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 online. For example when you go to Spotify to purchase a premium music subscription, you’re engaging in ecommerce. Or when you go to your favorite online retailer (such as Old Navy) to buy a new shirt, you’re engaging in ecommerce.
There are four main Ecommerce are:
- Business to Customer (B2C): When a business sells a good or service to a consumer. Example: You buy a pair of jeans from an online retailer.
- Business to Business (B2B): When a business sells a good or service to another business. Example: A business sells software-as-a-service to another business.
- Consumer to Consumer (C2C): When a consumer sells a good or service to another consumer. Example: You sell your old clothes on Facebook Marketplace to another consumer.
- Consumer to Business (C2B): When a consumer sells their own products or services to a business or organization. Example: An influencer offers brand exposure to their online followers in exchange for a price.
This infographic from Blue Cart sums up the four types:
