E-commerce introduces incredible benefits, such as the diffusion of information, the development of new technologies, the promotion and sales of products and services, and the collaboration between those in a supply chain(Aljifri,2003:130). It has been suggested that ultimately a single chain of e-commerce will emerge and this chain will be a superset of B2B, C2B, B2C abd C2C (McGraw-Hill, 2002:xvi).
E-commerce still represents a minor percentage of total commerce but is likely to become a major force in the future. The factors driving this push are convenience, reduced cost of operations, lower risk, more timely information and control over processes and the ability to deliver customisation and control on a mass scale (Cronin, 1998:171).
More recently attention has been focused on standards for secure communication, encryption and authentication of both sender and receiver of information on the Internet. This will continue into the future, as a broad range of new value added services built around trust and security will be found on the Internet (Cronin, 1998:177).
Initiatives for the future must be developed within a common framework or risk introducing isolated, non-interoperable implementations that will inhibit progress toward truly free, open and spontaneous e-commerce (Cronin, 1998:178).
Most of the current solutions being prototyped over the Internet differ in some way in its approach to security and privacy and the ability to handle micropayments and the applicability to various types of transactions. They also differ in their business models. For example, in the pricing strategies and in assumptions as to who bears the risk in case of insufficient funds or disputes. Some of these variations are the inevitable result of competitors offering different solutions and are aprt of the open mareketplace that characterise the Internet (Cronin, 1998:178).
Other differences reflect a more serious lack of standardisation that could threaten the acceptance and deployment of secure commerce solutions. It is important for e-commerce to devlop the next generation of network based products and services and that primary goals and standards must be agreed upon. It is especially important to build an infrastructure around the following characteristics (Cronin, 1998:178):
Aljifri, H. et al. 2003. "Global e-commerce: A framework for understanding and overcoming the trust barrier". Information Management & Computer Security. Vol.11, Iss.2.
Cronin, M. 1998.Banking and Finance on the Internet. John Wiley and Sons; Canada.
Rayport, J. F. (2002) Introduction to E-Commerce, Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin marketspaceU, ISBN 0072510242.
Anna Caldwell 19:58, 26 Oct 2005 (EST)
