e-commerce

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Electronic commerce: Growing Worldwide Trend

Warm -up question

What’s e-commerce?

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Ans Buying and selling of goods and services over the Internet.
Source: www.ecommerce-dictionary.com/e/e-commerce.html

Part 1 Study the words then match them with the given meanings

entrepreneur merchandise e-commerce

distributor dot com stocks capital outlay

middleman teleworking cost of sales

distribution channel teleshopping direct exporting

1. companies that rely on the internet to market their services or products_____________

2. finished goods purchased by a wholesaler or retailer for resale or by a user through the internet_____________

3. service whereby customers may order goods either over the telephone or via the internet_____________

4. working at home by linking to the employer through fax, telephone or computer modern_____________

5. commerce carried out electronically, particularly over the internet._____________

6. expenditure on fixed assets such as machinery_____________

7. the expense incurred in making sales such as the cost of advertising, wages of sales personnel and so on____________

8. transaction between an exporter and an importer that does not involve a third party such as an agent_____________

9. route of a product starting from the producer to the ultimate purchaser_____________

10. company or person acting as an agent in the distribution of goods to retail outlets_____________

11. person who starts and runs a business activity; normally financial risks are involved_____________

12. wholesaler, retailer or broker who acts as an agent between a buyer and a seller. They tend to push up prices by adding on their own profit margin to the difference between the buying and selling prices; therefore, it can be beneficial for the buyer and seller to cut out the middle as in e-commerce.

Part 2 Read the passage and answer the question

Electronic Commerce

Historical development

The meaning of term “electronic commerce” has changed over the last 30 years. Originally, “electronic commerce” meant the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, usually using technology like Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), where both were introduced in the late 1970s, for example, to send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically.

The “electronic” or 'e' in e- commerce refers to the technology/systems; the “commerce” refers to be traditional business models. E-commerce is the complete set of processes that support commercial/business activities on a network. In the 1970s and 1980s, this would also have involved information analysis. The growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the 1980s were also forms of e- commerce.

In the dot com era, it came to include activities more precisely termed "Web commerce " -- the purchase of goods and services over the World Wide Web, usually with secure connections (HTTPS, a special server protocol that encrypts confidential ordering data for customer protection) with e-shopping cards and with electronic payment services, like credit card payment authorizations.

The emergence of e- commerce also significantly lowered barriers to entry in the selling of many types of goods; accordingly many small home-based proprietors are able to use the internet to sell goods. Often, small sellers use online auction sites such as EBay^(tm), or sell via large corporate websites like Amazon.com, in order to take advantage of the exposure and setup convenience of such sites.

Source: www.geocities.com

1. What does electronic commerce mean?_________________________________

2. How many years ago were EDI and EFT introduced? _____________________________________________________________________

3. In the 1980s, credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking were _____________________________

4. What’s HTTPS?_____________________________________________________

5. What’s the advantage of e-commerce for small seller? __________________________

Glossary of Electronic Commerce Terms
ASI	Automated Information Systems
Digital Cash	Sometimes known as 'e-cash' or electronic cash.
E-cash	Electronic cash.
E-mail	Electronic mail, messages sent electronically.
EDI	Electronic Data Interchange - transferring data in a standard format from one computer application to another either within a business or between businesses.
Electronic cash	Electronic currency which may be used to make payment electronically.
Electronic coins	Sometimes called electronic tokens, they represent an electronic system for making small payments.
Electronic purse (or wallet)	Software that allows electronic money to be stored and payments to be made.
Electronic Signature	The electronic version of a handwritten signature.
Encryption	Changing data into a form which is more secure.
Home Page	The reception page or main page of a Web site.
Smart card	Plastic card containing a microchip which can 'store' money. This can then be used as a means of payment with a device that can read the information on the card.
Web page	A document on the World Wide Web.
Web site	A location on the World Wide Web containing information relating to a person or organization.

Source: http://www.geocities.com/Axiom43/e-commerce.html

Practice conversation

Situation: Two friends are talking. One has been in the exporting business through the Internet (e-commerce) for sometime, and the other is an officer girl who is interested in the import-export business

Pipat : Hi Sarah How have you been? Long time no see.

Sarah: I’m fine What about you?

Pipat :I’m alright. But….

Sarah: Hey, what’s wrong with you?

Pipat :I’m thinking about having my own business. I really want to get into export.

Sarah: What products are you going to export?

Pipat :Stones.

Sarah: What?

Pipat :Stone jewelry such as quartz necklaces, garnet ring, aquamarine , earrings

Sarah: Do you have suppliers?

Pipat :Yes, my relatives have been in this business for a bout a decade. They’re willing to help me but they know nothing about import-export

Sarah:I see. You took a course in Import-Export when you were in college, didn’t you?

Pipat :That’s right.

Sarah: Great. Then do you know your products well?

Pipat :I’ve read a lot of books on those stones. There are a lot of beliefs and research on the effects of each stone on people’s health, wealth.

Sarah: Excellent. Are you good at taking photographs?

Pipat : No, but I have a lot of friends who are good at that plus art work skills

Sarah:Do you know how to create a website?

Pipat :Yes, I really like doing that

Sarah: That’s marvelous what you can do is to create your own website showing pictures of your beautify jewelry . Don’t forget to include the price of each item and ways to pay money. Normally, customers must pay via a credit card. Also , you must specify delivery method, delivery time, and satisfaction guarantee.

Pipat : Are you talk about e-commerce?

Sarah: Yes