What Are E-Commerce And Its Types?

Trade is the process of replacing and converting goods, products and services with any other object that can be expressed as value for profit. This process, along with the development of technology, has gradually increased competition in the digital world created by eliminating physical boundaries of the internet, which has led to trade entering new areas and taking new forms by changing form. With e-commerce systems brought about by these developments, buyers and sellers anywhere in the world can easily access, communicate and trade.

With the inclusion of artificial intelligence systems in this rapidly and constantly changing digital world, the concept of trade has become even more complex and complex. Depending on the changes, trading methods, digital marketing techniques and elements are also changing. In order to survive the rapid storms of change and transformation of this digital world ocean, we must turn our course to the light of constant innovation, and our compass must not be surprised by logical and scientific principles. At this point, we need to examine the processes of e-commerce, which is today's form of Commerce, and its inclusion in this trading system.

What is E-Commerce?

It is a trading method in which marketing, communication, payment methods, needs analysis and customer follow-up are carried out online on electronic platforms in the product and service purchase and sale process. Thanks to e-commerce, it becomes easier to reach customers who need the service provided in the local and global market or the product to be sold. Thanks to this large market area it opens, it offers companies the opportunity to grow.

What are the Types of E-Commerce?

With the development of mobile technology, e-commerce services, which provide companies with the opportunity to significantly increase their profit margins, are divided into many different types according to the parties.

B2C- Business to Consumer E-Commerce

It is an e-commerce model in which manufacturers or intermediary companies deliver their products and services to individual users. In the B2C model, the features and scopes of the product such as price, delivery conditions, warranty conditions are determined by the manufacturer or seller and presented to the consumer. In this model, which is very important for retailers, emotional decisions of individual customers are among the factors that affect the purchasing process.

B2B- Business to Business E-Commerce

It is an e-commerce model that includes the purchase and sale of products or services between companies. In this model, companies contribute to each other in the improvement and development processes with the services they provide. You can review our article on B2B to get more detailed information about this model.

C2B- Consumer to Business E-Commerce

It is an e-commerce model that can be used by companies where the consumer offers products and services to companies or that want to include consumer decisions in business decisions. For example, it can create value for businesses with reviews written by a consumer on a blog page or useful ideas that it can offer to new product development processes.

C2C- Consumer to Consumer E-Commerce

It is an e-commerce model where consumers buy and sell among themselves. In this model, consumers interact through online platforms and introduce their products or services to another consumer with the price and marketing methods they determine. Platforms such as sahibinden.com and letgo can be given as examples of this model.

Benefits of E-Commerce

• It creates an environment where companies can reach customers and sell 24/7.
• It becomes easier to increase brand awareness.
• It increases the opportunity to reach customers and promote products.
• It offers the chance to open up to the whole world by getting rid of being stuck in a certain area.
• It increases the profit rate by decreasing the operating expenses.
• It saves time by speeding up the shopping processes.

Disadvantages of E-Commerce 

• While shopping on the Internet, customers may have reservations about payment and protection of personal information. For this reason, customers should be assured by using secure infrastructures.
• The customer does not have the opportunity to try the product when shopping on the Internet. For this reason, refund rates may be higher here. In order to prevent this situation, detailed information should be given about the products and solutions should be produced to increase the user experience.
• There is a waiting period for the purchased products in purchases made in this way, and this may be the reason why customers are not preferred. For this reason, cargo companies that perform fast transactions should be used and customer satisfaction should be ensured at this point.

In order to survive, companies that are in the intense competition of the business world must benefit from the power of the internet, develop new potentials by improving their current situation, and benefit from the advantages of e-commerce.