Today, e-commerce has become more of a business imperative than ever before as consumer awareness and expectations evolve. The proliferation of high-speed broadband and the availability of a sophisticated Internet infrastructure and Web-enabled mobile devices present increased economic opportunities for government, businesses, and individuals that could have profound impact on how future business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) commerce is conducted.

In 2015, global e-commerce B2C sales totalled USD 1.54 trillion. To get a glimpse into how e-commerce is transforming the marketplace worldwide, one only has to look at some of the world's most successful and popular businesses. Amazon, one of the world's leading online retailers, has no points of sale; Uber, the world's largest taxi company, owns no vehicles; Netflix, the largest pay TV service, owns no STB or transmission infrastructure; and Alibaba, one of the world's most valuable retailers, has no inventory.