Ecommerce is the act of rapidly selling or buying products on the internet via electronic transactions or over the Internet. Today it is one of the fastest growing business sectors in the world. Millions of people are becoming actively involved in ecommerce activities every day. One of the primary reasons for the popularity of ecommerce among users is its accessibility and ease of use. Unlike traditional commerce, which involves physical movement of items between buyers and sellers, ecommerce transactions can be carried out without even leaving your home.
In the mid-1990s, as the number of Internet users started to increase, the need for an efficient online store also developed. The development of PayPal as a payment gateway provided an ideal solution to this problem. PayPal is a web-based service that enables online merchants to accept payments from customers via a payment gateway such as their own website. Almost all ecommerce businesses use PayPal because it offers the most convenient way for buyers to pay for goods and services. Since PayPal is a publicly traded company, many investors view it as a very attractive investment opportunity since online stores that process credit cards for payment can expect a fast growth in user numbers.
Another reason why ecommerce has become so popular is that it provides a platform for retailers to increase their online sales and reduce their fixed costs. Through ecommerce, online retailers can reduce their expenses such as inventory charges, payment gateway costs, and other costs that are related to operating a brick and mortar retailer business. In fact, online sales have risen dramatically in the past decade. The online marketplace has enabled more consumers to shop for new products or compare prices with a wider variety of retailers than ever before. Moreover, increased competition among online sellers has also led to a reduction in price, which further reduces the retailer’s expenses.
In recent years, several ecommerce platforms have been developed for use by retailers. These platforms provide the tools needed to run ecommerce businesses smoothly and allow users to accept various forms of payments, process electronic forms of transactions, and track all types of transactions made by customers. Most ecommerce solutions are designed to integrate seamlessly with popular merchant accounts and online payment systems such as PayPal, Google Checkout, and WorldPay.
Although ecommerce software solutions are readily available from a number of different vendors, integrating them with established ecommerce websites typically involves relatively simple steps. In the early days of ecommerce, software integration was accomplished through developing in-house software programs, sometimes referred to as “application service” (API). As software engineers began to develop open source solutions, they began to abandon API and develop proprietary interfaces for use in ecommerce venues. Today, most ecommerce solutions use middleware to facilitate the integration of online storefronts with preexisting code. This approach allows developers to build ecommerce websites using preexisting formats and framework without having to rewrite all of the application’s code or develop an entirely new platform.
The future of ecommerce holds promise for a number of new business models and technologies. However, adoption of new technologies requires a number of factors to be considered. One factor that will drive the future of ecommerce is its impact on the existing retail and wholesale markets. Ecommerce software solutions will likely cause existing business models to become more robust and dynamic, making it harder for retailers and vendors to remain relevant in a world where many items are sold online and purchased on a global scale. In addition, ecommerce will likely impact the product pricing, as well as lead to more localized product pricing when products are sold in more defined geographic areas.