The figure shows the structure of a traditional e-commerce system and a typical example of such a system.
The structure includes four components, some of which are at least partly shared by mobile commerce systems:
Electronic commerce applications: The applications are numerous, including auctions, banking, marketplaces and exchanges, news, recruiting, and retailing, to name but a few.
Client computers: Desktop computers are used for electronic commerce, whereas handheld devices are used for mobile commerce.
Wired networks: This component is the major difference between electronic commerce and mobile commerce; the latter must also include wireless networks.
Host computers:A user request such as database accesses or updating is actually processed at a host computer, which includes a Web server and a database server.
