The Growth of E-Commerce

E-commerce is now one of the most popular ways to shop. It has become massively integrated in to our daily lives from being able to shop on a desktop or laptop or even through mobile devices. One of the reasons E-commerce has become more popular is due to its accessibility. Users are now able to access E-commerce websites and apps through any device that has an internet connection, not only that, individuals are now able to access E-commerce websites and apps at any time of the day, which in turn makes it much easier for to purchase items.


E-commerce is constantly on the rise with many people having their own websites and selling their products or services.  However sites like eBay and Amazon are becoming increasingly more popular as it allows individuals to list their own products and sell via eBay or Amazon. By using platforms such as eBay and Amazon it allows an individual to have somewhat easier maintenance over their products.


E-commerce websites are centred on transactions.  This is the basic exchange of a good or a service. An E-commerce website has three basic components, a web server which manages the face of a website and also process transactions. A database is used to help keep a record of stock levels and a dispatch system which will need to be linked to a warehouse, so that a good can be found and dispatched quickly. These three features are more or less essential for an E-commerce system to function and allow the E-commerce website or app owner to effectively manage their online business. These systems also provide the customer with efficient service for example the database will show customers which items are available to purchase.


E-commerce is now more popular than ever according to business insider they mention that “E-commerce sales in the US totaled over $97 billion during Q2 2016, representing nearly 16% year-over-year (YoY) growth, according to the US Department of Commerce.”  This tells us that many of us are now buying goods online, and this may be due to the ease of use.  Another interesting point from business insider is that “nearly 19% of all e-commerce sales came from mobile devices, according to a report from comScore.” This shows that we have easy access to E-commerce sites and apps making us more inclined to buy goods online.


With the increasing demand for quick and easy services E-commerce has now become more or less integrated in our lives. In one way or another we are always linked with E-commerce for example we see advertisements when we are shopping, on our social media and also through our emails. With this constant bombardment of advertisement it is hard not to for the average consumer to be so involved in E-commerce. There is also a huge variety of products to choose from such as fashion and even groceries. E-commerce has worked wonders for many of us allowing us to access a huge range of products and improve our shopping experience.


Explain that Stuff. (2017). How does e-commerce work?. [online] Available at: [Accessed 15 Mar. 2017].

high, E. (2017). E-commerce growth has hit a two-year high. [online] Business Insider. Available at: [Accessed 15 Mar. 2017].

My Future Career Aspirations

With IT now being more integrated in our lives more than ever, there are many IT related professions that one can consider going in to. I for one have never really thought about what career I eventually end up in. But however during the recent few months of my Business and IT course I have begun to realise that there are countless career paths I could possibly choose from. For example going in to web development is a profession that interests me, after learning how complex yet also being so simple at the same time creating a website can be it has intrigued me and would be a career path that I would enjoy pursuing. In web development there may be fields other than simply designing the website such as “client-side/server-side scripting and network security configuration”


However web development may only be the tip of the iceberg, other professions such as cyber security has not only gotten me curious but has made me think that there is potential to only work in an office day in day out but also have the opportunity to present evidence in court, thus allowing me to be involved in the IT side and also the being involved with the law for example “Organisations that have to consider measures against cyber war or cyber terror include governments “ this shows how relevant cyber security is now becoming and that it is now a major threat to all types of organisations . There is also the potential to become a network manager, whereby I would help a company’s IT software and computer systems running smoothly and to keep the systems up to date, which in turn allows the company to become much more efficient in running its day to day business. Although there are many IT professions and career paths I could choose from, I have always thought that I may use my skills elsewhere.

Source Pixabay Geralt

I may decide that my future may be with my family e-commerce business. The family business consists of listing products on product hosting sites and also two separate e-commerce websites. From the skills that I have learnt in university I may decide to use these skills to help grow my father’s business and making us a much more reputable company, and then allowing us to become more well-known and trusted more by online consumers. I could be involved in the customer’s services department or a more hands on approach in terms of making our e-commerce sites more secure and running smoothly.

Source Pixabay Tumisu

Overall there are many options in the future that I could choose from whether it is in to web development or expanding my father’s e commerce business but at this current moment in time they are all very tempting and that it is impossible to choose one at this moment in time. My plan in terms of my career would be to further expand my skills at university, and then on that basis decide what my future career would be.

How can HTML and CSS benefit individuals and organisations?

My personal opinion about how HTML and CSS can help benefit individuals and organisations is that it will allow a business to reach a wider range of customers. Many individuals are now using the web in order to complete necessary tasks such as shopping or even banking. By having a HTML and CSS web enabled source it will potentially let a business reach a much wider range of customers.

It’s becoming a trend to complete tasks as easier as possible. Such as many young individuals using their mobile devices to more or less complete everyday tasks using a HTML and CSS source to such as purchasing a bus ticket. Using CSS and HTML makes web enabled content more accessible and more presentable to a wider range of users, while also providing a clear and consistent design. An organisation that uses HTML will also benefit from audio and video support, which makes it easier as other third party media players and flash will not be needed therefore allowing the content to be accessed more easily. Not only will video and audio support be easier but so will accessibility to mobile devices, this also includes support for iOS and android devices. An individual using HTML and CSS will be able to potentially increase their social media popularity. A HTML doctype is widely supported by many browsers, which in turn makes it easier to create websites and will also give a better user experience as having an accessible and usable site means that people are more likely to engage. HTML provides a clear consistent design allowing for more or less any user to have ease of usage when using a website.

From my opinion I believe that HTML and CSS has hugely changed the way we use the web. For example when I am web browsing on my mobile phone I wouldn’t have thought that there would be huge amounts of HTML and CSS incorporated in a website that I would just simply use to procrastinate. It’s even used in some mobile applications; it is like I somehow take this simple but yet complex process for granted. HTML and CSS has been so integrated in to our lives that we are more or less oblivious to the fact that it plays a huge role in our everyday lives. From our mobile devices to our PC’s every webpage, program or application has code embedded inside in order for us to use these applications, websites or programs.

HTML and CSS may offer me a wider variety of future career choices, for example it could take me to places where I design websites or software for other business or it may increase the potential amount of skills that I already have and thus making me more employable in other industries. By having the ability to code it will enable me to possibly further my career and maybe fast track my position in a company or allow me to move to a job with a higher salary.