Definition of e-commerce

Definition of e-commerce, which in English is also known as e-commerce, where e before the word ‘commerce’ will express the connection between electronic systems, and that distinguishes it from traditional e-commerce aids. Human intervention is required only in cases of entering information or withdrawing it from the device being used.

Computers perform the transaction. The term electronic commerce is used in many disciplines. And it is precisely from this fact that there is no exact definition. The Center for E-Commerce Resources in 1996 defined e-commerce as’ the vast network of small businesses, government agencies, large corporations, and independent contractors in a single community with the ability to communicate with each other in it simultaneously using computer platforms. Kalakota and Whinston (1996) suggested three stages of e-commerce based on the business process. These are:

1. inter-organizational phase, which means representing business transactions for businesses between organizations.

2. phase within the organization, which reflects the integration of the internal business process;

3. business interaction with customers, which refers to the interaction of users with the business according to the terms of exchange, products, and services. Many scholars agree that e-commerce has created a new category of economic activity. Being such a phenomenon, corporations can gain a lot by dedicating themselves to this new technological development stream. Economic growth also depends on such a thing. As a result, many key players in the industry have decided to use their e-commerce definitions, driven by marketing demands. As mentioned above, there are different definitions of e-commerce. Thus in the Canadian E-Commerce Strategy, e-commerce is defined as a type of transaction consisting of the use of digital technology, including open networks (Internet), closed systems such as electronic data exchanges, and credit cards, and of debit ‘.

The Canadian Institute of Statistics, meanwhile, has defined e-commerce as ‘computer-mediated transactions involving the transfer of ownership or securities of movable and immovable assets’. The most common definition is ‘disseminating business information, maintaining business relationships, and conducting business transactions using the Internet. Boyer et al. (2002) defined e-commerce as all the interactive services performed on the Internet using advanced telecommunication technologies, information, and multimedia technologies. E-commerce is the conduct of business through electronic enterprises and consumers to exchange values ​​(monetary, goods, services, and data) electronically.

These definitions are given for specific contexts and environments that show how technology features have evolved about e-commerce. However, e-commerce also has other political, legal, social, and cultural aspects that should not be ignored. In this context, Shareef et al. (2009) define e-commerce as all business functions related to the external communication of information, exchange of movable and immovable products and services, or internal management via the Internet and in agreement with governments, partners and consumers.