A Guide to Electronic Commerce

Several small businesses have refused to engage in electronic commerce because they are doubtful of the technology and afraid of the potential cost of such an endeavor. The consequence is that small businesses find it extremely hard to compete in the global economy, which is dominated by large companies actively involved in electronic commerce. Fortunately, there are technologies that small businesses can employ to participate in electronic commerce without setting up costly and complicated electronic data interchange systems. One of these is electronic funds transfer systems, which allow the processing of checks, credit cards and debit cards via stand-alone terminals or networked systems. Other instruments include the Internet, World Wide Web, positive pay systems, debit cards and PC-based software.