E-Commerce 2020-2021 Business, Technology and Society, by Carol Guercio Traver

The book begins with an introduction to the major themes of the book. Chapter 1 defines e-commerce, distinguishes between e-commerce and e-business, and defines the different types of e-commerce. Chapter 2 traces the historical development of the Internet and thoroughly describes how the Internet, Web, and mobile platform work. Chapter 3 focuses on the steps managers need to follow in order to build an e-commerce presence. This chapter covers the process that should be followed in building an e-commerce presence; the major decisions regarding outsourcing site development and/or hosting; how to choose software, hardware, and other tools that can improve website performance; and issues involved in developing a mobile website and mobile applications. Chapter 4 focuses on e-commerce security and payments, building on the e-commerce infrastructure discussion of the previous chapter by describing the ways security can be provided over the Internet. This chapter defines digital information security, describes the major threats to security, and then discusses both the technology and policy solutions available to business managers seeking to secure their firm’s sites. This chapter concludes with a section on e-commerce payment systems. We identify the various types of online payment systems (credit cards, stored value payment systems such as PayPal, digital wallets, and others), the development of mobile and social payment systems such as Alipay, WeChat Pay, Apple Pay, Venmo, Zelle, and Facebook Messenger, as well as a section on cryptocurrencies and blockchain, the technology underlying them.