Ecommerce

TOPIC:

COMMERCE:

Exchange of goods or services for money or in kind, usually on a scale large enough to require transportation from place to place or across city, state, or national boundaries.

Nearly every business transaction is a form of commerce: purchasing food at a restaurant, buying stocks on the stock market, selling goods in a store, etc.

INTRODUCTION:

E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services, or the transmitting of funds or data, over an electronic network, primarily the Internet.

TYPES OF E-COMMERCE:

Following are some major types of e-commerce:

• Business-to-business (b2b)• Business-to-consumer (b2c)• Business-to-government (b2g)• Consumer-to-consumer (c2c)

BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS (B2B)B2B e-commerce is simply defined as e-commerce between companies. The examples of this can be between manufacturers and wholesalers or between retailers and wholesalers. An example that illustrates the business to business concept is automobile manufacturing. Many of a vehicle's components are manufactured independently and the auto manufacturer must purchase these parts separately. For instance, the tires, batteries, electronics, hoses and door locks may be manufactured elsewhere and sold directly to the automobile manufacturer.In the context of communication, business to business refers to methods by which employees from different companies can connect with one another, such as through social media. This type of communication between the employees of two or more companies is called B2B communication.

BUSINESS-TO-CONSUMER (B2C)

Business-to-consumer e-commerce, or commerce between companies and consumers, involves customers gathering information; purchasing physical goods (i.e., tangibles such as books or consumer products) or information goods (or goods of electronic material or digitized content, such as software, or e-books); and, for information goods, receiving products over an electronic network.

BUSINESS-TO-GOVERNMENT (B2G)

Business-to-government e-commerce or B2G is generally defined as 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.

CONSUMER-TO-CONSUMER (C2C)

C2C is simply commerce between private individuals or consumers.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ECOMMERCEThe invention of faster internet connectivity and powerful online tools has resulted in a new commerce arena – Ecommerce. Ecommerce offered many advantages to companies and customers but it also caused many problems.

ADVANTAGES OF E-COMMERCE1. Faster buying/selling procedure, as well as easy to find products.

2. Buying/selling 24/7.

3. More reach to customers, there is no theoretical geographic limitations.

4. No need of physical company set-ups.

5. Easy to start and manage a business.

6. Customers can easily select products from different providers without moving around physically.

DISADVANTAGES OF E-COMMERCE1. Any one, good or bad, can easily start a business. And there are many

bad sites which eat up customers’ money.

2. There is no guarantee of product quality.

3. Mechanical failures can cause unpredictable effects on the total processes.

4. As there is minimum chance of direct customer to company interactions, customer loyalty is always on a check.

5. There are many hackers who look for opportunities, and thus an ecommerce site, service, payment gateways, all are always prone to attack.

EXAMPLES:

An individual purchases a book on the Internet.

A government employee reserves a hotel room over the Internet.

An individual withdraws funds from an automatic teller machine (ATM).

A business buys office supplies on-line or through an electronic auction.