Ecommerce is simply electronic or perhaps more accurately, online commerce. This generally refers to the process of buying and selling on online stores and marketplaces. Broadly you can categorize 3 separate types of e-commerce, though there are many sub-types and retail formats.
Consumer or Business-to-Consumer (B2C): This is the most commonly known type of ecommerce. It involves individuals or larger businesses using the web to sell regular consumer goods, i.e. the general public. For example, you launch an online store selling guitars and the public find you via Google shopping. B2C ecommerce platforms make the bulk of our list.
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C): Often small scale and second hand/aftermarket – individuals selling to other individuals through classifieds, social media, or marketplaces like eBay.
Business to Business (B2B): This type of ecommerce is not aimed at the general public. It’s about businesses, often suppliers or service providers, selling to other businesses. B2B ecommerce is not targeted at the average consumer and is somewhat hidden behind jargon that those outside the industry wouldn’t understand. A common example is selling IT systems for offices or schools. Some marketplaces blur the lines of B2B, allowing the average consumer to buy wholesale goods. Magento currently offers the best b2b ecommerce platforms on our list.
Other types of e-commerce can be categorized into 3 types, including the selling of physical goods, digital goods, and services online.
And, the form of stock management and fulfillment. I.e. Warehousing or physically handling the goods yourself, dropshipping or acting as the intermediaries to a supplier who handles shipping, and on-demand/private labeling Good ecommerce technology platforms allow for all of these.