E-commerce refers to the use of communications technology particularly the internet to buy, sell and market goods and services to customers. The internet has brought about a fundamental shift in national economies that are isolated from each other by barriers to cross-border trade and investment, isolated by distance, time zone and languages and isolated by the national differences in government regulations.
E-commerce equally fosters direct access to distant markets and promotes globalisation and commercial activities and blur many of the current distinctions between domestic and foreign companies to an extent that it becomes practically impossible to determine the origin of the products. E-commerce is not limited to the purchase of a product, it includes e-mail, and other communications platforms, all information or services that a company may offer to customers over the net, from pre-purchase information to aftersale service and support. The major significance of E-commerce thus lies in the fact that it encourages a single world trading system, which is facilitated by access through electronic means to goods and services from different parts of the world.
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