What Is Ecommerce?

Ecommerce is everywhere nowadays. Whether you’re checking your bank account, reserving a flight, or buying a cool wallet off Amazon, you’re interacting with Ecommerce in many ways each day. However, Ecommerce is so widespread and diverse in form, it can be confusing to define exactly what it is.

We’ll define exactly what Ecommerce is and the different types you can expect to encounter.

Ecommerce Defined

Ecommerce is a business model that enables companies and individuals to exchange goods and services using the internet. It is used in four major market segments and is conducted over smart devices like computers, tablets, smartphones and more. Just about any product or service is available through ecommerce transactions, including music, movies, food deliveries, plane tickets, hotel reservations and more. As a result, Ecommerce is considered a disruptive technology.

Ecommerce Market Segments

Ecommerce is versatile and operates in several segments. This includes:

• Business to business (B2B): The direct sale of goods and services between businesses.
• Direct to consumer (D2C): Direct transactions between businesses and their customers.
• Consumer to consumer: This enables individuals to sell to one another, for example, eBay or Fiverr.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Ecommerce

There is no doubt that Ecommerce has changed the business world forever. Arguably one of the biggest benefits of Ecommerce is how it’s helped organizations to gain access to and create a wider market presence by providing less costly, efficient distribution channels for their products and services. Ecommerce is also helpful for customers, making it easy and time efficient to shop for goods and services.

However, Ecommerce isn’t without its drawbacks. Successful use of Ecommerce requires significant research and there are costs. To sell your products, you’ll need to know your market, audience, competition and optimize your business to compete in a digital space.

The Importance of Order Fulfillment For Ecommerce

Even if you have the best product or service, no Ecommerce business is complete without efficient order fulfillment. Your products need to arrive at customers on time and intact if you want to avoid returns and create loyal customers. Be sure to consider using a skilled third-party logistics provider like Fulfillment Works if you want to put your fulfillment in the hands of experts. We can help with everything from optimizing your inventory levels to making sure you get the best discounts with the top carriers in the country.