Skip to main content

What is E-Commerce?

Where was the last place you did your shopping?

Sounds like a Family Feud question, because where we shop has changed so much over the years.

In the 80's, you'd often hear people say something like "at the mall".

In 2018, you hear people say "online" or "Amazon" like they are your local retailers around the corner or just up the street.

Ever consider the variety of places we do our shopping from these days? We shop in our cars while Uber takes us to our next destination, we shop in between classes, we shop while sitting at home when we're supposed to be doing homework.

I've even heard it said that the Internet isn't a place people log onto anymore. It's practically where we live. With devices that connect us to the Internet at any and every given point in time, people are "window shopping", selling products, referring friends, and purchasing items online 24/7.

This is what e-Commerce, short for electronic commerce, is all about, conducting business transactions online.

To understand e-commerce, you must first understand the history of the Internet. It began many decades ago, back in the time when your grandparents were all abuzz about the Beatles, soda pop, and JFK. It didn't go public until almost 30 years later. This video gives some good illustrations to catch you up on it.


As you can see, e-Commerce is a big part of lives because the Internet is a big part of our lives. It's why tech companies like Google, Facebook, and E-bay are the economic giants that they are today!

Think about all of the ways you've encountered or seen the appeals for transactions online:

  • Business to Business (B2B) - When businesses sell their products to other businesses. 
  • Business to Consumer (B2C) - When businesses sell products to you and your friends (the consumer). For example, when you see ads that say "go to LornaReneFineArt.com for wall art". It's a business, using advertisements, to sell to you, a consumer.  
  • Consumer to Consumer or Person to Person (B2B or P2P) - When consumers buy from other consumers, like when you have your own moving sale, so you post things on E-bay or Craigslist to sell to other people. 

There's even jargon for some of the ways we've conducted those transactions, such as:

  • MCommerce: Transactions made from mobile devices, such as cell phones and tablets
  • FCommerce: Transactions made on the Facebook social media platform 

In 2018, e-Commerce is a big part of business period. As a professional marketer, I often have to emphasize the importance of websites to business owners, because the Internet is your local market place. It is where people buy, sell, and in general, it's where people exist.

So, ask yourself, WHERE have you shopped today?

Thank you e-Commerce!

-Professor Lawanda Maxwell, MBA










Comments

  1. the only place iv shopped at today is chick-fil-a

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like to shopped in the Target and Walmart.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Its so true how e-commerce has really taken over, you can purchase something from amazon at the click of a button which is really convenient. Great post i enjoyed reading these points. I agree businesses really need to take advantage of the internet because without that valuable tool they wont be able to keep up with other companies.
    - Marcie B

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Headlines That Scream "Read Me"!

It's been said, that audiences don't read articles, they read headlines. If you want to develop a following or traffic to your site, you have to create headlines that stir up interest. Headline creation is both an art and a science, both revered and respected by marketers and content creators.  Don't believe me? Go to your favorite news or blog site or to bbc.com, wsj.com, huffingtonpost.com Which headlines caught your eye? Which ones actually stole your attention? If you want to build a following, you'll want to make to headlines that do just that, grab a readers attention.  We marketers and communication specialists are meticulous about the messages we send because we know we only have a few seconds to get your attention. In order to position ourselves for the e-Commerce win, we have to be very strategic about what we write and how we write it. Also, headlines are also a great way to provide direction for your blogging or general content c

Blogging Basics: How To Begin Your Blog

The world isn't ready for you yet...or is it? Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging, a practical tool for understanding e-Commerce ! Here's your chance to share your experiences, research, opinions, and general insights with the world.  This is your chance to connect with your community, your content community, those who share your interests, passions, skill sets, and other relevant gifts. But where to begin? Here’s how to get started: 1) Identify your passion! What is that you thing that you can talk about for hours? What do you read or listen to all night without getting exhausted? What is the topic that zaps your out of the dull moments of the day or that you're absolutely obsessed with? Is it family? Food? Relationships? Technology? Ask yourself this, what type of media are you constantly consuming? What types of articles or images hold your attention the most when online o

E-Commerce: The Introduction

Electronic Commerce  This course is an amazing opportunity to learn more about how to build and grow business online. Too many think that e-commerce is a modern day lottery, where people get rich and famous simply from posting things online. Because of sites like Amazon, YouTube, and Google, people think that doing business online is easy, despite concerns about privacy and safety. They think because "everyone is online", the money will come if they just start putting things on the web.  Some have ambitions to become the next newest Internet sensation. You'll see them post books, pictures, videos, and a variety of things online. You know who they are. The ones who ask you to share their posts. The ones who are following and friending people online nonstop in an effort to increase in popularity. Though I applaud the entrepreneurial endeavors, there's a better way to market and sell your products other than by making redundant posts to the same old friends a