E-commerce and its types

  

Date Posted: 10/3/2012 9:07:53 AM

Posted By: SimonMburu  Membership Level: Silver  Total Points: 838

---

Electronic commerce also known as e-commerce is the doing of business,that is, buying and selling over the internet. The provision of incentives for both sellers and buyers has made e-commerce to grow very rapidly, from the buyers'' perspective, products (goods and services) can be bought at any time of the day or night. This is contrasted with traditional commerce known as "brick and motar" business which is typically limited to standard business hours when the seller is open. From the seller''s side, the costs associated with owing a business example insurance are all eliminated as a store could be operated online with a few or no staff at all. Just like any other profit making activity, electronic commerce involves two parties: the business itself and its consumers. There are three basic types of e-commerce:

1. Business-to-consumer (B2C). This involves the sale of products to the general public or end users. It often eliminate middlemen by allowing the manufacturers to sell directly to consumers. It is the fastest growing type of e-commerce and involves three most widely used B2B applications, namely;
(a) Online banking popularly known as e-banking where consumers are able to use their web browsers in performing various banking operations like the payment of bills.
(b) Online stock trading knwon as e-trading which allows investors to research, buy, and sell stocks over the internet.
(c) Online shopping also known as e-tailing or e-retailing which includes buying and selling of a wide range of consumer products over the internet.

2. Consumer-to-consumer (C2C). It involves individuals selling to individuals. The current trend in C2C is the growing popularity of web auctions where sellers post product descriptions and buyers post their bids electronically. There are two basic types of web auction sites:
(a) Auction house sites whereby a wide range of merchandise is sold directly to bidders.
(b) Person-to-person

auction sites which operates more like flea markets. Here, the owner of the site provides a forum for numerous buyers and sellers to interact.

3. Business-to-business. It involves the sale of products from one business to another, typically it is a manufacturer-supplier relationship.

---

Next: Sponsorship for needy females who want to pursue engineering courses at craft and diploma levels in Kenya
Previous: Fundamental rights and Freedoms provided in Kenyan Constitution