Overview of E-commerce
The concept of electronic commerce was first proposed in the 1990s, when the World Trade Organization proposed in the special report on electronic commerce that electronic commerce refers to the use of the network to carry out the production, marketing and circulation of business activities. This definition not only covers all commodity transactions on the Internet, but also includes all commercial activities that use information technology to reduce production costs, increase the added value of products and expand business opportunities, such as raw material inquiries, price comparison, procurement, commodity design, ordering, display, storage and transportation, electronic payment for goods, etc. E-commerce is inseparable from the electronic data exchange and Internet funds transmission, in the Internet environment, its rapid development once produced, to human economic and social development has brought great changes, the traditional “face-to-face” transactions gradually become history, “point to point The traditional “face-to-face” transactions have gradually become history, and “point-to-point” and “station-to-station” commercial data interaction has become the dominant business field, which has greatly improved the efficiency of production and consumption, reduced the transaction costs of the whole society, increased the trading opportunities, and promoted the development of globalization.
The advantages of e-commerce
1. Market globalization
In the traditional trading method, both parties need to complete the display, sale and transaction of goods in a face-to-face situation, and both parties have to meet the requirements of simultaneous and co-location. In the e-commerce environment, the two sides can be in any region, and anyone who can use the network can become a potential customer of an online enterprise.
2. Transaction speed
E-commerce with the help of computers and the Internet can be completed in a very short time a large amount of data calculation, transmission and processing, and without any human intervention, which accelerates the speed of the transaction, so that both sides of the transaction can have more time to focus on the details of the goods.
3. Transaction virtualization
Under “face-to-face” transactions, both goods and money are physical, and companies need to provide real goods, and consumers need to use advanced or bank cards to pay. In the e-commerce environment, the Internet connects the computers of both sides of the transaction, and both sides of the transaction use the network to complete the negotiation, display, order, payment and other links, without face-to-face, the whole transaction process is completely virtualized.
4. Low cost
Under the environment of e-commerce, the two sides can complete the whole transaction process without face-to-face, which reduces a lot of transportation and hospitality costs. In addition, the two sides of the transaction can use the Internet to directly negotiate business, which also eliminates a large number of intermediary costs, thereby reducing the total cost of the transaction.
5. Transaction transparency
Under the traditional transaction mode, the transaction requirements of both parties can only be transmitted verbally or in written form. Under the e-commerce environment, the requirements of both parties regarding the details of products, payment of goods, and notification of delivery can be transmitted through the Internet, and the other party can use the computer to store, compare, and analyze, and the whole transaction process becomes more transparent.
6. Transaction standardization
In the e-commerce environment, both sides of the transaction need to comply with the basic transaction guidelines, and, in different e-commerce platforms, there are more detailed terms and conditions to bind the responsibilities and obligations of both sides, all transaction behavior in accordance with the unified standard, the transaction becomes more standardized.
7. Continuous transaction
Today, Internet technology has been quite developed, and all countries around the world can log on to the Internet at any time and any place to conduct transactions, and e-commerce has realized 24-hour operation. As long as there are computers, mobile terminals and the Internet, both sides of the transaction can find the goods they need or search for target customers, and enterprises can also establish their own websites to facilitate consumers to understand their products.
The impact of electronic commerce on China’s international trade
1. The impact on trade subjects
(1) Traditional intermediaries exit or change
Under the environment of electronic commerce, the intermediaries required by the traditional trade forms in the past are no longer necessary, and the two sides of the transaction can cross the intermediaries and publish their information directly on the Internet for “peer-to-peer” transactions. At this time, intermediaries from the transaction, had to move to the field of guarantees or buying and selling services, which realized the simplification and upgrading of the international trade model.
(2) Virtualization of intermediaries
Although many intermediaries in the traditional trading model are no longer in the business of connecting the two sides of the transaction, they still serve some important functions, such as many intermediaries to integrate the information of sellers and help sellers to collect consumer data, so that both sides can more quickly and accurately find the object of the transaction. This approach makes the transaction a dialogue between the target purchaser and the enterprise consortium, and realizes a close connection of the industry chain.
(3) The network trading platform makes e-commerce more civilianized
E-commerce brings together not only the “business to business”, but also its convenient transaction method and intuitive transaction information delivery method make it easier to be accepted by the public. Many civilian e-commerce platforms have sprung up, such as Taobao, Jingdong, Vipshop, Suning Tesco, etc. Some of these e-commerce platforms focus on comprehensive products, some focus on a certain consumer group, some focus on a certain type of product, consumers from all over the world can realize transactions through these platforms, which has promoted the development of retail transactions in international trade.
2. Changes in the cost of trade
The subjects involved in international trade, whether they are enterprises producing products or intermediary platforms providing various services need to be involved in the process of product circulation, and the whole process includes technology, materials, packaging, transportation, marketing and many other trading links. Therefore, in order to reduce trade costs, control the cost of each link is essential. The emergence of e-commerce plays a very important role in the reduction of trade costs, which expands the horizons of international trade enterprises, which can obtain more comprehensive procurement, production and sales information through the Internet and eliminate the information barriers under the traditional means of transaction, so that both sides of the trade can examine and compare multiple parties, and then determine whether to participate in the transaction. In addition, e-commerce also eliminates the text information needed for traditional trade, saving a lot of text costs for enterprises, who can use the network to transmit and update trade data, which greatly saves time and also improves the transaction’s security density.
3. The impact on trade taxation
The impact of electronic commerce on? The impact of international trade taxation is mainly reflected in the following two aspects.
(1) the location where the transaction occurs brings some difficulty to taxation
Tax is a mandatory form of financial revenue formulated by the local government. Under the traditional transaction mode, the office location of the enterprise is fixed, so the government can collect the enterprise tax on time, and the enterprise can also pay it by itself at the local tax department at a fixed time and place. In the e-commerce environment, the time and place where the transaction occurs cannot be accurately divided, and the taxes triggered by the transaction are difficult to be accurately defined, and the enterprise can also have no specific office location, which adds great difficulty to the collection of taxes and fees.
(2) It is difficult for the taxation department to grasp and understand the details and information of the transactions
Accounts, vouchers and statements are important criteria for tax collection. Under the traditional transaction mode, these information can be presented in written form, but in the e-commerce environment, all the information and accounts of transactions are in electronic form, which cannot form the standardized content if they are not collected and organized, which also causes the situation that taxation has no basis.
Measures to promote the development of e-commerce in China’s international trade
1. Focus on the government’s management of e-commerce
After more than 20 years of development, e-commerce has become a relatively independent trade system, people use e-commerce transactions covering almost all the goods of physical or virtual, which is the expansion and deepening of traditional means of trade. E-commerce as a huge system project, its operation involves a number of industries and departments such as trade regulation, taxation, customs, transportation, finance, insurance, network security, etc. Only the effective cooperation of these industries and departments can ensure the healthy and stable operation of the e-commerce system. The government should do a good job as a market coordinator and guide, establish a unified and perfect e-commerce trade supervision system, provide a more stable trading environment for both parties involved in e-commerce transactions, combat malpractices in transactions, regulate the way the market operates, promote the linkage of various industries and departments, and further improve the efficiency of e-commerce transactions.
2. Focus on the business model and concept of e-commerce
Enterprises pay more attention to their own production and service areas, and the focus on e-commerce is relatively low. The specific performance is that the technical level and management level of enterprises in e-commerce?I domain are low, and they cannot effectively use the Internet platform to carry out business operations. Many enterprises are completely trying to participate in e-commerce, and e-commerce has become an accessory of business operation, and their own characteristics and business philosophy cannot be reflected in e-commerce. This requires enterprises to build their own online sales platform according to their own characteristics, establish a professional management team, root their business philosophy into the details of e-commerce, and truly play the advantages of e-commerce.
Conclusion
With the progress of science and technology, the proportion of e-commerce in international trade will become bigger and bigger. To win in the competition, Chinese enterprises should make good use of the advantages of e-commerce, establish an e-commerce model suitable for the development characteristics of enterprises, make good use of the e-commerce environment provided by the government, and realize the transformation from traditional trading to e-commerce trading as soon as possible.