E-COMMERCE IN THE LIGHT OF THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Abstract

A new industrial revolution has begun. The development of digital technology as well as the implementation of advanced technologies, primarily in the manufacturing processes of the industry, all with the changes that are taking place at the global level of the economy imposed by the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). The fourth industrial revolution implies changes in artificial intelligence, automotive industry, robotics, nanotechnology, quantum computers, e-commerce, etc. Also, the fourth industrial revolution means changes in the sectors of economy that use or produce innovative or new technologies, and where information-communication technologies are tools in creating virtual-digital channels of trade in which the trade is performed without business partners ever seeing each other. It took 75 years for the phone to start being used by 50 million people around the world, for the television it was about 13 years, while the Internet took only 4 years. The aim of the paper is to show that the successful functioning of the concept of e-commerce in the era of daily changes on a global level requires understanding of Internet technology, as well as Web and mobile platforms that make up the electronic commerce infrastructure. From the spectrum of innovations brought by Internet, the authors have chosen to explore the Internet as a platform for relocating trade to the digital network, on the one hand, and as a foundation for the development of new models of trade, better known in theory and practice as virtual trade, e-commerce, on the other hand.