Exploring the Computing Definition of an E-Commerce Website

(Rupixen, 2019)

''In the last two decades, the widespread use of e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and eBay has contributed to substantial growth in online retail. In 2011, e-commerce accounted for 5% of total retail sales, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. By 2020, with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it had risen to over 16% of retail sales'' (Lutkevich, 2022).

An important aspect is that the terms e-business and e-commerce are commonly identified interchangeably. The term e-tail is also occasionally used in terms of transactional processes that comprise online retail shopping (Laudon & Traver, 2018). ''Some analysts and online business people have decided that e-business is infinitely superior as a moniker to e-commerce. That’s misleading and distracts us from the business goals at hand. The effort to separate the E-commerce and E-business concepts appears to have been driven by marketing motives and is dreadfully thin in substance'' (Sage, no date, pg.6).

E-commerce Definition

The E-commerce concept lies in the usage of the Internet and Web with the purpose of effectuating a transaction, through the utilization of digital platforms. In this context, it involves commercial transactions among organizations and individuals, wherein it involves the exchange of values in return for products or services (Laudon & Traver, 2018).

How it Works?

The customer or user's web browser will send feedback to the e-commerce website as the order is placed, successively, the customer's order data will be processed to a central computer commonly referred to as the order manager. This same data is forwarded to databases whereby it will be processed by a system that manages payment information, through the use of applications such as Paypal, Google Pay, etc. Subsequently, it returns to the order manager, in order to guarantee that store inventory and customer funds are sufficient to proceed with the order with no errors (Lutkevich, 2022).

As a consequence, the order manager communicates with the store's web server subsequent to the validation of the order. As a next step, the customer will be notified by a displayed on-screen message showing that the order was successfully processed. The order manager will then communicate with the warehouse or provider, in order to dispatch the product or service directly to the customer (Lutkevich, 2022).

References: 

(No date) Introduction to e-commerce - sage publications inc. Available at: https://us.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-assets/9598_book_item_9598.pdf (Accessed: 11 July 2023).

Laudon, K.C. and Traver, C.G. (2018) E-commerce 2017: Business, Technology, Society. Harlow, Essex: Pearson. 

Lutkevich, B (2022) TechTarget Available at: What is E-Commerce? Definition and Meaning (techtarget.com) (Accessed: 05/07/2023)

Rupixen (2019) person using laptop computer holding card Available at: Person using laptop computer holding card photo – Free Online Image on Unsplash (Accessed: 06/07/2023)