Online shopping has been gaining popularity since the unfortunate rise of the ‘Coronavirus’ or ‘Covid-19’ pandemic and the consequent lockdown that is occurring all over the world. Because of this, most people have to do their shopping or business online using their internet-connected computers or smartphones from wherever they are. Fortunately, this has been made possible by two popular networks known as E-Commerce and E-Business.
Most people think that these two terms mean the same thing. In fact, they are not, but they are closely related to each other.
Definition of electronic commerce
The term E-Commerce is an acronym that refers to “Electronic ‘Commerce” and is the process of selling and buying products through an online store. Unlike a “brick and mortar” store, there is no face-to-face interface between the seller and the buyer for the transaction to take place.
Some models of electronic commerce are the following:
1. Business to Business (B2B)
It refers to any type of electronic transactions of products or services that are carried out between two companies.
2. Business to consumer (B2C)
It refers to any type of electronic transactions of products or services that are carried out between the seller and the client. By far this is a very common type of e-commerce.
This type of electronic commerce is generally more dynamic and easier to carry out. With the creation of many online stores, B2C has increased very significantly in the last few months due to the lockdown. Now you can easily find almost any type of online store and in any niche you want over the Internet. They sell all kinds of physical products like books, gadgets, clothes, tools, accessories, etc. and digital products such as e-books, information, online courses, etc.
A lot of people are moving towards shopping online more than offline because it is more convenient and the prices are often cheaper as well, even with the cost of shipping. Another plus point is that most online stores will also offer free shipping for purchases over a certain amount.
3. Consumer to Consumer (C2C)
This refers to any electronic transaction of products or services between a customer and another customer. This can usually be done with the help of a third party, such as Amazon, eBay, or Etsy as a marketplace for buying and selling online.
4. Consumer to business (C2B)
Consumer to business is a type of business model where the customer or user creates a product or provides a service that a company or business uses to complement its business setup, enhance its business image, or gain advantage over its competitors.
For example, websites like Fiverr, Upwork, etc. where their freelancers offer their services like website or logo creation, and any company can use their services if they want.
5. Business to Administration (B2A)
This refers to any type of transaction that takes place between companies and the government over the Internet. It includes many different types of services, such as tax, social security, employment, legal documents, etc.
6. Consumer to Administration (C2A)
This refers to any type of transactions that take place between the consumer and the government. For example, taxes, education, health, social security, etc.
Definition of electronic commerce
The term E-Business is an acronym that refers to “Electronic Business”, and its business is carried out with the use of the Internet, Extranet, Intranet and website. In this sense, E-Business is a bit similar to E-Commerce, but it is more than selling and buying products or services online.
Essentially, E-Business encompasses a broader range of business processes such as electronic ordering and processing, customer relationship management, supply chain management, etc. In general, e-commerce can be built as part of e-commerce.
There are two types of eCommerce models:
1. Pure game
This refers to a company that only operates over the Internet and offers only a particular type of product or service in order to gain a larger market share.
2. Bricks and clicks
It is a business model adopted by merchants who have physical retail outlets and run their businesses both online and offline. In other words, merchants provide their customers with a channel to shop offline and online.
How is e-commerce different from electronic commerce?
The process of selling and buying products over the Internet is simply called electronic commerce. However, E-Business is not just limited to the buying and selling process. Any business that is done through the Internet is considered as E-Business. For example, information and communication technologies used to improve the business. Basically, e-commerce becomes part of e-commerce.
It is not necessary for any E-Business to be physically present in the business world. If a business has an office, along with its physical presence, and conducts its business over the Internet, then it can be called e-commerce.
Electronic commerce refers to any type of business transaction that involves money, but electronic commerce involves both money and supporting activities.
E-commerce requires the use of the Internet in order to conduct business around the world, while e-commerce can use more than the Internet. For example, the use of the Intranet and Extranet also to connect with business parties.
Advantages of electronic commerce and electronic business
Both e-commerce and electronic commerce have revolutionized the way people shop. Customers probably would have enjoyed some of its benefits. Similarly, entrepreneurs have also benefited as follows:
1. Cost savings and time savings for your business
With a retail store, it means that there will be some kind of overhead costs that you will need to pay on a monthly basis, such as rent, utility bills, phone bill, staff salaries, etc.
When you take your business online, you can reduce or even eliminate some of these costs. Converting your business to E-Business can also help simplify certain jobs. For example, it’s much easier to email volume discount coupons than it is to print hundreds of coupons and mail them out.
2. E-commerce can operate 24/7
Thanks to the Internet, any e-business can literally run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no restrictions on hours and days of operation.
3. Remove location restriction
The Internet can also cross all time zones and connect people from all over the world. With a retail point of sale, customers will be limited by their proximity to where they live and also by the hours of operation.
Also, with E-Commerce, your online store can be accessed using smartphones and other mobile devices. This means that people can buy your products from anywhere while on the go.
4. Easy to track business growth and goal
There are now many tools and apps available to easily track your business growth and goal, as well as understand your customers’ buying behaviors. For example, the best-selling products in the last few months, the number of returning customers, the number of abandoned carts, etc.
Unless you do additional record keeping, it will be difficult to track and generate such data at a retail point of sale.
5. Provide better customer service
The sooner you can respond to your customers’ inquiries, the better for your business. Having an online chat feature on your business website will make it much easier for your E-Business to meet that need.
With E-Commerce and E-Business, both you as the business owner and your customers can enjoy all the benefits.
For food of thought, it can be said that electronic commerce is a large part of electronic commerce, just as electronic commerce is electronic commerce, but electronic commerce is not necessarily electronic commerce.
