E-commerce in Brazil: an Overview

摘要

Globalization and Internet have been creating new business opportunities. The online electronic commerce (E-commerce) is one of the outcomes of "New Economy" and is an international phenomenon. Nevertheless, contrary to the idea of globalization and internationalisation, the E-commerce between business and consumers doesn't necessarily stay with global features. The regional dimension of the E-commerce in Brazil is also important and will be discussed in this note. This paper is organized as follows. First, a description of the Internet is made. The diffusion of the Internet created the conditions for fostering electronic commerce. Some characteristics of the Internet in Brazil are important to understand the stage and the possibilities of the electronic commerce in our country. Next, E-commerce will to be discussed. The economic potential attributed to the Internet is associated to the E-commerce. The E-commerce can be divided in three categories: 1. Among enterprises (B2B - business to business) 2.From enterprises to consumers (B2C - business to consumer) 3.From business to government (B2G). Researches indicate that B2B and B2G is developing very fast, while B2C moves slowly. In this note B2C will be emphasized. The consolidation of online E-commerce must confront the resistance of the users with ingrained customs. Thus, the popularisation of Internet is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition.