Everyone's talking about it, even your mom. But don't you ever wonder just what that term means? It seems to get thrown around a lot these days. So let's just clear up the confusion a little, shall we?

Electronic commerce or ecommerce is anything that falls in under the umbrella of business transactions that occur online.  Most commonly ecommerce is buying and selling of goods on the internet. However, there are many other forms of ecommerce that exist.

Examples of ecommerce

Online shopping is the first thing that comes to people’s minds when they hear the term ecommerce. People are connected to goods via web surfing.  This is considered a very easy way to shop with a click of a mouse. Popular sites such as Amazon.com and Etsy.com are considered heavy hitters in the ecommerce world.  However there are many smaller running sites such as www.binarymonster.com that allow for individuals to sell their own digital products on the sites store front for a small fee.

Electronic payment is another form of ecommerce.  The first example would not be possible without a straight forward shopping cart for people to check out of their online store.  This is just like going to the mall.  An individual finds an item or two or 100 and goes through a “cash register” to pay for the items.  Many people are discovering the convenience of multi-vendor sites that allow them to purchase many items from multiple parties in one simple transaction. The creation of multi-cart software such as idev-DigiMall has made this simple way to shop possible.

Electronic payments eliminates the need to write and mail cheques. Many services can also be paid for via online payment. 

Another popular and well know form of ecommerce is online auctions.  This was made popular in the late 90’s with the sudden boom of Ebay.com.  Suddenly everyone was able to sell their Beanie Babies and Star Wars collectors figures to the highest bidder making it a very successful form of ecommerce.

Online ticketing has become very popular as well.  Consumers can save time waiting in line at the theatre or shop around for the best possible price for travel destinations without leaving home.  Everything from concert tickets to airline tickets can be purchased with the click of a mouse.

Bank telling was already becoming a nonexistent position thanks to ATM’s.  But now with the convenience of online banking most people never set foot in a bank unless they need to sign papers.  Money transfers, online bill payments; you name it, you can do it on line.  If only they could figure out how to make my laptop dispense cash.

Different Types of Ecommerc

• Business to business (B2B)

This is a transaction from one business to another.  For example a supplier to a retailer.

• Business to consumer (B2C)

When a consumer purchases from a business this is considered B2C.

•  Consumer to Consumer (C2C)

Some of the earliest transactions in history involved the bartering and trading of goods between consumers.  This has been an almost nonexistent form of transaction in recent times.  The growing popularity of ecommerce has made C2C transactions much more popular again.  An excellent example of this is Etsy.com.  Goods sold on Etsy must be hand made by the seller or vintage, making for a real consumer to consumer market place.

The benefits of ecommerce are vast.  Much time can be saved for businesses that are able to settle deals on line.  Consumers are able to efficiently shop and compare and save travel time between home and stores.  Gas, time and paper are all saved with this new form of trading.  Less overhead leads to better prices and increased profits. But the most interesting benefit of ecommerce is the possibilities that it opens up for every individual to own their own piece of the pie.  More people than ever are learning how to start up their own small store.  The possibilities are endless. And now with new forms of ecommerce such as mcommerce (mobile commerce) and fcommerce (Facebook commerce) breaking out it is an exciting time in the techno world!