Commerce · Ch 12 — Emerging Trends in Business
Meaning and Growth of E-Business and E-Commerce
Meaning and Growth of E-Business and E-Commerce
The last chapter of the Andhra Pradesh Intermediate first-year Commerce syllabus turns from the traditional forms and finance of business to the new ways in which business is now being conducted using computers, mobile phones and the internet. Two closely related terms sit at the centre of this chapter: e-business and e-commerce.
E-business, or electronic business, means conducting business activities with the help of information and communication technology. It is a wide term that covers not only buying and selling but every activity a firm carries out electronically — production planning, purchase of raw material, inventory management, internal communication between offices, customer service, banking and after-sales support. In short, e-business is the use of digital networks and computer systems to run the whole chain of business operations, front-end and back-end alike.
E-commerce, or electronic commerce, is narrower in scope. It specifically refers to buying and selling of goods and services, and the transfer of funds, through electronic means, mainly the internet. Placing an order for a product on a website, paying an electricity bill online, or booking a railway ticket through a mobile application are all everyday examples of e-commerce that an AP BIEAP Class 11 Commerce student can readily connect with. Every act of e-commerce is a part of e-business, but e-business also includes many internal, non-transactional activities that are not e-commerce at all — this relationship of e-commerce being one important part of the broader e-business is a point examiners often test directly.
The growth of e-business and e-commerce in India over the last two decades has been rapid, and the Andhra Pradesh Intermediate Commerce course expects students to be able to explain why. Rising internet and smartphone penetration, cheaper mobile data, growing comfort with online transactions among both urban and rural consumers, supportive government policies encouraging a less-cash and digitally connected economy, and the entry of a large number of firms offering goods and services online have all contributed to this growth. For a business, going online lowers the cost of reaching customers spread across a wide geographic area, while for a consumer it offers convenience, wider choice and the ability to compare products before buying — factors that together explain why e-business is treated as one of the most important emerging trends studied in this AP Board Commerce chapter.
The conduct of all business activities — including production, purchase, inventory management, marketing, finance, human resources and customer service — with the help of computers, information technology and electronic networks such as the internet.
Buying and selling of goods and services, and the transfer of funds, carried out through electronic means, chiefly the internet; a narrower activity that forms one important part of the broader field of e-business.