The future of e-commerce: integrate and customize

Internet technology allows companies to overcome many of the physical constraints that often prevent them from doing business in distant markets, which means that an e-commerce market is fundamentally global. Despite the increasing market reach, however, certain emerging trends fragment the Internet-enabled marketplace into countless niche markets. As network and distributed computing technologies advance, killer applications for consumers will be those that allow mixing and matching of products and services on a personal basis and in real time. The author discusses integration and customization as the future of e-commerce.