E-commerce and small Business

University Degree Mathematical and Computer Sciences

4. Write on the impact of IT to date on one of the sectors of the business world or community services, and describe what changes in technology and structure are reasonably likely to take place in the next 5-10 years, indicating the likely effect on customers and society. You may choose any business or community sector .

Every business considering a website for e-commerce purposes must develop an underlying strategy. This is critical. After all, just posting a website probably will not draw substantial traffic. The target audience needs to be educated about the existence of the site. Developing a strategy will force you to consider your approach towards the Internet and help set realistic goals. Without quantifiable goals it will be impossible to gauge whether your investment in e-commerce is successful or not. Many businesses attempt to enter the Internet and e-commerce with a huge splash.

The result is over-engineered sites that are complex and cumbersome. If the website navigation is complicated or the pages load slowly, the potential customer is likely to become frustrated and abandon your site for happier surfing elsewhere. Therefore, maintain a customer focus and make the site simple. In addition, give the potential customer alternative choices in doing business with you. Some people like to do research on the web but would rather call or visit when they are ready to buy. Give them the telephone number and the address on every page. In addition, careful consideration must be given to design. Pay particular attention to how the site is laid out.

For example, many people are not comfortable with buying clothes over the Internet. They want to try clothes on before they buy them to make sure they fit or that they look good in a particular style. On the other hand, books or computer equipment sell well in an electronic environment because people know what to expect from the product. If you are not sure if your product or service is a good fit with the Internet, survey your target market to see if you can learn what they think about e-commerce and your product.

Internet use is still growing at a pretty good clip worldwide, and more users means more e-commerce transactions. Nearly 1 billion people, about 15 percent of the world's population, will be using the Internet by 2005, (IDC) found, and their use will fuel more than $5 trillion in Internet commerce. That represents a staggering 70 percent compound annual growth rate when compared to Internet spending of $354 billion in 2000. "With the dot-com stock crash and U.S. economic doldrums so much in the news, it's easy to lose sight of the explosive growth in ...

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Add to that the proliferation of mobile phones and other Internet access devices that will allow people to access the Internet anytime, anywhere, and you have a scenario for explosive growth." With the much-publicized periods of hypergrowth over, and with the mature markets topping out, Internet use in the coming years will be widespread, as opposed to dominated by a single region. In 2000, the United States accounted for 34 percent of Internet users, with Europe at 29 percent, Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) at 16 percent, Japan at 10 percent, and rest of world at 11 percent. But growth in the number of Internet users in Asia-Pacific and the rest of the world -- especially in Latin American countries -- will quickly outpace growth in more developed countries such as the United States, Canada and major European nations. By 2005, the balance of Internet users will completely shift, with Asia-Pacific rivaling Europe for the most Internet users while the United States slips to third place.

According to the First Quarter 2001 Global Internet Trends report from , one in six European adults used the Internet to seek pricing or product information for products and services. One in 11 adults actually made an online purchase in the same period. Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland led the region in terms of Web-based browsing and purchasing, while Belgium/Luxembourg, Italy and Spain had relatively few people browsing or purchasing via the Internet. Half of the Europeans who have browsed for information in the past six months have purchased, with browsing to purchase rates highest in Britain, Norway and Sweden. Italians and Spanish, on the other hand, are more reluctant than other Europeans to buy after having sought product information online. According to Nielsen//NetRatings, only Sweden comes close to the United States, where 74 percent of all Web surfers shop online each month and 30 percent buy online. In the Asia-Pacific region, adults in Australia and New Zealand are most likely to use the Internet to seek information about products and services, with one in four adults turning to the Net. Purchasing online is also common in Australia and New Zealand, as well as South Korea. Only a very small proportion of people in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore have bought goods and services online.

E-Commerce, Mobile Access Interest from Net Users

This year's research found that online e-commerce activities have exploded into the mass market, as millions of consumers discover services like shopping, banking, news, stocks, and health information. The study also shows a strong and growing demand for access to the online medium through cell phones, TVs, voice portals, and other non-PC devices. According to the study, online commerce has become an everyday activity for millions of users.

This year, more than half of the survey's respondents (56 percent) say that they currently shop online, nearly double the percent of those who did in 1998 (31 percent). Similarly, as the holiday season approaches, the percent of users who say they intend to shop online during that period has doubled from 14 percent in 1998 to 28 percent today. "Two years ago, most online users were only dipping their toes in the electronic commerce pool, but this year, they're diving right in," said Marshall Cohen, America Online Senior Vice President of Brand Development. "With a majority of users saying they now shop online and 80 percent saying they research products online before buying something, we're seeing a true coming-of-age for electronic commerce." In addition to shopping more frequently, consumers are also spending more when they shop online.

As users grow accustomed to integrating the online medium in their everyday lives, they are also increasingly demanding access to it from any place, at any time. More than half of users (54 percent) say they would be interested in using a small Internet device to go online from any room in the house, and just under half (46 percent) say they would be interested in having their e-mail read to them by calling a special phone number. Nearly half of users (43 percent) already log on to their home accounts even when they are away from home, up from 36 percent in 2004. If they own a laptop, more than a third (37 percent) users checks his or her e-mail account when traveling for business, and 32 percent do so when traveling on vacation. Looking ahead to a much more fully wired world, 60 percent of respondents believe that within 10 years, every room in their house will be wired for Internet access. And showing the potential for wireless devices, 63 percent already also own at least one cell phone.

More than half of online users (53 percent) have a computer and TV in the same room of their house, and 60 percent say they currently watch TV and go online at the same time. Additionally, 51 percent say they would be interested in checking their e-mail through their television, and two-thirds of online users (67 percent) would be interested if they could check out a Web site they'd seen on TV without getting up from the TV to find it.

E-mail addresses have become such a pervasive part of an individual's identity that 75 percent of Internet users expect more people to know their e-mail than their phone number in the future. A full half of online users (50 percent) now say that they prefer to use e-mail instead of the telephone (34 percent) to communicate with business associates. As people spend more time online, the study found they're also spending less time doing more traditional media activities. More than a third of users (34 percent) say that they are watching less TV since they started going online, up from 26 percent a year ago.

Finally, online users are unambiguous about their views on privacy, with virtually all of the respondents (94 percent) saying it is "very important" that their privacy and security are protected while online.

During the perpetual evolution of human beings in time and space it is first time that one science the information science find applications in all aspects of human activities.From home to industry, from the kitchen,refrigerator,bathroom,Wifi internet,to multiple complicated industrial units,from Offices ,stock markets,hospitals,complicates security and control systems,telecommunications , transportation and too many others human implementations the information science integrated with telecoms in multiple cosubstatntial direction opens a new frontier for the human race ,a frontier which is now at its naissant.

It is a new era for the human race an era which will mark a new evolution,a new start for for the people and we wish this will not remain and will not be a privilege for the few.

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