Definition of E-commerce
E-commerce is a major that is very popular nowadays why we need to understand it because it is used by almost people around the world. E-commerce is the marketing, selling, and buying of goods and services online. It generates revenue, while e-business does not. The facilitation of commerce on the website such as the ability for customers can order products online, ask questions, and get answers about products, and for company can introduce new products or services through the E-commerce technology.
Type of E-commerce
In fact, in our daily life, we might meet lots of e-commerce but in different types, So today we are going to know about the type of it that we usually meet but do not know about it. There are 4 types of it are B2B, B2C, C2C, and C2B. To understand each type of it we are going to detail each type below:
- Business to Business (B2B): When a business sells a good or service to another business. For example, a business that sells software-as-a-service for other businesses to use, or Staples selling office supplies. This is the largest form.
- Business to Consumer (B2C): When a business sells a good or service to an individual consumer. For example, when you buy a pair of shoes from an online retailer like Nike.
- Consumer to Consumer (C2C): When a consumer sells a good or service to another consumer. The most well-known C2C is eBay, but there are many other online market providers as well, like Kijijii or Craigslist. Peer-to-peer (P2P) is also a form of consumer-to-consumer. See more about P2P below.
- Consumer to Business (C2B): When a consumer sells their products or services to a business or organization. For example, an influencer offers exposure to their online audience in exchange for a fee, or a photographer licenses their photo for a business to use.
It also involves the government (B2G and C2G)
- Business to Government (B2G): Defined as e-commerce transactions with the government. The Internet is used for procurement, filing taxes, licensing procedures, business registrations, and other government-related operations. This is an insignificant segment of e-commerce in terms of volume, but it is growing.
- Consumer to Government (C2G): Defined as e-commerce transactions between the government and individuals. This would involve licenses and registrations, and paying taxes.
E-commerce Platform
An E-commerce platform is not just a website that can provide customers only to order products and accept payment online, but a true platform is a platform that complete business command center that controls everything from inventory to marketing. It should support basic requirements such as custom styling, search engine optimization, credit card processing, promotions, catalog management, analytics, product browsing, checkout, and order management. Some examples of e-commerce platforms are Shopify, Wix, and BigCommerce.
Something related to e-commerce by technology that you should know is payment methods, SEO, Email based methods, and mobile wallets. You can learn more about it from the resource of Global Marketing in a digital world.