E-Commerce: Its Development and Future Perspectives (Essay Sample)

E-COMMERCE: ITS DEVELOPMENT AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES
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Over the last five decades, the world has witnessed a dramatic improvement in business transactions. The contributions of technological advancements and innovations have extended beyond education to include commerce and trade. Daily, the number of internet and electronic users increase both in developed and developing economies. Through terminals and mobile technologies, experts expect a massive expansion in the use of internet technology for business, social, and academic purposes. Since the introduction of ICT in the commerce industry, the economic productivity has generally improved. Notably, e-commerce is one of the technological strategies that have been critical to economic growth and development.
E-commerce is described as the widespread use of ICT skills and devices such as computer networks and internet services to conduct boundless online financial transactions. Such monetary transactions bring together business-to-business (B2B), business-to-government (B2G), and business-to-consumer (B2B) partners. Since its introduction, electronic commerce has no doubt revolutionalized the economic practices in many countries. The business community has taken advantage of electronic commerce to expand its market share, reduce consignment delivery time, and enhance service delivery to its clients; hence increased profitability index. A report by the World Trade Organization (WTO) established that in 2013, over seven billion transactions were electronically executed. The same report by WTO revealed that U.S. and Great Britain accounted for thirty-two percent of all online transactions in the form of e-cash, electronic invoices, online credit and debit card transactions, and purchase orders. In the 2012 financial year, the sales revue from e-commerce reached a record high of $1.5 trillion.  Entrepreneurs drawn from first and third world countries cite unlimited benefits that they have earned following the implementation of electronic trade. Notably, the SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) have posted a massive improvement in the economic productive capacity since the emergence of the global market. Electronic trade and globalization has opened up more room for multinational trading since it improves communication and interaction. Rapid technological advancement and growth in the ICT have transformed the world’s economic landscape. Through e-commerce, producers, traders, manufacturers, and consumers fast and effectively interact with each other without necessarily incurring additional costs in travel and carriage. For this reason, e-commerce has significantly reduced transactional costs of conducting multinational trade.
Given its potential contribution in marketing, communication, and distribution, the future of e-commerce remains evidently bright. It has the capacity to increase returns on investments, promote brand awareness, open up new distribution ch