Types of E-Commerce: B2B, B2C, C2C and B2G

E-commerce transactions are classified according to who is buying and who is selling, and the Andhra Pradesh Intermediate Commerce syllabus expects students to know each of these models along with a suitable example.

Business-to-Business, commonly written as B2B, refers to e-commerce transactions that take place between two business firms — for instance, a manufacturer buying raw material or components from a supplier through an online portal, or a wholesaler placing a bulk order with a producer electronically. B2B transactions typically involve larger order values and longer-term buyer-seller relationships than transactions with individual consumers.

Business-to-Consumer, or B2C, is the model most people associate with online shopping: a business sells goods or services directly to an individual final consumer through a website or mobile application, such as a consumer ordering clothes, groceries or electronic gadgets online, or booking movie tickets through an app.

Consumer-to-Consumer, or C2C, describes a transaction in which one individual sells goods or services directly to another individual, usually with the help of an online platform that only connects the two parties — for example, one person selling used books, furniture or a second-hand vehicle to another individual through a classified listing or online marketplace, without either party being a registered business.

A fourth model that the AP Intermediate syllabus also introduces is Business-to-Government, or B2G (sometimes also studied as Consumer-to-Government, C2G), where a business supplies goods or services to a government department electronically, or files statutory returns, taxes and licence applications with government departments through official online portals.