E-commerce (electronic-commerce) refers to business over the Internet. With the growth of commerce on the Internet and the Web, e-commerce often refers to purchases from online stores on the Web, otherwise knows as e-commerce Web sites. The e-commerce marketplace is intensely and savagely competitive. Mellahi and Johnson (2000) noted that major sustainable competitive advantages are almost non-existent. That means that firm's market advantage such as economies of scale are no longer enough to make a firm …showed first 75 words of 1293 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1293 total…of highly talented human resources. Although these advantages are short-lived and quickly eroded through imitation, they continuously put latecomers at a disadvantage for a short period and force them to play catch-up, reacting to Amazon.com rather than shaping the future of online shopping. A third factor is patenting. Despite doubts about their importance, Amazon.com and many other e.commerce companies are leveraging patents to protect their innovations and sustain their first mover advantages.