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E-commerce could well change your lot, provided you have some technical know-how and a desire for exploration. As the name implies, electronic commerce or e-commerce is an internet-based business scheme that does not require any particular location, space and other stuff to conduct the operation. That is why it is considered as a virtual platform that dramatically downsizes operation costs and eliminates common hassles.

Nowadays people are accustomed to moving with shopping cart in the marketplace but this will become history in the near future as widespread availability of the internet will make everything readily accessible from any place. Furthermore, the advancement of wireless devices and improvement in mobile internet services will add a new dimension to our lifestyle by making everything easily available.

Before entering into details, a few basics of e-commerce will help. It is a kind of online business that entails an assortment of things such as electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, e-marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), automated inventory management systems, automated data collection systems and the like.

Today all e-commerce services operate using websites and sending emails. A customer can order items from a vendor’s website by making payment with a credit card (the punter enters their account information via the computer) or a previously established ‘cybercash’ account. The transaction information is transmitted to a financial institution for payment clearance and to the vendor for order fulfilment. The encryption technology keeps all personal information secure from unauthorised access.

The e-commerce trend began in 1968 when electronic data interchange gave companies the leeway to start electronic transaction. However, it was not until 1984 that a standardised format (known as ASC X12) provided a dependable means to conduct electronic business, and it was not until 1994 that Netscape introduced a browser program whose graphical presentation significantly eased the use of computer communication for all kinds of computer activity, including e-commerce.

Three types of electronic commerce are available today — business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C) and consumer-to-consumer (C2C). B2B scheme provides a direct interaction between two business activities. For instance, a wholesaler purchases one thousand units of printer from a manufacturer and deposits the payment to the manufacturer.

UN/EDIFACT is one of the most well-known and established B2B standards. ANSI ASC X12 is a popular standard in North America. RosettaNet is an XML based, emerging B2B standard in the high-tech industry. An approach like UN/CEFACT’s Modelling Methodology (UMM) might be used to capture the collaborative space of B2B business processes.

For firms in developing countries, B2B e-commerce scheme has emerged as a potential way to reduce costs substantially. It has also given them the opportunity to access global market. Internet-based B2B e-commerce should help producers in developing countries to obtain better information about global market and give them direct access to new customers.

Business-to-consumer or B2C gives businesses the room to sell their goods and services directly to consumers. Suppose you need to buy a book online and go to a particular website to place your order. The portal processes your request and after receiving the payment, ships the book to you.

Consumer-to-consumer or C2C involves electronically-facilitated transactions between consumers through some third party. A common example is online auction in which a consumer posts an item for sale and other consumers bid to purchase it. The third party generally charges a flat fee or commission. Examples of C2C are eBay, amazon.com etc.

Starting a online business is a good decision for which you first need to develop a smart interactive website. Then you select commodities that you want to sell online. You should maintain a good network with others to market your products. Products for sale can be made by you or purchased from secondary sources. You can maintain a warehouse for product distribution.

A newcomer in the market, your first imperative should be building confidence. Collecting email IDs could be a smart a way to send product profile to others. For instance, you send in hundreds of emails to different firms and individuals. If five among them send feedback to you, it will be a breakthrough because you have made it possible with limited resources. The website that posts your advertisement should be intelligent enough. You have to take digital image of each entity and place them on the web. Adding a client interaction form is mandatory to receive order from the clients. Mode of payment can be online or direct hard cash. If online payment facility is not available, you can collect your payment after delivering the products.

Recently another technology called ‘m-commerce’ is gaining huge popularity. Mobile commerce has introduced payment without contact which in practice gives people the true touch of liberty. Today all cellphone manufacturers produce specialised phones with mobile internet facility and the rapid improvement in operators’ network has enabled people to download rich contents on their palm-held devices.

In Japan I-mode service, unveiled by DoCoMo in February 1999, is a lucid example of the resounding success of m-commerce. I-mode facilitates buying tickets, ordering books and getting news delivered to mobile handset. The service has become the largest internet access platform in Japan. In addition, I-mode users can carry out banking transactions with up to 280 banks and securities brokers.

In Bangladesh e-commerce has not yet gathered the momentum. Although there exists some e-commerce websites, they do not provide full-fledged services. The absence of online transaction facility hinders the entire process. The government should come forward and initiate and regulate this service in order to create a true e-business environment in the country.

The internet is composed of many interconnected computer networks. Each network may link tens, hundreds, or even thousands of computers, enabling them to share information with one another and to share computational resources such as powerful supercomputers database of information. The internet has made it possible for people all over the world communicate with one other effectively and inexpensively. Unlike traditional broadcasting media, such as radio and television, the internet does not have a centralized distribution system. Instead, an individual who has internet access can communicate directly with anyone else on the internet, make information provided by others, or sell products with a minimum overhead cost.

The internet has brought new opportunities to government, business and education. Governments use the internet for internal communication, distribution of information and automated tax processing. In addition to offering goods and services online to customers, businesses use the internet to interact with other businesses. Many individuals use the internet for communicating through electronic mail (E-mail), for news and research information, shopping, paying bills and online banking. Educational institutions use the internet for research and deliver courses and material to students.

Use the internet has grown tremendously since its inception. The Internets success arises from its flexibility .Instead of restricting components networks to a particular manufacturer or particular type. Internet computer network>No network is too large or too small, too fast or too slow to be interconnected. Thus, the internet includes inexpensive networks that can span a continent and connect thousands of computers.

Internet service provider (ISP) provide internet access to customers ,usually for a monthly fee. A customer who subscribes to an ISP’s service uses the ISP’s network to access the internet. Because ISP’s offer their service to the general public, the networks they operate are known as public access networks. In the UNITED STATES, as in many countries where telephone service is a government-regulated monopoly, the government often controls ISP’s.

An organization that has many computers usually owns and operators a private network, called an intranet, which connects all the computers within the organization. To provide internet service, the organization connects its intranet to the internet. Unlike public access network, intranets are restricted to provide security. Only authorized computers at the organizations can connect to the intranet, and the organizations restricts communication between the intranet and the global internet. The restrictions allow computers inside the organizations to exchange information but keep the information confidential and protected from outsiders.

The internet has doubled in size every 9 to 14 months since it began in the late 1970’s. In 1981 only 213 computers were connected to the internet. By 2000 the number had grown to more 100 million. The current number of people who use the internet can only be estimated. Once survey found that there were 61 million internet users worldwide at the end of 1996, 148 million at the end of 1998, and 407 million by the end of 2000.Today, the number of internet users is estimated to be more than 800 million worldwide.