Explore the Difference between eCommerce and E-Business with Examples

You can easily determine that eCommerce is for commercial transactions. On the other hand, e-business can mean a broad range of activities that is not limited to transactions. Read about the difference between eCommerce and e-business.

 

The main difference between eCommerce and e-business lies in the range of online activities. eCommerce refers to selling goods or services only, while e-business refers to conducting any type of business activity, including transactions, online or offline. Let’s explore what makes them different. 

1. Difference between eCommerce and e-business: quick comparison
2. What is eCommerce?
3. What is e-Business?

Difference Between eCommerce and e-Business: Quick Comparison

What is eCommerce?

eCommerce refers to the trading of products or services online. Apart from the website where the transactions take place, there are no face-to-face interactions between the buyer and seller. 

eCommerce website owners are dependent on digital marketing. They use various marketing strategies online that direct customers to their website. They would deploy dedicated eCommerce digital marketing strategies through customer reviews, social media marketing, etc. to boost conversion rates.  

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Types of eCommerce 

• B2B (Business to Business) – Here, the transaction takes place between two businesses. Examples of B2B include Rakuten, Amazon Business, etc. 
• B2C (Business to Customer) – The transaction occurs between a business (eCommerce website) and the online buyer. Examples of B2C include Amazon, Flipkart, etc. 
• C2C (Customer to Customer) – One customer sells a product or service to another customer. Examples of C2C sites include eBay and similar. 
• C2B (Customer to Business) – It is opposite to the B2C model, where the consumer is able to sell a product or service to a company. Examples of the C2B model are varied, but one of the most important ones is an influencer offering services to a brand’s website. 

What is E-Business?

An e-Business or electronic business runs on the internet, intranet, and extranet, as well as offline, to fulfil various business processes and not just transactions. 

Some processes include the use of customer relationship management software such as Salesforce CRM, business intelligence tools, digital supply chain management, etc. 

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Technically, eCommerce is just one aspect of e-business.  

Companies with an e-business model are across governmental, non-profit, and private institutions. Apart from marketing and selling as the main revenue model of e-business, there are other operational concerns of running it.

Online security is one of the most essential activities for e-business organisations. As every process includes stakeholders, companies, clients, employees, etc., in a computer-mediated network, online security is given much more importance. They would use ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software. 

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Types of E-business

• Pure Play – This type of E-business sells only one specific product or service online. This type of retailer sells one or related products only. Marketplaces such as Etsy is an example. 
• Brick and Click – Here, the e-business has an online store and an offline store. Brands like Whole Foods, Walmart, etc., follow this e-business model.

Related: Top 10 Business Models

Parting Thoughts

Hopefully, you clearly understand the difference between eCommerce and e-business. While at it, go grab some free digital marketing courses to improve your knowledge on the same!