Deciding on your future business model is essential before you start promoting your new products using e-commerce. There are different variants for various companies and goals, so you should be sure when choose the appropriate one. Any e-commerce development company will offer you at least 1 of the 6 main types of e-commerce. Let’s talk a little about them in this article.
B2B e-commerce
This model is for businesses only and works on a business-to-business basis. One company provides its product to another rather than to the general consumer.
There are some examples of such models:
- cooperation between a tire manufacturer and the Mercedes brand;
- Sony, which manufactures camera modules for iPad and iPhone and sells them to Apple without intermediaries;
- a cleaning company cleaning the editorial office of a women’s magazine.
B2C e-commerce
The most popular type of commerce is when a company sells its products directly to an ordinary consumer.
C2C e-commerce
This type of commerce operates via the Internet on a consumer-to-consumer basis. That is, one consumer buys a product from a manufacturer and resells it to another.
Examples of this type of commerce:
- a person who sold his watch on the online auction site eBay to another person;
- a woman who sold her car to another person using an electronic ad posted on Craigslist.
C2B e-commerce
This model is one of the newest types of e-commerce. It is the opposite of B2C because, in this case, the consumer already gives something to the business.
The following examples of manifestation of this type of commerce can be identified:
- photographers who post their work on a stock photo site, indicating their price, and company employees who buy them;
- Internet bloggers who offer entrepreneurs a way to advertise their products;
- a person who gives their used car to representatives of the CarMax company, which owns used car dealerships.
B2A e-commerce
It is a type of commerce that covers online transactions conducted by various government agencies and businesses. B2A is often used in social and fiscal security, in working with legal documentation, etc.
There are some examples:
- purchase by a government agency of something from a company via the Internet;
- purchase of computers by a government agency for a secondary school from another organization.
E-commerce C2A
So far, a not very popular type of commerce involves transactions between government bodies and ordinary people. Its most popular manifestations are:
- studying in online distance learning schools;
- online booking of an appointment with a therapist;
- payment of utility bills online.
So, we looked at the main types of e-commerce. As you may have noticed, they are all quite different and, therefore, suitable for different types of businesses. Employees of any company specializing in e-commerce can help you decide which type of commerce is suitable for promoting your products.
