Internet

=== Electronic business ===
[[Electronic business]] (''e-business'') encompasses business processes spanning the entire [[value chain]]: purchasing, [[supply chain management]], [[marketing]], [[sales]], [[customer]] service, and business relationship. [[E-commerce]] seeks to add revenue streams using the Internet to build and enhance relationships with clients and partners. According to [[International Data Corporation]], the size of worldwide e-commerce, when global business-to-business and -consumer transactions are combined, equate to $16&nbsp;trillion for 2013. A report by Oxford Economics added those two together to estimate the total size of the [[digital economy]] at $20.4&nbsp;trillion, equivalent to roughly 13.8% of global sales.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.myclouddoor.com/web/documents/The%20New%20Digital%20Economy.pdf|title=The New Digital Economy: How it will transform business|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140706101452/http://www.myclouddoor.com/web/documents/The%20New%20Digital%20Economy.pdf |archive-date=6 July 2014|website=Oxford Economics|date=2 July 2011}}</ref>

While much has been written of the economic advantages of [[electronic commerce|Internet-enabled commerce]], there is also evidence that some aspects of the Internet such as maps and location-aware services may serve to reinforce [[economic inequality]] and the [[digital divide]].<ref>{{cite web |title=How the Internet Reinforces Inequality in the Real World |work=The Atlantic |author=Badger, Emily |date=6 February 2013 |access-date=13 February 2013 |url=http://www.theatlanticcities.com/technology/2013/02/how-internet-reinforces-inequality-real-world/4602/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130211095334/http://www.theatlanticcities.com/technology/2013/02/how-internet-reinforces-inequality-real-world/4602/ |archive-date=11 February 2013 }}</ref> Electronic commerce may be responsible for [[Consolidation (business)|consolidation]] and the decline of [[mom-and-pop]], [[brick and mortar]] businesses resulting in increases in [[income inequality]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zdnet.com/e-commerce-will-make-the-shopping-mall-a-retail-wasteland-7000009960/|title=E-commerce will make the shopping mall a retail wasteland|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130219011301/http://www.zdnet.com/e-commerce-will-make-the-shopping-mall-a-retail-wasteland-7000009960/|archive-date=19 February 2013|website=ZDNet|date=17 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press_Releases/2012/12/Free_Shipping_Day_Promotion_Spurs_Late-Season_Online_Spending_Surge|title='Free Shipping Day' Promotion Spurs Late-Season Online Spending Surge, Improving Season-to-Date Growth Rate to 16 Percent vs. Year Ago|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128191411/http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press_Releases/2012/12/Free_Shipping_Day_Promotion_Spurs_Late-Season_Online_Spending_Surge |archive-date=28 January 2013|website=Comscore|date=23 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2012/12/death-american-shopping-mall/4252/|title=The Death of the American Shopping Mall|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215044619/http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2012/12/death-american-shopping-mall/4252/ |archive-date=15 February 2013|website=The Atlantic – Cities|date=26 December 2012}}</ref>

Author [[Andrew Keen]], a long-time critic of the social transformations caused by the Internet, has focused on the economic effects of consolidation from Internet businesses. Keen cites a 2013 [[Institute for Local Self-Reliance]] report saying brick-and-mortar retailers employ 47 people for every $10&nbsp;million in sales while Amazon employs only 14. Similarly, the 700-employee room rental start-up [[Airbnb]] was valued at $10&nbsp;billion in 2014, about half as much as [[Hilton Worldwide]], which employs 152,000 people. At that time, [[Uber]] employed 1,000 full-time employees and was valued at $18.2&nbsp;billion, about the same valuation as [[Avis Rent a Car]] and [[The Hertz Corporation]] combined, which together employed almost 60,000 people.<ref>{{cite news| last1=Harris |first1=Michael |title=Book review: 'The Internet Is Not the Answer' by Andrew Keen |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/book-review-the-internet-is-not-the-answer-by-andrew-keen/2015/01/02/8627999a-7973-11e4-9a27-6fdbc612bff8_story.html |access-date=25 January 2015 |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=2 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120000258/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/book-review-the-internet-is-not-the-answer-by-andrew-keen/2015/01/02/8627999a-7973-11e4-9a27-6fdbc612bff8_story.html |archive-date=20 January 2015 }}</ref>