Chapter 1

Introduction to E-commerce

After reading this chapter, you will be able to:

Understand why it is important to study e-commerce.
Define e-commerce, understand how e-commerce differs from e-business, identify the primary technological building blocks underlying e-commerce, and recognize major current themes in e-commerce.
Identify and describe the unique features of e-commerce technology and discuss their business significance.
Describe the major types of e-commerce.
Understand the evolution of e-commerce from its early years to today.
Describe the major themes underlying the study of e-commerce.
Identify the major academic disciplines contributing to e-commerce.