Underground commerce

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U-Commerce is the short form of ubiquitous commerce and describes the uninterrupted communication and the exchange of data and information between dealers , customers and systems or applications at any time and any place via technical end devices.

In general, U-Commerce is an umbrella term for an all-encompassing business transaction using information and communication technologies.

features

As early as 2000, Richard T. Watson defined four fundamental factors of U-Commerce:

  • Ubiquitous = "omnipresence", represents the possibility of being connected to the internet anytime and anywhere and thus also to be available at any place at any time.
  • Uniqueness = The "uniqueness", the clear identification of users in relation to their identity, their preferences and their geographical location.
  • Universal = "Universality" refers to the devices that are multifunctional and universally usable. Examples are surfing the Internet, making phone calls or connecting wirelessly to one another.
  • Unison = Can be translated as "harmony" and describes the integration of data via applications so that users have a consistent and independent view of their information. The term Unison can also be understood as the complete, comprehensive synchronization of all devices.

Sub-areas of U-Commerce

According to the definition of the term, U-Commerce encompasses all areas of retail, regardless of the technologies used. This accordingly includes E-Commerce , M-Commerce , Voice Commerce (V-Commerce), Television Commerce ( T-Commerce ) and “Silent Commerce” (trading without human involvement).

Technology driver

The emergence and development of ubiquitous trade supported by ICT systems is based on some technologies that have supported the path to U-Commerce and will continue to drive it in the future.

These include technologies such as B .:

  • Internet as a basic technology and origin

In addition, technologies that are primarily attributable to the concept of ubiquitous computing and thus are and will be the basis and actual driver of ubiquitous commerce. This includes the following technologies in particular:

  • Technologies of machine-to-machine -Communication which miteinschließen including the above technologies
  • Techniques for automatic identification and data acquisition ( Auto-ID ) such as GPS and RFID
  • in the long term, intelligent and self-organizing devices / systems and their technologies (e.g. sensors , AI )

Opportunities and challenges

In connection with the arrival of ubiquitous commerce in everyday life and its increasing spread, some opportunities, but also challenges of U-Commerce can be identified.

Opportunities:

  • Personalized advertising and information supply tailored to the place, time and mood
  • high availability of services for the customer
  • Extended analysis options for providers as well as customers (time, place, behavior)
  • increasing mobility of customers and providers

Challenges:

  • increasing requirements due to the variety / quantity of devices and energy consumption
  • higher risk of manipulation or security gaps due to more "targets"
  • increasing exclusion of older people due to high technological requirements
  • "Desocialization" of customers and providers

criticism

U-Commerce has not yet established itself in terms of its terminology.

See also

literature

  • Elgar Fleisch, Markus Dierkes: Ubiquitous Computing from a business perspective . In: WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK . tape 45 , no. 6 , 2003, ISSN  0937-6429 , p. 611-620 ( PDF ( preprint )).