E-consumerism is a topic that isclosely bound along the same lines as E-Commerce. E-Commerce can be defined as theprocess of transaction of vendors and buyers interacting through the internet fortheir own needs of buying or selling items. This study aims to throw light on theinception of the phenomenon of e-consumerism in the global perspective and howit has now taken over a vast portion of the entire commercial market and its introductioninto India.Technology has become so influentialin the 21st century that we live in that it is practicallyimpossible to even imagine a day without the functions our many devices and internetservices provide us. The continual evolution of information technology has coercedplayers in the market to up their game by inculcating the latest technologiesto be able to sustain themselves in the competitive global economy. Onlineshopping can be traced back to the time late 1980s when Sting’s album “TenSummoner’s Tales” were marketed and sold online in a secure protocol based cashtransaction system. Later, an entrepreneur Michael Aldrich based in the UKinvented a system called Videotex which made us of real-time telephonicinteraction to purchase items-this technology brought about a boom in sales andnewer companies seeking to foray into the digital world to increase theirglobal outreach.
1In terms of e-sales, the most recent statistics have showed that Asia-Pacific increased theirinternational sales over 30% giving them over $433 billion in revenue. That isa $69 billion difference between the U.S. revenue of $364.66 billion.2It is estimated that Asia-Pacific will increase by another 30% in the year 2013putting them ahead by more than one-third of all global e-commerce sales.3A major advantage that e-commerce wasexpected to have during its early stages were laxation on stringentgovernmental rules on trade and commerce, but due to its every growingpopularity, governments of various countries have introduced provisions toensure that they’re being done fairly.
The regulatory bodies of differentcountries play a very integral role in the smooth conduction of e-consumerism:· Inthe United States, all forms of e-consumeristic activities are regulated by TheFederal Trade Commission which keeps a check on all forms of advertisingincluding online advertising, privacy of consumers, deceptive malpractices etc.· Togive a more common global set of regulations regarding e-commerce, many countriesfollow the UNCITRAL Model Law on E-Commerce of 1996. The International Consumer Protection andEnforcement Network (ICPEN) is a forum for various trade organizations aroundthe world which aims to create a free and fair manner of tackling problems thatarise when cross-border transactions of forms of goods and services arerendered. · Chinahas one of the largest existing e-commerce platforms in the world with the keyplayer being Alibaba group of companies established by Jack Ma. Alibaba has amarket share of around 80% in the e-consumer industry owing to the large numberof internet users in the country,helping the e-commerce industry in Chinaproduce over US$899 billion in annual sales in the year 2016.
China alsoadopted The Electronic Signature Law that is used to regulate and control datamessages, authentication of electronic signatures and also the legal liability issuesthat are prevalent. It is definitely one of the key events that happened in thehistory of e-commerce in China as it has created a boom in the nation which propelledit into global significance. 4 1 1982 Videotex Communications,Collected Papers AldrichArchive, University of Brighton December 1982 12 Steven Millward (November 12, 2014). “New record for world’s biggest shopping day asAlibaba’s shoppers spend $9.
3 billion in 24 hours”. Tech in Asia. Retrieved December 5,2014.3 C.
Custer (October 14, 2014). “Tmall CEO: this year, Alibaba plans to takeSingles Day global”. Tech in Asia. Retrieved December 5, 2014.4 Gracie, Carrie (8 September 2014).
“Alibaba IPO: Chairman Ma’sChina – BBC News”. BBC News. Retrieved 13 February 2017
