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Some people use the terms "ebusiness" and "ecommerce" interchangeably. After all, they both involve business processes conducted electronically -- quite likely on the Internet. Others view ecommerce to be a subset of ebusiness.
Ecommerce Is Narrower If we regard ecommerce as different from ebusiness, then the only valid view we can adopt is that ecommerce is a narrower discipline. Ebusiness accounts for all business processes conducted online, while ecommerce is restricted to buying and selling.
Of course this narrower definition flies in the face of many of the articles I have written in the past, such as the . In most such articles several of the characteristics I attribute to ecommerce are actually broader than merely buying and selling.
What Is Ebusiness? So that we do not end up splitting hair, it is best to understand ebusiness with the help of examples:•Email marketing to existing customers and prospects is an ebusiness activity, as it electronically conducts a business process -- in this case marketing.
•An online system that tracks inventory and triggers alerts at specific levels is also ebusiness. Inventory management is a business process. When facilitated electronically, it becomes part of ebusiness.
•A content management system that manages the work flow between content-developer, editor, manager, and publisher is another example of ebusiness. In the absence of an electronic work flow, the physical movement of paper files would conduct this process. By electronically enabling it, we are now in the realm of ebusiness.
•An online induction program for new employees automates part of whole of its offline counterpart.
I guess you get the idea. As long as something is a business process conducted on electronic networks, it is fair to call it an ebusiness process.
Further reading is avaialable here:
http://ecommerce.about.com/od/eCommerce ... mmerce.htm