Commerce
Commerce
KEY TAKEAWAYS
E-commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services over the
internet.
It is conducted over computers, tablets, smartphones, and other smart
devices.
Almost anything can be purchased through e-commerce today, which makes
e-commerce highly competitive.
It involves more than one party along with the exchange of data or currency
to process a transaction.
1. Business-to-Business (B2B)
2. Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
3. Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)
4. Consumer-to-Business (C2B)
5. Business-to-Administration (B2A)
6. Consumer-to-Administration (C2A)
Business-to-Business (B2B)
A B2B model of business involves the conduct of trade between two or more
businesses/companies. The channels of such trade generally include conventional
wholesalers and producers who are dealing with retailers.
Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
This business model is leveraged by a consumer for selling used goods and/or
services to other consumers through the digital medium. The transactions here are
pursued through a platform provided by a third party, the likes of which include OLX,
Quickr, etc.
Consumer-to-Business (C2B)
A C2B model is the exact reversal of a B2C model. While the latter is serviced to the
consumer by a business, the C2B model provides the end consumers with an
opportunity to sell their products/services to companies. The method is popular in
crowdsourcing based projects, the nature of which typically includes logo designing,
sale of royalty-free photographs/media/design elements, and so on and so forth.
Note – the term ‘crowdsourcing’ was coined in the year 2005 as a sourcing model
that facilities individuals/organizations to obtain goods/services from internet users.
Business-to-Administration (B2A)
This model enables online dealings between companies and public administration,
i.e. the Government by enabling the exchange of information through central
websites. It provides businesses with a platform to bid on government opportunities
such as auctions, tenders, application submission, etc. The scope of this model is
now enhanced, thanks to the investments made towards e-government.
Consumer-to-Administration (C2A)
The C2A platform is meant for consumers, who may use it for requesting information
or posting feedbacks concerning public sectors directly to the government
authorities/administration.