DEFINITION
E-commerce is the process of buying or selling products or services via the Internet.
Almost any product or service can be offered via e-commerce, from books and music to financial services (IN VERDE
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ITALIANO E UNA BREVE SPIEGAZIONE IN INGLESE NEL CASO LA PROFE CE LA CHIEDA) and plane ticket. It is
about e-learning, e-government, social networks, and much more. The e-commerce will have an impact on a significant
portion of the world, affecting businesses, professions, and, of course, the people (the lifestyle).
HISTORICAL EVOLUTION
YESTERDAY
1979- Michael Aldrich is credited with inventing online shopping by connecting a modified domestic TV to a real-time
transaction processing computer via a domestic telephone line.
1982- Minitel was introduced in France and was used for online ordering (ordini online).
1994- Netscape releases the Navigator browser. Pizza Hut offers online ordering on its web page, and the first online
bank opens.
1998- PayPal comes into existence.
2002- eBay acquires PayPal for $1.5 billion and changes the scope of online shopping forever.
2003- After eight years, Amazon posts its first yearly profit.
TODAY
The most impactful changes that have taken place in the E-Commerce realm in the last 10 years include:
1-The rise of online marketplaces (l’ascesa dei mercati online); e-commerce is growing fast but represents 7% of all retail
sales (vendite al dettaglio) e-commerce marketshare, as a percentage of all retail sales, has doubled since 2008,
according to the United States Census Bureau.
IMMAGINE
The chart above shows that the growth of e-commerce is almost exponential. The jump in the last half-decade, however,
has only been from 3.5% to 7%.
2-The seamless shift to using mobile devices for online shopping (il cambiamento senza interruzioni di dispositivi mobili
per lo shopping online) ; mobile Is a Powerful Sales Driver but Adds Complexities to Buyer Journeys mobile: a topic on
every ecommerce leader’s mind.
IMMAGINE
3-The tremendous growth of online and digital marketing and advertising.
FUTURE
The future of ecommerce is uncertain, but some things remain constant – delivery times (tempi di consegna) will
improve, customer service will get increasingly (sempre di più) better, and product selection will become even greater.
Delivery Drones
Perhaps one of the most exciting developments in ecommerce is one we are already starting to see in testing – drone
delivery. Drones will in the future allow companies to deliver packages much more efficiently and quickly, with delivery
times of just 60 or even 30 minutes. Drones will be sent out from distribution centres and travel directly to the delivery
addresses provided, at significantly lower cost and logistical hassle (problemi) than at present. Amazon, among others,
are already seriously close to making this a reality across the entirety of their business, and it seems that others will be
clambering to follow suit as quickly as possible. (Amazon, è vicino dal rendere questa una realtà per quanto riguarda tutti
gli ambiti della loro attività, e gli altri per quanto possibile seguiranno il suo esempio).
IMMAGINE
MARKET SEGMENTS:
B2C (Business to Consumer):
Is a business model whereby (per cui) a company sells its products or services directly to consumers, who are the end-
users.
It becames a popular term in the Dot-com boom of the late 1990’s. (Dot-com is a term used to identify the companies
whose business is characterized by the provision (erogazione) of services online). It became typical of the retail industry
(aziende al dettaglio), for example, the electronic and computer manufactures sell their products to retailers (rivenditori al
dettaglio), who sell the products at a higher price to make a profit, or, if the costumers want to pay a lower price, they
also can receive the purchase (acquisto) via delibery to their home (spedizione a casa, senza comprare in negozio).
