What type of commerce occurs when a business sells its products over the internet to other businesses Mcq?

What is Ecommerce?

Ecommerce, also known as electronic commerce or internet commerce, refers to the buying and selling of goods or services using the internet, and the transfer of money and data to execute these transactions. Ecommerce is often used to refer to the sale of physical products online, but it can also describe any kind of commercial transaction that is facilitated through the internet.

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Whereas e-business refers to all aspects of operating an online business, ecommerce refers specifically to the transaction of goods and services.

The history of ecommerce begins with the first ever online sale: on the August 11, 1994 a man sold a CD by the band Sting to his friend through his website NetMarket, an American retail platform. This is the first example of a consumer purchasing a product from a business through the World Wide Web—or “ecommerce” as we commonly know it today.

Since then, ecommerce has evolved to make products easier to discover and purchase through online retailers and marketplaces.  Independent freelancers, small businesses, and large corporations have all benefited from ecommerce, which enables them to sell their goods and services at a scale that was not possible with traditional offline retail.

Global retail ecommerce sales are projected to reach $27 trillion by 2020.

Types of Ecommerce Models

There are four main types of ecommerce models that can describe almost every transaction that takes place between consumers and businesses.

1. Business to Consumer (B2C):
When a business sells a good or service to an individual consumer (e.g. You buy a pair of shoes from an online retailer).

2. Business to Business (B2B):
When a business sells a good or service to another business (e.g. A business sells software-as-a-service for other businesses to use)

3. Consumer to Consumer (C2C):
When a consumer sells a good or service to another consumer (e.g. You sell your old furniture on eBay to another consumer).

4. Consumer to Business (C2B):
When a consumer sells their own products or services to a business or organization (e.g. An influencer offers exposure to their online audience in exchange for a fee, or a photographer licenses their photo for a business to use).

Examples of Ecommerce
Ecommerce can take on a variety of forms involving different transactional relationships between businesses and consumers, as well as different objects being exchanged as part of these transactions.

1. Retail:
The sale of a product by a business directly to a customer without any intermediary.

2. Wholesale:
The sale of products in bulk, often to a retailer that then sells them directly to consumers.

3. Dropshipping:
The sale of a product, which is manufactured and shipped to the consumer by a third party.

4. Crowdfunding:
The collection of money from consumers in advance of a product being available in order to raise the startup capital necessary to bring it to market.

5. Subscription:
The automatic recurring purchase of a product or service on a regular basis until the subscriber chooses to cancel.

6. Physical products:
Any tangible good that requires inventory to be replenished and orders to be physically shipped to customers as sales are made.

7. Digital products:
Downloadable digital goods, templates, and courses, or media that must be purchased for consumption or licensed for use.

8. Services:
A skill or set of skills provided in exchange for compensation. The service provider’s time can be purchased for a fee.

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What type of commerce occurs when a business sells its products over the internet to other businesses Mcq?

The Impact of Ecommerce

The impact of ecommerce is far and wide, rippling from small businesses to global enterprises.

Here we’ll highlight some of the major ways ecommerce has shaped the retail landscape.

Large retailers are forced to sell online.

For many retailers, the growth of ecommerce can expand their brands’ reach and positively impact their bottom lines. But retailers who have been slow to embrace the online marketplace are the ones facing the biggest challenges.

In February 2019, online sales narrowly surpassed general merchandise stores for the first time, including department stores, warehouse clubs and supercenters. And since Amazon Prime took away the price of shipping, more consumers are comfortable with online shopping — which means larger retailers have little choice but to go digital.

Ecommerce helps small businesses sell directly to customers.

For many small businesses, ecommerce adoption can be a slow process. However, those who embrace it may discover that ecommerce can open doors to new opportunities.

Slowly, small business owners are launching ecommerce stores and diversifying their offerings, reaching more customers and better accommodating those who prefer online/mobile shopping. 

However, with ecommerce sales growing by the year and one in four small businesses still lacking an online store, there remains a prime opportunity for entrepreneurs to gain a competitive edge and expand their businesses online.

B2B companies start offering B2C-like online ordering experiences.

With 90% of B2B customers expecting B2C-like digital experiences, B2B companies must work to improve their customer experiences online to catch up with B2C companies. This includes creating an omnichannel experience with multiple touchpoints and using data to create personalized relationships with customers.

Ecommerce solutions can allow self-service, provide more user-friendly platforms for price comparison and help B2B brands maintain relationships with buyers, too. 

The rise of ecommerce marketplaces. 

Online marketplaces have been on the rise since the mid-1990s with the launch of giants we know today, such as Amazon, Alibaba and others. 

Amazon in particular is known for its unique growth strategy that has helped them achieve mass-adoption and record-breaking sales. By offering a broad selection and extreme convenience to customers, they’ve been able to quickly scale up through innovation and optimization on-the-go.

But Amazon doesn’t do this alone. In the fourth quarter of 2021, 56% of Amazon’s paid units were sold by third-party sellers (i.e. not Amazon).

Supply chain management has evolved.

Survey data shows that one of ecommerce’s main impacts on supply chain management is that it shortens product life cycles.

As a result, producers can present deeper and broader assortments as a buffer against price erosion. But this also means that warehouses may see larger amounts of stock in and out of their facilities.

In response, warehousers may offer the following value-added services to help make ecommerce operations more seamless and effective:

  • Separation of stock/storage for online vs. retail sales: Calculate forecasts and replenish stock separately for online and in-store in order to achieve more accurate results.
  • Different packaging services: Choosing the right pick-and-pack software can help businesses ship orders quickly and accurately.
  • Inventory/logistics oversight: Following best practices for inventory management is key to managing stock levels.

New jobs are created.

Ecommerce employment is set to increase by 32% in 2022, overshadowing the 28% growth documented in 2021. 

In addition, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, computer jobs are projected to increase by 13.4% over the 2020–30 decade — which is 5.7 percentage points faster than the 7.7% average for all occupations.

Customers shop differently.

Ecommerce is revolutionizing the way modern consumers shop.

Today, we know that there are at least 2.14 billion digital buyers, which is 27.6% of the 7.74 billion people in the world. And by 2025, Statista projects there will be 291.2 million online buyers in the U.S. alone.

Social media lets consumers easily share products to buy online.

Today, ecommerce shoppers can discover and be influenced to purchase products or services based on recommendations from friends, peers and trusted sources (like influencers) on social networks like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Many social media platforms now offer ecommerce features, such as in-app checkout, shoppable posts and “Buy Now” buttons that take users directly to a brand’s product page.

Global ecommerce is growing rapidly.

In 2021, over 2.14 billion people worldwide were estimated to shop online, up from 1.66 billion global digital buyers in 2016.

Chinese ecommerce platform, Taobao, is the largest online marketplace with a gross market value (GMV) of $711 billion. For context, Tmall and Amazon ranked second and third with $672 billion and $390 billion GMV in annual third-party global market value respectively.

With so many ecommerce platforms, marketplaces and digital solutions available, there are practically no limits for merchants looking to sell online, which makes it easier than ever for businesses to go global.

Advantages of Ecommerce

Ecommerce has many different advantages — from faster buying to the ability to reach large audiences 24/7.

Let’s take a look in detail at some of the top perks ecommerce has to offer.

Faster buying for customers.

For customers, ecommerce makes it possible to shop from anywhere, any time.

That means buyers can get the products they want and need faster without being constrained by operating hours of a traditional brick-and-mortar store.

Plus, with shipping upgrades that make rapid delivery available to customers, even the lagtime of order fulfillment can be minimal (think Amazon Prime Now, for example).

Companies can easily reach new customers.

Ecommerce also makes it easier for companies to reach new, global customers. An online store isn’t tied to a single geographic location — it’s open and available to any and all customers who visit it online.

With the added benefits of social media advertising, email marketing and SEO (search engine optimization), brands have the potential to connect with massive target audiences who are in a ready-to-buy mindset.

Lower operational costs.

Without a need for a physical storefront (and employees to staff it), ecommerce retailers can launch stores with minimal operating costs. And those that run a dropshipping business can even minimize upfront investment costs.

As sales increase, brands can easily scale up their operations without making major property investments or hiring a large workforce — this means higher margins overall.

Personalized experiences.

With the help of automation and rich customer profiles, you can deliver highly personalized online experiences for your ecommerce customer base.

Showcasing relevant products based on past purchase behavior, for example, can lead to higher average order value (AOV) and make the shopper feel like you truly understand their unique needs.

Access to New Technologies. 

With a physical store alone, you may find your options are limited when it comes to innovation. However, as the ecommerce ecosystem continues to mature and improve, your business will have access to the latest technologies to help streamline business processes. 

With a variety of apps and integrations at your fingertips, you’ll be able to improve workflows, better execute your marketing strategy and improve the overall shopping experience.

Disadvantages of Ecommerce

Although modern ecommerce is increasingly flexible today, it still has its own setbacks.

Here are some of the downsides to ecommerce retail.

Limited interactions with customers.

Without being face-to-face, it can be harder to understand the wants, needs and concerns of your ecommerce customers.

There are still ways to gather this data (surveys, customer support interactions, etc.), but it may take a bit more work than talking with shoppers in person on a day-to-day basis.

Technology breakdowns can impact ability to sell.

If your ecommerce website is slow, broken or unavailable to customers, this may impact your ability to make sales. Site crashes and technology failures can damage relationships with customers and negatively impact your bottom line.

No ability to test or try on.

For customers who want to get hands-on with a product (especially in the realm of physical goods like clothing, shoes and beauty products) before adding it to their shopping cart, the ecommerce experience can be limiting.

The History of Ecommerce: A Timeline

What type of commerce occurs when a business sells its products over the internet to other businesses Mcq?

The Future of Ecommerce

According to Statista, ecommerce revenue is expected to show a yearly growth rate of 14.56%, resulting in a projected market volume of $1,365.00 billion by 2025 — which goes to show that ecommerce is no passing trend.

Especially with the rise of omnichannel shopping experiences, digital buyers should expect to be able to research, browse, shop and purchase seamlessly between different devices and on various commerce platforms.

Other trends to watch for in the future of ecommerce include:

  • Robust customer journeys and personalization.
  • Artificial intelligence-enabled shopping.
  • Social shopping.
  • Mobile commerce.
  • Digital currencies, such as mobile wallets and cryptocurrency. 

Overall, we have to remember that ecommerce is still fairly new in the big picture of retail. The future holds endless opportunity, but its success and continuation will depend largely on buyers’ preferences in the future.

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FAQs About Ecommerce

Is ecommerce growing?
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Yes, ecommerce is growing. Pre-pandemic, ecommerce was growing year-over-over, but lockdowns around the globe put online efforts into overdrive. 

According to Statista, ecommerce revenue is expected to show a yearly growth rate of 14.56%, resulting in a projected market volume of $1,365.00 billion by 2025.

How do I start an ecommerce business?
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There are different ways to start an ecommerce business, but we recommend taking these steps:

  • Find what’s missing from the market.
  • Create a business plan.
  • Build a great website — either from scratch or using an ecommerce platform such as BigCommerce, Shopify or Magento.
  • Spread the word about your new business.
  • Follow-up with your customers.
  • Continue to learn and be an expert on your products and/or services.

Need some assistance? Reach out to our team of ecommerce experts to start building your online business today.

Is ecommerce safe?
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Yes, ecommerce is safer than ever before. 

With the help of multi-layered ecommerce security, monitored transactions, SSL certification, protection against DoS/DDoS attacks and platform providers that are PCI compliant, ecommerce stores can offer shoppers the peace of mind that their online purchases are made in a safe and secure environment.

What type of commerce occurs when a business sells its products over Internet to other business?

Ecommerce, also known as electronic commerce or internet commerce, refers to the buying and selling of goods or services using the internet, and the transfer of money and data to execute these transactions.

What type of commerce occurs when a business sells its products over the internet to other businesses * 1 point B2C B2B C2C enterprise e

E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services, or the transmitting of funds or data, over an electronic network, primarily the internet. These business transactions occur either as business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), consumer-to-consumer or consumer-to-business.

What is B2B and B2C type of e

B2B stands for 'business to business' while B2C is 'business to consumer'. B2B ecommerce utilises online platforms to sell products or services to other businesses. B2C ecommerce targets personal consumers.

What is a business transaction that occurs over the internet?

E-commerce is a financial business transaction that occurs over an electronic network.