The internet has become an accessible platform where people from all over the world can easily communicate with one another. It’s also given businesses a platform to connect with each other, get the name of their products and services out there, and reach potential customers is all part of marketing.
Electronic business (e-business) is the term that describes the many processes businesses conduct on the internet. This includes buying and selling products and services, servicing customers, collaborating with partners, processing payments, recruiting employees, and much more. With today’s technology, there isn’t much a business can’t do online!
If you’re planning to pursue a career in marketing, understanding e-business is important, since so many companies are now conducting many of their operations online. The internet is fast, far-reaching, and continuously evolving, so it only makes sense that more and more companies are turning to e-business solutions to gain more exposure. Read on to learn a bit about the history of e-business and to see how it’s evolved into what it is today.
What Students in Marketing Should Know about the History of E-Business
The term “e-business” was coined by IBM’s sales and marketing department in 1998. At the time, several companies were already doing business online, but IBM was beginning to use its strong foundation in IT solutions and expertise to market itself as a leader in conducting business on the internet.
IBM decided not to trademark the term “e-business,” hoping that other companies would use it and create a new industry. It clearly worked, and today, the terms “e-business” and “e-commerce” are part of most of our vocabularies.
The Emergence of Dot-Com Companies
Since e-business describes any business conducted through the internet, companies began to understand that the possibilities for revenue growth were endless. You’ll learn in your marketing courses that the internet is one of the best places for any business to turn to if it wants to expand its operations. In fact, because of e-business, many companies that were completely based online started to emerge, which made a lot of sense.
Imagine opening a clothing store, for example. If you’re lucky enough to get a good location, you’ll most likely get many customers coming in and out on a day with nice weather. Open a clothing store online? You can ship items to anyone, anywhere, at any time. This is the business model of successful e-business companies like Amazon.com, eBay, Groupon, and many other companies that you’ll hear about while earning your marketing coordinator diploma.
Thanks to the internet, there are thousands of companies who are based online today
Students in Marketing Know that E-Business is About Connectivity
Successful companies who do the majority of their business online know that today, e-business is about a lot more than just shopping-it’s also about connectivity.
Companies like Expedia and TripAdvisor connect travellers with rebates and discounted travel and hotel accommodations. Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn connect people, products, job opportunities, and more. Google—perhaps one of the biggest e-business companies there is—provides a search platform that can connect anyone to any relevant data that’s available on the internet.
As a result, the future of e-business looks bright and might be the perfect place for new graduates with marketing training to start their careers.
Visit AOLCC for program information, or to speak with an advisor.
