2. What is it?
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The buying and selling of products and services by businesses and consumers through an
electronic medium, without using any paper documents. E-commerce is widely considered the
buying and selling of products over the internet, but any transaction that is completed solely
through electronic measures can be considered e-commerce.
E-commerce is subdivided into three categories: business to business or B2B (Cisco), business to
consumer or B2C (Amazon), and consumer to consumer or C2C (eBay).
3. E-commerce businesses usually employ some or all of the following practices:
Provide Retail or virtual storefront on websites with online catalogs, sometimes gathered into a
"virtual mall"
Buy or sell on websites or online marketplaces.
Gather and use demographic data through web contacts and social media.
Reach prospective and established customers by e-mail or fax (for example, with newsletters).
Use business-to-business buying and selling.
Provide secure business transactions
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