E-commerce: Importance, Development, and Technology

This document provides an overview of e-commerce, including its importance in the economy, its development over time, and the technology used in online businesses. It discusses the various types of businesses that use e-commerce technology and the effective tools that technology provides for online businesses. Additionally, it explores the impact of digital technologies on the structure of businesses and how they are changing the way businesses operate. The document also includes references for further reading.

E-commerce
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Importance of E-commerce.........................................................................................................3
Development of E-commerce.....................................................................................................3
Technology used in e-commerce................................................................................................4
Technological platforms and software........................................................................................4
Type of businesses and using the e-commerce technology........................................................4
Technology as a effective tool ...................................................................................................5
Digital technologies and its effect on business structure............................................................5
REFERNCES...................................................................................................................................9
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INTRODUCTION
E-commerce refers to the electronic commerce, it is associated with buying and selling of
services and products or transferring information or funds with the support of internet. These
transactions happen in business to business, consumer to consumer and business to customer
(Schatzberg, 2018). In simpler words e-commerce activity is done through internet where
consumers use online stores to buy and sell by their own gadgets.
Importance of E-commerce
The world of digital is evolving, so too the manner people shop and maximum population
are using online shopping in comparison to earlier time. The sector of e-commerce is continuing
to get strong day by day. E-commerce is important because it is playing a significant role in
economy of United Kingdom and sales through internet have constantly getting growth. It is also
important because people are able to shop online 24/7 and they can easily compare rates of
products and services with the other brands products (Weking and et. al, 2019). During the time
of global pandemic high stores available in streets were struggling to compete with the
competitors who are providing their services online. E-commerce is helping in running
businesses continuously as it assists in selling goods to anyone and anywhere through online
with stores that are e-commerce, marketplace that are serving online and social media. E-
commerce also uses tools of marketing that accommodate in creating, executing and analysing
campaigns on Google and Facebook.
Development of E-commerce
E-commerce is playing an important role in daily lives. It has redefined commercial tasks
around the whole world. Before the time period of e-commerce, the activity of commerce was
brick and mortar. Businesses that use brick and mortar mean those outlets which are physically
present. In simpler words selling and buying of products need interaction that happens physically
among seller and buyers (Bai, Cordeiro and Sarkis, 2020). But when the e-commerce came into
existence it has replaced commerce that is Brick and Mortar. E-commerce stores has assisted
organisation to make their presence online and moved core organisation activities online. Earlier
e-commerce has started for exchange data through digitally without the requirement by
intervention from humans. After that with advancement in technology no can stop e-commerce,
in 1995 it has recorded that Amazon has started its book store through online which have offered
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more books than their competitors who are offering through offline. This has started the era of e-
commerce because it is fulfilling the needs and requirements of customers and increasing the
development of an economy. This specific decade is showing the dominance of e-commerce
because of the advancement in technology with the participation and interest of consumers. The
development of e-commerce constantly depends upon the latest technologies and some
influences of sociocultural. E-commerce is using various technologies to offer accurate search
outcomes to the customer according to their pattern and information of purchasing.
Technology used in e-commerce
Businesses that do their activities through E-commerce uses different technologies for
maintaining satisfaction among customers and staying prosperous (Malik and Nilakant, 2016).
Artificial intelligence: It is used in e-commerce to learn about the preferences of customers so
campaigns of marketing can be guided. It transfers the operations of data management to
improve performance.
Cloud: The cloud holds a significant place in businesses of e-commerce because it assist in
delivering speeds, making their online stores adaptable and bringing growth and stability.
Sound assistants: People always do not prefer using keyboards and mouse for searching products
so, e-commerce businesses using technology of voice to search about the products. People easily
command to search and buy goods online.
Technological platforms and software
Software helps e-commerce for making activities practically possible. It is an engine used
behind the working stores that are operating online, managing inventory, adding and removing
products and many more. There are many software that are used by e-commerce, some of them
are SaaS and on premise. On premise defined as installing and managing on site by developers
who gives updates manually, solve issues and perform troubleshooting. Earlier merchants used
on premise because of higher flexibility from host. SaaS is used by stores of e-commerce and
provides solution at very lower rate than on premise. Basically it adds designs and features that
are custom in nature and provides flexibility in comparison to on premise (Shahjee, 2016).
Type of businesses and using the e-commerce technology
Retail businesses uses e-commerce technology, with the help of technologies these
businesses do not need to open physical stores. This has made the work of organisation very easy
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and convenient. With the technology these businesses have information about their customers
like their needs, buying pattern and preferences. The cloud assists in storing information of
consumer so that recommendations can be shown according to their choice.
Pharmaceutical industry is also getting into e-commerce. By the assistance of e-
commerce technology they are providing medicines to people at their doorsteps. They are slowly
increasing their marketing share in online platforms to provide goods and services.
Business to business type of businesses are also using e-commerce technology, in this
type of business basically gadgets manufacturers are involved who sell components online to
other manufacturers so that they can produce their own goods (Aribawa, 2016).
Technology as a effective tool
For e-commerce businesses technology plays significant role in doing businesses more
effectively and efficiently. These technologies do various activities for online businesses to earn
more profits and make customers attract towards their business. Artificial intelligence reveals the
preferences of customers which are used for guiding campaigns of marketing. AI facilitates
shopping experiences that are supported by consumer's personal requirements. The technology of
24/7 provides solutions to customers about their inquiry. This type of automatic communication
are very valuable for businesses because it saves time of employees and they can focus towards
other activities of business. Employees can communicate more efficiently with consumers and
pitch more products and services. Chatbots is a technology which saves information of customers
and give tracking details about products to customers. The another technology is assistive
technology which assists in reaching a large variety of people, this type of technology helps
customers to use e-commerce businesses conveniently.
All these technologies are effective because it helps in e-commerce businesses to become
successful and attract more customers. All e-commerce businesses should adopt such
technologies because they appeal great to existing and potential consumers.
Digital technologies and its effect on business structure
Digital technologies has changed the way of businesses to make profit as now they are
making profits with high speed, to attract more consumers, to serve customers worldwide, to
improve quality of goods and services, to speed up the process of business, to lower the usage of
human resources. Earlier in organisations and businesses who are adopting hierarchical structure
only communicate through verbal communications or they shared information through different
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managers but with the assistance of technology, organisations have changes the way they used to
communicate with their employees, suppliers and other important clients. Now organisations are
using e-mails to send messages or to share any important information. Companies use
technology of video conferencing for effective communication with employees, partners and also
take participation in seminar and meeting (Gorla, Chiravuri and Chinta, 2017). In hierarchical
structure managers send e-mails to all the employees so that confusion and miscommunication
can be eliminated. With the emergence of technology companies and organisations have changed
the way they used to hire and recruit employees. Now with the use of technology organisations
advertise about vacant job positions on different channels like social media and internet. By
advertising through channels organisations get more efficient employees who are aware about
the latest technology and are qualified for the vacant job. The technology has made the hiring
process very easy as organisations can hire candidates from different countries. With the use
online platform organisation selects 1 person from various job proposals with the option of talent
filtering. Artificial intelligence is used by organisations because it learns all the information
about the users like sending emails and calls, which procedure is good for marketing specific
goods on the various channels of internet and it also positively impact the manner organisations
communicate with consumers. Technology of artificial intelligence is supported by cloud storage
and cloud computing. Information is analysed by applications of business intelligence without
human resources and application automatically reply to the consumers. Organisation are
changing their daily practices with the help of technology as now they are using biometric
machines for taking attendance of employees and by adopting these machines they are
decreasing the chaos of attendance as employees have to just use these machines. Customers are
the most significant resource of an organisation, information technology has reduced monopoly
from the market so it has increased option for consumers to buy products from different seller.
For retaining customers in a large number organisations are using social media to constantly
promote their products and services. They are paying influencers to advertise company's product.
It is identified as top quality practices of a business that is very effective for customers. For
marketing purpose companies are using various techniques, tools and methods which are called
digital marketing. The search engine optimisation, email marketing and search engine marketing
with the usage of internet. Marketing through online is more effective than marketing through
traditional ways due to large reach, analysis of data, targeting location, advertisement through
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behaviours of consumers and history from user's browser. Promoting and marketing products
online are the fastest way of finding potential customers. Offline businesses are constantly trying
to market their goods and services online. Many organisations are giving social media marketing
automation, lead management insights and subscription forms. These type of technologies have
changed the practices of promotions. There is also a challenge for organisations to keep up with
the consumers through posts on social media, SEO, content marketing and many more. Internet
has brought automated marketing, promotion and sales for organisations. It is vital for
organisations to recruit, train and develop staff. With technologies organisations are forming and
creating training and development programs and paying good amount after interviews.
Employees are trained for developing applications of artificial intelligence, program operations
for robots and many more. Employees are made learn with the help of robots , laptops and
websites. With all these technologies employees are made learn fast and quick without any
disturbance and learning from these technologies do not take time. Earlier organisations
conducted manual surveys and interviews to identify the needs and wants of customers but by
the innovation of technology organisation are conducting online polls, interviews and survey
which is easy and able to gather more information regarding tastes and preferences.
Organisations which are using team structure is using technology to share information on time,
to stay connected over email and solve problems through communication channels. This is very
effective in timely transmitting information from one person to another and every member of
team get equal information at same time. Technology has assisted organisations to business fully
arranged and organised. Project management software assists in forming, reviewing, assessing
and delegating activities. Managers and employers conveniently supervise tasks of workplace to
keep activities on track. The modern environment of workplace has brought many software to
improve the workflow and efficiency. Software of project management has increased the quality
of products and decreased the risk of a project. Space management software assists businesses to
keep workplace arranged and organised which gives outcome of improved utilisation of space.
Technology has brought completely changed the manner organisations used to collaborate. It
assists in connecting with people present at anywhere at anytime. This improved collaboration
has provided flexibility in transferring information among managers, co workers and employees.
Employees are connected with organisation from anywhere and it has also encouraged
teamwork, bonding and understanding between employees. The enhanced level of collaboration
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assist managers and leaders to keep in touch with their subordinates and manage them
efficiently. Improved collaboration on projects made organisations to keep updated their clients.
Time management is significant in modern environment at workplace, it helps in managing time
without delaying activities and tasks. There are various tools of technology which manage and
organise day to day activities and make employees to clearly focus towards vital tasks. This
improves the efficiency of employees and make them do work before the deadline.
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REFERNCES
Books and Journals
Aribawa, D., 2016. E-commerce strategic business environment analysis in Indonesia.
International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues. 6(6S).
Bai, C.A., Cordeiro, J. and Sarkis, J., 2020. Blockchain technology: Business, strategy, the
environment, and sustainability. Bus. Strategy Environ. 29(1). pp.321-322.
Gorla, N., Chiravuri, A. and Chinta, R., 2017. Business-to-business e-commerce adoption: An
empirical investigation of business factors. Information Systems Frontiers. 19(3).
pp.645-667.
Malik, A. and Nilakant, V., 2016. Knowledge integration mechanisms in high-technology
business-to-business services vendors. Knowledge Management Research & Practice.
14(4). pp.565-574.
Piyush, N., Choudhury, T. and Kumar, P., 2016, November. Conversational commerce a new era
of e-business. In 2016 International Conference System Modeling & Advancement in
Research Trends (SMART) (pp. 322-327). IEEE.
Schatzberg, E., 2018. Technology: critical history of a concept. University of Chicago Press.
Shahjee, R., 2016. The impact of electronic commerce on business organization. Scholarly
Research Journal for interdisciplinary studies. 4(27). pp.3130-3140.
Weking and et. al, 2019. The impact of blockchain technology on business models–a taxonomy
and archetypal patterns. Electronic Markets. pp.1-21.
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