Category Description Examples
Virtual Storefront Sells physical products directly to consumers or to individual businesses. Amezon.com, EPM.com
Information Broker Provides product, pricing and available information to individuals and Realtor.com, Insweb.com,
businesses. Generates revenue from advertising or from directing buyers to Kbb.com, Edmunds.com
sellers.
Transaction Broker Saves users money and time by processing online sales transactions, generating E*TRADE.com,
a fee each time a transaction occurs. Also provides information on rates and Expedia.com
terms.
Online Marketplace Provides a digital environment where buyers and sellers can meet, search for eBay.com, Priceline.com,
products, display products, and establish prices for those products. Can provide Pantellos.com,
online auctions or reverse auctions in which buyers submit bids to multiple ChemConnect.com
sellers to purchase at a buyer specified prices as well as negotiated or fixed
pricing. Can serve consumers or B2B eCommerce, generating revenue from
transaction fees.
Content Provider Creates revenue by providing digital content, such as digital news, music, WSJ.com, CNN.com,
photos, or video, over the web. The customer may pay to access the content, or TheStreet.com,
revenue may be generated by selling advertising space. GettyImages.com, MP3.com
Online Service Provider Provides online service for individuals and businesses. Generates revenue from @Backup.com, Xdrive.com,
subscription or transaction fees, from advertising, or from collecting marketing Employease.com,
information from users. Salesforce.com
Virtual Community Provides an online meeting place where people with similar interests can Motocross.com,
communicate and find useful information. Friendster.com,
iVillage.com, Sailnet.com
Portal Provides initial point of entry to the web along with specialize content and other Yahoo.com, MSN.com,
services. StarMedia.com
1. What is eBusiness?
e-Business designate the use of internet and digital technology to carry out all of the activities in the enterprise,
including activities for the internal management of the firm and for coordination with suppliers and other business
partners.
2. What is eCommerce?
Ecommerce is the part of eBusiness that deals with the buying and selling of goods and services electronically with
computerized business transactions using the internet, networks, and other digital technologies. It also encompasses
activities supporting those market transactions such as advertising, marketing, customer support, delivery and
payment.
Categories of eCommerce
From the many ways we could categorize eCommerce transactions, one way is by looking at the nature of the
participants in the eCommerce transaction. The three major eCommerce categories are:
Business to Consumer (B2C)
B2C involves retailing products and services to individual shoppers. E.g. BarnesandNoble.com, sells books, music,
software, etc to individual consumers.
Business to Business (B2B)
B2B involves sales of goods and services among businesses. E.g. Milacron’s (milacron.com) website for selling
machinery, mold bases, and related tooling, supplies, and services to companies engaged in plastics processing.
Consumer to Consumer (C2C)
C2C involves consumers selling directly to consumers. E.g. eBay.com the giant web auction site, enables people to
sell their goods to other consumers by auctioning the merchandise off to the highest bidder.
