Unit 15 What is E-Commerce?ContentsLearning ObjectivesAfter you have
read this unit, you should be familiar with:1. What is e-commerce
？2. The change and advantage that e-commerce brings about in peop
le’s lives Words&Expressions Have you bought anything o
ver the Internet? If you have not, there is a very good chance th
at you will within the next year or two. Shopping on the Internet
is growing rapidly and there seems to be no end in sight.
Electronic commerce, commonly known as (electronic marketing)
e-commerce or ecommerce, consists of the buying and selling of p
roducts or services over electronic systems such as the Internet
and other computer networks. The amount of trade conducted electr
onically has grown extraordinarily with widespread Internet usage
. The use of commerce is conducted in this way, spurring and draw
ing on innovations in electronic funds transfer, supply chain man
agement, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, elect
ronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and a
utomated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typi
cally uses the World Wide Web at least at some point in the trans
action''s lifecycle, although it can encompass a wider range of te
chnologies such as e-mail as well.Text A large percentag
e of electronic commerce is conducted entirely electronically for
virtual items such as access to premium content on a website, bu
t most electronic commerce involves the transportation of physica
l items in some way. Online retailers are sometimes known as e-ta
ilers and online retail is sometimes known as e-tail. Almost all
big retailers have electronic commerce presence on the World Wide
Web. Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the
sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the exchange of d
ata to facilitate the financing and payment aspects of the busine
ss transactions. Early development The meaning
of electronic commerce has changed over the last 30 years. Origin
ally, electronic commerce meant the facilitation of commercial tr
ansactions electronically, using technology such as Electronic Da
ta Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These w
ere both introduced in the late 1970s, allowing businesses to sen
d commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electroni
cally. The growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated telle
r machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the 1980s were also for
ms of electronic commerce. Another form of e-commerce was the air
line reservation system typified by Sabre in the USA and Travicom
in the UK. Online shopping, an important component of elect
ronic commerce, was invented by Michael Aldrich in the UK in 1979
. The world''s first recorded B2B was Thomson Holidays in 1981. Th
e first recorded B2C was Gates head SIS/Tesco in 1984. The world''
s first recorded online shopper was Mrs. Jane Snowball of Gates h
ead, England. During the 1980s, online shopping was also used ext
ensively in the UK by auto manufacturers such as Ford, Peugeot-Ta
lbot, General Motors and Nissan. All these organizations and othe
rs used the Aldrich systems. The systems used the switched public
telephone network in dial-up and leased line modes. There was no
broadband capability. From the 1990s onwards, electron
ic commerce would additionally include enterprise resource planni
ng systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing. An e
arly example of many-to-many electronic commerce in physical good
s was the Boston Computer Exchange, a marketplace for used comput
ers launched in 1982. An early online information marketplace, in
cluding online consulting, was the American Information Exchange,
another pre Internet [clarification needed] online system introd
uced in 1991. In 1990 Tim Berners-Lee invented the Worl
d Wide Web and transformed an academic telecommunication network
into a worldwide everyman everyday communication system called in
ternet/www. Commercial enterprise on the Internet was strictly pr
ohibited until 1991 . Although the Internet became popular worldw
ide around 1994 when the first internet online shopping started,
it took about five years to introduce security protocols and DSL
allowing continual connection to the Internet. By the end of 2000
, many European and American business companies offered their ser
vices through the World Wide Web. Since then people began to asso
ciate a word "ecommerce" with the ability of purchasing various g
oods through the Internet using secure protocols and electronic p
ayment services. Just like any other types of commerce,
electronic commerce involves two parties: businesses and consume
rs. There are three basic types of electronic commerce:? Bu
siness-to-consumer(B2C)involves the sale of a product or service
to the general public or end users. Oftentimes, this arrangement
eliminates the middleman by providing manufactures direct sales t
o customers. Other times, retail stores create a presence on the
Web as another way to reach customers.? Consumer-to-consu
mer(C2C)involves individuals selling to individuals. This often t
akes the form of an electronic version of the classified ads or a
n auction. Goods are described and interested buyers contact sell
ers to negotiate prices. Unlike traditional sales via classified
ads and auctions, buyers and sellers typically never meet face-to
-face. ? Business-to-business(B2B)involves the sale of
a product or service from one business to another. This is typic
ally a manufacturer-supplier relationship. For example, a furnitu
re manufacturer requires raw materials such as wood, paint, and v
arnish. In B2B electronic commerce, manufactures electronically p
lace orders with suppliers and many times payment is made electro
nically. With the age of paperless trade coming, elect
ronic commerce, or e-commerce, now attaches much importance to pe
ople’s daily lives. Many firms begin to focus their attention on
electronic commerce.E-Commerce Web Sites E-commerce is the m
ain reason a large number of websites exist on the web. It has op
ened a whole new world for retailers, wholesalers and other types
of marketers. Those vendors range from the big guys (i.e., K-Mar
t, Wal-Mart) to the smaller, lesser-known ones(i.e., individuals)
. In some cases, it has even made a few people very wealthy. But,
for the most part, it has become another method of creating inco
me, whether it is to make a living or just a little pocket change
. Electronic commerce offers much promise to U.S. firms inter
ested in using the Internet as another vehicle for exporting. How
ever, the marketing executive should be familiar with the steps n
ecessary to make the firm''s web site e-export capable. Many U.S.
companies have a web site that fulfills one or more marketing fun
ctions tailored to their business specialties. E-comme
rce Software Many companies interested in selling prod
ucts and services through the Internet choose to contract the con
struction and operation of their e-commerce platforms to third-pa
rty vendors. Some of these companies, such as GSI Commerce (GSIC)
and Digital River (DRIV) offer comprehensive, integrated package
s that include software, web-hosting, order fulfillment and distr
ibution and online marketing. Other firms offer more limited serv
ices such as Ariba (ARBA) and Akamai Technologies (AKAM). These t
wo companies are e-commerce software vendors that make money sell
ing software for e-commerce applications. All of these e-commerce
service providers stand to gain as e-commerce traffic accelerate
s. E-commerce is an emerging model of selling and merc
handising tools in which buyers are able to participate in all ph
ase of a purchase decision. They step through their business proc
esses electronically rather than in a physical store or by phone.
The processes in e-commerce include enabling a customer to acces
s product information, select items they need and complete the fi
nancing settlement. Simply put, e-commerce is the onlin
e transaction of business, featuring linked computer systems of t
he vendor, host, and buyer. Electronic transactions involve the t
ransfer of ownership or rights to use a good or service. Most peo
ple are familiar with business-to-consumer electronic business (B
2C). Common illustrations include Amazon.com, llbean.com, CompUSA
.com, travelocity.com, and hotels.com. Since it is diff
erent from the traditional type of commerce most of us are used t
o, it takes a new way of thinking to be successful. In the near f
uture, e-commerce will not slow down. On the contrary, it will ra
pidly grow around the world, making for a true global economy.Exe
rcises1. Answer the following question according to the text.(1)
What is the concept of e-commerce? (2) What way is e-commerce
concucted in? (3) Who invented online shopping? (4) What are th
e basic types of e-commerce? (5) What is the main reason that a
large number of websites exist on the web? 2. Translate the foll
owing terms or phrases from English into Chinese and vice versa:k
ey3. Fill in the blanks with the information given in the text:
(1) Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web
at least at some point in the transaction''s lifecycle, although i
t can a wider range of technologies such as e-mail as well.
(2) It also consists of the exchange of data to facilitate the fi
nancing and payment aspects of the business .(3) Online sh
opping, an component of electronic commerce, was invented
by Michael Aldrich in the UK 1979. (4) Unlike traditional sales
in classified ads and auctions, buyers and sellers typica
lly never meet . (5) Many companies interested in selling
products and services through the Internet choose to contract the
construction and operation of their e-commerce platforms to
vendors. key4. Choose the best one from the items given belo
w to complete the following passage. On-line custo
mer research has been (1) for European and American markets
by marketers and academics. Whilst e-Commerce and tourism develop
rapidly in China, understanding of Chinese Internet travellers i
s (2) . This article investigates features of this on-line seg
ment (3) a survey with 634 responses. It aims to establish s
egmental information and identify influential factors of eShoppin
g adoption (4) Internet travellers in China. The key findings
include that surveyed lookers who are in the age group of 31–40
and those who live in the Pearl River Delta are (5) likely to
book travel on-line. (1)A. conducted B. contracted C. contraste
d D. constructed (2)A. demanded B. needed C. ordered D.
required (3)A. from B.through C. on D. about (4)A.
through B. on C. by D. about (5)A.b
est B. most C.furtherest D. much key 5. Mark t
he following statements with T(true) or F(false) according to the
text. (1) Most electronic commerce involves the transporta
tion of physical items in some way. (2) Online shopping, wa
s invented by many European and American business companies in th
e end of 2000. (3) C2C, B2B and B2B are the three basic typ
es of electronic commerce. (4) Many companies interested in
selling products and services through the Internet choose to con
tract the construction and operation of their e-commerce platform
s to third-party vendors. (5) In the near future, e-commerc
e will maybe slow down. key 6. Select the one answer to each
question. (1) Electronic commerce, is often referred to as
A. electronic marketing B. e-commerce
C. ecommerce D. all the above (2) Online shopping
was invented in A. 1970s B. 1980s
C. 1990s D. the end of 2000 (3) Electronic commerce
involves two parties: businesses and . A. software
B.consumers C. network D.None of the above (4) Consumer
-to-consumer(C2C) often takes the form of an electronic version o
f the classified ads or an . A.notice B. message
C. auction D. email(5) E-commerce has opened a whole new worl
d to some kind of person, excluding . A.retailers B.wh
olesalers C. after-sales personnel D.product development(
6) The processes in e-commerce include .A.enabling a custome
r to access product information B.select items they needC. comple
te the financing settlement. D. All the above key7. Translate
the following sentences into Chinese. (1) The amount of trade co
nducted electronically has grown extraordinarily with widespread
Internet usage.(2) A large percentage of electronic commerce is c
onducted entirely electronically for virtual items such as access to premium content on a website, but most electronic commerce involves the transportation of physical items in some way..(3) From the 1990s onwards, electronic commerce would additionally include enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing.(4) In B2B electronic commerce, manufactures electronically place orders with suppliers and many times payment is made electronically.key1.略2.3. (1)Encompass (2) transactions (3) important (4) via (5) face-to-face (6) third-party4. （1）A (2)D (3)B (4)C (5)B5. （1）T (2)F (3) F (4)T (5)F6. （1）D (2) A (3) B (4) C (5) C (6) D 7.(1) 伴随互联网广泛使用，电子贸易总额的增长异常显著。 (2) 电子商务的绝大多数是完全以电子方式进行依照有效的条款进行的，例如在网站上使用额外费用，但大多数电子商务某种程度上包含一些具体物品的运输方式。 (3) 从20世纪90年代起，电子商务又包括了企业资源计划系统（ERP）、数据挖掘和数据存储。 (4) 在B2B电子商务中，制造商与供应商电子签单并经常以电子方式付款。 |
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