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What is e-commerce?

E-commerce, also called e-commerce or e-commerce, means the transfer of money and data for the purchase and sale of goods and services via the Internet and the conduct of these transactions. E-commerce is often used to denote the sale of physical goods on the Internet, but it can also apply to any type of commercial transaction carried out over the Internet.

Although e-business covers all aspects of doing business online, e-commerce is specific to transactions with goods and services.

The history of e-commerce begins with the first online sale: on August 11, 1994, a man sold a CD to his friend through his website Netmarket, an American retail platform, through Band Sting. This is the first time a consumer has bought a product in a business through the World Wide Web or e-commerce, as we usually know it today.

Since then, e-commerce has facilitated the search for and purchase of goods through online stores and markets. Ready Independent freelancers, small businesses and large corporations have benefited from e-commerce, which has allowed them to sell their products and services on a scale that was impossible with traditional offline retail.

Global e-commerce retail sales are expected to reach 27 trillion by 2020.

Types of e-commerce models

There are four main types of e-commerce models that can describe almost every transaction between consumers and businesses.

1. From business to business (B2C):

When a company sells a product or service to an individual customer (for example, you buy a pair in an online store).

From business to business (B2B):

When a company sells a product or service to another business (for example, a company that sells software as a service to use another company)

3. Consumers (C2C):

When a customer sells a good product or service to another customer (such as you sell your old furniture to another customer on eBay).

4. Consumers in business (C2B):

When a user sells their products or services to a business or organization (for example, an influencer offers access to their audience online for a fee, or a photographer uses their business to license their image).

Examples of e-commerce

E-commerce can take a variety of forms, including the different relationships between businesses and consumers, as well as the exchange of various items as part of those transactions.

1. Retail trade:

Sales of the product by the business directly to the customer without an intermediary

2. Wholesale trade:

Selling large quantities of goods, often to the seller, who then sells them directly to consumers.

3. Dropshipping:

Sale of goods manufactured and shipped to the consumer by a third party.

4. Crowdfunding:

To raise start-up capital to bring to market, consumers must raise money before the product becomes available.

5. Purchase:

Automatic regular regular purchases of goods or services if the buyer does not decide to cancel.

6. Physical products:

Any tangible item that requires replenishment of inventory and receipt of physical orders for delivery to customers as soon as they are sold.

7. Digital products:

Downloadable digital equipment, templates, and courses or media that must be purchased or licensed for use.

8. Services:

A combination of skills or competencies in exchange for compensation. The time of the service provider can be purchased for a fee.