Have you done business dealings through the internet? Then you have also partaken in E-commerce.
If commerce is the physical trade of selling or buying products, e-commerce is nothing but its electronic coequal – selling and buying using the internet. To be more specific, when an electronic platform is used for selling products and services to customers or other businesses through the internet, that is E-commerce.
The influence of social media, developments of E-commerce apps, and increasing demand for mobile shopping is revolutionizing E-commerce and its applications for modern-day use.
Why is E-commerce important for your business?
- More cost-effective than setting up a traditional brick-and-mortar store.
- Provides a chance for a price comparison between the same products of different sellers.
- Can notify consumers about the latest deals and exciting offers.
- The chances of business expansion are higher.
- Maintenance cost is low.
- Numerous options for selling and marketing the products
- Better consumer retention than conventional shopping
- You can take benefit of customers’ responses for brand success
Classification of E-commerce application:
- Electronic Markets:
An electronic market or E-market is a website that provides businesses a space to buy and sell products to each other through a standard technology medium. They are online commerce sites that give an opportunity for many buyers and suppliers to meet and trade with each other.
- Electronic Data Interchange:
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is a standard system where computers are used to communicate and trade business documents between business partners. It avoids all time-bound delays and human errors, which are otherwise obvious while dealing with paper documents.
- Internet Commerce:
Internet commerce or E-commerce, which we are primarily discussing in this article, is using an electronic platform to advertise and sell numerous products and services. The purchased products are then shipped to the customer once confirmed.
Applications of E-commerce
- Retail: E-retailing is the selling of services and products to B2C customers and, in some cases, B2B consumers through an online platform. Virtual shopping carts and electronic catalogs are used for e-retailing.
- Digital Advertising: Digital advertising replaces traditional advertising materials like catalogs and brochures. It is the usage of the internet to provide advertising material to customers, which involves a publisher and an advertiser. The advertiser delivers the ads, and the publisher incorporates ads into online content.
- Online Marketing: It is the process of marketing products and services through the internet after gathering and analyzing consumer behavior data. The consumer behavior data includes consumer choices, demands, buying patterns, etc. This will help improve marketing activities like price fixing, product features, and creating strong consumer connections.
- Online Booking: Booking hotels, movie tickets, and airline tickets are all a part of online booking. These bookings and reservations are created through a booking platform or IBE.
- Finance: Banks and other financial organizations are utilizing e-commerce significantly. Finance e-commerce helps clients review account balances, do money transfer to other accounts, pay all kinds of bills through internet banking, make insurance payments, and so on. It also makes it easy for individuals to carry out online trading and gather information about stocks from websites.
Types of E-commerce applications
- Business-to-Business (B2B): B2B is a type of e-commerce where the electronic exchange of goods, services, and knowledge between businesses happen.
- Business-to-Consumer (B2C): B2C is the retail component of e-commerce where businesses trade goods, services, and information to their customers directly through an online platform.
- Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C): It is e-commerce that gives an opportunity for consumers to sell and buy products or services with each other. All the transactions will be carried out through a third-party online platform.
- Consumer-to-Business (C2B): C2B is a kind of e-commerce where consumers build their products and services and make them available online for businesses to bid on and buy. The best example of a C2B medium is an online market that trades everything for free, like the Job Board and iStock.
- Business-to-Administration (B2A): It is a type of E-commerce that allows online transactions between businesses and administration or government bodies. Companies deliver a supply of e manuscripts, registers, security, etc., electronically, which has grown tremendously in recent years.
- Consumer-to-Administration (C2A): C2A e-commerce is a transaction between an individual client and a government authority or public administration.
