1a Name and describe four business trends shaping e-commerce today.
There are many different business trends shaping e-commerce today. For one, ecommerce remains the fastest growing form of commerce when compared to physical retain store, services, and entertainment. Another trend is that the online demographics of shoppers broaden to match those of ordinary shoppers. Also, small businesses and entrepreneurs continue to flood through the e-commerce marketplace, often riding on the infrastructures created by industry giants and increasingly taking advantage of cloud-based computing resources. Lastly, pure e-commerce business models are refined further to achieve higher levels of profitability, whereas traditional retail brands use e-commerce to retain their dominant retail positions.
1b Name and describe three technology trends shaping e-commerce today.
There are many different technology trends shaping e-commerce today. One technology trend is that wireless internet connections grow rapidly. Also, powerful handheld mobile devices support music, Web surfing, and entertainment as well as voice communication. Podcasting and streaming take off as mediums for distribution of video, radio, and user-generation content.
1c List and describe the eight unique features of e-commerce.
There are eight different unique features of e-commerce today. First, ubiquity, which means that e-commerce is available everywhere; it is available at home, work, and elsewhere via mobile devices. Mobile devices extend service to local areas and merchants. Next, global reach makes e-commerce unique because technology can reach all the way around the Earth. E-commerce is also unique because of universal standards; there is one set of technology standards, namely internet standards, making communication between computer systems easy. Richness is a unique quality because it makes video, audio, and text messages possible. They are integrated