Insight into E-commerce

Electronic commerce (E-commerce)

Electronic commerce is a process that we all took part at a given point by purchasing online. One interesting fact about E-commerce is that it existed before the internet began. To facilitate the transfer of documents, companies used back in 1960 a system named Electronic Data Interchange. In 1994 a CD was sold between friends through an online retail website named NetMarket which led to the first transaction into E-commerce sector. Since then, retail giants namely Amazon, Alibaba, Ebay created an online marketplace for customers forcing smaller retailers to adopt the new system to stay in the business (Bloomenthal, 2022).

Electronic commerce it is defined by the process of buying, selling goods and services over internet. in present E-commerce become popular and it can be found in different market sectors providing an impressive amount and variety of goods and services which can be acquired with the help of smart devices. The variety of goods and services that can be found in E-commerce made this sector highly competitive. E-commerce it is part of E-business, and it involves several parties to complete a transaction (Zwass, 2022).

 

E-commerce business model: 

Electronic commerce provided businesses with several types of E-commerce depending on the goods, services, and the organisation of an E-commerce company. Following we will explore several of the popular E-commerce types.

 Business to Business (B2B)

 B2B represents the selling of goods from a business to another business rather than a consumer. The transactions from this model are often represented by larger amounts of goods with greater specifications and longer lead times. Most popular retailer that focuses on this business model being Alibaba. 

 

Business to Consumer (B2C) 

This type of E-commerce is the most popular among people. It involves the selling of goods and services to the end consumer rather than an intermediary. B2C namely involves the selling of goods and services required by consumers.

 

Business to Administration (B2A) 

To function effectively agencies and administrations require goods and services provided by special businesses named government contractors. In this model of business companies must meet government requirements, solicit bids for projects, and meet specific product specifications or service criteria. 

 

               

Consumer to Consumer (C2C)

 C2C allows consumers to sell and buy goods through websites without the need of an established company. Most common types of transaction are auctions listing or normal sell of goods or services. A popular platform for this type of business can be Ebay.

 

Consumer to Business (C2B)  

In this E-commerce model consumers, namely freelancers, can sell their services to companies under the form of short contract. This model allows consumer to achieve pricing, scheduling, and employment demands (Statista, 2022). 

 

Other business model example could be Direct to Consumer (D2C) and Business to Business to Consumer (B2B2C).

Advantages and Disadvantages of Electronic commerce (Bloomenthal,2022):

E-commerce advertising:

A critical aspect of E-commerce it is advertising. Electronic commerce advertising it is part of electronic marketing. When used simultaneously business could reach more effectively their targeted audience to boost conversions and raise brand awareness. E-commerce advertising involves the methods that a business uses to promote their product. These types of advertising can be found under the form of display ads, banner ads or rich media ads (Statista, 2022). 

 Giant retailers namely Amazon, Alibaba, Etsy, Ebay had changed the way the retail industry work forcing smaller business to adopt the new style. E-commerce offers a fast pace of trading with great opportunities in terms of customers and market location however, it is not very different than a traditional business in term of business management.

 

References

Bloomenthal, 2022. Electronic Commerce (ecommerce) Definition. [online] Investopedia. Available at: <https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/ecommerce.asp> [Accessed 11 July 2022].

Perricone, 2022. Everything You Need to Know About Ecommerce Marketing. [online] Blog.hubspot.com. Available at: <https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/ecommerce-marketing> [Accessed 11 July 2022].

Statista, 2022. Statista - The Statistics Portal. [online] Statista. Available at: <https://www.statista.com/markets/413/e-commerce/> [Accessed 11 July 2022].

Zwass, 2020. e-commerce | Definition, History, Types, Examples, & Facts. [online] Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: <https://www.britannica.com/technology/e-commerce> [Accessed 11 July 2022].