e-Commerce is a broad term that covers all business activities that use the internet as the platform for conducting exchanges or forming and maintaining relationships. It encompasses social media, the sharing economy, mobile applications, e-tailing, the changes to business models and developments such as wearables, and is a rapidly growing component of business education. The separation between real and virtual worlds is becoming more intangible as we rapidly face a new world of integrated technology. e-Commerce provides a solid grounding in this dynamic discipline as well as tools and techniques to leverage for e-commerce business success.

e-Commerce is written from the perspective of a developing country and makes use of many South African examples. It uncovers the main business drivers that practitioners need to be aware of in this rapidly developing field, from an overview of the e-commerce environment and the digital business models and strategies that have emerged from it, to an in-depth look at the strategic drivers for digital and social marketing, operations and emerging trends in the digital future.

Contents include the following:

• The local and regional e-commerce environment
• Digital business models and the e-value chain
• Consumer behaviour online
• Research and Big Data
• Digital marketing, advertising and branding on the internet
• Special developments in areas such as pricing and services
• The macro-environment, e-commerce and the law
• The digital future

e-Commerce is aimed at students who already have an understanding of general business theory, specifically basic concepts in economics, marketing and management.