With the new advancements in technology and science, our world has evolved into a big marketplace that can operate anywhere. Businesses had to keep up with the changes and adapt their businesses to the internet. In order to achieve this, new tools have emerged. E-Commerce (Electronic Commerce) is a business model that operates online, allowing companies and individuals to sell goods. People have access to E-Commerce from their smartphones, computers, tablets, or any other technological devices they own. Anything we can think of can be sold in E-Commerce services, from books to houses.
There are four types of E-Commerce; business-to-business (websites such as Shopify), business-to-consumer (websites such as Amazon), and consumer-to-consumer (websites such as eBay).
- Business-to-Business (B2B): This model is a direct sale from one business to another.
- Business-to-Consumer (B2C): This model involves sales from businesses to customers.
- Consumer-to-Consumer: This is a business type that allows individuals to sell their goods to other individuals on a platform such as eBay. To give an example, people who bought something and grew out of it and did not like what they bought in the first place anymore can be sold these goods using these sites.
- Consumer-to-Business: This model enables individuals to sell their goods to companies and other businesses. This model is generally used by artists who license their works to be used by companies.
How Does E-Commerce Work?
In a general sense, E-Commerce businesses don’t operate any differently from a physical stores. Customers click on the site they are purchasing from and browse for what they are looking for. The only big difference is that they do not need to move where they are sitting as they are doing so. Whether you’re selling shoes or houses on E-Commerce sites, the process is sort of the same:
- Accept the order: You accept the order customer puts in and start the process.
- Processing the order: Once the order is placed, payment and sale is processed on the site. In each step you make, an e-mail must be sent to the customer and make sure they are in contact with the process.
- Ship the order: Once the payment and processing are made, sellers are expected to ship the goods customer wants to purchase. The faster the shipment is, the better results a seller makes.
What is the Difference Between E-Commerce and E-Business?
Some people confuse the terms “e-business” and “e-commerce,” although they are not interchangeable. Simply expressed, e-commerce refers to online buying and selling, whereas e-business refers to all online transactions. E-business can be thought of as a subset of e-commerce. If you want to start or work closely with an internet-based organization, you should learn everything there is to know about these two principles.
E-Commerce is the practice of conducting business activities and transactions over the internet. It comprises internet-based activities such as buying and selling products, conducting monetary transactions, and so on. E-commerce is conducted over the internet. E-commerce necessitates the use of websites and applications (apps). It is mostly linked to the final process of flow means that are linked to the end customer.
Activities of E-Commerce are:
- Buying and selling products online
- Online Payment
- Online Ticketing
- Online Customer Support
- Online Accounting Software
E-Business is the term for conducting all types of commercial transactions over the internet. It covers internet-based operations such as the acquisition of raw materials/goods, customer education, supply activities, product purchasing and selling, monetary transactions, and so on. In e-business, the internet, intranet, and extranet are used. E-business necessitates the use of websites, applications, ERP, CRM, and other tools.
Activities of E-Business are:
- Online Store Setup
- Customer Education
- E-Mail Marketing
- Supply Chain Management
- Monetary Business Transaction
- Buying and selling product
What are the Disadvantages of E-Commerce?
As there are advantages of everything, there are also disadvantages. Although E-Commerce has many pros, some of the cons to Electronic Commerce is listed below:
- Limited customer service: If you shop online for a computer, you cannot simply ask an employee to demonstrate a particular model’s features in person. And although some websites let you chat online with a staff member, this is not a typical practice.
- Lack of instant gratification: When you buy an item online, you must wait for it to be shipped to your home or office. However, e-tailers like Amazon make the waiting game a little bit less painful by offering same-day delivery as a premium option for select products.
- Inability to experience products: Online images do not necessarily convey the whole story about an item, and so e-commerce purchases can be unsatisfying when the products received do not match consumer expectations. Case in point: an item of clothing may be made from shoddier fabric than its online image indicates.
What is E-Commerce Specialist?
An E-Commerce expert is somebody who is equipped enough in all E-Commerce occupations that they can manage all parts of an E-Commerce system, growing a venture as far as possible from origination to a full-grown shipper online that is terminating on all chambers and bringing in cash among a few showcasing and checkout channels.
In order to be referred to as an E-Commerce Specialist, you need to have the qualifications such as website design, website building (on more than one platform), site management, E-Commerce marketing, E-Commerce SEO, marketing funnels, conversion optimization, e-mail marketing, search engine marketing, social media marketing, display marketing, analytical analysis, data-driven decision making, up and cross-selling, and many others.
