What is the difference between e-commerce and e-commerce?
Online shopping has been gaining popularity since the unfortunate emergence of the ‘Coronavirus’ or ‘Covid-19’ pandemic and the resulting blockage that is occurring around the world. Because of this, most of the people have to do their shopping or business online using their computers or smartphones with internet connection from wherever they are. Fortunately, this has been made possible by two popular networks known as E-Commerce and E-Business.
Most people think that these two terms mean the same thing. In fact, they are not, but they are closely related to each other.
Definition of e-commerce
The term Electronic Commerce is an acronym that refers to “Electronic Commerce” and is the process of selling and purchasing products through an online store. Unlike a “physical” store, there is no face-to-face interface between the seller and the buyer for the transaction to take place.
Some e-commerce models are as follows:
1. Business to business (B2B)
It refers to any type of electronic transactions of products or services that are carried out between two companies.
2. Business to consumer (B2C)
It refers to any type of electronic transactions of products or services that are carried out between the seller and the customer. By far this is a very common type of e-commerce.
This type of electronic commerce is generally more dynamic and easier to carry out. With the creation of many online stores, B2C has increased very significantly in recent months due to the lockdown. Now you can easily find almost any type of online store and in any niche you want through the Internet. They sell all kinds of physical products such as books, gadgets, clothes, tools, accessories, etc. and digital products such as e-books, information, online courses, etc.
Many people are moving towards online shopping more than physical because it is more convenient, and the prices are also often cheaper, even with the cost of shipping. Another plus point is that most online stores also offer free shipping for purchases that exceed a certain amount.
3. From consumer to consumer (C2C)
This refers to any electronic transaction of products or services between a customer and another customer. Generally, this can be done with the help of a third party, for example Amazon, eBay or Etsy as a marketplace for online buying and selling.
4. From consumer to business (C2B)
From consumer to business is a type of business model in which the customer or user creates a product or provides a service that a business or business uses to complement its business structure, to improve its business image or to gain advantages over its competitors.
For example, websites like Fiverr, Upwork, etc. where their freelancers offer their services such as website or logo creation, and any company can use their services if they wish.
5. From the company to the administration (B2A)
This refers to any type of transactions that are carried out between companies and governments over the Internet. It includes many different types of services, such as tax, social security, jobs, legal documents, etc.
6. From consumer to administration (C2A)
It refers to any type of transaction that takes place between the consumer and the government. For example, taxes, education, health, social security, etc.
Definition of e-commerce
The term E-Business is an acronym that refers to “Electronic Business” and your business is conducted through the use of the Internet, Extranet, Intranet and the website. In this sense, e-commerce is a bit similar to e-commerce, but it is more than just selling and buying products or services online.
Essentially, e-commerce encompasses a broader range of business processes, such as electronic ordering and processing, customer relationship management, supply chain management, etc. Generally, electronic commerce can be interpreted as part of electronic commerce.
There are two types of e-commerce models:
1. Pure play
This refers to a company that only operates over the Internet and offers only a particular type of product or service to gain a greater market share.
2. Bricks and clicks
It is a business model adopted by merchants who have physical retail outlets and run their business both online and offline. In other words, merchants provide their customers with an online and offline channel to buy.
How is e-commerce different from e-commerce?
The process of selling and buying products over the Internet is simply called e-commerce. However, e-commerce is not just limited to the buying and selling process. Any business that is conducted over the Internet is considered electronic commerce. For example, information and communication technologies used to improve the company. Basically, e-commerce becomes part of e-commerce.
It is not necessary for any E-Business to be physically present in the business world. If a company has an office, together with its physical presence and the conduct of its business activities over the Internet, it can be called e-commerce.
E-commerce refers to any type of business transaction that involves money, but e-commerce involves both money and support activities.
E-commerce requires the use of the Internet in order to conduct business around the world, while e-commerce can make use of more than the Internet. For example, the use of the Intranet and the Extranet also to connect with the commercial parties.
Advantages of electronic commerce and electronic commerce
Both e-commerce and e-commerce have revolutionized the way people shop. Customers probably would have enjoyed some of its benefits. Similarly, business owners have also benefited as follows:
1. Cost and time savings for your company
With a retail point of sale, it means that there will be some type of overhead that you will need to pay monthly, such as rent, utility bills, phone bill, staff salaries, etc.
When you take your business online, you can reduce or even eliminate some of these costs. Turning your business into e-commerce can also help simplify certain jobs. For example, it is much easier to send discount coupons by email than it is to print hundreds of coupons and mail them.
2. E-Business can work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Thanks to the Internet, any e-commerce can literally operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no restrictions on hours and days of operation.
3. Delete the restricted location
The Internet can also cross all time zones and connect people from all over the world. With a retail outlet, customers will be limited by their proximity to where they live and also by hours of operation.
Also, with E-Commerce, your online store is accessible through smartphones and other mobile devices. This means that people can buy your products from anywhere on the go.
4. Easy tracking of growth and business objective
There are now many tools and applications available to easily track your business growth and goal, as well as to understand your customers’ buying behaviors. For example, the best-selling products during the last months, the number of returning customers, the number of cart abandonments, etc.
Unless you do additional record keeping, it will be difficult to track and generate such data at a retail point of sale.
5. Provide better customer service
The sooner you can respond to your customers’ inquiries, the better for your business. Having an online chat feature on your business website will make it much easier for your e-commerce to meet that need.
With e-commerce and e-commerce, both you as the business owner and your customers can enjoy all the benefits.
As a food for thought, it can be said that e-commerce is a big part of e-commerce, just as e-commerce is e-commerce, but e-commerce is not necessarily e-commerce.