eCommerce
eCommerce, also known as electronic commerce, digital commerce, or internet commerce, refers to the buying and selling of goods or services using the internet, and the transfer of money and data to execute these transactions. eCommerce is often used to refer to the sale of physical products or services online, but it can also describe any kind of commercial transaction that is facilitated through the internet. eCommerce enables businesses to buy or sell products at a global scale, twenty-four hours a day, without incurring the same overhead as running a brick and mortar store. There are various types of eCommerce models:
- Business-to-business (B2B) eCommerce refers to the electronic exchange of products, services or information between businesses rather than between businesses and consumers.
- Business-to-consumer (B2C) is the retail part of eCommerce on the internet. B2C commerce occurs when businesses sell products, services or information directly to consumers.
- Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) is a type of eCommerce in which consumers trade products, services and information with each other online.
Consumer-to-business (C2B) is a type of eCommerce in which consumers make their products and services available online for companies to bid on and purchase. This is the opposite of the traditional commerce model of B2C.