E-Commerce is way of doing business transactions electronically. The first wave of doing business this way, was the exchange of information. The word electronically, here in this context, means that in E-Commerce business, transactions get completed via electronic medium.

This electronic medium mostly uses computers on Internet. The transaction may also be done through mobile ‘phones. Then it is known as mobile commerce. Mobile commerce is a subset of E-Commerce.

Several simple examples of E-Commerce include:

* An individual purchases a book on Internet
* An individual withdraws funds from ATM
* A retailer orders merchandise, using an EDI network, or suppliers extranet
* An individual, or a business calls a toll free number and then orders the required goods, using the seller’s interactive telephone system.
* A manager orders office supplies for his office, using Internet on a commercial website, but for physical delivery.
* A traveller reserves a ticket for an airline, or railways, or if he reserves a room in a hotel, using the Internet, by surfing the related website using a few clicks of mouse.

A complex example may include:

A student visits the website of a bookstore on Internet and makes inquiries about the availability of an out of stock book. The bookstore employee downloads the digital copy of the book and prints it along with a cover. Until and unless agreement to purchase on this computer mediated network does not occur, there is no E-Commerce transaction.

Factors which mainly affect E-Commerce transactions are:

* Capital Availability:
There should be a sufficient source of capital available, with Internet based companies, so that they can handle their business transactions in a comfortable manner, without any delay with payments.

* Technology:
The technology being used by the Internet based companies, affects the business. Companies doing E-Commerce transactions, should arm themselves with the latest and most widely acceptable technologies, because outdated technologies can bring unpredictable, disastrous and hazardous results and can totally ruin their businesses.

Example:
If a person is doing electronic transactions, but the antivirus that he is using is of an older version, which is neither able to detect, nor stop the entry of any of the newest viruses. Now as a result, it is possible that some virus may creep into the local file system of an operating system, without the user’s knowledge and permission and will look for important account information, like the username of some accounts and passwords etc and then it can pass this vital information on to the virus creator. This will enable these virus creators to enter into a user’s account, without his knowledge and permission and commit identity theft, or fraud. It is advisable that every user involved in electronic transactions, uses the latest released versions of antivirus protection and the antivirus should be a reputable make.

* Language:
Many E-Commerce innovations originate in the US and thus the language mostly used is English. Non English speakers will not be able to complete E-Commerce transactions comfortably.

* Attitude:
To facilitate E-Commerce requires possessing an attitude that is open to change, innovation etc. People should be able to accept E-Commerce transactions, over any form of manual handling of these transactions.

An integral part of E-Commerce, is the use of payment processors. Payments are effected by wire transfer, credit card, online checks, or through a third party processor, such as a shopping cart, using services such as PayPal, Clickbank, PayDotCom and others.

A new innovation in E-Commerce, is the ability to effect payment using a mobile ‘phone’s airtime account. The payment is effected easily and the charge is either added to the airtime contract account, or debited to a pre-paid airtime card account. Thus anyone with a cellular phone can make E-Commerce transactions, both in the form of debits and credits. For more information, go to MobilCash at http://www.dersalsites.com/mobilaf/

Derek Robson is a South African Internet marketer. He has a vision of empowering all fellow South Africans and other non U.S folk, to have equal opportunity and success on the internet, by finding solutions to the many obstacles facing them. He is a syndicated article writer. He and his wife Sally, have started a string of sites, resources, courses and articles, as part of Dersalsites. For daily postings and articles, on Internet marketing, South African online business, list building, affiliate marketing, article marketing, blogging, seo, the law of attraction, rugby and other general topics, visit Derek at: http://dersalsites.com/southafricanbusiness/  

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