Le E-commerce

Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, is the purchasing, selling, and exchanging of goods and services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks through which transactions or terms of sale are performed electronically. However, until the recent few years, Ecommerce is getting more and more attention from entrepreneur and consumers, both local and international. One of the main reasons is due to the highly successful operations of some well known names on the Internet, such as eBay, Yahoo and Dell. The sales revenue these companies shown in their annual reports are without doubt, one of the biggest factors why Ecommerce is important in the commercial market nowadays.

Ecommerce (e-commerce) or electronic commerce, a subset of ebusiness, Contrary to popular belief, ecommerce is not just on the Web. In fact, ecommerce was alive and well in business to business transactions before the Web back in the 70s via EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) through VANs (Value-Added Networks). Ecommerce can be broken into four main categories: B2B, B2C, C2B, and C2C.

Transacting or facilitating business on the Internet is called ecommerce. Ecommerce is short for "electronic commerce."

Ecommerce proved its importance based on the fact where time is essence. In the commercial markets, time plays an important role to both the business and consumers. From the business perspective, with less time spent during each transaction, more transaction can be achieved on the same day. As for the consumer, they will save up more time during their transaction. Because of this, Ecommerce steps in and replaced the traditional commerce method where a single transaction can cost both parties a lot of valuable time. With just a few clicks in minutes, a transaction or an order can be placed and completed via the internet with ease. For instance, a banking transaction can be completed through the Internet within a few minutes compared to the traditional banking method which may take up to hours. This fact obviously proves that Ecommerce is beneficial to both business and consumer wise as payment and documentations can be completed with greater efficiency.

Popular examples of ecommerce revolve around buying and selling online. But the ecommerce universe contains other types of activities as well. Any form of business transaction conducted electronically is ecommerce.

Examples of Ecommerce

• Online Shopping

Buying and selling goods on the Internet is one of the most popular examples of ecommerce. Sellers create storefronts that are the online equivalents of retail outlets. Buyers browse and purchase products with mouse clicks. Though Amazon.com is not the pioneer of online shopping, it is arguably the most famous online shopping destination.

• Electronic Payments

When you are buying goods online, there needs to be a mechanism to pay online too. That is where payment processors and payment gateways come into the picture.

Electronic payments reduce the inefficiency associated with writing and mailing checks. It also does away with many of the safety issues that arise due to payment made in currency notes.

• Online Auctions

When you think online auction, you think eBay. Physical auctions predate online auctions, but the Internet made auctions accessible to a large number of buyers and sellers. Online auctions are an efficient mechanism for price discovery. Many buyers find the auction shopping mechanism much interesting than regular storefront shopping.

• Internet Banking

Today it is possible for you to perform the entire gamut of banking operations without visiting a physical bank branch. Interfacing of websites with bank accounts, and by extension credit cards, was the biggest driver of ecommerce.

• Online Ticketing

Air tickets, movie tickets, train tickets, play tickets, tickets to sporting events, and just about any kind of tickets can be booked online. Online ticketing does away with the need to queue up at ticket counters.

Types of Ecommerce

Ecommerce can be classified based on the type of participants in the transaction:

• Business to Business (B2B)

• Business-to-business (B2B) describes commerce transactions between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer. Pricing is based on quantity of order and is often negotiable

• B2B is also used in the context of communication and collaboration. Many businesses are now using social media to connect with their consumers (B2C); however, they are now using similar tools within the business so employees can connect with one another. When communication is taking place amongst employees, this can be referred to as "B2B" communication.

• Business to Consumer (B2C)

When businesses sell electronically to end-consumers, it is called B2C ecommerce.

BUSINESS TO CONSUMER (B2C)

Business to consumer is electronic commerce from a business to the consumer. This is commonly known as B2C through out the Internet. Internet marketing consultants can be found for the area of business to business through online Yellow pages, directories, and a vast amount of other business to consumer resources. In the business-to-consumer B2C industry, there is a wealth of information to help you and your business. An Internet marketing consultant is useful to help you utilize the resources of B2C for marketing, sales, advertising, and E-commerce. There are Universities that offer training for Internet marketing consultant, and now teach courses on both business to consumer and business to consumer companies in addition to E-commerce.

• Consumer to Consumer (C2C)

In internet commerce, means through which consumers interact with other consumers through online auctions.

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• Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) (or citizen-to-citizen) electronic commerce involves the electronically facilitated transactions between consumers through some third party. A common example is the online auction, in which a consumer posts

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