By: Abdoul Rahim Sow & Linh Hoang UPJV, Amiens

General Introduction

1. Types of E-commerce

➢ Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce refers to the electronic exchange of products,

services or information between businesses or enterprises rather than between businesses
and consumers. Examples include online directories and product and supply exchange
websites that let businesses look for products, services and information.
➢ Business-to-consumer (B2C) is the retail part of e-commerce on the internet. It is when
businesses sell products, services or information directly to consumers. Today, there are
innumerable virtual stores and malls on the internet selling all types of consumer goods.
Amazon is the most recognized example of these sites. It dominates the B2C market.

➢ Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) is a type of e-commerce in which consumers trade products,

services and information with each other online. These transactions are generally conducted
through a third party that provides an online platform on which the transactions are carried
out.
➢ Consumer-to-business (C2B) is a type of e-commerce in which consumers make their
products and services available online for companies to bid on and purchase. This is the
opposite of the traditional commerce model of B2C.
A popular example of a C2B platform is a market that sells royalty-free photographs, images,
media and design elements, such as iStock.
➢ Business-to-administration (B2A): refers to transactions conducted online between
companies and public administration or government bodies. Many branches of government
are dependent on various types of e-services or products. These products and services are
often related to legal documents, registers, social security, fiscal data and employment.
Businesses can supply these electronically. B2A services have grown considerably in recent
years as investments have been made in e-government capabilities.
➢ Consumer-to-administration (C2A) refers to transactions conducted online between
consumers and public administration or government bodies. The government rarely buys
products or services from individuals, but individuals frequently use electronic means in the
following areas:
– Social security. Distributing information and making payments.
– Taxes. Filing tax returns and making payments.
– Health. Making appointments and making health services payments.
➢ Mobile e-commerce (m-commerce) refers to online sales transactions using mobile
devices, such as smartphones and tablets. It includes mobile shopping, banking and
payments. Mobile chatbots facilitate m-commerce, letting consumers complete
transactions via voice or text conversations

2. EVOLUTION OF E-COMMERCE
a. Where does E-commerce come from?

E-commerce originated in a standard for the exchange of business documents, such as orders or
invoices, between suppliers and their business customers. Those origins date to the 1948–49 Berlin
blockade and airlift (The Berlin Blockade was an attempt in 1948 by the Soviet Union to limit the
ability of the United States, Great Britain and France to travel to their respective sectors of the
city of Berlin); with a system of ordering goods primarily via telex (International message-transfer
service consisting of a network of teleprinters connected by a system of switched exchanges).
By: Abdoul Rahim Sow & Linh Hoang UPJV, Amiens
Various industries elaborated upon that system in the following decades before the first general
standard was published in 1975.

Then with the wide adoption of the Internet and the introduction of the World Wide Web in 1991 and
of the first browser for accessing it in 1993, most e-commerce shifted to the Internet. More recently,
with the global spread of smartphones, much e-commerce moved to mobile devices, which also
included tablets, laptops, and wearable products such as watches.

b. The most impactful changes that have taken place in the eCommerce:

Over the past decade, the evolution of both tech hardware and the internet has had a direct
correlation with eCommerce. Just as the internet has grown into the desired medium for
marketing, advertising, and purchasing of products, goods, and services; eCommerce has grown
to rival traditional shopping in many ways.

Preceded by tech giants like Amazon, who joined the space in 1995, and later Google and Paypal
who launched their eCommerce initiatives in 1998. The overall journey of online shopping is far
from finished but it has undoubtedly accelerated in the last decade.

The most impactful changes that have taken place in the eCommerce realm in the last 10 years,
however, include:

1. The Rise of online marketplaces

2. The seamless shift to using mobile devices for online shopping
3. The tremendous growth of online and digital marketing and advertising.
4. The practice using of digital modifications or enhancements to reality in sales and
consumer shopping.

3. Advantages of e-commerce
Benefits of e-commerce include its around-the-clock availability, the speed of access, the wide
availability of goods and services, easy accessibility and international reach.

• Availability: Aside from outages and scheduled maintenance, E-commerce sites are available
24/7, enabling visitors to browse and shop at any time. Brick-and-mortar businesses (Enterprises
selling physically) tend to open for a fixed number of hours and may even close entirely on
certain days.
• Speed of access: While shoppers in a physical store can be slowed by crowds, e-commerce sites
run quickly. An e-commerce transaction can take less than five minutes.
• Easy accessibility: Customers shopping in a physical store may have difficulty locating a
particular product. Website visitors can browse product category pages in real time and use the
site's search feature to find the product immediately.
• International reach: Brick-and-mortar businesses sell to customers who physically visit their
stores. With e-commerce, businesses can sell to anyone who can access the web.
• Lower cost: Pure play e-commerce businesses avoid the costs of running physical stores, such as
rent, inventory and cashiers.
• New jobs are created: According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, computer jobs are
projected to increase by 13.4% over the 2020–30 decade.
By: Abdoul Rahim Sow & Linh Hoang UPJV, Amiens

4. Disadvantages of E-commerce:
• Limited customer service. If customers have a question or issue in a physical store, they can see
a clerk, cashier or store manager for help. In an e-commerce store, customer service can be
limited: The site may only provide support during certain hours, and its online service options
may be difficult to navigate or not answer a specific question.
• Limited interactions with customers: Without being face-to-face, it can be harder to understand
the wants, needs and concerns of your ecommerce customer
• No ability to test or try on: For customers who want to get hands-on with a product (especially
in the realm of physical goods like clothing, shoes and beauty products) before adding it to their
shopping cart, the ecommerce experience can be limiting.
• Wait time: In a store, customers pay for a product and go home with it. With e-commerce,
customers must wait for the product to be shipped to them. Although shipping windows are
decreasing as next-day and even same-day delivery becomes common, it's not instantaneous.
• Low Security: Skilled hackers can create authentic-looking websites that claim to sell well-
known products. Instead, the site sends customers fake or imitation versions of those products --
or simply steals credit card information. Legitimate e-commerce sites also carry risk, especially
when customers store their credit card information with the retailer to make future purchases
easier.
• Technology breakdowns can impact ability to sell: If your ecommerce website is slow, broken
or unavailable to customers, this may impact your ability to make sales. Site crashes and
technology failures can damage relationships with customers.

5. How about the Global actual Trend? (REFER TO THE SLIDE)

How about FRANCE? (REFER TO THE SLIDE)

By: Abdoul Rahim Sow & Linh Hoang UPJV, Amiens

6. E-commerce in the future:

The eCommerce business is on the rise and will evolve remarkably in the near future. It changes
customer behavior, needs, and shopping trends a lot. Within 25 years this industry has made over
2 trillion US dollars in sales worldwide.

Adaptation of new technology, large customization, policy evolution, and smart integration with
advanced solutions have taken the eCommerce industry by storm.

With this e-commerce growth the online sales are gaining more and more space in the retail
market, especially after the pandemic.

And the chances of this growth continue are even greater if we think about the quantity and
speed of technological advances and the digital transformation of society.

Physical establishments should take this into account and set up a structure to bring their offline
business to an on-line platform. If they don't have an online presence, they will lose a lot of
customers, who are looking for an easy, quick and convenient purchase from the comfort of their
own home.

In recent days, online shopping becomes one of the most popular online activities on the web.
So, business owners also emphasize making the user experience better. They are continuously
introducing new methods that make their clients more comfortable while shopping online.

Few examples of these methods:

• Delivery drones

Delivery drones are among the main trends for the digital retail and will certainly be part of the
future of e-commerce. And, apparently, a not-so-distant future. Many companies, such as food,
are already carrying out tests with deliveries made by drones. The Amazon, an e-commerce
giant, has been developing its own delivery drone project since 2013. They thought it would start
operating in some cities at the end of 2019, but due to internal problems, the launch had to be
postponed. However, it was officially released in July this year!

After Video on the slide

Persistent technological and infrastructure advances indicate that the future of e-commerce will
be even more vibrant and scalable. Therefore, to face the challenges of changes in e-commerce,
it is necessary to update and prepare. But using the trends presented here, you are sure to be on
your way to success!

CONCLUSION:

Ultimately, e-commerce has many advantages. For merchants, targeting and reaching new
customers, reducing fixed costs or obtaining information about the customer are the main assets.
For consumers, the benefits are time savings (“I order from where and when I want”), the
possibility of saving money and comparing thanks to an almost infinite “virtual store window”.