Amrit Pal Kaur

What is E-Commerce?

Technology – enabled transactions & technology –mediated exchanges of digitized information between
parties (individuals or organizations) as well as the electronically based intra-organizational or inter-
organizational activities that facilitate such exchange. E-Commerce, also known as Electronic Commerce or
Internet commerce, refers to the buying and selling of goods or services using the internet, and the transfer
of money and data to execute these transactions. E-Commerce is often referred to the sale of physical
products online, but it can also describe any kind of commercial transaction that is facilitated through the
internet. In other words, E-Commerce refers to commercial transactions conducted online. This means that
whenever you buy and sell something using the Internet, you’re involved in E-Commerce.

Whereas E-Business refers to all aspects of operating an online business, E-Commerce refers specifically to
the transaction of goods and services. Popular examples of E-Commerce generally involve buying
and selling online, but the E-Commerce universe contains other type of activities as well. Basically, any
form of business transaction conducted electronically can be referred to as E-Commerce. Those involved in
the transactions can represent multiple combinations of customers, businesses, vendors or other suppliers, or
government agencies.

E-Commerce has experienced considerable growth since the dawn of the internet as a commercial
enterprise. It eliminates time and geographical limitations and can streamline operations and lower costs .

It includes business-to-business, business-to-consumer, and even consumer-to-consumer transactions that

involve the buying and selling of goods and services, the transfer of funds, and even the exchange of ideas.
E-Commerce includes functions such as marketing, manufacturing, finance, selling, and negotiations.

E-Commerce (sometimes called as web-based commerce) is the term used to describe the activity of doing
business on the Internet. The phrase can also refer to downloading software, accessing games, or
downloading content such as journal articles and books.

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Scope of E-Commerce
Inspite of few challenges, still E-Commerce is booming day by day and sooner will become the drastic
demand of the users. Here we are discussing about the scope, existence and future of E-Commerce
businesses:-

 Social Media: Majority of online buying decisions are made on Social Media. Social network like
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest etc have become a medium for easy log-in and
purchase. Moreover, the clients can stay updated via the posts published on this media. Further, the
advertising & promotions on these social sites has increased the chances of success of generating
transactions to many folds.
 Drone Delivery: Companies have been working their way around to innovate the delivery process to
shorten human effort as well as time. The answer to these problems is Delivery by Drones. DGCA is
now fast tracking the process of issuing guidelines for the use of drones for civil purposes in India. If
everything goes as per the plan, then India might become the first country in the world to allow the use
of drones for civil purposes.
 App only Approach: Statistics suggest the future of internet lies in mobiles. Experts say more than
580 million people in India will use the Internet by 2018, and 70-80% of them will access the Web on
mobile phones. This will cause all major players to switch to app only model. About two-thirds of its
online traffic of Flipkart comes from users in small cities and towns. Flipkart’s app-only approach
assumes larger significance in these places where most people don’t own desktop computers and have
limited access to broadband.
 Google’s Buy Now Button: Google is reportedly working on its own “Buy Now” style button that
would allow e-shoppers search for products on Google and purchase them with a single click, right
through Google’s own search results page. The button will be displayed near sponsored search results
beneath a “Shop on Google” heading at the top of the page. When users click on the Google’s “Buy
Now” button, they will be re-directed to another Google page that will allow them to choose specific
item details, such as color and size, and then select a shipping route. Google would then pass on order
information, including the customer’s name and shipping address, to the retailer.
 Artificial Intelligence: As the ecommerce space gets saturated, investors looking for innovative use
of technology are zeroing in on companies developing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. Jet
Airways is experimenting with one such solution devised by Vizury.

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What are the Advantages of E-Commerce?

In this section, we will learn what the Advantages of E-Commerce are. From the low financial cost to
passive income, there are a lot of benefits of E-Commerce to the person as business owner as well as a
customer. These benefits of E-Commerce are discussed below:-

1. Low Financial Cost

One of the benefits of E-Commerce is that it has a lower startup cost. Physical retail stores have to pay up to
thousands of rupees to rent one of their store locations. Also, they have several upfront costs such as store
signs, store design, buying inventory, sales equipment, and more. Physical retail stores also have to pay staff
to work and run each location. They may also need to hire security staff depending on the product value in
the store.

Depending on what type of E-Commerce business that runs, it may only need to hire employees when
business grows to a certain level. If business chooses to dropship, it won’t need to buy bulk inventory saving
you a lot of money. Business store logo is often more affordable than a store sign. Business expenses are
generally much lower in E-Commerce. This is one of the most attractive E-Commerce benefits for new
entrepreneurs looking to keep their costs low.

2. 24/7 Potential Income

One of the advantages of E-Commerce is that online stores are always open for business. With
business’s Facebook advertisements, it can attract someone at 11 p.m. or 4 a.m.. Most physical
location stores are open between 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. By being available at all hours, business can attract people
who would normally pick up a product in stores, if the store were open. Business can also attract those who
may have odd work schedules or who don’t have time to shop in-person. For a customer to order at night,
business doesn’t need to have employees working the night shift to ensure all orders get processed &
business never needs to hire a security guard.

3. Sell Internationally

Next on the list of E-Commerce benefits is that a new brand can be sold to customers around the world
easily. The business have the ability to discover its audience whether they’re in the U.K., South America, or
neighboring countries. If business chooses to dropship from AliExpress, many products offer affordable E-
Packet shipping or free shipping. This allows business to price and ship your products competitively to a
worldwide audience.

4. Easy to Showcase Bestsellers

E-Commerce benefits like being able to easily display best-sellers makes it easier to show off products to
customers. While business can design a brick and mortar store to sway people to buy certain products, it’s
easier for a customer to find the best-sellers in an online store. The reason why business want customers to

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buy your best-sellers is because they’re proven. Other customers have already bought them and are happy
with their purchase. If business wants to showcase new products to customers it can include them in its
upsell, email marketing or retargeting advertisements.

5. Personalized Online Experience

Website personalization, one of the online business advantages, can enhance the online shopping
experience, or segment email lists based on purchases made, location or even how much money a customer
spent. You can also retarget a customer who visited your store showing them an ad for a product they added
to their cart and forgot about. If online business has a login feature, it can have a welcome message appear
such as ‘Welcome back (name).’ Product bundles can help the customer buy more for a better price
increasing average order value. Business can also personalize upsells based on what the customer has
looked at or what organization think they might like based on their purchase behavior.

6. Affordable employees

One of the benefits of E-Commerce is that hiring employees is affordable. Business can choose to outsource
work to virtual assistants in countries where the cost of living is much lower. The organization needs fewer
employees in an E-Commerce business than a retail location. A huge advantage of E-Commerce is business
doesn’t need to hire employees at launch. Business can start and run an E-Commerce business all by itself.

7. Easier to Encourage Impulse Buy

Another one of the E-Commerce benefits is that getting business its customer to become impulse buyers is
possible. If business has an attractive product photography, one with vibrant color or human emotion, you
can create advertisements that drive impulse buys. Business can also execute a range of scarcity tactics such
as countdown timers or showcasing limited quantities.

8. Easy to Retarget or Remarket to Customer

It’s easy to create retargeting advertisements to retarget customers in business area when running an online
business making it one of the most profitable E-Commerce benefits. Business can create a Facebook pixel.
It can use the Shoelace Shopify app to retarget its browsers who visit its store but don’t buy. In E-
Commerce, business can retarget people who add to cart but don’t abandon and don’t buy or who visit a
blog post and never buy. Business can also collect email addresses easily with an effective pop-up or lead
magnet and continue marketing to its customers after it has made the sale.

9. Customers Get a Less Invasive Experience

Some people dread walking into a brick and mortar store as they’re forced to interact with the store’s
employees. Whether learning about a sales promotion or being asked questions throughout the shopping
experience, some may prefer online shopping as it can be a little less invasive making it one of the best

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benefits of E-Commerce. If a customer wants to contact the store owner, they can click on a live chat
feature, email or send a Facebook message.

10. Gain Access to Customer Data Easily

One of the best E-Commerce advantages is that organization can easily gain access to data analysis about its
customer. Most people feel uncomfortable giving away email addresses or postal codes to physical retailers.
In E-Commerce, organization can get its customer’s name, mailing address, e-mail address, and phone
number. That means business have at least three different ways to communicate and build a relationship
with customers. Business can even have them fill out marketing surveys, share their birth date with it, and
more. If business asks them to create an account, it can obtain even more information from them to better
serve them.

11. Able to Process a High Number of Orders

If a person chooses to dropship, he/she can process a high number of orders with ease. As business
continues to grow, it might choose to hire employees to help with order processing. In retail stores, long line
ups can deter people from shopping. With E-Commerce, there’s no waiting time. A customer can place
orders on his or her own schedule with no delays allowing the organization to accept a high number of
orders.

12. Can Scale Business Quickly

One of the benefits of E-Commerce is that it’s easy to scale the business quickly. Business can increase its
ad budget when advertisements are performing well without having to worry too much about keeping up
with the demand, especially if business dropship. With brick and mortar stores, if business store needs to
grow in space to accommodate new products or add more cashiers. Business will need to find a bigger
space, renovate and wait for its lease to end. This delays its ability to scale. If business create informational
products, it runs into a challenge again as it takes time to write e-books, courses, and more. With drop
shipping, business can add new products to its store without having to worry about shipping products or
holding inventory allowing business to grow quickly.

13. Can Grow Business Organically with Content

With E-Commerce, business can grow organic traffic and sales with E-Commerce blogging. From making
videos to writing blog content, business will be able to optimize its store to drive traffic and sales without
having to spend more money. A brick and mortar retailer would need to market to their customers to
encourage visits or ensure they’re located in a high traffic area to get more shoppers. With E-Commerce,
business will be able to not only get traffic organically through content creation; business will be able to
monetize those customers with retargeting advertisements.

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What are the Disadvantages of E-Commerce?

1. No One Can Buy During a Site Crash

The worst of the disadvantages of E-Commerce is that no one can buy from business store if its site crashes.
That’s why it’s important to ensure that business website is hosted on the right platform. For example, if
business is paying the minimum hosting fee and get a surge in traffic from a high converting advertisement
or a television shout-out like Shark Tank, business site will likely to crash. Fortunately, Shopify offers free
hosting in their monthly fee allowing business to have one of the best servers on the market. In recent
memory, there was only one time where sites were down. However, E-Commerce stores weren’t the only
affected. Twitter, Spotify, Soundcloud, and more were affected by the crash. The issue was resolved the
same day. Yet, site crashes on Shopify are so rare that it’s likely not to cause problems in business.

2. Customers Can’t Try Before They Buy

While this is currently a problem for many retailers, this won’t be a long-term problem. With augmented
reality, more stores are starting to add AR elements to their store to allow customers to try products
on. Augmented reality E-Commerce companies like Holition and Augment, offer solutions for businesses to
create a more interactive experience with its customers. If person owns a cosmetics store, he can check
out Sephora’s Virtual Artist app for an example of a beauty retailer with an augmented reality experience.

3. E-Commerce Is Highly Competitive

Finding the right niche is another one of the worst disadvantages of E-Commerce. The reality is the best
niches are often the most competitive that’s why people are drawn to them. The more competitive a niche is,
the more expensive advertisements for that niche are. There are a couple of ways around this. First,
company can go after a different audience than their competitors. If all business’s customers are getting
competitors through Facebook advertisements, business might try ranking organically with SEO
optimization. If all company’s competitors are using Pinterest, the company might try Instagram
marketing as Instagram is also a very visual platform. Second, if company advertisements are expensive,
company can send traffic to blog posts and retarget its customers who visit them to create lower cost
advertisements.

4. Customers Can Be Impatient

If a customer has a question in store a salesperson is on the floor ready to answer them. However, of the E-
Commerce disadvantages is that most businesses delay responding to customer inquiries. The reality is that
most customers expect a response from a business within the hour on social media. If organization delays in
responding to their message, they can become angry and shop somewhere else instead. The company needs
to be online 24/7. The company can hire customer service representatives who are trained to make its
customers happy via Upwork.

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5. Business Needs To Ship its Products

Customers consider shipping times to be one of the worst E-Commerce disadvantages. When a customer
shops in person he/she can take the product home right away. But, with online shopping, most customers
receive their products in a week or more. While Amazon offers same day shipping, it wasn’t a profitable
model until they created Amazon Prime. It only became profitable because they have tens of millions of
Prime members. The solution is to be transparent with your customer. Let them know when they can expect
packages when they place an order.

6. Physical Retail is Still More Popular Despite Decline

Even though one of the benefits of E-Commerce is that it’s growing, physical retail still owns most of the
market share. In 2014, the retail industry had accumulated over $22 trillion. Yet, E-Commerce had only
made $1.3 trillion worldwide. Having an online business in the early stages allows company to become a
leader in their niche. Yet, most money made is in physical retail stores making it an E-Commerce
disadvantage.

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Types of E-Commerce

The first thing that comes to our mind when we talk about E-Commerce is that it is an online commercial or
sales transaction that takes place between the supplier and the customer. While the idea of the concept is
right, there are more specific factors involved that categorize E-Commerce into six major types. Each of
these types has different features and attributes.

Typically, E-Commerce business models can be divided into six major types, such as:
a) Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
b) Business-to-Business (B2B)
c) Consumer-to-Business (C2B)
d) Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)
e) Government-to-Business (G2B)
f) Business-to-Government (B2G)
g) Consumer-to- Government (C2G)
h) Government -to- Consumer (G2C)
i) Mobile Commerce( M-Commerce)

1. Business to consumer (B2C) – The B2C transactions happen between businesses and consumers. In this
type of E-Commerce, businesses are the ones selling products or services to end-users (i.e.
consumers).Online retail typically works on a B2C model. Retailers with online stores such as Wal-
Mart, Macy’s, and IKEA are all examples of businesses that engage in B2C E-Commerce.

2. Business to business (B2B) – As its name states, B2B E-Commerce pertains to transactions conducted
between the two businesses. Any company whose customers are other businesses operate on a B2B model.
Examples include Xero, online accounting software for small businesses, ADP, a payroll processing
company, and Square, a payments solution for SMBs.

3. Consumer to business (C2B) – Consumer to business E-Commerce happens when a consumer sells or
contributes monetary value to a business. Many crowd sourcing campaigns fall under C2B E-Commerce.
Soma, a business that sells eco-friendly water filters is one example of a company that engaged in B2C E-
Commerce. Back in 2012, Soma launched a Kick starter campaign to fund the manufacturing of their
product. The project was successful, and Soma went on to raise $147,444.

4. Consumer to consumer (C2C) – C2C E-Commerce happens when something is bought and sold
between two consumers. C2C commonly takes place on online marketplaces such as eBay, OLX in which
one individual sells a product or service to another.

5. Government to business (G2B) – G2B transactions take place when a company pays for government
goods, services, or fees online. Examples could be a business paying for taxes using the Internet. G2B is a

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business model that refers to government providing services or information to business organization.
Example of this G2B model is SBIR.gov, this site is designed to help small businesses connect with federal
agencies as part of the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) and the Small Business
Technology Transfer Program (STTR) & NSF Innovation Corps, full form The National Science
Foundation Innovation Corps — also called “I-Corps” — program brings entrepreneurial know-how
together with discoveries ripe for innovation out of the university lab.

6. Business to government (B2G) – When a government entity uses the Internet to purchases goods or
services from a business, the transaction may fall under B2G E-Commerce. Let’s say a city or town hires a
web design firm to update its website. This type of deal may be considered a form of B2G. Government
uses B2G model website to approach business organizations. Such websites support auctions, tenders and
application submission functionalities.

7. Consumer to government (C2G) – Consumers can also engage in C2G E-Commerce. People paying for
traffic tickets or paying for their car registration renewals online may fall under this category. This type of E-
Commerce when individual sells its products or services directly to the government, government can any
government either state government or central government.

8. Government to Consumer (G2C) - The government rarely buys products or services from citizens, but
individuals frequently use electronic means in the following areas:

Education- disseminating information, distance learning/online lectures, etc.

Social Security - distributing information, making payments, etc.

Taxes - filing tax returns, making payments, etc.

Health - making appointments, providing information about illnesses, making health services payments, etc.

9. Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce):- M-commerce is a type of E-Commerce on the rise that features
online sales transactions made via mobile devices, such as Smartphone and tablets. M-commerce includes
mobile shopping, mobile banking and mobile payments. Internet Retailer reported that mobile accounted for
30% of all the U.S. E-Commerce activities in 2015. In addition, 62% of Smartphone users made a purchase
online using their mobile device in the last six months of 2017, according to Outer Box . Mobile chat
bots also provide E-Commerce opportunities to businesses, allowing consumers to complete transactions
with companies via voice or text conversations. In India it is growing day by day.

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Application of E-Commerce

E-Commerce and its Applications is an unavoidable sector in the present day to day life. Given below are
the most common E-Commerce applications.

E-Commerce application in Retail & wholesale

There are numerous applications for retail as well as wholesale in the case of E-Commerce. Here comes e-
retailing or may be called as online retailing. This refers to the selling of goods and other services through
electronic stores from business to consumers. These are designed and equipped using a shopping cart model
and electronic catalog.

E-Commerce application in Marketing

Using web and E-Commerce, data collection about the following are possible

1. Preferences
2. Behavior
3. Needs
4. Buying patterns

The marketing activities like price fixing, product feature, and its enhancement, negotiation, and the
relationship with the customer can be made using these.

E-Commerce application in Manufacturing sector

E-Commerce can also be defined as the collecting and converting chain operations of a company. A few
organizations that form an electronic exchange by giving together purchasing and offering the product, trade
market information and run back-office information such as inventory control. This speed ups the flow of
raw material and finished goods among the members of the business community.

E-Commerce application in Auctions

E-Commerce customer to customer is direct selling of goods among customers. It includes electronic
auctions that involve bidding system. Bidding allows prospective buyers to bid an item. In Airline Company
they give bidding opportunity for customers to quote the price for a seat on a specific route, date and time.

E-Commerce applications in educational sector:

By using E-Commerce application in the educational sector will provide the information about different
kinds of universities and training institutes under a single roof throughout the world. It also has a major role
in providing different online study courses and interactive video conferencing etc. In other words, in
educational training also E-Commerce has a major role in interactive education, video conferencing, and
online class and for connecting different educational training centers.

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E-Commerce applications in financial segment:

This is one of the most used applications in financial companies. By the name finance, we know that there
will be customers and transactions. With the help of financial application the user can check the balance in
his Saving Account, transfer clears bills, and loan without any physical presence at banks and also e-
banking. Additionally, these services provide fast and accurate output for ATM Machines about transaction
statements. Online stock trading is also another feature of E-Commerce.

E-Commerce applications in entertainment:

By merging entertainment and E-Commerce the transformation of the online marketing world would be
complete. That is (Entertainment + E-Commerce = The New “IT” Marketing Strategy), where online games,
movies, chatting, entertainment news domains will grab the attention of youngsters as well as children too.
To make all these activities effective, choose and adopt the best mobile app development services to make
your brand.

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Amazon
On July 5, 1994, Jeff Bezos incorporated Amazon.com Incorporation & doing business as Amazon, it’s a
multinational technology company focusing on E-Commerce, cloud computing, and artificial
intelligence in Seattle, Washington. Amazon is the most valuable public company in the world ahead of
Apple and Alphabet. Amazon started as an online bookstore but later diversified to
sell video downloads/streaming, MP3 downloads/streaming, audiobook downloads/streaming, software, vid
eo games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, toys, and jewelry.
The company also owns a publishing arm, Amazon Publishing, a film and television studio, Amazon
Studios, produces consumer electronics lines including Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets, Fire TV,
and Echo devices, and is the world's largest provider of cloud infrastructure services (IaaS and PaaS)
through its AWS subsidiary.
Amazon has separate retail websites for some countries and also offers international shipping of some of its
products to certain other countries. 100 million people subscribe to Amazon Prime. Amazon is the largest
Internet company by revenue in the world and the second largest employer in the United States.
It is the largest E-Commerce marketplace and cloud computing platform in the world as measured
by revenue and market capitalization In May 1997, the organization went public. The company began
selling music and videos in 1998, at this time it began operations internationally by acquiring online sellers
of books in United Kingdom and Germany. The following year, the organization also sold video games,
consumer electronics, home-improvement items, software, games and toys in addition to other items.
In 2002, the corporation started Amazon Web Services (AWS), which provided data on Web site popularity,
Internet traffic patterns and other statistics for marketers and developers. In 2006, the organization grew its
AWS portfolio when Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), which rents computer processing power as well
as Simple Storage Service (S3), that rents data storage via the Internet, were made available. That same
year, the company started Fulfillment by Amazon which managed the inventory of individuals and small
companies selling their belongings through the company internet site. In 2012, Amazon bought Kiva
Systems to automate its inventory-management business, purchasing Whole Foods Market supermarket
chain five years later in 2017. In 2015, Amazon surpassed Walmart as the most valuable retailer in the
United States by capitalization. In 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market for $13.4 billion, which
vastly increased Amazon's presence as a brick-and-mortar retailer. The acquisition was interpreted by some
as a direct attempt to challenge Walmart's traditional retail stores.
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The Evolution of Amazon
From 1994, Seattle’s Amazon is simply astounding. It is the world’s largest online retailer, a master of
logistics, an oracle of computing power, a wrangler of digital content, a beacon of customer service and
reviews, and even innovative when it comes to conceiving handheld electronic devices.

It began as a destination to buy books, and eventually other media. It then offered marketplace
services for online retailers and/or individuals (similar to eBay), while simultaneously selling other
physical goods for homes, offices, cars, and beyond. During the shift to online retail, Amazon excelled
by harnessing web data for optimize price, locating warehouses to optimize logistics, and
experimenting with delivery models (e.g. “Prime”) to segment its consumers, all the while providing
trust through customer service and reviews. In its second decade, Amazon maintained its roots while
becoming a player in the market for digital media, cloud computing services, and, most recently,
manufacturing its own handheld electronic devices, a dizzying amount of diverse and complicated
business lines to be committed to, and yet it continues to hum along, executing its way to a $100B+
market cap and an extremely bright future.

Amazon is an e-commerce retailer formed originally to provide consumers with products in two
segments. It offers users with merchandise and content purchased for resale from vendors and those
offered by third-party sellers. Operating in North American and International markets, Amazon
provides its services through websites such as Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers,
Books, DVDs & more and Amazon.ca: Online shopping in Canada. It also enables authors, musicians,
filmmakers; Amazon is known for selling and delivering physical goods.

For a company that sold and delivered physical items, Amazon’s ability to add digital goods to its
arsenal has also been well-executed, to put it mildly.

Almost Twenty Five years ago, Jeffrey P. Bezos had the idea of a lifetime. Why bother going to the store to
buy something, when you can just order it online and get it delivered to your doorstep? Now Bezos realized
that if he wanted to become legendary, he needed to start with something small. So in July of 1995, Cadabra
(later changed to Amazon) debuted as a single-cell online bookseller. Little did Bezos know that almost two
decades later, his creation would be taking the cyber world by storm.
Amazon has improved and added a very great amount to its business in the past 20 years. For starting out as
an online book-seller, the marketing company has made leaps and bounds. They now sell basically anything
you can think of. Some of the categories include music, movies, video games, gadgets, gardening tools, lab
equipment, and health and beauty aids. The tech people over at Amazon have also managed to insert user
feedback into product pages and a "look inside" function so you can sample a book before you purchase it.

In 2007, Amazon released its very own product. The Kindle, an e-book, was the first of its kind to sell
thousands of units filled with books and have its own built-in wireless 3G connectivity. This device may
appear small, but the power of it is unthinkable. The wireless connection on the Kindle has made it possible
to download whole volumes in less than a minute. Shortly after the Kindle was released, Bezos announced
that the book sales on Amazon went up by 35%. A quote from the Kindle page states, "Our vision is to have
every book ever printed, in any language, all available in less than 60 seconds."

Amazon shaping society

When people want something they don’t have, then they look to Amazon. Anything you buy can be
shipped to your door in the matter of days for a sum of the price. Or even overnight for a more costly
price. So some people think that they don’t have to go to the store to buy things. So people buy
presents, toys and books for kids. Which eliminates most of the categories. So when kids want a toy or
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a book, they use Amazon. Amazon has almost anything you can think of. Presented in many different
categories. Each category consisting of different things.

Now that they have Kindles (E-Readers), most people do not buy books anymore. So when they buy a
book, they can buy it and read it from their own homes, without having to go to a bookstore. Hardcover
books are usually more expensive than paperback books. But with their Kindle, they can buy any book
they want. Also if the store is sold out of a book, they could just buy it on their Kindle. Books,
Magazines, Games, Apps, Music, and Videos are featured on the Kindle. Soon, bookstores will go out
of business and books will be replaced by E-Readers.

Now they are adding many more features to the Kindle. Like highlighting your favorite pages to go
back to them later. Also it will include real page numbers so you can bookmark them. Since E-Readers
are becoming more popular, book stores are destined to go out of business. The Kindle seems like it is
only the beginning. With more and more features being added on, and more and more things being
added and invented. Amazon could soar over all of their competitors in online stores, Kindles, and
more new inventions by Amazon.

The Categories
 Computers
 Beauty
 Health
 E- Readers
 Books
 Home
 Garden
 Tools
 Clothing & Shoes
 Jewelry
 Games
 Movies
 Music
 Kindle Fire Tablets
 Sports
 Outdoors
 Automotives & Industrial

How Amazon Works

The System:
Amazons technology core is run entirely Linux based, as of 2005 Amazon has the world`s 3rd largest
Linux based databases. It has a total capacity of 7.8 terabytes. The database warehouse is roughly divided
into 3 functions, historical, query, and ETL (extract, transform, and load- A primary database function that
pulls data form on source from one source and integrates it into another). So basically, the database of the
website is big and complicated for those who don`t understand. The system handles millions of back-to-
back operations, as well as more than 0.5 million queries from third-party sellers. The site also includes a

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built in personal shopping experience. It collects the items you have seen and recommends similar items in
their website.

Amazon sells a great variety of materials. They use the same "Seller to Buyer" approach that a lot of other
company`s use today. What makes Amazon the online giant is the little details. Employees in the
warehouses can walk up and down the aisles counting each cubbies box where items are stored and marked.
When the order is placed in the website, an employee goes down the aisle where the item is marked to be
and it is taken out of the shelve and placed into the yellow bin of the employee. It is then sent through more
than a mile of conveyor belts to be packed and shipped to the customers.

Future of Amazon
In less than 20 years, the feats accomplished by Seattle’s Amazon are simply astounding and, curiously, often
taken for granted. It is the world’s largest online retailer, a master of logistics, an oracle of computing power, a
wrangler of digital content, a beacon of customer service and reviews, and even innovative when it comes to
conceiving handheld electronic devices. In terms of what can be reasonably expected of a business at its scale,
Amazon has not only lived up to its namesake as a massive force of nature, but also its mythology as fierce
warriors, waging battles along multiple fronts with remarkable dexterity.

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For context, let’s briefly revisit how Amazon has evolved since its origin. It began as a destination to buy
books, and eventually other media. It then offered marketplace services for online retailers and/or individuals
(similar to eBay), while simultaneously selling other physical goods for homes, offices, cars, and beyond.
During the shift to online retail, Amazon excelled by harnessing web data of optimize price, locating
warehouses to optimize logistics, and experimenting with delivery models (e.g. “Prime”) to segment its
consumers, all the while providing trust through customer service and reviews. In its second decade, Amazon
maintained its roots while becoming a player in the market for digital media, cloud computing services, and,
most recently, manufacturing its own handheld electronic devices, a dizzying amount of diverse and
complicated business lines to be committed to, and yet it continues to hum along, executing its way to a
$100B+ market cap and an extremely bright future.

With such a glorious run to date, what does that future look like for Amazon, specifically?

We all know that Amazon is a truly exceptional company and their past is well-documented. My own belief is
that if the company were located in Silicon Valley, it would receive an even more hype and be valued above
its already impressive P/E ratios. My biases aside, I meet lots of up-and-coming founders who idolize
Amazon’s CEO over other role models, not to mention that they wouldn’t mind being acquired by the
company, either. With all this hard-earned momentum, I’ve been thinking about what Amazon could do to
leverage it further into its third decade, to wedge into and newer markets, continue their march to dominance,
and transform into an Apple-like company that, as it says in this telling television commercial , are the ones
that put a “smile” on the box.

Amazon is known for selling and delivering physical goods, so we can expect the company to directly
challenge the big offline consumer retail megastores as they accumulate more purchasing power, and as
incumbents look to become more lean by shedding underperforming real estate liabilities and rising costs
pegged to headcount. Amazon already offers these services, but will likely go beyond the Targets of the world
to include chains like Staples, as well. Competing directly with the big CPG companies won’t be easy given
their scale, but early in the game, Amazon is off to a good start. Additionally, as Amazon’s traffic provides it
with enough liquidity to attract other sellers and buyers for its marketplace, the company will also be on the
prowl for other web- and mobile-based acquisitions to add to its portfolio, which includes Diapers.com,
Soap.com, and Zippos.

For a company that sold and delivered physical items, Amazon’s ability to add digital goods to its arsenal has
also been well-executed, to put it mildly. Beyond this, Amazon has already laid the groundwork to offer
content-creators a platform to self-publish, distribute, and collect payments for their work, as well as creating
its own publishing arm (kicked off by signing Tim Ferris). Amazon will be a player in the gaming space and
has already dabbled in questions with Askville. Focusing on written content, I’d expect authors who once
coveted publisher advances to experiment with a host of creation options and tests within the market, and then
harness Amazon’s distribution to get their work out to the masses. The fact that folks will be reading Amazon-
created content (often on Amazon-branded devices) opens up a new world of possibilities with respect to the
format of written or graphic content, as well as the analytics to measure its reach.

In devices, the Kindle is to Amazon as the iPod was to Apple. Many iOS and Android users read books on
these devices through Amazon’s Kindle app, but we all know that Bezos doesn’t just want to be an “app” on
someone else’s property, especially those that may fiddle with its ability to transact with customers and offers
competitive products. The success of Kindle and its evolution has afforded Amazon the ability to, like Apple,
expand its fleet of devices, recently announcing Paper white and two Kindle Fire options. And, like we’ve
seen with Apple, these devices just won’t be for reading — they’ll likely create another mobile app ecosystem
and provide Amazon with a robust channel to sell both digital goods and physical goods. Amazon, like iTunes,

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has your credit card information, your purchasing history and tastes, and wants to not only compete against
iOS for gaming and media, but also provide the singular device where you buy stuff from. Beyond handheld
units, we should expect mobile phones in this day and age and, if the rumors around Amazon’s interest in
acquiring Roku are true, we shouldn’t be surprised to see them make a play to deliver content directly to our
televisions, as well. As their device offerings increase, we should also anticipate the creation and deployment
of its own advertising network within its ecosystem.

The Kindle “suite” of devices is delivery vehicles to bring users what they seek. Apple and application
services such as Uber have trained us to expect that we can, with a tap of a finger, so we can expect the Kindle
line to strive for that level of efficiency. While Apple provides the platform for other applications (like Uber)
to provide amazing services or delivery, Amazon itself is a pioneer and expert in a variety of delivery options,
such “Prime” and “Subscriptions.” Amazon “Prime” is often heralded as feeling close to “magic,” a program
for customers to pay for the privilege of receiving a physical good within 48 hours, though in the future, 48
hours may not be good enough. So, Amazon is pushing the envelope on delivery options. Expect them to
experiment with same-day delivery options (consistent with startups like Instacart and Postmates, among
others), as well as their current moves with Amazon “Lockers” for consumers to pick up at a single location,
which could save the company on shipping fees and also provide urban shoppers with a more secure delivery
experience. Given Amazon’s ability to experiment and execute, I also wouldn’t be surprised to see the
company also look into aerial drones as delivery channels, and given my fascination with Tacocopter, I do
hope this happens.

With all of these diverse transactions, we should expect Amazon to innovate with payments, too. Amazon
already has our credit card information, and now that it wants to power more purchases across the web and its
devices, the company could look for alternatives to the annual fees they pay to the credit card companies
today. Those solutions could come in the form of one-click payments (similar to iTunes) outside of its main
website, either through third-party offerings or, more likely, through a major acquisition. This is undoubtedly a
huge opportunity, and with PayPal struggling to adapt (and hurting eBay as well), Amazon may be licking its
chops to make a move.

Amazon also provides consumers, mostly developers, with power. Whether its human power with Mechanical
Turk, or more interestingly, computing power with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon also has excelled
at providing these critical services. In AWS specifically, Amazon has built a $1B annual business by
providing cheap, efficient cloud computing power. It is well-document in the startup world, and as reports
indicate, the company believes it has only scratched the surface in web services, with more profits to come.
Microsoft has Azure and Google launched its own offerings, so Amazon will also face competition as thin
margins here over time, but the real prize here is making inroads with the enterprise, to be part of larger
companies’ hybrid cloud models. There’s also a chance Amazon moves up the stack with AWS beyond
infrastructural services and offers platform services, as well, perhaps even integrating payments at this layer.

Goods. Devices. Delivery. Payments. Power. Amazon, perhaps more than any other online property (more
than Facebook and Google), knows what you have purchased, what you may want to buy, has built the
premier destination to purchase it and mapped out a mobile ecosystem, going so far as to build their own
devices, and has will offer an array of delivery options to satisfy each segment’s desires.

Naturally, with all of these initiatives, Amazon will face challenges and questions. Will their research arm
at A9 Labs continue to provide the company with better science and experimentation? Will AWS continue to
mint money for the company as enterprise shifts to hybrid cloud management models? Will the company be
able to maintain its ability to execute across so many different types of business lines, let alone maintain
focus? What types of acquisitions will it make? Will they stumble with respect to logistics as they bring their

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brand offline and local? (To date, they’ve kept an arms-length distance in local through an investment in
Living Social, for instance.) Will their strategy of using Android as a framework make them too reliant on
Google, which it competes with? Will they be able to carve out a sustainable piece of the mobile device
ecosystem where Apple and Google have a head start, and where Facebook most likely has to enter?

The future of Amazon is bright and also generates a dizzying amount of complex questions, but given its
history to date, its ability to execute on multiple fronts, often in parallel, and still under the leadership of its
dynamic, visionary founder, there’s little doubt that, over the next decade, Amazon will continue to increase
its dominance in many of these categories and also earn influence in others. Like their name suggests, from
everything from A to Z, Amazon is that one brand, worldwide, which can fulfill demand and close the loop on
the transaction and delivery, and by owning the end-to-end process of selling these commodities, it has
afforded the company a war chest, mindshare, and the potential to grow even bigger. Seen through this lens,
Amazon may just be getting started.

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Process of shopping
Step-1:- First, Enter www.Amazon.in in the Google search box. The following screen will open.

Step-2 Go to Sign in option displayed at the top & you can sign into your account with Amazon.

Step-3 When we sign in to our account, the following screen opens up.

Steps-4 Either choose the products being displayed or from shop by category on screen or go to search box
of Amazon & search for the product you want to buy.

Step-5 These options have further more categories, I choose Home, Kitchen, Pets & Following options
appear on the screen.

Step-6 In home, kitchen & pet, I further choose home & kitchen, in that too I choose All home & kitchen.

Step- 7 On choosing All home & kitchen, the following option appeared on the screen.

Step- 8 I choose Small Applications for kitchen. The following kitchen appliances were available & many
more.

Step-9 I choose juicers. Many options opened on my laptop screen few of them were the following.

Step-10Then I clicked on the right arrow provided under the head bestsellers & various options came up. I
choose this juicer.

Step-11 I clicked on buy now to place the order. The website directed to the following screen.

Step-12 I finally placed an order & received the following conformation message.

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Steps involved in placing order on Amazon’s website for India
Step-1:- First, Enter www.Amazon.in in the Google search box. The following screen will open.

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Step-2 Go to Sign in option displayed at the top & you can sign into your account with
Amazon.

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Step-3 When we sign in to our account, the following screen opens up.

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Steps-4 Either choose the products being displayed or from shop by category on screen or
go to search box of Amazon & search for the product you want to buy.

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Step-5 These options have further more categories, I choose Home, Kitchen, Pets &
Following options appear on the screen.

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Step-6 In home, kitchen & pet, I further choose home & kitchen, in that too I choose All
home & kitchen.

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Step- 7 On choosing All home & kitchen, the following option appeared on the screen.

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Step- 8 I choose Small Applications for kitchen. The following kitchen appliances were
available & many more.

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Step-9 I choose juicers. Many options opened on my laptop screen few of them were the
following.

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Step-10Then I clicked on the right arrow provided under the head bestsellers & various
options came up. I choose this juicer.

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Step-11 I clicked on buy now to place the order. The website directed to the following
screen.

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Step-12 I finally placed an order & received the following conformation message.

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Hardware & Software requirements for shopping
 Web server: - Web server can be refer either as hardware or software that helps to deliver content that
can be accessed through internet. The most common use of web servers is to host websites but there are
other users such as data storage or running enterprise applications.
 Browsers: - A web browser is an application / programme designed to display the internet with web
pages. Few Examples are Opera, Windows, Internet Explorer & Google Chrome.
 Server Software: - Software is required in order for server to run; the software manages the connections
& the server. Few examples of home server software are:
 FreeNas
 Ubuntu Server edition
 Apache
 Debian
 TCP/IP Address: - Each computer must have a unique IP Address.TCP/IP uses for 4 numbers to address
a computer. The numbers are always between 0 to 255. IP Address is normally written as 4 numbers
separated by the period, like this 192.168.1.50. TCP/IP Address is used when transferring data over the
network. If the computers don’t use the same protocol, it becomes impossible to understand things.
 Ports & Protocols: - The protocol is a type of connection you are running through, examples are HTTP,
SSH, DNS & FTP. While the port is a name of the connection you are going through, the port number is
usually the last 3 numbers of the default gateway, each device that is connected to the network will have
its unique port number.
 Web Authoring Tool: - Web authoring tool is software, or cloud servers that allows you to create & put
up a website. Dream weaver & Microsoft publisher are examples of software you can use.
 Database System:- A Database system is the database that a company uses, to link with website. It can
contain many things that will be changed by the user of the website. The database will store passwords,
names, addresses, store items & other business information.
 Domain name: - Domain name is the main section of the website. Google is the example:
http://www.google.co.uk/ “Google” is the domain name. The extensions such as .com, .co.uk are used in
different countries, companies such as google have many servers in different countries.
 Programming requirements: - Web pages are usually written in html. Within this code other
languages can also be used such as PHP, ASP & Javascript.HTML itself does not provide E-Commerce
capabilities so another language must be used as well.
 Download speed: - Internet speed is measured in Kbps & Mbps. 1KB is roughly equal to 1000 bits &
1MB is roughly equal to 1,000,000 bits.
 Browse & platform capabilities: - There are many different web browsers, such as google chrome,
windows internet explorer, & Mozilla Firefox. But each browser renders graphics in different ways. The
browser interprets the code & must be taken into consideration when designing a website.

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Conclusion
Evolution of E-Commerce has brought many positive aspects for the buyer, such as 24x7 availability;
person can buy things irrespective of the time. It gave wide variety of products under one head amongst
which the customer can choose the product of suits his choice with very much ease. Internet gave birth to
this business field. Every E-Commerce firm has same basic working model. There are many types of E-
Commerce like b2b, b2c, c2c, b2g, g2b etc but the most used type or the most encountered type of E-
Commerce by us is b2c where we are the customers & the companies like Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, OLA,
Uber etc are some examples of b2c type of E-Commerce.

These are the names of few companies which provide us either with goods to buy or some kind of
services to us. The companies like Amazon provides goods like clothes, accessories, all kind of kitchen &
dining products, home products for buying & companies like OLA & Uber provide the service of taxi
booking & paytm provides the facility of making transactions related to money.

If E-Commerce has advantages it has disadvantages too such as Theft of Personal Information or misusage
of that information, hacking of site etc cause fear in the minds of the common man which affects the growth
of E-Commerce in the economy. The recent incidences have added to this fear, when people ordered
something & received something else.

But E-Commerce firms are still competing with traditional way of buying & selling. And made it survive in
all of the circumstances. People have started believing on this type of E-Commerce. People who use the
products or services provided by E-Commerce firms are satisfied & the firms are trying their level best to
make customer satisfied.

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