Commerce is the word related to business or trade. The Exchange of goods/services from producer to the end user /consumer is a trade, and commerce is a division of it. Moreover it is like an activity with transactions of goods/services to the economic value such as money. The transaction can be anything. In the present scenario companies have changed the meaning of commerce. It becomes a buzz word in the organizations.

The companies are using it as a tool for their profit maximization by means of marketing their products/services to the market or by selling it to the end user. Hence, commerce is related to the marketing of products/services. To make the transactions in a better way the companies use marketing strategies as a tool. So in layman terms "commerce is nothing but trade ". After globalization the world became flat, there is no border for the companies to make transactions. There is no limited area for them that they have to make their profits there itself. The companies have started their ways to define their trade. They have changed the commerce in their ways by utilizing technology, so as to reach the success in a competitive world. The world is full of competition, where in each sector there are number of players to make the things happen. Therefore, in such an atmosphere of business the companies have introduced a new tool to make the works easy and to reach every corner of globe. That is by making lower cost of operations and to get good profit. The companies have initiated a new tool that is "E-Commerce".

E-commerce is also known as Electronic Commerce. "E-commerce is like the same way of trade (Buying and selling) of goods/services in the mode of Electronic that may be Internet or other computer networks." In lay man terms, buying or selling of goods/services by using technology. As the internet reaches to the every corner of the globe, it becomes a powerful tool to use in trade. By using the growth of technology such as e-mails, EDI / ERP, Online marketing the companies does the trade. Most of them use the World Wide Web as a mode of transactions in many cases. Most of the business is done through Internet only. For ex: The retailers do their business on the websites with online credit/payment facility for the customers. The retailers are called as "E-tailers" and their business is known as "e-tail" as it is being done online. Hence the largest percentage of the companies in each sector does the trade through online.

Even the most successful company, DELL started its business through online only. The company is well known for its mode of business. "This is all about selling your products/services to the market in the corners of globe by means of utilising technology." Therefore this becomes an important tool for the business to happen in a profitable manner. In this mode of trade also, we have B2B and B2C marketing. The B2B marketing is between the business parties only, for ex: The commodity exchange between the parties of different business arenas. And when it comes to the B2C, the Business between the company and the consumers through electronic mode. For ex: The company Amazon.com does business directly with consumers through electronic (Online) mode. These companies which are working on these environments have their success stories. They have applied the perfect way of E-commerce techniques so as to attain the success.

There is a great change in the E-commerce since it is started. In the earlier days it was used only for the commercial transactions such as Electronic Data Interchange and Electronic fund transfers and the document . transfer like purchase order and invoice. But as there is a growth of credit cards, ATM, telephone/ Net banking made certain changes in E-commerce. After the invention of World Wide Web by Mr. Tim Berners- Lee in 1990 it has its impact on E-commerce but it becomes popular after 1994. Then with the increase in technology and Internet services it becomes a necessary way of doing trade.

It has its applications in different forms and sectors, for ex: online shopping, Teleconference, commodity exchange, Software/Hardware sales etc. It is everywhere. The E-commerce has changed the scenario of Trade. It has turned the traditional trade into modern day of trade. The company like e-bay, which is the first player to start the E-commerce actions. They have made changes in the Trade scenario by leaving behind huge footprints of how we buy and sell. There is a change of definition by their way of business. E-bay sells jewellery in every 6 minutes and watches in every 24 minutes. This shows their way of doing business through online. There are players who have seen profits as well losses in this form of business. But as of usage of internet in India,

1. 81,000,000 Internet users as of Nov/08, 7.0% penetration, per ITU.
2. 5,280,000 broadband internet connections as of June/09, per TRAI.
(Source: Internetworldstats.com)

Therefore from the above we can say that there is a huge growth in the internet users which reflects the activities on internet. There is good number of users of internet in India and this may be of different activities. For ex: e-mail and IM - 98%, job search - 51%, e-banking - 32%, bill payment -18%, stock trading - 15%, and matrimonial search - 15% (internetworldstats.com says).

There are some advantages like Time saving, Chose of required product, online payment, Auction etc. Even there are some disadvantages too, such as Phishing attack, loss of data that is problem with security. As the technology is growing the same way cybercrime is also growing, therefore one need to take care of these activities while buying and selling online.

From the above discussion we can make clarity that most of the people are friendlier with Internet and its usage. And, they have adopted the E- Activities as their Daily routine. Therefore E-commerce becomes an important tool for Trade activities. It's become E-commerce to E-veryday life.

About Author / Additional Info:
An MBA from GITAM University,India .

Reference: Wikipedia