E-Commerce and the Global Market

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) over the Internet is the fastest growing method for consumers to conduct business. Less than ten years old and it already has radically altered the potential to economic activities and the social environment. There are nearly 200 million Internet users worldwide currently. Of these 200 million users, roughly 40 percent reside in the United States (Styliano, A., Robbins, S. & Jackson, P., 2003). E-commerce currently affects large sectors such as communications, banking and the retail industry. E-commerce has also had an effect on the education, health and government (Wyckoff, A., & Colecchia A., 1999). It is predicted that commerce on the Internet could total tens of billions of dollars by the turn of the century. E-commerce's most significant impact will be on sectors that transmit information (postal service, communications, radio and TV) and those that produce it (finance, entertainment, travel agents or stockbrokers) (Jones, B., n.d.). One of the most surprising but indirect impact e-commerce have had is associated with the way society has incorporated it into their everyday lives and its ability to drastically change the way businesses now interact with their employees, consumers, and business partners. Entrepreneurs are now able to start new businesses more easily, with smaller up front investment requirements, by accessing the Internet's worldwide network of customers (Jones, B., n.d.). China, with the third largest user population, is expected to gain market share-particularly in light of the prediction that it will surpass Japan and become the largest Asian Internet market during the coming year (Styliano, A., Robbins, S. & Jackson, P., 2003). E-commerce gives small businesses the competitive edge against large multinational organizations in the global market. Now that electronic commerce has become an integral part of everyday business, we now must take a look at how the emergence of e-commerce has affected the

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