Basics of Ecommerce

Basics of E-commerce


The exchange or buying and selling of commodities on a large scale involving transportation from place to place is known as commerce. When all this is done electronically, it is known as “e-commerce”. E-commerce from communication perspective is the delivery of information, products or services, or payments via telephone lines, computer networks, or any other means-commerce from business perspective, is the application of technology toward the automation of business transaction and workflows.

Ecommerce from online perspective provides the capability of buying and selling products and information on the Internet and other online services.

Features of e-Commerce

  • e-Commerce is doing business online and electronically
  • e-Commerce is about buying and selling products and services on the Internet.
  • The sellers are individuals, small businesses or large corporations.
  • The buyers are consumers or businesses.
  • Payment can be made by credit or debit card, money order, cash, check, services or trade.
  • The ranges of things that can be sold using e-commerce is enormous and include art, apartment, antennas, batteries ,bicycles, books, cars, cells phones, computer, cosmetics and whatever.

Role of E-Commerce

1. E-commerce is one of the cheapest means of doing business as it is e-commerce development that has made it possible to reduce the cost of promotion of products and services.

2. E-commerce reduces delivery time and labor cost thus it has been possible to save the time of both – the vendor and the consumer.

3. You can do your e-payments with the help of e-commerce.

4. You can pick up the pace of your online business with the help of e-commerce application

5. There is no time barrier in selling the products. One can log on to the internet even at midnight and can sell the products at a single click of mouse.

6. E-Commerce provide facility - on-time alerts are meant for the convenience of the consumers and inform the consumers about new products.


E-Commerce Categories

The two most common participants in ecommerce are businesses and consumers. Based on this we can come up with four primary ecommerce types:

1. Business to Business Ecommerce (B2B Ecommerce)

In this type of ecommerce, both participants are businesses. As a result, the volume and value of B2B ecommerce can be huge. An example of business to business ecommerce could be a manufacturer of gadgets sourcing components online.

2. Business to Consumer Ecommerce (B2C Ecommerce)

When we hear the term ecommerce, most people think of B2C ecommerce. That is why a name like Amazon.com pops up in most discussions about ecommerce. Elimination of the need for physical stores is the biggest rationale for business to consumer ecommerce. But the complexity and cost of logistics can be a barrier to B2C ecommerce growth.

3. Consumer to Business Ecommerce (C2B Ecommerce)

On the face of it, C2B ecommerce seems lop-sided. But online commerce has empowered consumers to originate requirements that businesses fulfill. An example of this could be a job board where a consumer places her requirements and multiple companies bid for winning the project. Another example would be a consumer posting his requirements of a holiday package, and various tour operators making offers.

4. Consumer to Consumer Ecommerce (C2C Ecommerce)

The moment you think of C2C ecommerce eBay.com comes to mind. That is because it is the most popular platform that enables consumers to sell to other consumers. Since eBay.com is a business, this form of ecommerce could also be called C2B2C ecommerce (consumer to business to consumer ecommerce).