Different types of e-commerce

                  DIFFERENT TYPES OF E-COMMERCE

BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS (B2B)

B2B (Business to Business) means both the seller and buyer are businesses. An example of a B2B e-commerce transaction would be a clothing retailer sourcing materials to then customise and sell on to their own customers. Due to the nature and volume of B2B operations, these transactions tend to be a lot larger than one would find in a B2C environment.

BUSINESS-TO-CONSUMER (B2C)

B2C (Business to Consumer) e-commerce is when a business sells directly to a consumer. An example of B2C e-commerce would be an electronics company selling mobile phone accessories over the internet. In recent years, the rise of popularity of e-commerce has often eliminated the need for ‘bricks and mortar’ physical stores leading to what has been coined 'the death of the high street'.

                     

CONSUMER-TO-BUSINESS (C2B)

The internet has increased the choice of a consumer thereby placing more power in his/her hands. Before the internet, you would often have one large monopoly who owned a segment of the market and you would have to pay whatever price they set. Now consumers can set their own standards and specifications of what they want and companies can bid for that sale. An example of this would be a customer places a requirement on a job board where companies would then have to bid for the winning project.

              

CONSUMER-TO-CONSUMER (C2C)

The internet infrastructure now allows customers to sell directly to other customers. A popular example of C2C would be eBay, were a consumer can list their unwanted items on an online marketplace and sell directly to other consumers. This has often been referred to as ‘consumer to business to consumer e-commerce’.

          
MOBILE E-COMMERCE

Mobile Commerce - Selling or buying goods or services only or mostly by the mobile apps. Example : Google Play.