What it’s about:

This major focuses on how to use marketing concepts, business strategies, economics, and computer science to develop new businesses, or to transform an existing business, through the use of the Internet and related information technology.

What the study of this major is like:

While you might think e-commerce has been around your whole life, e-commerce as a discipline, or academic subject, is still in its infancy. New technologies and creative individuals are continually remaking e-commerce and keeping it interesting. How many other disciplines transform themselves so extensively every few years? Another factor that makes e-commerce exciting is that you can apply your ideas quickly; you may have the satisfaction of producing immediate results.

The e-commerce major usually begins with a combination of general courses in technology and management fundamentals. Next, you take courses focusing on how e-commerce can be used in creating businesses or improving the performance of existing businesses. In many of your courses, you’ll examine recent developments in electronics, such as smart phones, and then identify opportunities to apply the new tools. You may also focus on finding technological solutions to classic business problems-for instance, figuring out how computers can help deliver customized products more efficiently. Because much of your work involves exploring ways to apply technology, you will probably spend considerable time brainstorming with others on team projects.

The biggest different among programs is whether they emphasize technology or business. Almost all programs have a mix of the two areas, but the number of technology or business offerings can varydramatically. Some programs focus almost entirely on technology. In these programs, courses usually deal with computer programming, network technology, and the development of Web content. Other programs focus on management issues, such as marketing, business case analyses, business plan development, or business strategies made possible by the Internet. In still other programs, you cannot take e-commerce as a stand-alone major; you must combine it with a major in computer science, management, marketing, or information techno logy. Ask yourself if you are more business or technology oriented to figure out which programs are a better fit for you.

Career options and trends:

Web developer*; Internet business developer (analyst or manager); network engineer; product manager/marketing manager; business alliance manager; technology analyst*; venture capitalist/fund manager; investment banking analyst; market analyst*; Internet applications designer.

The long-term employment prospects for e-commerce and related professions are very strong. The Bureau of Labor Statistics describes the growth of e-commerce as “explosive” and notes that the expansion of the wireless Internet will spur the need for managers with both business savvy and technical proficiency. Technology constantly improves, and each advance presents new business opportunities.

Source: CollegeBoard 2012 Book of Majors