E-Commerce
E-commerce plays an increasingly important role in the way in which products and services are purchased. The business relationships supported by e-commerce can be split into two main categories:
- Open relationships, often referred to as "business-to-consumer", where there is no formal relationship between you and your trading partners, as with the conventional customer-supplier relationship
- Closed relationships, often referred to as "business-to-business", where your business is part of a common trading group with agreed commercial and often technical trading rules
This guide looks at the key issues to consider when planning for the introduction of e-commerce. It provides advice on how best to identify the opportunities for e-commerce within your business and the solutions available. It also emphasises the need to plan for the ongoing development and maintenance of any e-commerce system at the outset.