E-Commerce

TYPES OF E-COMMERCE

E-commerce can be classified based on the type of participants in the transaction:

1. Business-to-Consumer (B2C) E-commerce

·  Commerce between companies and consumers, involves customers gathering information; purchasing physical goods or receiving products over an electronic network.

·         Businesses sell products or services to individual consumers.

·         Example: Walmart.com sells merchandise to consumers through its website.

2. Business-to-Business (B2B) E-commerce

·         Simply defined as e-commerce between companies.

·         Businesses sell products or services to other businesses.

·         Example: Grainger.com sells industrial supplies to large and small businesses through its website.

3. Business-to-Government (B2G) E-commerce

·    Commerce between companies and the public sector.  It refers to the use of the Internet for public procurement, licensing procedures, and other government-related operations.

·        Businesses sell goods or services to governments and government agencies.

·        Example: Business pay taxes, file reports, or sell goods and services to government agencies.

4. Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) E-commerce

·      Simply commerce between private individuals or consumers.

·      Includes individuals who buy and sell items among themselves.

·      Participants in an online marketplace can buy and sell goods to each other.  Since one party is selling, and thus acting as a business.

·      Example: Consumers and businesses trade with each other in the eBay.com online marketplace.

5. Mobile Commerce (M-commerce)

·   Buying and selling of goods and services through wireless technology that is handheld devices such as cellular telephones.

·     Example: Wireless mobile devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and cellphones can be used                 to conduct commercial transactions.