-commerce limitations This section discusses the general limitations and e0tracts the toughest barrier faced by e-commerce+ =irstly" the associated costs derived from commercial in-house enterprise resource applications can be very high" where errors due to the lac< of <now-how may result in inventory delays" brea<down frustrations and contractual terminations+ *ith the high cost of using analogue networ<s and modem technology" the end results do not %ustify the means in some developed countries ',umphrey et al+" 2(($)+ !onsider a natural tsunami disaster that could wipe out the entire underwater optical cable along the coastline of East 1frica+ *hat is usually more pertinent are the additional costs incurred to procure ?aintenance" Eepair and Operations '?EO) software to belie the logic of a savvy investment" especially in developing nations+ 3econdly" e-commerce systems do not induce trust and confidence any more than the face-to-face approach does+ Internet channels acting as go-betweens" suppliers may not guarantee Cuality and delivery of foreign sourced products to the customers+ 3ince much of the purchases on the web are funded by credit cards or money wiring" this seriously enhances ris< and cost of customers being hac<ed of credit card details+ 1nd through replicating these details > with or without the provision of digital security protocols to prevent Aphishing. and trac<ing coo<ies > it becomes a serious issue+ In an article" =rishberg '2((() had indicated that some 15 million people who have done shopping on the Fet professed that they would have bought more if security were not an issue+ 1nother 2( million have avoided buying on the *eb altogether because of security or privacy concerns+ =inally" the implications would mean a further technological gap in appreciating and comprehending more advanced purchasing systems between mainstream have-gots and have-nots+ ou!"est barrier The potentially toughest barrier to the growth of e-commerce systems would be the issue of legal precedence that covers unsatisfactory consumer cases across foreign cultures+ !ertain Cuestions would arise" for instance; :o international or national laws e0ist to facilitate lawful online transactionG; *ould the laws have the powers to enforceG; ,ow is the traditional contract enforced in an electronic formG 1re electronic functions reCuired to enforce the contractG *hich side would the conte0t of %urisdiction be onG *here contracts terms are often in favour of the seller residing in that country" certain international bodies remain powerless to protect the buyer+ The time" cost" and distance entailed in the transaction and possibly legal costs" would be Cuite unfathomable" if the original sum payment is immaterial+ Thus" the moral and legal impetus to implement strategies to continuously circumvent e-commerce regulations" whether onshore or offshore" would be lost to a nation+ It would not serve social %ustice if the somewhat developments of e-commerce did not shape society for a better purpose+

Conclusion In summary" the early success of e-commerce enabled commercial transactions was more of a success than failure due to e0plosive growth in business and the credit economy+ ?any dot+com companies and investors had %ump the gun in the -(.s" and were not prepared to ta<e precaution till the Internet bubble burst+ It was mostly associated with daunting costs and little paybac<s in the form of intangibility+ These e-commerce systems had various terms that include business-to-business" business-toconsumers" consumers-to-consumers and peer-to-peer+ They are a part e0tension of ecommerce <nown as e-business systems+ =inally" many nations and organisations still face limitations and barriers to e-commerce+ 1 substantial investment of cost" <nowhow and technology awareness in e-commerce related issues such as cyber crime" and especially ethical and legal practices across international boundaries are essential+ #eferences !assidy" 4 2((2" Dot.com" Few Bor<H ,arper!ollins+ :raut" T ; 3ilva" 4 2(($" A orrowing to ma<e ends meet-the growth of credit card debt in the -(s.+ De-mos: A Network For Ideas & Action, 3eptember" pp+--)(+ =rishberg" ? 2(((" A*eb privacy" security weighed.+ Wired" viewed Ith October" 2((8" httpHJJwww+wired+comJscienceJdiscoveriesJnewsJ2(((J12JK(I-1+ Lordi%n" 4 ; 1<<ermans" 4+? 2((1" A:esigning and evaluating e-business models.+ IEEE Intelligent Systems - Intelligent e-B siness" @ol+1)" Fo+K" pp+11>18+ ,umphrey" 4" ?ansell" E" #arM" : ; 3chmit/" , 2(($" AThe reality of e-commerce with developing countries." !ro"ect #e$ort" viewed $th October" 2((8" httpHJJwww+ids+ac+u<JidsJglobalJpdfsJe-commreport+pdf+ Dellerer" * 1--5" A:ienstarchite<turen in der tele<ommuni<ation + Evolution" method und vergleich.+ %ec&nical #e$ort+ T2?-&DF-TE--5(1+ &audon" D+! ; Traver" ! 2(()" E-'ommerce: B siness, %ec&nology, Society" $rd Edition" #rentice ,all+ Telcordia 2((1" Netsi(er)*ont&ly A+erage ,osts, ?orristown" Few 4ersey+ *i<ipedia 2((8" AElectronic business." httpHJJen+wi<ipedia+orgJwi<iJE-business+ viewed $th October" 2((8"