E-Commerce refers to the distribution of goods and services over the Internet or any other online system. E-Commerce is a broad term that covers the sale of physical goods at retail sites as well as paid offerings of digital content. Another big category of e-commerce is business to business. B2B companies often deal with many different suppliers and customers. Carrying out transactions electronically is faster, cheaper and more convenient and hence provides considerable advantages over traditional methods.

The U.S. e-commerce market has been subject to substantial growth in the last decade. The total e-commerce revenue grew from 72 billion U.S. dollars in 2002 to 228 billion U.S. dollars in 2010. More than one third of U.S. e-commerce revenue was generated by travel and flight booking websites in 2010. Retail websites generated total e-commerce revenue of 142 billion U.S. dollars. A 2011 e-commerce market forecast predicts retail revenues alone to reach 269 billion U.S. dollars in 2015. The number of online buyers in the U.S. is expected to grow from 140 million in 2010 to 170 million in 2015 according to eMarketer estimates.

The biggest player in the e-commerce market is Amazon.com. The website started of in 1995 as an online bookstore but soon started selling CDs, DVDs, and video games. Over the years Amazon continued to broaden its offerings and is now selling electronics, toys and other products as well. Furthermore, Amazon is building a fast growing digital content business, which it supports with an own range of digital media devices. In 2010, Amazon.com generated more than 34 billion U.S. dollars in revenue, which means its revenue has more than doubled since 2007. Usage statistics from e-commerce websites in the United States reaffirm Amazon’s leading position. In the second quarter of 2011, Amazon's websites averaged 94 million unique visitors per month, compared to 22 million visitors to Target’s website and 17 million visitors to Best Buy's website.

A form of e-commerce that has emerged in the last few years is the so-called group-buying or daily deal business. Group-buying services like Groupon and LivingSocial offer temporarily limited, often localized deals for products or services of third-party merchants.
Photo: Andrey Volodin, istock