Electronic Commerce (ECommerce)

Electronic Commerce:
Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, eCommerce or e-comm, refers to the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks.

E-Commerce Types:
E-commerce types represent a range of various schemas of transactions which are distinguished according to their participants. 1. 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. Many businesses are now using social media to connect with their consumers; 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.) 2. Business-to-consumer (B2C) (Electronic commerce that takes place between businesses and consumers is referred to as business-to-consumer or B2C. This is the type of electronic commerce conducted by companies such as Amazon.com. Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce where the buyer is directly online to the seller's computer usually via the internet. There is no intermediary service involved. The sale or purchase transaction is completed electronically and interactively in real-time such as in Amazon.com for new books.) 3. Business-to-employee (B2E) 4. Business-to-government (B2G) (also known as Business to Administration or B2A) 5. Business-to-machines (B2M) 6. Business-to-manager (B2M) 7. Consumer-to-business (C2B) (Consumer-to-business (C2B) is an electronic commerce business model in which consumers (individuals) offer products and services to companies and the companies pay them. We can see this example in blogs or internet forums where the author offers a link back to an online business facilitating the purchase of some product (like a book on Amazon.com), and the author might receive affiliate revenue from a successful sale.)

8. Consumer-to-consumer (2C) (Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) (or citizen-tocitizen) 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 an item for sale and other consumers bid to purchase it; the third party generally charges a flat fee or commission. The sites are only intermediaries, just there to match consumers. They do not have to check quality of the products being offered.) 9. Citizen-to-government (also known as consumer-to-administration or C2A) 10. Government-to-business (G2B) () 11. Government-to-citizen (G2C) 12. Government-to-employee (G2E) 13. Government-to-government (G2G) 14. Manager-to-consumer (M2C) 15. Peer-to-peer (P2P)

Advantages of E-Commerce:

Faster buying/selling procedure, as well as easy to find products. Buying/selling 24/7. More reach to customers, there is no theoretical geographic limitations. Low operational costs and better quality of services. No need of physical company set-ups. Easy to start and manage a business. Customers can easily select products from different providers without moving around physically.

Disadvantages of E-Commerce:

Any one, good or bad, can easily start a business. And there are many bad sites which eat up customers money. There is no guarantee of product quality. Mechanical failures can cause unpredictable effects on the total processes. As there is minimum chance of direct customer to company interactions, customer loyalty is always on a check. There are many hackers who look for opportunities, and thus an ecommerce site, service, payment gateways, all are always prone to attack.

How E-Commerce Works:

1. A consumer visits an online stores website and uses online store to make a purchase. The transaction is conducted over a secure connection (SSL) to stores web hosting server. 2. Payment Processing Gateway handles the secure, real time encrypted credit card information and co-ordinates the transaction 3. Merchant account processes the movement of funds 4. Funds are debited from the consumers credit card account 5. Funds are deposited into stores designated bank account