Business-to-Consumer e-commerce.
This is advancement from the traditional shop or store that a consumer would purchase their goods or services. Some of the most successful B-to-C websites are airlines such as Easyjet or Ryanair. These companies are low cost airlines and a large portion of the success comes from the fact that most of their revenue comes from online bookings. Other successful companies that have emerged due to e-commerce are Amazon, Dell and many others. This has also led to the advancement of such terms as e-tailing and clicks and mortar as the popularity of shopping online becomes increasingly evident.
Consumer-to-Business e-commerce.
This type of e-commerce is a reverse auction where by the consumer rather than the seller initiates the transaction.
The business principle is that consumers join together to drive down the price of products through the benefits of bulk buying. As more customers join, the price of the product continues to fall for the entire group. However, gross savings are often eroded by direct and indirect loses and it is this that led to LetsBuyIt running into serious financial problems in 2001.
Consumer-to-Consumer e-commerce.
This e-commerce type covers the new fashion for consumer-to-consumer auctions. They are not so much a new marketplace as a new form of entertainment. The US-based eBay Inc, is the world's largest and most popular person-to-person trading community on the Internet. The bidding and close interaction between buyers and sellers promotes a sense of community - a near addiction that keeps them coming back. The average eBay user spends 130 minutes a month at the site, ten times more than the typical Amazon user.
Internet Growth and who is using it where.
Internet activity is growing both in popularity and in profitability. Over the past five years the Internet has evolved into a vast communications and interactive global market of products, services and ideas.