Types of e-commerce

There are many types of e-commerce models, based on market segmentation, that can be used to conducted business online. The 6 types of business models that can be used in e-commerce include: Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Consumer-to-Business (C2B), Business-to-Business (B2B), Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C), Business-to-Administration (B2A), and Consumer-to-Administration
B2B e-commerce refers to the sale of goods or services between businesses via an online sales portal. While sometimes the buyer is the end user, often the buyer resells to the consumer. This type of e-commerce typically applies to the relationship between producers and wholesalers; it may additionally remain applied to the relationship between the producers or the wholesalers and the retailers themselves. However, the same relationship can also occur between service providers and business organizations. B2B typically requires more venture capital and a longer sales cycle, but results in higher order value and more recurring purchases.
As newer generations become decision makers in business, B2B ecommerce will become more important. In 2015, Google found that close to half of B2B buyers were millennials—nearly double the amount reported in 2012.
Examples of this model are ExxonMobil Corporation, the Chevron Corporation, Boeing, and Archer-Daniels-Midland. These businesses have custom, enterprise ecommerce platforms that work directly with other businesses in a closed environment.
The advantages of B2B e-commerce include:
The disadvantages of B2B e-commerce include:
Business-to-consumer (B2C), or direct-to-consumer, is the most common e-commerce model. It deals in electronic business relationships between businesses—both producers and service providers—with end consumers. Many people like this method of e-commerce as it allows them to shop around for the best prices, read customer reviews, and often find different products that they would not otherwise be exposed to in the physical retail world. This e-commerce category also enables businesses to develop a more personalized relationship with their customers.
Anything one buys online as a consumer is done as part of a B2C transaction. The decision-making process for a B2C purchase is much shorter than a business-to-business (B2B) purchase, especially for items that have a lower value, thus having a shorter sales cycle. B2C businesses therefore typically spend less marketing dollars to make a sale but also have a lower average order value and less recurring orders than their B2B counterparts. B2C innovators have leveraged technology like mobile apps, native advertising and re-marketing to market directly to their customers and make their lives easier in the process.
Examples of B2C businesses are everywhere: exclusively-online retailers include Newegg, Overstock.com, Wish, and ModCloth. Major B2C-model brick-and-mortar businesses include Staples, WalMart, Target, REI, and Gap.
The advantages of B2C e-commerce include:
The disadvantages of B2C e-commerce include:
Consumer-to-business (C2B) e-commerce is when a consumer makes their services or products available for companies to purchase. The competitive edge of the C2B e-commerce model is in its pricing for goods and services. This approach includes reverse auctions, in which customers name the price for a product or service they wish to buy. Another form of C2B occurs when a consumer provides a business with a fee-based opportunity to market the business's products on the consumer's blog.
For instance, food companies may ask food bloggers to include a new product in a recipe and review it for readers of their blogs. YouTube reviews may be incentivized by free products or direct payment. This could also include paid advertisement space on the consumer website. Google Adwords/Adsense has enabled this kind of relationship by simplifying the process in which bloggers can be paid for ads. Services such as Amazon Affiliates allow website owners to earn money by linking to a product for sale on Amazon. Examples of C2B include: a graphic designer customizing a company logo, or a photographer taking photos for an e-commerce website.
The C2B model has flourished in the internet age because of ready access to consumers who are "plugged in" to brands. Where the business relationship was once strictly one-directional, with companies pushing services and goods to consumers, the new bi-directional network has allowed consumers to become their own businesses. Reductions in the cost of technologies such as video cameras, high-quality printers, and Web development services give consumers access to tools for promotion and communication that were once limited to large companies. As a result, both consumers and businesses can benefit from the C2B model.
The disadvantages of C2B transactions are that one must be well-versed in web design to create such a website and the amount of money earned is far less than what could be earned by selling the mortgage directly to the consumer instead. The advantages of C2B can be expressed through an example: The C2B website thefreemortgagecalculator.com offers a LendingTree advertisement at the top of the page. The advantage of this website is that the owner does not have to sell mortgages, meet with customers, or pay for everyday business operation expenses in order to make money. If the LendingTree advertisement is used by a visitor, the website owner gets paid a commission from LendingTree for the lead.
Consumer-to-consumer (C2C), or customer-to-customer, represents a market environment where one customer purchases goods from another customer using a third-party business or platform to facilitate the transaction.
In this case, the third-party platform typically earns their money by charging transaction or listing fees. These businesses benefit from self-propelled growth by motivated buyers and sellers, but face a key challenge in quality control and technology maintenance. Another customers’ benefit is the competition for products. Customers may often find items that are difficult to locate elsewhere. Also, margins can be higher than traditional pricing methods for sellers as there are minimal costs due to the absence of retailers or wholesalers.
Opening a C2C site takes careful planning. Examples of C2C include Craigslist and eBay, who pioneered this model in the early days of the internet. Generally, transactions in this model occur via online platforms (such as PayPal), but often are conducted using social-media networks (e.g., Facebook marketplace) and websites (Craigslist).
The advantages of C2C include:
The disadvantages of C2C include:
Business-to-administration (B2A), also known as business-to-government (B2G), refers to all transactions between companies and public administrations or government agencies. Government agencies use central websites to trade and exchange information with various business organizations. This is an area that involves many services, particularly in areas such as social security, employment, and legal documents.
Businesses that are accustomed to interacting with other businesses or directly with consumers often encounter unexpected hurdles when working with government agencies. Layers of regulation can harm the overall efficiency of the contracting process, and thus, governments tend to take more time than private companies to approve and begin work on a given project.
While businesses may find that government contracts involve additional paperwork, time, and vetting, there are advantages to providing goods and services to the public sector. Government contracts are often large and more stable than analogous private-sector work. A company with a history of successful government contracting usually finds it easier to get the next contract. One example of a B2A model is Accela, a software company that provides government software solutions and public access to government services for permitting, planning, licensing, public health, and so on.
Consumer-to-administration (C2A) e-commerce encompasses all electronic transactions between individuals and public administration. The C2A e-commerce model helps the consumer post their queries and request information regarding the public sector directly from their local governments/authorities. It provides an easy way to establish communication between the consumers and the government.
Examples of C2A include taxes (filing tax returns), health (scheduling an appointment using an online service), and paying tuition for higher education.