E-Commerce
Published: 2022-04-13 13:47:04

What is e-commerce and how online trading works
E-commerce - it is also electronic commerce or e-commerce - combines all sites and services where payment is made online. First of all - online stores that accept electronic payments
In fact, e-commerce is not only financial or commercial transactions carried out using networks, but also chains of global business processes associated with transactions.
Today, e-commerce includes the electronic purchase or sale of goods through online services or via the Internet, mobile commerce, electronic funds transfers, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems and automated data collection systems.
Phil Brandenberger made the first online purchase in 1994. He ordered Sting's new album, Ten Summoners' Tales, from the site and paid $12.48 (not including shipping) with his Mastercard. A little later, Amazon and Alibaba entered the market, which became its pioneers and monopolists.
Types of e-commerce
E-commerce can be classified in two ways:
What they sell:
physical goods - food, clothing, furniture, electronics, paper books;
digital goods - music, movies and series, e-books, online courses;
services - photography, cleaning, assistance with moving, etc.
To whom they sell:
b2c (business to consumer, "business to consumer") - online stores that sell goods or services to consumers directly, that is, at retail;
b2b (business to business, "business to business") - the company sells something to other companies. This may be wholesale - so that the buyer then sells these goods to consumers at retail. Or goods and services designed for corporate needs: for example, cash registers, cloud storage and services, international delivery of goods;
c2b (consumer to business, "consumer for business") - individuals (individuals) offer goods and services for companies. A vivid example is outsourcing performers: designers, programmers, content creators;
c2c (consumer to consumer, "from consumer to consumer") - people sell goods and services to each other directly: nannies, tutors, confectioners, fashion designers https://tonaton.ug/;
g2b (government to business, "from government to business") - government agencies supply something for business: for example, the use of radio frequencies, airspace, services for collecting and processing data;
b2g (business to government, "business for the government") - the reverse process: for example, goods and services in the framework of public procurement, software, electronics;
c2g (consumer to government, "from consumer to government") - when consumers pay for various public services.
The two most common types are b2c and b2b.
How is e-commerce developing in the world?
With the growth of digitalization and the massive transition to online, e-commerce has become a driver of key changes in the global economy. Access to e-commerce today is possible from any smart device: at the end of 2020, there were almost 10 billion smartphones, computers and tablets connected to the Internet in the world. This already exceeds the population of the Earth (almost 8 billion people).
Here are the main numbers for today:
In 2021, according to forecasts, the number of online shoppers in the world will reach 2.14 billion people. In 2019 there were 2.05 billion of them, and in 2018 - 1.79 billion.
In total, e-commerce in 2021 will account for 18.1% of all retail sales in the world, and in 2023 - 22%;
The volume of online sales in 2021 will be almost $5 trillion;
Among the top reasons why people order goods online are free shipping (53%), promotions and discounts (41%), the ability to read reviews (35%), ease of return (33%) and speed of checkout (30%);
33.6% of customers compare the prices of goods in an online application and a brick-and-mortar store before making a purchase, 81% study the information online in detail before making large purchases.
Today, China is the absolute leader in online commerce: according to forecasts, in 2021, the e-commerce segment there for the first time in the world will exceed half of the entire retail sales market. They are followed by South Korea with 28.9%, the US with 15% and Western Europe with 12.8%. The volume of online sales for 2020 in China amounted to $2.3 trillion, in 2021 it is predicted to be $2.8 trillion, and in 2022 - almost $3.1 trillion.
For comparison, in the US, the e-commerce market in 2020, according to eMarketer, amounted to $709.8 billion; it will grow to $765 billion in 2021 and exceed $1 trillion by 2024. Nearly half (45%) of all e-commerce in the country is through mobile app sales.