 In its simplest form ecommerce is the buying and selling of products and services by businesses and consumers over the Internet.

 Reduced costs by reducing labour, reduced paper work, reduced errors in keying in data, reduce post costs Reduced time.  Shorter lead times for payment and return on investment in advertising, faster delivery of product Flexibility with efficiency.  The ability to handle complex situations, product ranges and customer profiles without the situation becoming unmanageable. 

 Improve relationships with trading partners. Improved communication between trading partners leads to enhanced long-term relationships.  Lock in Customers. The closer you are to your customer and the more you work with them to change from normal business practices to best practice e-commerce the harder it is for a competitor to upset your customer relationship.  New Markets. The Internet has the potential to expand your business into wider geographical locations.

 Both PayPal and Paymate offer credit card to bank account payments. Using one of these services you can invoice a customer, they can pay on Paymate and the funds will be deposited in your bank account... less a transaction fee.

 Auction sites such as Ebay and TradeMe have done an enormous amount to get ordinary people involved in online trading.

 On the Internet, security is handled by passing "keys" between Internet server and client browser.  Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) are protocols that provide communication security over the Internet.  Generally today businesses who host web sites offer access to a secure server and you can use their server and secure certificate for less than if you registered and paid for your own key.

 The credit card companies are constantly evolving more secure credit card purchasing on the Internet.  Often you will be asked to give a three digit verification code on the reverse of your card. This is to prove you have the card in your hand at the time you made the purchase.  Card companies also monitor your card activity to check for suspicious or out of ordinary purchases.

 When you are buying goods online, you are not only covered by the distance selling rules, but also entitled to the following information under e-commerce regulations: next slide 

 Full details of the service provider including their geographical address and their address  Full information on special offers such as promotions (discounts, premiums, gifts) and promotional games and any terms and conditions that apply  Unsolicited offers not requested by you as the consumer should be prominently displayed on the website and at every point where you are asked to provide information (such as a form)

 The registration number of the service provider if registered in a trade or public register  The VAT registration number if applicable  Where the activity is subject to an authorisation scheme, the details of the relevant supervisory authority  Where the service provider is a member of a regulated profession: any professional body or similar institution with which the service provider is registered; the professional title of the provider and the EU member state where it has been granted; and a reference to the relevant professional rules in the member state of establishment and the means to access them