-Electronic Commerce (EC) refers to the paperless exchange of business information using Electronic Data Interchange(EDI)

-Buying and selling of goods and services on the internet is also Electronic Commerce

Since the popularity of Internet, there has been an extraordinary growth in the amount of trade conducted electronically. Basic e-commerce includes:

?Transferring funds electronically,

?SCM- Supply Chain Management,

?Marketing,

?EDI- Electronic Data Interchange

?Data Collection systems

Electronic Commerce of today uses the World Wide Web at some point in the entire transaction's lifecycle.

Electronic Commerce systems have replaced paper-based work flow with much more reliable, fast and efficient communication between machines. Electronic Data Interchange is the most important electronic commerce technology.

Using the Internet to do business in a better and fast way is what E-Commerce is all about. Committing your firm to a serious online effort and integrating the online presence with the heart of your business is E-Commerce. The sales aspect of e-business is E-Commerce as it facilitates the financing and payment aspects of business transactions.

E-commerce types

E-commerce can be categorized into 5 types:

a.B2B (Business to Business): Selling between companies is B2B ecommerce. B2B makes the circle of suppliers wide and centralizes control.

b.B2C (Business to Consumer): Involves communicating with or selling to an individual instead of a company.

c.B2E (Business to Employee): Requirement of supply for employees to use in their jobs.

d.C2B (Consumer to Business): The project is posted online with a set budget which is reviewed by companies.

e.C2C (Consumer to Consumer): These days consumers don't rely on corporations, but conduct their own business transactions.

E-Commerce benefits

E-commerce is embraced for many reasons. But the three main areas that are often targeted for improvement with E-commerce are:

- Growth,

- Reduction in costs, and

- Improvement in the overall process.

One of the most important facets of the Internet in today's scenario is E-Commerce. The benefits of E-commerce are as follows:

?Carrying out businesses without time or geographical barriers. With Internet one can log on at any point of time and buying and selling is just a click away.

?Since during online purchase there is no human interaction, processing errors are eliminated and transaction is completed within no time.

?E-commerce is the cheapest means of doing business and is ideal for niche products.

Advantages from the buyer's perspective:

?Sorting out time is reduced

?Decisions are taken in a better way

?Invoice and order discrepancies are resolved in less time

?Alternative product range is also available

Strategic benefit of doing an ecommerce enabled business is reduction in delivery time and costs related to preparation of document, preparation of mail, entering data, telephone calling and expenses of supervision.

Operational benefits of e commerce include reduction in time and personnel required for completing business processes.

Other benefits of E-commerce include improvements I sales and marketing, service, finance and maintaining customer relations improving the way your business works.

Using the benefits of e-commerce can help you convert a business to e business.