E-commerce E-commerce is quickly becoming a great way to do business. It incorporates elements similar to those of regular trading. The hype surrounding this new way of doing business is constantly increasing for many reasons. There are some barriers to e-commerce, but the benefits appear to far outweigh the risks. There are many elements necessary for e-commerce. First of all, you have to have a product. You also need to have a seat. The website showcases the product and serves as a venue. There has to be a way to get people to view your website. You can market your site both on and off the web. There should also be a method to accept orders such as an online form. A secure ordering page and a connection to a bank are required to accept payment. You also need to have a logistics facility to ship products to customers. However, if you only sell software or information, fulfillment may occur through a file download mechanism. It's also important to be able to accept returns and handle warranty claims if necessary. There should also be a method of offering customer service via email, online forms, online knowledge bases, or any other online mechanism. Many of these elements are necessary to conduct business, but the specifics related to e-commerce are noteworthy. There is a lot of hype around e-commerce. "In retail alone, Forrester predicts $17 billion in Internet consumer sales by 2001." According to O'Reilly and Associates, "Worldwide business Web access is expected to grow at an even faster rate than the U.S. market, rising from 1.3 million in 1996 to 8 billion by 2001." . It is also documented that "Dell currently sells approximately $14 million worth of equipment every day, 25% of which is via the Web." The enthusiasm for e-commerce is justified by many of its aspects. There are many reasons why e-commerce continues to grow at an excessive rate. E-commerce has lower transaction costs due to process automation. Consumers who participate in e-commerce are also documented to make larger purchases per transaction. A website well integrated into the business cycle can offer customers more information than was previously available. A business can create a catalog on the Web that goes beyond what would be impractical for normal mail order businesses.