What is E-Commerce Marketing?

E-commerce marketing consists of activities that guide online shoppers through the conversion funnel. Learn about e-commerce platforms, marketing strategies, and tools.

What Is E-Commerce?

E-Commerce (Electronic Commerce) is the process of buying or selling products or services over the internet.

While the term e-commerce is commonly used to refer to online shopping opens a new window of products and services. It includes monetary or data transactions through the internet. For example, along with online shopping stores, online auctions, wholesalers, subscription-based businesses, sales of digital products (such as e-books, software, video courses, audio, etc.), crowdfunding platforms, online marketplaces, etc. are all part of e-commerce.

A user subscribing to a premium Netflix plan or an organization working with a freelancer through platforms like Upwork or Freelancer, both can be referred to as e-commerce.

There are four most commonly used e-commerce business models that facilitate trade between a buyer and seller. Let’s look at them in the next section:

4 Types of E-Commerce Business Models

  1. Business to Consumer (B2C): In the B2C business model, the business sells its offerings directly to end-users. Online retailers base their business on the B2C model.
  2. Business to Business (B2B): A business provides its offerings to other businesses in the B2B business model. Organizations that offer B2B SaaS (Software as a Service) products or sell products in bulk follow the B2B model.
  3. Consumer to Consumer (C2C): In this model, the transaction takes place between two customers. A user selling their pre-owned goods to other consumers is an example of the C2C model.
  4. Consumer to Business (C2B): C2B e-commerce takes place when a consumer offers value to a business. Online portals that provide freelance services is an example of the C2B business model