What is E commerce? What are the characteristics?

E-commerce is a new type of business operation mode based on the application of browsers and servers in the open environment of the Internet, realizing consumers' online shopping, online transactions and payment between merchants.

1. Definition of e-commerce:

E-commerce usually refers to a wide range of business activities around the world, in the open network environment of the Internet, based on the browser server application mode, buyers and sellers do not meet each other to carry out various business activities, to achieve consumers' online shopping, online transactions between merchants and electronic payment and a variety of business activities, transaction activities, financial activities and related comprehensive service activities of a new business operation model. There are many different definitions given by countries, scholars, and business people according to their own status and the different angles and degrees of participation in e-commerce. E-commerce is divided into:

ABC, B2B, B2C, C2C, B2M, M2C, B2A (i.e., B2G), C2A (i.e., C2G), O2O, etc.

Second, the characteristics of e-commerce:

1. Universality.

As a new type of transaction, e-commerce has brought production enterprises, circulation enterprises, consumers and consumers into a new world of network economy and digital survival.

2. Convenience.

In the e-commerce environment, people are no longer limited by geography, and customers can complete the more complicated business activities in the past in a very simple way. For example, through online banking, you can access account funds and query information around the clock, and at the same time, the service quality of enterprises to customers can be greatly improved. In e-commerce business activities, there are a large number of network resources to develop and communicate, flexible working hours, complete company requirements, and have money and leisure.

3. Integrity.

E-commerce can standardize the workflow of transaction processing, and integrate manual operation and electronic information processing into an inseparable whole, which can not only improve the utilization rate of human and material resources, but also improve the rigor of system operation.

4. Security.

In e-commerce, security is a critical core issue, which requires the network to provide an end-to-end security solution, such as encryption mechanism, signature mechanism, security management, access control, firewall, anti-virus protection, etc., which is very different from traditional business activities.

5. Coordination.

Business activity itself is a coordination process, which requires coordination between customers and companies, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. In the e-commerce environment, it requires the cooperation of multiple departments such as banks, distribution centers, communication departments, and technical services, and the whole process of e-commerce is often completed in one go.

Business characteristics of e-commerce.

1.Transactions are paperless. Electronic transactions replace the paper medium of traditional commerce with electronic media, and replace the traditional written, signed form with electronic form. At the same time, the exchange, recording and storage of information are completed by optical, magnetic, electrical and other technical means.

2.The trading environment has changed. Traditional trading is:"Face to face"transactions are carried out between a specific place and a specific object, and the parties to the transaction are necessarily physically connected either by their presence or through **, etc.

Electronic trading is in many cases"Machine-to-machine"transactions, transactions are made on the internet, and the transaction partner may be anyone you meet on the internet. In this scenario, the traditional boundaries of time and space are broken down, and the trading environment is more open.

3.The contents of the transaction have changed. In the age of e-commerce, information itself has become the subject matter of transactions.

Information products can exist as both tangible and intangible carriers, and electronic technology makes it possible to trade information without any carrier. Digital technology has enabled many information products that originally needed paper, magnetic media, and physical media to transmit information, such as books, software, film and television dramas, etc., and can now be read, watched, etc., so that information can be separated from the carrier and become independent and tradable"property".The traditional laws on ** are basically for tangible goods, not for intangible information products!