E Commerce is one of the most important facets of the Internet to have emerged in the recent times.

Ecommerce or electronic commerce involves carrying out business over the Internet with the assistance
of computers, which are linked to each other forming a network. To be specific ecommerce would be
buying and selling of goods and services and transfer of funds through digital communications.

The benefits of Ecommerce:

Benefits to organization:

1. Ecommerce allows people to carry out businesses without the barriers of time or distance. One
can log on to the Internet at any point of time, be it day or night and purchase or sell anything
one desires at a single click of the mouse.
2. It provides expanded Geographical Reach. It provides opportunity to access new markets across
the globe and reaches narrow markets that traditional businesses have difficulties accessing.
3. Reduction of Marketing and Advertising Costs. It helps organizations decrease costs in creating,
processing, distributing, storing and retrieving information.
4. It enables small and medium-sized enterprises to reach the global market.
5. E-commerce makes “mass customization” possible.
6. It is the cheapest means of doing business.
7. It helps reduce the delivery time, labor cost and the cost incurred on document
preparation, error detection and correction, mail preparation, telephone calling, data
entry, overtime, supervision expenses.
8. The opportunity to reduce costs of production by reducing overheads.
9. The opportunity to increase sales.
10. The chance to target market segments more effectively.
11. Provide more accurate information, better customer service and communication.
12. Improves the efficiency of the supply chain.
13. Supports BPR - Business Process Reengineering.
14. E-Commerce is the essential pathway to implement globalization.

Benefits to customers

1. Reduction in buyer’s sorting out time.

2. Cheaper goods and services is one of the benefits for consumers who purchase online.
3. Less time is spent in resolving invoice and order discrepancies.
4. Increased opportunities for buying alternative products.
5. Available 24/7/365.
6. It provides them with an almost unlimited variety of choices from many different products and
services from a wider variety of sellers.
7. Can receive more information about the product, make a more informed decision.
8. Quick delivery is important for people who want to use the product immediately, as opposed to
waiting longer - if they have to wait long, they may pick a competitor's product.

Benefits to society
1. By telecommuting, individuals can nowadays work and do their purchasing at home rather
than by traveling around. This will result in less traffic and air pollution.
2. Non-profit organizations, including government services, also benefit from E-commerce by
the online payment system which supports the payment of tax refunds and pensions quickly
and securely.
 3. Public services such as health care, education, and public social service also benefit from E-
commerce. For example, rural doctors and nurses can access professional information and
the latest health care technologies.

Ecommerce mainly consists of distribution, purchase, sale, marketing and provision for
supplementary information of products or services via the Internet. E-commerce also includes
the transfer of information between enterprises. In late 70s, Ecommerce started as a process of
sending and receiving electronic documents such as invoices. As the process evolved, it included
activities such as purchase of goods and services via Internet by using different types of purchase
cards i.e credit and debit cards. Today, Ecommerce is spearheading a all new way of buying and
selling online. Ecommerce activities fall into identifiable categories and can be classified as
business to business (B2B), business to customer (B2C) and many more. This article is aimed at
discussing these categories in detail

1. Business to Consumer (B2C): It is the direct trade between companies and end
consumers. This is the direct selling via the Internet. For example: selling goods direct to
customer and anyone can buy any products from the supplier’s website. In this mode is
intended to benefit the consumer and can say business to consumer (B2C) Ecommerce
works as retail store over internet.

Business-to-consumer e-commerce, or commerce between companies and consum-

ers, involves customers gathering information; purchasing physical goods (i.e., tangi-

bles such as books or consumer products) or information goods (or goods of elec-

tronic material or digitized content, such as software, or e-books); and, for informa-

tion goods, receiving products over an electronic network.12

It is the second largest and the earliest form of e-commerce. Its origins can be

traced to online retailing (or e-tailing).13 Thus, the more common B2C business

models are the online retailing companies such as Amazon.com, Drugstore.com,

Beyond.com, Barnes and Noble and ToysRus. Other B2C examples involving in-

formation goods are E-Trade and Travelocity.

Amazon.com, Dell (online vendors of computer hardware and software), hamaracd.com (A

venture of Saregama India Ltd, An RPG enterprise Company.

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 Business to Business (B2B): Business to business Ecommerce existed in marketing from

the very beginning. It is the trade that takes place between companies. Terms like
offshoring and outsourcing are generally associated with B2B Ecommerce. For example:
If I give my company’s payroll work to another accounting firm, it would be deemed as
outsourcing. The term offshoring decides the outsourcing term further. If the work is
outsourced to a company, which is outside the geographical boundary of the country in
which the outsourcing company resides, it is termed as offshoring. Companies doing
business with each other such as manufacturers selling to distributors and wholesalers
selling to retailers. Pricing is based on quantity of order and is often negotiable.

Business-to-business (B2B) describes commerce transactions between businesses, such as

between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer.

B2B e-commerce is simply defined as e-commerce between companies. This is the

type of e-commerce that deals with relationships between and among businesses.

About 80% of e-commerce is of this type, and most experts predict that B2B e-

commerce will continue to grow faster than the B2C segment.

Amazon.com, America Online

2. Consumer to Business (C2B): A consumer posts his project with a set budget online and
within hours companies review the consumer's requirements and bid on the project. The
consumer reviews the bids and selects the company that will complete the project. Elance
empowers consumers around the world by providing the meeting ground and platform for
such transactions.

In today’s Ecommerce arena, it is growing trend wherein consumers demand specific

products or services from respective businesses. For example: I contact a tour and travel
operator via their website for purchasing a holiday package.
Consumer to business Ecommerce is growing at a rapid pace and the trend is set to
continue in the future.

3. Consumer to Consumer (C2C): Usually, this type of Ecommerce works as Consumer to

Business to Consumer (C2B2C). It essentially means that a consumer would contact a
business in search for a suitable customer. Most of the auction websites (like eBay) and
matrimonial websites are working on this methodology.
There are many sites offering free classifieds, auctions, and forums where individuals can
buy and sell thanks to online payment systems like PayPal where people can send and
receive money online with ease. eBay's auction service is a great example of where
person-to-person transactions take place everyday since 1995.

Consumer-to-consumer e-commerce or C2C is simply commerce between private

individuals or consumers.

This type of e-commerce is characterized by the growth of electronic marketplaces

and online auctions, particularly in vertical industries where firms/businesses can

bid for what they want from among multiple suppliers.16 It perhaps has the greatest

potential for developing new markets.

eBay, ubid.com, CNET Auctions

B2G

Business-to-government (B2G) is a derivative of B2B marketing and often referred to as a

market definition of "public sector marketing" which encompasses marketing products and
services to various government levels - including federal, state and local - through integrated
marketing communications techniques such as strategic public relations, branding, marcom,
advertising, and web-based communications.
Business-to-government e-commerce or B2G is generally defined as commerce be-
tween companies and the public sector. It refers to the use of the Internet for public
procurement, licensing procedures, and other government-related operations. This kind
of e-commerce has two features: first, the public sector assumes a pilot/leading role in
establishing e-commerce; and second, it is assumed that the public sector has the
greatest need for making its procurement system more effective.