What is e-commerce ?

E-Commerce

Commerce is the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. This refers to the exchange of goods and services. usually for money. There are three parties to any such exchange: Buyers - Sellers and - producers.

Buyers:- are the people with money who want to pucchase goods or services.

Sellers:- are the people who offer goods and services to buyers. Sellers are generally recognized in two different forms - retailers who sell directly to consumers and wholesalers or distributors who sell to retailers and other businesses.

Producers:- are the people who create the products and services that sellers offer to buyers. A producer is always, by necessity, a seller as well. But, the producer may sell the products to wholesalers, retailers, or direclty to the consumer.

We can also say that commerce refers to the buiying and selling of a product.

E-Commerce is a simply an extension of this concept. e-commerce refers to the facility of being able to purchase various goods through the internet using secure transmission of data and electronic payment services. in other words, E-Commerce or Electronic Commerce means buying and selling of any product online.
It is a way of enabling business over the Net. Companies set up websites providing details of their products and services. and users can purchase whatever they want through credit cards.

BENEFITS OF e-COMMERCE ::

E-Commerce can provide the following benefits over non-electronic commerce. like;-

• Reduced costs by reducing labour, reduced paper work, reduced errors in keying in data, reduce post costs.
• Reduced time, Shorter lead times for payment and return on investment in advertising faster delivery of product.
• Flexibility with efficiency. The ability to handle comples situations product ranges and customer profiles without the situation becoming unmanageable.
• Improve relationships with trading partners. Improved communication between trading partners leads to enhanced long-term relationships.
• New Markets. The Internet has the potential to expand your business into wider geographical locations.

TYPES OF e-Commerce ::

Four types of E-Commerce have been defined. They are;-

1. Business-to-Business (B2B)
2. Business-to-Consumer(B2C)
3. Consumer-to-Consumer(C2C)
4. Consumer-to-Business(C2B)

1. B2B;- Companies doing business with each other such as manufacturer selling to distributors and wholesalers selling to retailers. Pricing is based on quantity of order and is often negotiable

2. B2C;- Companies provide information about products and services on their website for the direct benefit of the actual consumers who can order any product or to take any information from this site.

3. C2C;- There are many sites offering free classifieds, auctions, and forums where individuals can buy and sell things to online payment systems like payPal where people can send and receive money online with ease. e-Bay's auction service is a great example to show where person-to-person transactions take place everyday since 1995. and now a days PAYTM is also very popular.

4. 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.

Shopping on the Web ::

An Internet-based retail business is similar to the mail-order business, where you are required to select the products you are interested in bying, and the quantity needed, from a catalogue.
How ever the difference only is that instead of mailing the selected product list along with your cheque or credit card number, you type in your credit card number and click Buy with your mouse.