Global trade and services have been affected greatly by the use of Internet technology. (Dull & Gelinas, Jr., 2008) The use of the internet made the transactions to be more often done electronically. Buying and selling of services and products through electronic systems like the internet or other computer networks is called electronic commerce or e-commerce. E-commerce applies electronic networks in order to exchange information and to link the business processes of different organizations. Business transactions that are done through electronic means makes relationship between vendor and customers founded on the Internet. A number of transactions can be made through this like EFT or electronic funds transfer, Internet marketing, inventory management, electronic data interchange, online transaction processing, automated data collection, and supply chain management. The World Wide Web is the medium that is used in order to make these transactions possible. Electronic mails are also used via the World Wide Web (Chaudhury & Jean-Pierre, 2002).
Nowadays, a significant amount of transactions are done electronically. Retailers use the internet in order to access other markets. Online retail is sometimes called as e-tail. It almost becomes a must for large retailers to have presence in the electronic market in the World Wide Web. (Rosen, 2000).
E-commerce users can help companies to disseminate product information. It can take orders via the Internet, thus it will result to greater effectiveness and efficiency. Transactions based on the internet can make placing orders more efficient. The transfer of electronic data can give companies greater efficiencies in business processing (Dull & Gelinas, Jr., 2008).
The use of the internet in placing orders can help the company by enjoying more competitive prices. The use of internet can also be more responsive especially for online real-time data processing. By visiting the suppliers’ website, they can also be informed of new sales promotions that can involve coupons, discounts or special offers.
Another thing that can result from this is that sales that would usually serve as the communication link between the two companies can be eliminated, thus reducing costs. Business events like placing an order is done more rapidly. Furthermore, if the company wants to check prices for supplies needed, they readily do that via the suppliers’ website (Dull & Gelinas, Jr., 2008).
Suppliers via the internet through the suppliers’ website usually provided the necessary procedure for placing the order. You will be provided an entry box where you will key in the product items that you will order. The web page will prompt you to enter the necessary details for each product. These include the products’ size, color and the number of items you will be ordering. The choice will be presented in a menu form, so all you need to do is to select among the options that are given. As the transaction is completed, the data are capture by the supplier’s database and the order is instantly placed.
Placing orders via the internet will make orders and deliveries timelier. The expected shipping dates can be known. Orders placed via the internet will prevent you from being put on hold when calling or ordering your products. Furthermore, because this is done via the internet without or less human intervention, problems caused by human errors will be significantly reduced. Sales employees of the supplier might hear the wrong products you are ordering. He or she might also miss the necessary details of your orders. This may cause so much delay and for the business if these happen. By using the internet, you yourself are the one placing the order, and the computer captures it in verbatim. Thus, fewer mistakes are probable.
References
Chaudhury, A., Jean-Pierre K. 2002. e-business and e-commerce infrastructure. McGraw-Hill.
Dull, Richard B. & Gelinas, Jr., Ulric J. 2008. Accounting information systems. South-Western, Thomson Learning.
Kessler, Michelle. 2003. More shoppers proceed to checkout online. USA Today. 2008. Web.
Miller, R. 2002. The legal and e-commerce environment today. Thomson Learning.
Nissanoff, D. 2006. FutureShop: How the new auction culture will revoulutionize the way we buy, sell and get the things we really want. The Penguin Press.
Rosen, A. 2000. The e-commerce question and answer book: A survival guide for business managers. New York: American Management Association.