Learn in the textbookE-Commerce Business Models and Strategic Concepts
DefinitionEC (electronic commerce, 電子商取引) is trading in which goods or services are bought and sold, ordered, and paid for over a network such as the internet.
ExplanationThe category name comes from the pair of parties involved: a deal between companies is BtoB, and one from a company to ordinary consumers is BtoC. Trading can happen at any time and from anywhere, but because the parties never meet, the moment a contract is formed and the safe exchange of payment and goods become issues.
AnalogyThe buying and selling once done at a shopfront on a shopping street, replaced by on-screen orders and home delivery.
Memory hookE stands for Electronic and C for Commerce. In names like BtoC, B is Business and C is Consumer, written in the order "provider to receiver."