E-Commerce Book, The: Building the E-Empire (Communications, Networking and Multimedia) (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Juanita Ellis (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What started as a curious exclusive property of the IT-initiated and the technologically hip is now a bona fide mainstream revolution embraced by prime ministers, pornographers, and poets. And in there, deep in the engine room, is business, buying in and getting bullish. Where would the modern manager be without an "e-commerce solution"? Problem is, the expertise that built the bricks-and-mortar business doesn't translate into success on the Internet gold rush. Half-term report for traditional businesses? "What your company lacks in e-skill, it makes up for in enthusiasm." Must try harder, boys and girls.

The E-Commerce Book is a paper-and-ink-solution, but don't let that put you off. It promises to transform buy-in and bullishness into results. Korper and Ellis set their out stall early on, their goal "to give each reader the right tools to jump head-first into the pool of e-commerce and to find it comfortable and deep with opportunity." What you get is a thorough, no-nonsense guide to launching and maintaining a business on the Internet, covering all points from sales and marketing to technology and architecture, stopping at globalization and off-the-shelf e-commerce solutions along the way.

Refreshingly for the hyped and happening world of e-commerce, the authors make no dramatic claims--it isn't going to be easy, but with ambition, creativity, and access to the right information (i.e., this book), it's possible to do e-business with the best of them. And if you're late, don't worry. "The Internet's extraordinary youth means its earnings potential has no apparent ceiling," they say. "Plenty of room still exists for pioneers to enjoy similar e-commerce success." The text is aimed squarely at businesses, and the language and aspirations resound to an accessible commercial rhythm--variations on the phrase "the beauty of electronic commerce is that when you do one thing right, you get paid over and over" are still in the count.

Age often takes second place to youth in adapting to technology and ideas--think of those organizations using preteen business advisors. With the help of The E-Commerce Book, your company could soon be surfing with the little boys. --Iain Campbell

Review

"...an outstanding, user-friendly source of information for aspiring entrepreneurs and business managers...very highly recommended reading." -- Midwest Book Review

Reviews of the first edition

"a thorough, no-nonsense guide to launching and maintaining a business on the Internet"
-Amazon.co.uk

"They say this book is able to move any corporation, small business or entrepreneur into the 21st Century. Great claims indeed. In actual fact, this book probably could."
-IS Opportunities -- Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 284 pages
• Publisher: Academic Press; 1st edition (September 6, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0124211607
• ISBN-13: 978-0124211605
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,189,907 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars For business/management people w/o any technical background, December 26, 1999

By	John (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews

I am an e-commerce architect mainly dealing with technical part of the e-commerce rather than the business side of it. I heard good things about the authors' class (I belive it is a lot more technical) that is being taught at the SMU in Dallas so I decided to pick up the book thinking it will save me from attending a $5,000 class.

Well, this book is not for those people with technical backgrounds but for those management/business people who doesn't understand the basic concept of what it needs to run succesful e-commerce web sites. If you fit in that category it should be a worthwhile reading I belive. It will give you a good general background info.

I would say this is still better than the most e-commerce books I've read but still not good enough. If you are an engineer/programmer/analyst, then don't bother too much with this book.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A truly awful book, February 15, 2000

By	Rowriver (Oregon) - See all my reviews

I reviewed about 20 e-commerce books in preparation for teaching a series of corporate seminars and college courses, and this was easily the weakest of the bunch. The authors must have written this in a weekend. There was very little depth to this treatment - most of it was terribly obvious. No exploration of the more fundamental ways in which e-commerce is changing organization and design of businesses, supply chains, the marketing relationship, etc. These people need to go back to the field to find out what is really happening, not just hang out in their ivory tower. I suggest spending your $$ on one of Ravi Kalakota's books, which are much more thoughtful and original. Were not the market for e-commerce books exploding, this very weak book would never have been published.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Turning your focus to eCommerce? Get this book!, December 31, 1999

By	A. Klinkert "AKlinkert" (Plano, Texas USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The eCommerce Book is an outstanding resource for those now turning they're focusing to eCommerce. It covers the essential elements for someone in need of a broad understanding of the field. I learned the basics of payment systems, security, auction technology, globalization, and vendor solutions. The simplification of the basic architecture and deployment process for eCommerce was particularly helpful. This is not a dry technical reference book. On the contrary, this is a quick, positive, and enthusiastic read of an exciting and emerging mega-trend. I liked the numerous link-references to interesting and helpful Internet sites relevant to the book. Written by computer scientists, but with a keen attention to business issues, this book was helpful to me for both my engineering and management needs. About the only thing I would suggest would be an appendix with footnotes to technical references for those of us that may need to dig deeper in a certain arcane area. If you are just starting to focus on this area (or if you would like to round out your knowledge of this broad field), then this is the book for you!