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54 Erwin and Singh
The first e-commerce applications were started in the early 1970s. The original
applications were in the form of electronic fund transfers (EFT). These applications
were limited to larger corporations and financial institutions (Turban et al., 2000).
This type of transaction later included electronic data interchange (EDI). There is
a marked difference between EDI and e-commerce in that e-commerce involves
Table 2: Definitions of E-Commerce
Author Definition/Approach/Description
Mclaren and Mclaren, Any electronic business transaction or exchange of information
2000
to conduct business.
Greenstein and E-commerce is the exchange of products and services that
Feinman, 2000 require transportation, via some form of telecommunication
medium from one location to another. Electronic business is
defined as the exchange of information and customer support.
The activities supporting, for example, the exchange of
information and provision of customer support are not strictly
speaking ‘commerce’ activities, but can be referred to as
‘business’ activities.
Ford and Baum, 1997 See e-commerce as an umbrella term that includes automated
business transactions, online purchases, electronic forms and
industrial inventory control transactions. They conclude the ecommerce
represents a broad range of technologies, is socially
accepted and is expected to be used.
Turban et al., 2001 Business done online; the exchange of products, services and
money with the support of computers and computer networks
Whitten et al., 2001 Involves conducting both internal and external business over the
Internet, intranet and extranets. Electronic commerce includes
the buying and selling of goods and services, the transfer of
funds and the simplification of day-to-day business processes -
all through digital communication.
U.S. Department of Business processes which shift transactions to the Internet or
Commerce, 1999 some other non-proprietary, Web-based system.
Turban et al, 2000 Electronic commerce is an emerging concept that describes the
process of buying and selling or exchanging products, services
and information via computer networks, including the Internet.
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