Electronic Commerce Is More And More Important in Modern Society

Electronic Commerce over the Internet is a new concept. In recent years, it has become sobroadly used that it is often left undifferentiated from other current trends which rely onautomation, such as concurrent engineering and just in time manufacturing. Many companies,including CyberCash, Dig Cash, First Virtual, and Open Market had provided a variety ofelectronic commerce services.

Last year, Jack Ma called for a new “e-WTO” with the aim of helping small businesses get on theInternet, as the best hope in the fight against poverty. This appeal came after Alibaba’slargest ever “Singles Day” a week earlier, with almost US$14.3bn of merchandise sold in 24hours. Alibaba’s social media accounts even reported that Premier Li Keqiang called CEO JackMa to wish him a successful day. “Singles Day” is now the world’s largest shopping day,dwarfingeven the United States’ “Black Friday.”

The claim that the Internet will fundamentally transform development is unproven anduntested. What is clear is that the Internet makes consumption easier, faster and moreexpansive than ever before. Analysts have thus looked to e-commerce and China’s Internetgiants to help “save” China’s economic model from slowing down.

Many people think EC is just having a Website, but EC is much more than that. There aredozens of applications of EC such as home banking, shopping in on-line stores and malls,buying stocks, finding a job, conducting an auction, and collaborating electronically onresearch and development projects. To execute these applications, it is necessary to havesupporting information and organizational infrastructure and systems. EC applications aresupported by infrastructures, and their implementation is dependent on four major areas:people, public policy, technical standards and protocols, and other organizations. The EC management coordinates the applications, infrastructures, and pillars.