E-commerce is often described simply as buying and selling online, but that definition is too narrow. In reality, electronic commerce covers a much wider business landscape. It includes online transactions, digital payments, electronic product catalogues, customer support, business-to-business document exchange, internal workflow automation, online marketplaces, digital marketing, and the technology infrastructure that makes all of these activities possible. The course material frames e-commerce as a combination of business strategy, communication networks, data management, security, and electronic business processes.

