What is e-commerce? Loosely speaking, the term may be applied to any commercial transaction which is carried out over a computer network. It may also refer to the supporting infrastructure which allows such transactions to take place. For example, someone who makes an online store, or someone with a website advertising their copywriting skills, engages in e-commerce. The word “e-commerce” may also be used to describe the practice of gathering business intelligence. Business intelligence data can be used to focus and direct your marketing efforts more efficiently, thereby supporting your online business transactions.
The following article is intended as an introduction to the question: “what is e-commerce?” After reading this article, you should be primed to get started with your own e-commerce website.
As mentioned, e-commerce consists of financial transactions conducted online, as well as the gathering and application of information for marketing purposes. Just like traditional commerce, there are four basic types of e-commerce:
As you can see, what e-commerce “is” is not necessarily a simple answer, but its individual parts are fairly easy to understand. If you require further help, there are additional e-commerce resources available from a variety of sources. These include sources such as the e-commerce network Shopify, which has a vested interest in helping its members to succeed, along with Entrepreneur magazine, and organizations such as the Small Business Administration.
If you are anything like most of those individuals who search for information on the basics of e-commerce, you’re looking to get your own online businesses started, so we’ll go with that as a focal point from here on out. The following options primarily cover business to consumer type transactions, with a little bit of consumer to business and consumer to consumer on the side.
Click here for some more resources relating to business to business type e-commerce.
Many domain registrars and web hosting providers, such as Wix and GoDaddy, provide various levels of e-commerce support. This generally involves the use of a click-and-drag website builder, which makes putting together a simple and relatively professional-looking website much easier than if you had to do it from scratch. These types of setups allow you to list products, and will usually facilitate credit card transactions (often for a small fee per transaction).
These types of website hosting packages cost more than those which entail non-commercial websites – such as personal blogs and hobby pages. However, they make the process of establishing an online store relatively simple, by putting everything you need in one place. With your own domain name, you can personalize your online presence at every level.
In many ways, the differences between signing up for a shopping network and creating an online store are minimal. Many of these networks, such as Etsy and Shopify, allow for their clients to open online stores using their own domain names; they may even provide domain registration services directly. They handle payment methods, and may allow for the association of other website elements, such as blogs.
The two experiences are not identical, of course. Often, the online shopping network offers a more standardized theme. They try to make up in advanced features what they lack in individual customization, and often succeed – depending upon your particular needs. A store opened within a network such as this is likely to provide significant and powerful features for a much lower cost than that which you would have to pay to a typical hosting provider for a completely independent online store.
Here are a few more potential resources for e-commerce information. Please note that some of this may take you beyond the bare basics which we have attempted to cover here.