There are four types of ecommerce businesses: business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B), consumer-to-consumer (C2C), and consumer-to-business (C2B).
Business-to-consumer (B2C) ecommerce businesses sell products or services directly to consumers. Examples of B2C businesses include online retailers, such as Amazon, and service providers, such as Uber.
Businesses that operate in the business-to-business (B2B) space sell products or services to other businesses. B2B ecommerce is often more complex than B2C ecommerce, as businesses have specific needs that must be met. For example, a company that sells software to other businesses will need to ensure that the software is compatible with the customer's existing systems.
Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) ecommerce platforms enable consumers to sell products or services to one another. eBay is perhaps the best known C2C marketplace. C2M platforms are similar to C2C platforms, but they allow consumers to sell products or services directly to businesses.
Etsy is an example of a C2M platform; it enables individual crafters and artists to sell their wares directly to customers.