13.11 Key Terms

A Mobile Wallet: Is an application on your mobile device that stores your payment information to allow for contactless payments. It is like a regular wallet where you keep your credit, debit or prepaid cards. You can use your mobile wallet when shopping in person or online. 13.6

Best E-commerce Platform: Out there has been our ongoing goal here at e-commerce-platforms.com ever since the site was established. We invest real hours each week to test and examine each platform, all in an effort to find out how viable they are among the top e-commerce platforms in the market. We’re doing all this testing so that you don’t have to. 13.6

Bitcoin: This is a form of digital currency sometimes referred to as a cryptocurrency which is a new form of money that is tradable throughout the world. It operates without the involvement of central banks or a clearinghouse and runs as a P2P network. 13.7

Blockchain: Is a peer-to-peer network which provides an open, distributed record of transactions between two parties. A peer-to-peer (P2P) network is one where there is no server between the two nodes trying to communicate. Essentially, this means that each node acts as a server and a client. 13.7

Brick-and-Click Businesses: Such as Indigo and Canadian Tire, combine a physical presence with an online presence. These businesses use the Internet to supplement their existing businesses (Krishnamurthy, 2003). 13.4

Broadband: Technology and lowering data costs mean more consumers have access to m-commerce even on affordable devices and data plans. 13.4

Business to Business (B2B): When a business sells a good or service to another business. For example, a business that sells software-as-a-service for other businesses to use, or Staples selling office supplies. This is the largest form of e-commerce 13.4

Business to Consumer (B2C): When a business sells a good or service to an individual consumer. For example, when you buy a pair of shoes from an online retailer like Nike. 13.4

Business to Government (B2G): Defined as e-commerce transactions with the government. The internet is used for procurement, filing taxes, licensing procedures, business registrations, and other government-related operations. This is an insignificant segment of e-commerce in terms of volume, but it is growing. 13.4

Consumer to Business (C2B): When a consumer sells their own products or services to a business or organization. For example, an influencer offers exposure to their online audience in exchange for a fee, or a photographer licenses their photo for a business to use. 13.4

Consumer to Consumer (C2C): When a consumer sells a good or service to another consumer. The most well-known C2C is eBay, but there are many other online market providers as well, like Kijiji or Craigslist. Peer-to-peer (P2P) is also a form of consumer-to-consumer. See more about P2P below. 13.4

Consumer to Government (C2G): Defined as e-commerce transactions between the government and individuals. This would involve licenses and registrations, and paying taxes. 13.4

Crowdfunding: The collection of money from consumers in advance of a product being available in order to raise the startup capital necessary to bring it to market. Example: Kickstarter 13.5

Demand Risk: Sharply changing demand or the collapse of markets poses a significant risk for many firms. The web can be used to diversify a business by taking new products to new markets. 13.3

Digital Products: Downloadable digital goods, templates, courses, or media that must be purchased for consumption or licensed for use. For example, maybe you take a digital course online through LinkedIn Learning. 13.5

Dropshipping: The sale of a product, which is manufactured and shipped to the consumer by a third party. 13.5

E-commerce Business Model: This is the method that a business uses to generate revenue online. E-commerce can take on a variety of forms involving different transactional relationships between businesses and consumers. 13.5

E-commerce Platform: This is a way to build and create an online experience that allows a company to make sales and fulfill orders.  13.6

E-payment: Is any payment done electronically. This form of payment includes debit cards, credit cards, gift cards, e-transfers, email payments, mobile wallets, and cryptocurrency. 13.6

Electronic Business or E-business: In a broad sense, is the use of computer networks to improve organizational performance. Increasing profitability, gaining market share, improving customer service, and delivering products faster are some of the organizational performance gains possible by doing business electronically. E-business is more than ordering goods online,  it involves all aspects of an organization’s electronic interactions with its stakeholders. 13.1

Electronic Transfer or E-Transfer: This is the ability to send money from your bank account held at a Canadian financial institution through the Interac Corporation. With e-transfers, the sender logs on to their bank account and chooses a recipient to send money to. 13.6

Governance: The banking sector, both in individual countries (Bank of Canada and U. S. Federal Reserve System) and the world at large (the International Monetary Fund-IMF), controls financial transactions. 13.4

Financial Systems Collapse: Blockchain will result in the governance of financial transactions shifting away from these government-controlled institutions. 13.7

Hosted: Some e-commerce website builders offer a hosted platform. Building on a hosted e-commerce platform provides freedom to focus on the business and not the technology management of the site. 13.6

Hosting: Stores information on a server, which allows Internet users to visit a company’s site and view all of the content. Every website is hosted somewhere, meaning it has dedicated server space from a provider. Some e-commerce platforms have hosting built-in, while others require self-hosting or open-source hosting. 13.6

Improved Technology: Has given mobile devices advanced capabilities and faster internet access enabling m-commerce to be available on even the most affordable devices. 13.4

Inefficiency Risk: Failure to match competitors’ unit costs–inefficiency risk. The internet can help reduce operating costs, such as information distribution. 13.3

Innovation Risk: Not being adaptable, can lead to stagnation, and ultimately failure to remain competitive. Businesses need to be open to new ideas, and these ideas can come from customers. The internet allows communication with customers for this purpose. 13.3

Instant Gratification Online: This includes their online shopping needs. An increase in m-commerce for fast food, fresh produce and basic household items has been driven by this need for customers to get what they need when and where they want it. 13.4

Number of Global Mobile Users: This is steadily increasing:  every year, resulting in an increased demand for mobile websites and applications. 13.4

Physical Products: Any tangible good that requires inventory to be replenished and orders to be physically shipped to customers as sales are made 13.5

Pure-Play Business: Such as Amazon and Well.ca, has an online presence only and uses the capabilities of the internet to create a new business. 13.4

Rapid Adoption of E-commerce: Means that evolving customers are looking for more options across more devices. 13.4

Retail: The sale of a product by a business directly to a customer without any intermediary. 13.5

Search Engine Marketing (SEM): SEM is a form of internet marketing that involves the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages primarily through paid advertising. 13.6

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Search Engine Optimization (SEO) refers to the techniques that help a website rank high in organic search results (such as on Google and other search engines). 13.6

Self-Hosted: Require companies to use their own server space or pay to rent space from a hosting provider. This makes ongoing website management complex, as you’re responsible for updates, maintenance, and bug fixes. This requires a lot of internal resources that you could otherwise allocate elsewhere. Self-hosted platforms are typically open-source, and you use a third party to host your website data. 13.6

Services: A skill or set of skills provided in exchange for compensation. The service provider’s time can be purchased for a fee. 13.5

Smart Contracts: The smart contract will re-shape how businesses interact. It is possible for blockchain to automatically send payment to a vendor the instant the product is delivered to the customer. Such “self-executing” contracts are already taking place in banking and venture capital funding (Iansiti & Lakhani, 2017). 13.7

Social Commerce: Where online social networks are utilized to promote the sale of goods and services. Social commerce provides a means for interactive shopping, including reviews, ratings, and social shopping websites where you can chat with merchant personnel or with friends while you are shopping. 13.9

Social Networks: Provide a platform for people to connect with each other and share information. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and TikTok are all examples of online social networks that allow for the exchange of information 13.9

Speed of Adoption: Initially there is a great deal of enthusiasm by a small group. However, adoption on a larger scale can take a great number of years even decades for a worldwide acceptance of a new method of doing business. 13.7

Subscription: The automatic recurring purchase of a product or service on a regular basis until the subscriber chooses to cancel. Examples: newspaper subscriptions, music streaming sites (Spotify) 13.5

Transaction Brokers: Companies who facilitate a transaction and take a portion of the revenue. Example Airbnb, Eventbrite 13.5

Wholesale: The sale of products in bulk, often to a retailer that then sells them directly to consumers. 13.5