An increasing number of companies a

An increasing number of companies are gaining a competitive advantage by using the
Internet for direct selling and for communication with suppliers, customers, creditors, partners,
shareholders, clients, and competitors who may be dispersed globally. E-commerce
allows firms to sell products, advertise, purchase supplies, bypass intermediaries, track inventory,
eliminate paperwork, and share information. In total, e-commerce is minimizing the
expense and cumbersomeness of time, distance, and space in doing business, thus yielding
better customer service, greater efficiency, improved products, and higher profitability.
The Internet has changed the way we organize our lives; inhabit our homes; and relate
to and interact with family, friends, neighbors, and even ourselves. The Internet promotes
endless comparison shopping, which thus enables consumers worldwide to band together
to demand discounts. The Internet has transferred power from businesses to individuals.
Buyers used to face big obstacles when attempting to get the best price and service, such as
limited time and data to compare, but now consumers can quickly scan hundreds of vendor
offerings. Both the number of people shopping online and the average amount they spend
is increasing dramatically. Digital communication has become the name of the game in
marketing. Consumers today are flocking to blogs, short-post forums such as Twitter,
video sites such as YouTube, and social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and
LinkedIn instead of television, radio, newspapers, and magazines. Facebook and MySpace
recently unveiled features that further marry these social sites to the wider Internet. Users
on these social sites now can log on to many business shopping sites with their IDs from
their social site so their friends can see what items they have purchased on various shopping
sites. Both of these social sites want their members to use their IDs to manage all their
online identities. Most traditional retailers have learned that their online sales can boost
in-store sales as they utilize their Web sites to promote in-store promotions.