Introduction to E-commerce

E-commerce brings business processes, information systems, and network technologies together—and understanding it means looking beyond the online storefront. This textbook builds that broader picture, beginning with core concepts and moving through the technologies, management questions, system design, and applications that support electronic commerce.

Start with the foundations

The opening chapters introduce the development and definitions of e-commerce, its major transaction models, and the business functions that support it, including customer relationships, supply chains, logistics, and decision support. Mobile commerce is included as part of this introductory landscape. The result is a useful conceptual starting point before the book turns to the systems that make online business possible.

Technology, payments, and security

The technology sections cover web technologies such as HTML, XML, and Java; communication protocols including TCP/IP, HTTP, EDI, WAP, WLAN, and Bluetooth; and information-processing tools such as GPS and decision-support systems. Separate chapters address online banking, electronic payment methods, and e-commerce security. Considered together, these topics show how communication, transaction, and protection systems fit into the larger e-commerce environment.

From business rules to working systems

Management chapters examine e-commerce and the law, taxation, and network enterprise management. The practical sections then take up e-commerce architecture and system design, virtual-enterprise portal design, and computer-system integration. Readers interested in the organizational and technical sides of online business can follow how these concerns connect rather than treating them as isolated subjects.

Applications and study paths

The final part explores e-commerce in international trade, network application psychology, and case analysis. Its five-part organization—fundamentals, technology, management, practice, and applications—gives students a clear route through a wide-ranging subject, while the preface describes options for emphasizing technical, administrative, or application-focused study.

Who may find it useful?

Written as an introduction for readers who may have little previous e-commerce experience, the book is intended especially for college and postgraduate students in e-commerce, electronic information, information management, and business administration. It can also suit readers seeking a structured overview of the concepts and systems behind electronic commerce.