Until now, these cyber 7-Elevens have been more bark than byte, but they are beginning to turn a profit.
Electronic commerce is nothing new.
We've been learning how to exchange orders and money both within and between companies for years now. Many organizations already sell, ship, and pay for merchandise electronically, saving the cost of human error and lots of paper. But the cost of these links is high, leaving smaller organizations and consumers out in the cold. And with the rise of the World Wide Web, we found a common mechanism for sharing information and a way to reach more consumers with electronic retail. The range of Web-based retailers is wide.