E-Commerce or Electronic Commerce basically means buying or selling of goods over the Internet with the use of Electronic tools or techniques. The use of e-commerce in today’s world has drastically changed our lifestyle especially in shopping activities. (You definitely know what I mean!).
Image Credit: Rexhep Bunjaku
E-commerce is electronic business. It uses the power of computers, the Internet and software to send and receive details on products, purchase orders and invoices or the fact, any other type of data that needs to be communicated to customers, suppliers or the public.
Why e-commerce and how is different from traditional commerce? E-commerce has the potential to reduce the cost of businesses and generate more revenue. It also improves service quality by catering vast number of services in a given platform. Banks, Insurance, Retailers, Marketing, Government are some of the main recipients of e-commerce. Though e-commerce may not have a physical store and in most cases, the buyer doesn’t even know who the seller is but web and telecommunication technologies play a very important role in e-commerce. Let’s put it this way, in traditional commerce you present product information in a physical store or by the use of magazines and flyers. On the other side e-commerce makes use of online catalogs and websites. Traditional Commerce may involve checking for product availability by phone, fax or letter but e-commerce does it by e-mail and website. But in both of the above, the main objective of selling products and service remains the same.
Note: Today all the companies operate with a mix of traditional commerce and e-commerce. For example – The foot wear brand Bata, The watch brand Titan, etc.
Based on the nature of business being done, there are three major types of e-commerce in action.
1) Business to Business E-commerce (B2B)
Business to Business or B2B E-commerce is an interaction between two businesses without the involvement of a consumer.
For Example: www.agriwatch.com is an Indian agriculture e-marketplace in which authorized users can participate in the buying and selling of agricultural goods.
2) Business to Consumers E-commerce (B2C)
Business to Consumers or B2C E-commerce involves selling of goods and services to consumers by a business. It allows the consumers to browse the catalog, choose the product and order it online.
For example, www.flipkart.com is a site where in you can browse the product catalog and buy whatever you like.
3) Consumers to Consumers E-commerce (C2C)
Consumers to Consumers or C2C E-commerce involves selling or purchase of goods between two consumers or individuals.
For example: www.olx.in is a platform where you can post an ad for the sale of a product or a service and another individual just purchases the goods directly from you.
Please Note: Other types of e-commerce also exist. For example;
Business to Government E-commerce (B2G) : where the transaction takes place between a business enterprise and a government organization.
M-Commerce: Which makes use of mobile and its applications for the purpose of e-commerce.
So as of today, e-commerce has completely changed the way we purchase things or services. But, please be aware of the security risks on certain site specially and especially while making payments.
Stay tuned for more.
