Definition

Electronic commerce is an emerging model of new selling and merchandising tools in which buyers are able to participate in all phases of a purchase decision, while stepping through those processes electronically rather than in a physical store or by phone (with a physical catalog). The processes in electronic commerce include enabling a customer to access product information, select items to purchase, purchase items securely, and have the purchase settled financially.

Overview

The objective of this tutorial is to provide an overview of how electronic commerce works, the challenges of hosting complex electronic commerce environments, and the importance of electronic commerce capabilities that enhance the services and core competencies of the service provider.