Ecommerce: also known as electronic commerce or internet commerce,

refers to the buying and selling of goods or services using the internet,
and the transfer of money and data to execute these transactions.
Ecommerce is often used to refer to the sale of physical products online,
but it can also describe any kind of commercial transaction that is
facilitated through the internet.

Whereas e-business refers to all aspects of operating an online business,

ecommerce refers specifically to the transaction of goods and services.

Advantages of E-Commerce

 E-commerce provides the sellers with a global reach. They remove

the barrier of place (geography). Now sellers and buyers can meet in
the virtual world, without the hindrance of location.
 Electronic commerce will substantially lower the transaction cost. It
eliminates many fixed costs of maintaining brick and mortar shops.
This allows the companies to enjoy a much higher margin of profit.
 It provides quick delivery of goods with very little effort on part of
the customer. Customer complaints are also addressed quickly. It also
saves time, energy and effort for both the consumers and the
company.
 One other great advantage is the convenience it offers. A customer
can shop 24×7. The website is functional at all times, it does not have
working hours like a shop.
 Electronic commerce also allows the customer and the business to be
in touch directly, without any intermediaries. This allows for
quick communication and transactions. It also gives a valuable
personal touch.

Disadvantages of E-Commerce
 The start-up costs of the e-commerce portal are very high. The setup
of the hardware and the software, the training cost of employees, the
constant maintenance and upkeep are all quite expensive.
 Although it may seem like a sure thing, the e-commerce industry has
a high risk of failure. Many companies riding the dot-com wave of
the 2000s have failed miserably. The high risk of failure remains even
today.
 At times, e-commerce can feel impersonal. So it lacks the warmth of
an interpersonal relationship which is important for many brands and
products. This lack of a personal touch can be a disadvantage for
many types of services and products like interior designing or the
jewelry business.
 Security is another area of concern. Only recently, we have witnessed
many security breaches where the information of the customers was
stolen. Credit card theft, identity theft etc. remain big concerns with
the customers.
 Then there are also fulfillment problems. Even after the order is
placed there can be problems with shipping, delivery, mix-ups etc.
This leaves the customers unhappy and dissatisfied.

Eight features or characteristics of Ecommerce

Ubiquity: internet/web tech is available everywhere. Market place can
be created so shopping can happen anywhere
Global reach: tech reaches across national boundaries which makes
marketspace potentially billions
Universal Standards: there is one set of tech standards, namely internet
standards
Richness: Video, audio, and tech messages are possible
Interactivity: the tech works through interaction with the user
Information density: the tech reduces information costs, and raises
quality
Personalization/Customization: the tech that allows personalized
marketing messages to be deliver to individuals as well as groups
Social Technology: User content generation and social networks, enable
user content creation and distribution

Internet business models

Internet business models are classified into categories, which are types
of e-commerce:
(B2C) Business-to-consumer. ex: Amazon
(B2B) Business-to-business: electronic commerce between a merchant
and a consumer
(C2C) Between Consumer and Consumer (OLX)
(B2E) Business to employee
(G2C) from government to citizen
(G2B) government to business
(m-commerce) Mobile commerce (applications on smartphones, tablets,
etc.)

Six revenue models

1. Advertising revenue: Generates revenue by attracting a large audience
of visitors who can then be exposed to advertisements. It’s the most
widely used revenue model in e-commerce.
2. Sales revenue: Companies derive revenue by selling goods,
information, or services to customers.
3. Subscription revenue: A Web site offering content or services charges
a subscription fee for access to some or all of its offerings on an ongoing
basis.
4. Free revenue: Basic services or content are free while advanced or
special features cost extra.
5. Transaction fee revenue: A company receives a fee for enabling or
executing a transaction.
6. Affiliate revenue: Sites that steer customers to an affiliate business
receive a referral fee or percentage of the revenue from any resulting
sales

Internet Business Model:

Social Network / Social Network: Online meeting place for Social
Shopping Sites.
Online Marketplace: Provides a digital environment where buyers and
sellers can meet, search for products, display products, and set prices
Electronic commerce and the Internet: Content provider, providing
digital content, such as digital news, music, photos, or video, to the web.
Service Provider: Provides web applications such as photo sharing and
interactive maps and services such as data storage.
Virtual Storefront: Sells physical products directly to consumers or
individual businesses.
Portal: "Supersite" which provides a comprehensive entry point for huge
array of Internet resources and services.
Information Agent: Provides information on products, prices and
availability of individuals and companies
Transactional Agent: Save money and time by processing online sales
and generating fees for each transaction.

Interactive Marketing:
It is a marketing strategy that uses communication channels to allow
consumers to connect directly to a business.
Examples of interactive marketing:
1) Search Engine Marketing: This involves everything from
optimizing a site so that it appears higher in search results, to placing
targeted advertisements on the sides of the results pages.
2) Email Marketing - Showing ads, offers and notifications via email is
an efficient and economical way to communicate with customers.
3) Social Networks - Sites like Facebook and Twitter have millions of
users and are critical spaces for connecting with customers.
4) Targeting - Some ads may target certain customers. When customers
are exposed to advertising tailored to their needs, they buy more.
5) Clickstream is the recording of the parts of the screen that a
computer user clicks while browsing the web or using another software
application.
When the user clicks anywhere on the web page or app, the action is
recorded. Click flow analysis is useful for business analysis, market
research, and employee productivity analysis.
6) Website personalization is the process of creating personalized
experiences for visitors to a website.
As servers often greet loyal customers and refer to them by name, online
retailers can provide targeted offers to shoppers based on browsing
behavior.
7) Collaborative filtering is a method of automatically predicting
(filtering) a user's interests by collecting preferences or tasting
information from many users (collaboration)
8) The blog is a discussion or information website made up of discrete,
often informal, journal-style text entries ("posts").
Until 2009, blogs were generally the work of a single individual,
occasionally a small group, and often covered a single topic. In the
2010s, “multi-author blogs” were developed.
9) Self-service allows you to provide online support to your customers
without requiring interaction with a representative of your company. The
most common types of self-service are FAQs, and online discussion
forums.
Self-service is no longer a “pleasure to have”. It is a necessity to provide
a positive customer experience.