Although E-commerce was discussed in a previous chapter, Module 9 of “The Internet” offered a deeper dive into the variety of E-commerce services and platforms. I personally have used both B-to-C & C-to-C platforms to make many purchases, and recently have started selling items online as well. While I am not as familiar with B-to-B transactions, I suppose it would be similar to the way my manager orders stock for the store where I work, and would perhaps make things easier with faster communication and all the orders consolidated in one place. In general, the convenience of E-commerce has forever impacted the realm of brick-and-mortar businesses, with many famous chains of last century closing their physical locations due to the shift toward online transactions.

Of course, there are some issues with E-commerce, and this chapter also highlights how online companies are trying to improve them. Such features as SSL security protocol and third-party assurance provider verification were introduced to address consumers’ concerns over privacy & use of clickstream/cookie information. International language and legal differences are also a major source of difficulty for online services, and smaller companies generally restrict the extent of where their site can provide service as stated in their terms of use. I am quite familiar with the COPPA law disallowing data collection of anyone under the age of 13, mainly due to YouTube’s apparent violation of this law prior to 2020. While this brought attention to the issue of safety of children in online spaces (perhaps in conflict with a company’s financial interest), the COVID pandemic quickly took over the headlines, and unfortunately I haven’t seen this topic at the forefront of discussion since.

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