E-commerce

E-commerce applications in agriculture The web allows many uses that can be used in many ways. For example, displays may be static or animated, search for specific products may be assisted by a search function, sound may be added, payment by credit card may be possible, encryption may enhance the security of transactions, etc. The result is an evolving, diverse set of e-commerce uses and business models. Amid the diversity and change, patterns of e-commerce practices in agriculture are emerging. What provides order to the diversity is not so much technological capabilities and constraints as it is economic interests and necessities that are as valid on the Internet as in other markets. We therefore group agricultural e-commerce sites into four categories according to the economic purpose they apparently serve: Saving transaction cost E-market intermediation n Integrating e-commerce services n Providing e-commerce support services Most sites serve several purposes and the examples are only indicative. There may be other agricultural ecommerce sites that better represent the group. Saving transaction costs A transaction comprises flows of information, of merchandise, and of money. In conventional transactions different media are involved in the three flows. For example, there are physical displays signaling the availability of products, vision and touch for their inspection, print to communicate the terms of exchange, and paper and metal as means of payment. In e-commerce , however, all information, money, and sometimes even the merchandise too, are transformed into binary digits or bits, which can be sent through the Internet over long distances at the speed of light and at zero marginal cost.