who coined the phrase "eCommerce" for the first time and what is the
widest recognized definition?

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Clarification of Question by bamsi-ga on 29 Apr 2004 12:47 PDT

I need the exact sources for my assignment.

The popularity of the term "eCommerce" (or "e-commerce") is credited to IBM.

"IBM's marketing (they coined - or at least popularized - the term
'e-commerce') and the very freedom of the Internet began to draw
countless peoples' attention."

Webmaster, Inc.
http://www.sites-done-right.com/opdetail.cfm?IsArchive=1&OpID=12

Here you'll find IBM's own definition of the term:

"Since IBM... coined the word eCommerce, let's quote them. 'Simply
put, it?s a melding of the Internet and traditional IT. But it?s more
than that. It?s a way you can conduct business more quickly and
efficiently, reach new markets, and make better use of your staff.
It?s the way business will take advantage of the reach of the Web and
the increasing power of hardware and software tomorrow.'"

Ashton Integrated Technologies Corporation
http://www.ashtonitc.com/webroi.htm

Other brief definitions:

"E-commerce can be viewed from a number of perspectives, such as the
delivery of information by electronic means, as a business process, or
improving quality and reducing the speed of service... More generally
the term e-commerce is for a buying and selling process that is
supported by electronic means in the electronic marketplace (ie via
the Internet).  Organisations can offer products or services
complementary to traditional business or provide a new line of
business... For potential buyers e-commerce offers convenience, the
ability to buy goods and services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365
(or 366) days a year.  On the other hand, firms offering goods or
services can make quick adjustments to market conditions, reduce
costs, and build closer relationship with customers."

Journal of Information, Law and Technology
http://elj.warwick.ac.uk/jilt/00-2/barton.html

"The Association Française pour le Commerce et les Echanges
Electroniques (AFCEE) and the Association Française de la Télématique
Multimédia have both produced a definition of electronic commerce; one
is a narrow definition while the other is broader in scope. The
narrower definition is as follows: 'electronic commerce refers to all
business transactions in which a purchase is made through a
telecommunications network. It covers both the placing of orders and
the purchase and payment of orders, and applies to purchases of both
goods and services regardless of whether or not the latter are
themselves on-line (information services, games, etc.).

The broader definition includes 'all commercial uses of networks' in
the definition of electronic commerce. This activity covers the
following two areas:

- 'B to C', 'B2C' or 'Business to Consumer' refers to sales to private
individuals of tangible and intangible goods and services. The rising
number of Internet users coupled with constant growth in the number of
new Web sites and the availability of secure means of payment on the
Internet, suggest that this is a sector which is set to grow strongly
in the future.

- 'B to B', 'B2B' or 'Business to Business' covers all purchases or
sales between firms."

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
http://www1.oecd.org/cem/online/ecom01/Garreau.pdf

Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: "term ecommerce OR e-commerce" + "coined"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22term+ecommerce+OR+e-commerce%22+coined

I hope this helps. If anything is unclear, or if a link doesn't work
for you, please request clarification. I'll be glad to offer further
assistance before you rate my answer.

Best regards,
pinkfreud

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Request for Answer Clarification by bamsi-ga on 29 Apr 2004 14:13 PDT

Hi there,
I'm sorry, but that's not the answer I expected and I think also the
answer you gave me is not correct.

I certainly know that IBM has coined the word "eBusiness" (they even
have a trademark on that) but I don't see a kind of proof that this is
also the case with the term "eCommerce" - which was the question I
originally wanted to get answered. I spent a couple of hours on this
one and did not find a real proof. That was the reason I gave GA a
try.

The link you provided me with leads to:
"they coined - or at least popularized - the term "e-commerce")

And that is not the answer to my question. Please come back with a
satisfying answer. I know it's not IBM. So who was it really?

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Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 29 Apr 2004 15:12 PDT

Does this help?

"Electronic commerce (e-commerce), coined by Kalakota and Whinston
(1996), continues to be a significant, pervasive issue for both
enterprises and customers"

http://web.njit.edu/~jerry/Research/Romano%20&%20Fjermestad%20ISONE-2002.pdf 

"Electronic Commerce (eCommerce or EC), coined by Kalakota and
Whinston, is a significant, pervasive issue for businesses and
customers... Kalakota and
Whinston articulated eCommerce as being comprised of two business
relationship types: those between enterprises and customers; and those
between and among enterprises...

Kalakota, R., & Whinston, A. B. Frontiers of electronic ommerce.
Addison Wesley Publishing Co., 1996."

http://csdl.computer.org/comp/proceedings/hicss/2001/0981/07/09817021.pdf

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Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 29 Apr 2004 15:15 PDT

Another mention of Kalakota and Whinston:

"Introduction Electronic Commerce (eCommerce or EC), coined by
Kalakota and Whinston"

www.hicss.hawaii.edu/HICSS_34/PDFs/INCRM03.pdf

Nice contact, quick and helpful, the answer clarification gave the
desired result. Thumbs up!

I actually found a 1980 reference to "e commerce" in the NY Times, but
it turned out to be a sentence in an article that read:

"...at th e Commerce Department, a senior official noted that..."

hi bamsi, i'm leaving a commment about another thread you left that
expired end of april.  it was about the CSV editor.  i believe i found
one worth looking at. it's freeware.  this is in response to your
thread: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=338726

download it from here:
http://home.hccnet.nl/s.j.francke/csved/csvedsetup.exe

Hi hhsfool-ga,
:) That's exactly the editor I found myself and I am currently using.
It's awesome (buttomline: forget Excel). Like one of my colleagues put
it: "Increadible, just as if they'd custom-programed it for us!" It's
not free- but cardware, must say that was the quickest card I wrote in
my life...

Cheers,
bamsi