Electronic Commerce
Richard L. Wisniewski
Liberty University
BUIS 620
Professor Gerald

Abstract
This paper briefly discusses several aspects of electronic commerce including a brief description, business-to-business, characteristics of business-to business, business-to-consumer perceptions, and data of business-to-consumer market trading volume, using data retrieved from the 2011 Top30 of B2C online retailers in China.

Electronic Commerce “E-commerce refers to the production, advertising, sale, and distribution of products and services from business to business and from business to consumer through the internet” (Salvatore, 2012, p. 150). This paper briefly examines several aspects of electronic commerce including a brief description, along with business-to-business, characteristics of business-to business, business-to-consumer perceptions, and data of business-to-consumer market trading volume, using data retrieved from the 2011 Top30 of B2C online retailers in China.
The earliest example can be found in the travel and hospitality industries and the airline industry in particular, which initiated many ground- breaking e-commerce applications for more than three decades. Through the use of central reservation systems, travel and hospitality companies manage the sale of their inventory. Initially, central reservation systems were used simply to record transactions against the sale of physical inventory at a fixed price. Driven by market forces, it became apparent that the information collected could be used for better management of prices and inventory, leading to increased margins with minimal additional capital outlay. Overbooking, demand forecasting taking willingness to pay into account, optimizing the mix of fare products, and doing so evolved to the point where "rocket science" is now an apt descriptor. Collectively, these practices have come to be known as revenue or yield management, and they are considered essential in many industries. (Cross, 1997 & McCartney, 2000). E-commerce now allows retailers to market products and complete transactions over the worldwide web. Advancement in Internet technology has provided users improved levels of interaction on websites, and consumers expect an equal response when shopping online. These new and better experiences include online collaboration, social networking, and closer simulation of the in-store shopping experience. According to one survey, US online retail sales reached $175 billion in 2007 and are projected to grow to $335 billion by 2012 (Forrester Research 2008).
Business-to-Business E-Commerce
Characteristics of Business-to Business

Business-to Business (B2B) allows a business to interact with another business electronically via the Internet. The benefits of the B2B include: increase productivity; reduce potential staff overhead, and clear audit trailing (Yang & Papazoglou, 2000). Although B2B has evolved in the past decade, there are still several issues facing B2B e-commerce. Privacy, security, and trust have received publicity due to the hacking and disabling of the web pages of some high profile companies. The challenge is to improve the firewalls and improve the perception of users about the Internet being safe from fraud. In addition, there are legal issues related to individuals and the businesses they interact with via the Internet (Nagendra, 2000).
Separately, governments in the U. S. and several other countries are actively reexamining their tax regulations pertaining to e-commerce in order to get their fair share of the e-commerce revenues. Another challenge is the integration and management of the various players in the e-commerce industry including, e-commerce software developers, banks, businesses, and consumers. Corporations are seeking to hire and train employees that are "e-savvy". Finally, the e-commerce industry must be apprehensive about the ability of the small business community,