A simple user who does not have a broad knowledge of electronic commerce may define «E-commerce" as a plain exchange of goods and / or services necessarily using the Internet as a distribution channel.But to which extent is this quotation right, bearing in mind the fact that "E-commerce" is a much broader approach than that of other domains notably traditional commerce?
It is evident that the Internet is the way most convenient to use, but having access to the internet does not necessarily suggest that such a business revolves solely around electronic commerce.
Specialists and professionals prefer to define «E-commerce" as the use of digital means of communication to initiate, maintain or enter the lease, purchase or sale of products / services with a digital payment and physical delivery. On the other hand, they insist on the existence of other electronic means besides the Internet, namely the mobile phone, intranets and extranets. The concept of electronic commerce, especially in the choice of distribution channels, leads to a lot of exchange of a large number of computerized data.
The categories of the "E-commerce"
the jargon of "E-commerce” is classified into two categories: B2B and B2C.Due to the unlimited needs, other categories were added: B2E, C2C and C2B.
We consider the first two categories because they are the main foundation of electronic commerce.
B2C "Business to Consumer" includes all retail stores that have transactional sites; it is therefore merchant’s websites, of tele-shopping nature.
Among the main goods and services sold to consumers via the Internet (B2C), exist :
- Cultural goods: books, CDs and DVDs
- Technological devices: PC, Electronics, Hi-fi
- Tourism and travel: train tickets, flights, rentals
Regarding B2B "Business to Business» the e-commerce is a trade between two traders or "inter-enterprise" or business; between a company and its supplier.
Pure B2B implies that there exists no intermediary whatsoever. Up until this moment, these companies have mostly been using EDI (electronic data interchange) for data-exchange.
These two categories (B2C and B2B) tend to work in harmony to impose the weight of E-commerce "on the world and open a both free and ambitious market.
Last but not least, it remains important to assert that the evolution that electronic commerce is currently experiencing is due to the continuous efforts of laborious researchers engaged in this particular field, who do not hesitate to spend their time in order to achieve a level of secure and fluent information exchange. But the efforts of experts alone are not entirely sufficient, since it remains a paramount task to spread the message among the different types of users regardless of their nationalities: a Chinese or a Cameroonian, a Canadian or Danish, without exception. That's when the benefits of "E-Commerce" become wholly enjoyable.
