Which is the correct term: e-commerce, ecommerce, eCommerce, or just ecomm for short? The name and spelling of e-commerce have evolved over the last 30 years, and so have the technologies and job skills required to work in this field. This guide provides a summary of e-commerce’s evolution by describing the history of the term and by laying out the four distinct models within e-commerce that have emerged over the years.
Like most everything on the internet, e-commerce — although it hasn’t been around that long — has evolved and changed a lot. What started as electronic commerce, quickly progressed into e-commerce, ecommerce, or eCommerce. But how can you know which one to use?
In this article, you’ll see e-commerce used. That’s, in part, because Google Trends — a website that analyzes the popularity of top search queries in Google Search — shows most people prefer using e-commerce, as opposed to ecommerce or eCommerce. Since the word is a combination of two words, the use of the hyphen makes that clear.
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Table of Contents
Now, let’s talk about the four distinct models within e-commerce:
- Business-to-consumer (B2C)
- Consumer-to-consumer (C2C)
- Business-to-business (B2B)
- Consumer-to-business (C2B)
Note: When a government entity does business online, substituting business with administration results in additional e-commerce models like business-to-administration (B2A) and consumer-to-administration (C2A).
Business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce
Business-to-consumer (B2C) is the most common form of e-commerce. This is the online process of businesses selling products or services directly to consumers. Some credit the U.S. company Pizza Hut for the first e-commerce transaction (selling a pizza online). However, historians also recognize that before that pizza sale, Dan Kohn sold a CD album to a friend in Philadelphia on August 11, 1994. That friend sent his credit card information to pay for the album and shipping costs using encryption technology. Others couldn’t steal his credit card information because it was encrypted!
Today, B2C e-commerce generates billions of dollars in revenue annually, with encrypted transactions as everyday occurrences. With B2C marketing, you have opportunities to apply your digital marketing skills in very specific ways. For example, you can become a specialist in experiential marketing or social media marketing, or even a subset of social media marketing called influencer marketing.
Experiential marketing, also known as engagement marketing, encourages consumers to not only purchase a brand or product but to experience it. Experiential marketing campaigns draw out emotional responses from their audiences.
Social media marketing creates content for different social media platforms to drive engagement and promote a business or product.
Influencer marketing enlists influential people to endorse or mention a brand or product to their followers on social media.
Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) e-commerce
With consumer-to-consumer (C2C) e-commerce, individuals sell products or services to other individuals. In other words, consumers buy items from each other. Boston Computer Exchange created the first platform for C2C e-commerce in 1982. An online community of people used this platform to sell their used computers to other users. However, the best-known early C2C e-commerce platform is eBay, founded in 1995.
Today, C2C e-commerce still occurs on platforms like eBay and Etsy. Business-to-consumer platforms like Amazon also host C2C sales. Social media platforms like Facebook also entered C2C e-commerce with Facebook Marketplace. Digital marketing for a C2C business prioritizes skills in search engine optimization (SEO), content creation, and social media since most C2C consumers find each other through blogs and social media posts. Their shared interests lead to C2C transactions to buy and sell items.
Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce
Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce enables businesses to sell products and services to other businesses. The rise of services, particularly software services, accelerated B2B e-commerce. This type of service is known as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). One example of a SaaS company is Salesforce, founded in 1999. SaaS companies, like Salesforce, provide other companies subscription access to business-critical services over the internet. For example, Salesforce provides customer relationship management (CRM) software that unifies sales, marketing, and services for a personalized customer journey.
Today, digital marketers for B2B companies use many of the same skills as digital marketers for B2C companies. However, B2B marketing campaigns require more precise identification of their target audiences. Selling to businesses requires a focus on communicating immediate value to potential customers. Therefore, digital marketing for B2B companies tends to be more strategic. There may be fewer opportunities to specialize in one type of marketing, like social media marketing, and a greater emphasis on marketing analytics and data.
Consumer-to-business (C2B) e-commerce
The popularity of small business owners helped establish another model for e-commerce, C2B. With C2B e-commerce, consumers sell their products or services to businesses. Specialized platforms also fill a need for these online transactions. For example, Upwork, founded in 2015, connects freelancers to businesses that may need their skills and services.
Consumers who are influencers may also fall into this category of e-commerce because they may sell their services to promote a company’s products. With social media continuing to expand its influence on consumer decisions, the C2B e-commerce model will likely grow as well.
Key takeaway
This exploration of e-commerce models demonstrates that e-commerce has evolved and will continue to change rapidly. Knowing how to apply and gain new digital marketing skills is vital in advancing your career in this industry.
E-Commerce FAQs
What do you mean by ecommerce?
The term “e-commerce,” also called “electronic commerce” or “internet commerce,” refers to the selling and buying of goods and services over the internet, including the transfer of money and data.
What is e-commerce with examples?
A standard definition of E-commerce is a commercial transaction that occurs over the internet. Online stores like Amazon, Flipkart, Shopify, Myntra, eBay, Quikr, and Olx are examples of E-commerce sites. Retail e-commerce is expected to reach $40 trillion by 2023.
What are the three types of e-commerce?
Business-to-business e-commerce (websites such as Shopify), business-to-consumer e-commerce (websites such as Amazon), and consumer-to-consumer e-commerce (websites such as eBay).
What is ecommerce, and how does it work?
E-commerce refers to the process of selling goods and services over the internet. The website or online marketplace allows customers to purchase products using electronic payments. The merchant ships the goods or provides the service once the money has been received.
Examples of Ecommerce?
Ecommerce involves different transactional relationships between businesses and consumers as well as the exchange of different objects as part of these transactions.
- Retail
- Wholesale
- Dropshipping
- Crowdfunding
- Subscription
- Physical products
- Digital products
- Services
The history of ecommerce?
Ecommerce began with the first ever online sale in 1994 when a man sold a CD by the band Sting through his website NetMarket, an American retail platform. This is the first time a consumer has purchased a product from a business over the Internet, commonly known as “ecommerce”.
As a result, online retailers and marketplaces have made it easier to discover and purchase products through ecommerce. In contrast to traditional offline retail, ecommerce has enabled freelancers, small businesses, and large corporations to sell their goods and services at a scale that was previously impossible.
How does e-commerce work?
- It is powered by the internet that e-commerce operates. Online stores allow customers to browse products and place orders using their own devices.
- When a customer places an order, the web browser communicates with the server hosting the e-commerce website.
- A central computer called the order manager will receive data about the order.
- It will then be forwarded to databases that manage inventory levels; a merchant system that manages payment information, using applications such as PayPal; and a bank computer.
- Finally, it will circle back to the order manager. This is to make sure that store inventory and customer funds are sufficient for the order to be processed.
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