In order to know the meaning of the term electronic commerce, it is necessary, first of all, to discover the etymological origin of the two words that give it shape:
-Commerce, first of all, derives from Latin, specifically from "commercium", which can be translated as "purchase and sale of merchandise." It is the result of the sum of two clearly differentiated components: the prefix "con-", which means "together", and the noun "merx", which is synonymous with "merchandise".
-Electronic, on the other hand, has its etymological origin in Greek as it is the result of the union of two components of that language: the noun "elektron", which is synonymous with "electricity" and "amber", and the suffix " -iko”, which means “relating to”.
The concept of commerce can refer to the transaction that involves the purchase and/or sale of a product . It also refers to the premises or space where a commercial activity is carried out.
The idea of electronic commerce , for its part, is linked to the development of commercial operations over the Internet . Also known as electronic commerce or e-commerce , this commercial modality takes advantage of technological tools to complete transactions.
Electronic commerce can be developed in multiple ways. A portal , for example, can publish offers on sports shoes. Users scroll through the options and, if they wish to purchase a product , they must enter their personal data including their credit card information. In this way they complete the purchase and make the payment. Then the portal sends by postal mail or delivers the product to the buyer's home.
There is even the possibility that the payment is made physically, at the time of receiving the product at home . Another option is to pay through PayPal or other electronic means.
It should be noted that individuals can also use electronic commerce through sites such as eBay and MercadoLibre , selling and buying products from their homes.
Among the advantages that electronic commerce provides is the possibility of accessing products from all over the world , which do not even have to be exposed to the public in a physical location. This allows the seller to save costs.
In addition to that, there are another series of important advantages of electronic commerce, such as the following:
-It allows anyone to purchase a product whenever they want, 24 hours a day and while at home, in the office or on the subway, for example.
-It saves time, because it prevents the individual from having to go to a physical store to buy what they need or what they want.
-It is also an economic saving, because by not having to go to a physical establishment that person does not have to spend money on gasoline for their vehicle or on a ticket for public transportation.
-The consumer has the opportunity to have more information about each product at their fingertips and has more time to think about whether they want to purchase it or not.
Among the negative aspects, there is a risk when entering personal data in an electronic medium since it can be stolen by hackers .