What is an E-commerce Website?

The easiest way of differentiating eCommerce websites is according to the parties involved:

Business-to-consumer (B2C) eCommerce

Among the most familiar types of online shops, B2C websites enable the exchange of goods and services between a business and a consumer. For example, buying a phone from your favorite online shop.

Business-to-business (B2B) eCommerce

A B2B platform enables electronic transactions between two businesses. Very popular among eCommerce resellers, B2B platforms allow them to source their inventory from wholesalers. For example, if you own a company that sells home decorations, you might buy your vases from an online wholesaler using a B2B eCommerce platform.

Business-to-administration (B2A) eCommerce

In digitalized economies, B2A websites enable electronic exchanges between an organization and a public institution.

Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) eCommerce

Also known as a marketplace, C2C eCommerce, including Etsy and eBay, hosts an exchange of goods between consumers.

Consumer-to-business (C2B) eCommerce

C2B platforms facilitate the exchange between individuals and businesses. A C2B eCommerce could be used, for example, by a freelance copywriter who helps companies in a certain industry with their blog content or by an influencer endorsing other businesses’ products.

Consumer-to-administration (C2A)

C2A platforms allow individual consumers to provide information, goods, or services to public administration and governmental organizations. An example would be a national platform you could use to pay for your parking ticket or your taxes.

The advantage of conducting business online is among others the ability to sell a wide range of products, including some which couldn’t be sold in a physical location:

Physical goods

Items, such as food, clothing, furniture, supplies, or any tangible goods, are generally stored in warehouses and displayed on eCommerce websites, where customers can purchase them or add them to their wish lists. Once a user buys a product, the seller ships the item to them.

Services

Services, such as consultations, maintenance, tutoring, lessons, and more, can also be sold via eCommerce websites.

Digital products

Recently, an increasing number of digital products, such as online courses, software, podcasts, music, or e-books, have taken over the market, paving the way for on-demand content streaming, service automation, outsourcing, or skill learning.

Selling goods and services online is a complex process that requires several functions, such as:

Accepting orders

For each order, an eCommerce site needs to record customer details (e.g. name, address, etc.), collect customers’ acceptance of the business’ terms and conditions, calculate the final price including tax, deduct applicable discounts or coupons, generate the order and tracking numbers, process the billing information and provide access to a payment gateway, prepare and pack the orders, and lastly deliver the purchased items.

The goal of a seller is to ensure that customers receive the right product on time and in perfect condition, every single time. An eCommerce website also needs to have a system in place for accepting returned items.

Provide customer service

Customers will need to communicate with the business at times about their orders or experience. As a result, an eCommerce website should make it easy for customers to get in touch with its representatives, whether it is a chat service, a contact form, or a phone number they could call should they need to have their problems easily solved.

Tracking eCommerce metrics can help you assess your success, showing you what’s working for your customers and what areas need improvement.

Website traffic

Website traffic indicates the number of people who visit your website, which can be a good indicator of the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

Bounce rate

Bounce rate refers to the percentage of visitors who leave your site immediately after viewing only one section of your site. If you witness a high bounce rate, you need to understand what makes visitors leave. The problem may come down to marketing, pricing, the layout of your website, etc.

Conversion rate

Conversion rate refers to the percentage of website visitors who become paying customers. Conversion rate indicates how effectively you are persuading visitors to trust you and purchase your products through your pricing strategy and marketing efforts.

Cart abandonment rate

As the name suggests, this metric refers to the number of carts customers did not proceed to check out before leaving the website. Some people may use their shopping cart as a wishlist, so using remarketing campaigns can help reduce cart abandonment and boost conversions.

Mobile users

Mobile eCommerce (or M-commerce) is now very popular among those shopping online, therefore you should know how many of your visitors and customers are using their mobile devices. If the number is too low, you might want to check whether your e-shop and its processes are mobile-friendly.

Time spent

Looking at how long visitors spend on your site can tell you something about their behavior. If they’re browsing but not buying, they might find your price point too high, or they might have issues finding the right products for them. If they are bouncing almost immediately, your online shop might be difficult to navigate.

Pages per visit

Another metric that can provide insight into customer behavior is pages-per-visit, which refers to the number of individual pages customers are visiting on your website. Similar to time spent, this metric can help you measure the effectiveness of your online store.