A common definition of e-commerce of selling products on a click of a mouse through payment gateways for prescription drug and body supplements now has extended to a fully grown business activity. Ranging from a leading fashion apparel brand to banking and financial services, now more and more businesses are conducted through an E-commerce business module. With better proliferated version, E-commerce now covers business information sharing, business relationships and business transactions. It has adapted and adequately recognized for marketing methods as B to B and B to C.
As evident, most latest and all pervasive method to do business in modern times, E-commerce is not merely a set of computers connected on Interne, but is the most comprehensive method of doing business, online.
However, the expansion of e-commerce in a region depends upon several factors that determine its structure and operations. The most crucial areas that influence performance of e-commerce in region includes technology used political factors, social factors and economical factors.
In the range of technological factor, it is the telecommunication infrastructure that controls the operations of e-commerce in cyberspace. Providing the backbone infrastructure and architecture for running an e-commerce venture internet service providers, bandwidth, services like ADSL, ISDN play an important role.
Along with technological factor, the political factors as well can’t be ignored for running an online business. Being the nature of business occurring even across national boundaries, the government support is of optimal value for financial operations and developing new technology under e-commerce. Legislations and public policies also play an important role in defining the structure and behavior of e-commerce in a country.
But without the consideration of masses, which will use the facilities, any discussion on e-commerce is futile. Social factors as the working population in the country, their educational standard, penetration of computers and computer literacy are the factors that determine the future of any e-business in a country.
Finally, economic scenario in a region can’t be ignored in the purview of development and proliferation of e-commerce in an area or region. GDP, average income, technological expenditure, research and reinvention in business models are crucial for an e-business to flourish and grow, successfully.