eCommerce can be defined as the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet. We may not stop and think about it because our society is so accustomed to it, but eCommerce happens every day through utilizing a computer, tablet, or smartphone.
eCommerce has been made easily accessible at our fingertips with apps on our smart devices.
Think about it, buying music, clothes, cookware, sporting equipment – you name it, and you can have it delivered to your device, front door, or arranged for store pickup with a few clicks or finger taps!
What has eCommerce done for our world? For a lot of companies, it has allowed them to expand from their physical retail locations and access a much larger customer base online. Small businesses have been able to expand their reach because they are no longer dependent on only their local community to walk in their front door. It has also allowed individuals to buy and sell goods between one another. Let’s move into the different types of eCommerce markets.
Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
This is the most common eCommerce business model when businesses sell their product to the consumer on the Internet. Anything you buy in an online store is a B2C transaction.
Business-to-Business (B2B)
B2B is when two businesses buy and sell products and services between one another. Typically, the relationship is a transaction between a manufacturer and wholesaler, or a wholesaler and retailer. While phone calls, emails, and face-to-face visits will still be important in the sales process, B2B is growing quickly, especially with the number of millennials in the workforce today that are used to simplicity, automation, and self-service functionality to make transactions.
Consumer-to-Business (C2B)
Consumer-to-business eCommerce is when an individual sells to businesses. There are a few instances of this. One example may be an artist or a photographer selling their artwork for use by a business. Another, which is extremely popular on social media today is when a consumer with a large following, known as an influencer, provides a business with a fee-based approach to market the business’ product on their platform – be it blog, Instagram, etc.
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)
C2C marketing is when one consumer sells a product to another consumer. In its simplest form, think of eBay or Etsy! Yes, the sale is facilitated by eBay or Etsy, but typically the seller is an individual person selling their item to another individual person.
Raborn Media has an understanding of all four eCommerce market segments and can help you or your company determine the right approach to sell your product or service.
