Future is ‘Online’

Lahiru Sanjeeva Fernando

Imagine a day when you do not have to go to work but work is at your fingertips. Picture an era when you do not have to step outside to go shopping but you are able to purchase items from home. Visualize a time when you do not have to drag yourself to the nearest outlets to pay your bills but you are able to pay them at the blink of an eye.

This is the secret weapon. The internet! A tool to increase efficiency. A series of networks which are interlinked to the computer systems, the internet provides global access to anyone who logs on. E-mail, chat rooms, blogs, Skype, Facebook and twitter are for those who like to keep tabs on each other from across the world.

The days of IDD calls and foreign mail are fast fading.

All these aspects are familiar to modern day youth like the back of their hand. However e-commerce goes beyond mere communication. It is an important subject for internet users.

Michael Aldrich invented online shopping in 1979. It caught on like wildfire and is developed hundred fold today. E-commerce is an electronic system that facilitates buying and selling transactions via internet. Leading websites, namely amazon and ebay are the leading e-commerce solutions for online marketing. The advantage of e-commerce lies in the fact that anyone in any corner of the world can sell their products to others without any barrier. A person in Australia can interact with someone or purchase any good online from a country as far as USA or Africa. It is just a matter of owning a credit card. Online banking is one of the powerful transaction hubs in Sri Lanka. You can even pay bills online.

E-commerce saves time and avoids difficulties in manual transaction. The customer will be able to inspect and purchase goods which are not within reach simply by clicking the mouse button rather than waiting for the product to make its way to the local market.

E-commerce is a result of a lot of research and investment in modern technology. It is the answer to employees who juggle hectic lifestyles between office and home.

Some companies have even employed globally utilized online systems that allow their employees to work from home. This way, employees are able to login and complete their work in the comfort of their home. In addition salary transactions too are done through this system.

Education too has taken an online path. Universities in countries like UK, USA and Australia have started to deliver their educational programs via internet. Here too students from across the world will be able to choose the best educational system which caters to their interest without spending big bucks to fly to those states.

Students can use their usernames and passwords to logon and attend ongoing lectures. Interestingly lecturers too are given means in which they can monitor each student individually. This leap in technology helps them to keep track of student records easily. It also provides accurate details to the heads of the institutions.

Though e-commerce is efficient and time saving it has its downside. Impostors can swindle money out of customers and the company. It is also important to do a background research on the reliability of the company when you consider an occupation which goes online. After all safety is what matters.