Electric Commerce
Commerce is the exchange of goods and services for money. In olden days, there was a form of commerce called the barter system in which goods were exchanged in lieu of other goods or services. By the time paper money was introduced, it's use revolutionized the way the commerce was conducted. In recent years, commerce is also being conducted via electronic medium like the Internet. This commerce is called eCommerce.

Electronic commerce (eCommerce) is an integration of communication services, data management, and security mechanisms that allows organizations to exchange information about the sale of goods and services, where:

Communication Services support the transfer of information from the buyer to the seller electronically.

Data Management is the exchange and storing of data in a uniform format to facilitate easy exchange of information.

Security Mechanisms authenticate the source of information and guarantee the integrity and privacy of information.

In other words, eCommerce involves marketing, retailing, customer service, banking, billing, corporate sector purchasing, secure distribution of data, and other value-added services over the Internet.

Types Of Electronic Commerce
Electronic commerce can be categorized into four categories:

• Business-to-Consumer
• Business-to-Business
• Consumer-to-Consumer
• Consumer-to-Business.

Currently, the first two categories are the most popular models of eCommerce:

Business-to-Consumer Model
In this model, commerce is conducted between a consumer, such as a home user on a PC, and a business. As an example, to buy books or CDs, the consumer accesses the business' Internet site and makes purchases.

For example one can purchase music cassettes and CDs from the web site www.planetmonline.com

In the above you select the cassettes from a wide range that is available and then eventually pay online. This is a very convenient exercise, which will help save time and provide variety.

Business-to-Business Model
In this model, commerce is conducted between two businesses. It includes trading goods like business subscriptions, professional services, and wholesale dealing. Sometimes, business may exist between virtual companies, neither of which may have any physical existence.

Consumer-to-Consumer Model
In this model, commerce is conducted between two consumers. This can be seen in auction bidding houses. In this example, commerce is conducted between a consumer who is auctioning and consumers who are bidding for it. The consumer who is auctioning decides the price of the product. The consumers who are bidding analyze the product and decide how much they value it.

Consumer-to-Business Model
In this model, commerce is conducted between a consumer and a business. The model is still in its evolving stage. This may come up as a model in which the goods are produced and the price of the product would be dictated by the consumer rather than the supplier. This may revolutionize the way businesses are conducted over the Web, or even otherwise.