At some point in our lives, we all have shopped online, whether it was for food or our favorite channel bag. We all have interacted with the e-commerce industry in one way or the other, this e-commerce or electronic commerce industry is flourishing quickly. E-commerce has provided a kind of “comfort zone” to everyone. It has made things easy from ordering food to shopping online. This world has never been such a comfortable place! Not only has e-commerce provided ease to customers, but it also allows businesses to enhance their online presence. E-commerce is what you need in today’s world to scale your online business and get high conversion rates!
WHAT IS AN E-COMMERCE PLATFORM?
E-commerce, electronic commerce, or internet commerce is your online store, where your users interact with your products and services. It’s where your users can find anything just in a few clicks. E-commerce platforms can be easily accessible from your phones, laptops, and PCs. It is a platform where the buyer and seller coordinate with each other over the Internet. E-commerce has brought a drastic revolution in today’s businesses and has completely changed the way businesses used to operate earlier.
WHY IS IT NECESSARY?
Everyone wants to be the best in this business race! The secret to being the best is to leave that outdated brick-and-mortar store and continue moving in this digital world shoulder to shoulder with your competitors. Building an e-commerce website helps you scale your business as swiftly as a deer. Your e-commerce website tends to offer much better and improved services to your customers. Everyone dreams of having an e-commerce website with high conversion rates and organic traffic! Why not start working on it today? An E-commerce website plays a crucial role in reaching your consumers and in enhancing your business identity.
WHAT ARE DIFFERENT E-COMMERCE MODELS?
Whether you are someone who belongs to the digital world or not! You sooner or later have to step into this revolutionizing digital industry. Scaling your business requires you to adapt according to the changes and make your progress upward. Whether you are planning to switch to an e-commerce website or already have one, it is better to understand what type of e-commerce model goes with your business.
E-COMMERCE BUSINESS TO CONSUMER MODEL
There are 6 business to consumer models that include
DIRECT SELLER:
One of the most common business-to-consumer models is direct seller also known as a DTC model. It’s where the seller directly interacts with the consumer. The seller might sell their products directly or from alternative brands.
BUSINESS TO CONSUMER DROPSHIPPING MODEL:
It is the business-to-consumer in which a seller outsources the products or services and does not have his inventory which allows them to generate revenue without spending extra and provide the outsourced product to the customer. This e-commerce business model is beneficial for startups and small businesses.
ONLINE BROKERS:
This e-commerce business-to-consumer model is beneficial to large companies. Online intermediaries work as brokers but online, they connect the consumers to the sellers. They do not own any product or service, they act as a third party that bridges the gap between you and your sellers.
COMMUNITY-BASED:
These are the e-commerce business-to-consumer model businesses that can have access to online platforms and communities that already have a large number of users, where they can easily sell their products or services.
FEE-BASED:
These are the e-commerce business-to-consumer models that charge users to have access to their platform while restricting the users who don’t pay for that! There are many fee-based e-commerce platforms including Netflix, Amazon Prime, and many more.
ADVERTISEMENT BASED:
These are the e-commerce business-to-consumer model that do not own or sell any product or service but they run advertisements for others that sell their services! You can find these e-commerce websites running ads on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
E-COMMERCE BUSINESS TO BUSINESS MODEL:
Business to business model is clear from its name sell its services or products to another business. It is done in two ways:
VERTICAL METHOD:
The business-to-business e-commerce model if applied vertically involves selling products or services only to specific businesses.
HORIZONTAL METHOD:
The business-to-business e-commerce model if applied horizontally involves selling your product or services to various industries.
Both methods have their own merits and demerits. Business-to-business e-commerce models have come a long way and are now a growing trend in this industry.
E-COMMERCE BUSINESS TO GOVERNMENT MODEL:
This is when a company sells its products or services directly to a government agency. This can be beneficial to someone operating their business on a large scale. This can be someone who sells guns and ammunition to the US army. Keeping your cost low and service simple can help you in getting a contract from a government agency.
E-COMMERCE HYBRID/BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS TO CONSUMER MODEL:
This is a type of e-commerce model that sells its product or services to a business that sells its services or products to a consumer. This e-commerce model consists of three ends: the first business, the digital broker or an intermediary, the consumer. This way companies can collaborate and sell their services.
E-COMMERCE CONSUMER TO BUSINESS MODEL:
This is a type of e-commerce model in which an individual offers its services or products to a business. This includes our very common skilled freelancers who sell their services on platforms like Upwork, Upfluence, or GRIN.
E-COMMERCE CONSUMER TO CONSUMER MODEL:
This is a type of e-commerce website in which a consumer sells its services or products to other consumers directly. This is done with the help of third-party websites that allow consumers to showcase their products to others on that platform. This e-commerce platform is beneficial to small businesses that start from scratch and have not yet designed their e-commerce website, they can make use of platforms such as eBay, Etsy, or sites like these that provide a marketplace for consumers to sell their products and generate revenue from them.
