Electronic commerce or e-commerce as we know it today consists of the buying, selling, of products or services over the Internet. Companies that participate in e-commerce can be traditional stores who are trying to supplement their physical store locations with ‘virtual’ stores on the Internet, or companies that exist only on the Internet and do not have any retail outlets.
E-commerce works like this: when you go to a website that has something for sale online, you select an item or service that you wish to purchase. Once an item is selected, it is places in a ‘shopping cart’ for you as you browse and look for other items to purchase. When you have selected all of the items you wish to buy, you enter the checkout process. This part of the e-commerce transaction is normally conducted using the secure mode of you browser because you are asked to provide import information to the seller. The information requested during the checkout of the e-commerce transaction is normally your name, address, shipping address, email address, and credit card details. It is normal for the e-commerce seller to request the name as it exactly appears on the credit card along with the credit card number and expiration date. In the recent past, e-commerce providers have been requesting the special 3 digit security code that is located on the back of the credit card.
Once the check step is completed, you are normally presented with an invoice or a description of what you have purchased along with a confirmation tracking number. You should print the information on the confirmation screen for later referral just in case there is problem with our order. If you provided your email address as part of the checkout, you will normally be sent additional information about your order such as a shipment tracking number.
If you have a website and you want to begin participating in e-commerce, there are a number of companies online who can help you get started. These companies will handle the entire transaction for you and many will even provide shipping of your products for an additional fee. This service is typically provided as a percentage of item’s sale.
