Page 27 - Banking Finance December 2016

ARTICLE

Types of E-commerce Y C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer)

Y B2B (Business-to-Business) There are many sites offering free classifieds, auctions,
and forums where individuals can buy and sell; thanks
Companies doing business with each other such as
manufacturers selling to distributors and wholesalers to online payment systems like PayPal where people can
selling to retailers. send and receive money online with ease. eBay's auc-
tion service is a great example of C2C e-commerce.
Y B2C (Business-to-Consumer)
Apart from these, B2E (Business-to-Employee) ecommerce.
Businesses selling to the general public typically through
G2G (Government-to-Government), G2E (Government-to-
catalogs utilizing shopping cart software. There are five Employee), G2B (Government-to-Business), B2G (Business-
classifications of B2C electronic commerce: direct sell- to-Government), G2C (Government-to-Citizen), C2G (Citizen-
ers, manufacturers, online intermediaries, advertising- to-Government) are other forms of ecommerce that involve
based models and community-based models. Direct transactions with the government--from procurement to
sellers are the most well-known B2C companies. B2C filing taxes to business registrations to renewing licenses.
can be used to sell virtually any type of product online.
B2C electronic commerce offers the following advan-
The internet era has significantly changed the way people and
tages: convenience, real-time changes in products and
organizations around the world interact with each other.
price and an enhanced buying experience. B2C also
What was earlier only a medium of transferring data or com-
faces some challenges. The two main B2C issues are munication has now become the gateway for trade and com-
building traffic and sustaining customer loyalty. Those merce. Buying products and services are now just a click away.
who have mastered B2C electronic commerce know the Secure online transactions provided by vendors like Visa and
value of effective communication and also the value of MasterCard as well as net-banking have only added to the
the B2C customer. confidence of audiences willing to participate in online com-
merce. The emergence of web 2.0, social networks and group
Y C2B (Consumer-to-Business) buying has further fuelled this trend. Vendors around the world
A consumer posts his project with a set budget online have started setting up shops over the web.
and within hours companies review the consumer's re-
quirements and bid on the project. The consumer re- Entire market places for trade and commerce have sprung
views the bids and selects the company that will com- up online. The story in India is no different. Slowly trade
plete the project. This empowers consumers around the portals and online travel portals joined the bandwagon. Al-
world by providing the meeting ground and platform though by most references India only accounts for approxi-
for such transactions. mately 2% of the ecommerce in the Asia-Pacific region, the
amount in figures is staggering ($24 billion). It is likely to
touch $55 billion by 2018.
E-commerce in Banking

E-banking is defined as the automated delivery of new and
traditional banking products and services directly to custom-
ers through electronic, interactive communication channels.
E-banking includes the systems that enable financial institu-
tion customers-Individuals or businesses, to access accounts,
transact business, or obtain information on financial prod-
ucts and services through a public or private network includ-
ing the Internet.

Electronic banking is an activity that is not new to banks or
their customers. Banks have been providing their services
to customers electronically for years. In the past however,

BANKING FINANCE | DECEMBER | 2016 | 27

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