E-Commerce a New Realm for Indian Industries Its Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Electronic Commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. Marketing activities in the Internet are actually a part of e-commerce. This wonderful technology provides businesses with faster, more efficient and powerful ways to handle designing, promoting and distributing products, doing research, and collecting of marketing information almost instantly. The development of e-commerce has given birth to new terms such as electronic funds transfer, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), Internet marketing, automated data collection systems, etc. They all designate certain key components of the sophisticated e-commerce system. The commercial application of the Internet became possible with the creating of World Wide Web and several tools to access websites. It is difficult to forecast, what lies in future with respect to full potential of this technology as the possibilities seem to be endless, and changes are being introduced at a much faster pace. This paper is the outcome of a review of various research studies carried out on E-commerce. It also assesses the potential opportunities and economic impacts of e-commerce in the business to business and business to consumer spheres; the forces underlying its expansion and the possible implications for structural and macro-economic policy management. It also points out the key challenges that are being faced by consumers relating to e-commerce and finally examines how the Indian companies are adopting e-commerce by observing it as a latest business tool for sustaining competitive advantage to counter the competitors.