What is a commerce How does it differentiate from traditional business models?

Traditional commerce and e-commerce are terms that are not so new to people in the 21st century. However, for the sake of pointing out the differences between the two, here is what each of them means.

Traditional commerce is the type of commerce that has existed up until the digital revolution. It was, in fact, the only type of commerce that existed at the time. It basically involves the physical exchange of commodities or information from seller to buyer in exchange for money. This type of commerce takes place in the complete absence of the internet and all the transactions are physically done. 

However, during the digital revolution came the emergence of a completely new and better efficient form of commerce called electronic commerce, or as it is popularly now called e-commerce. This new concept of commerce builds on the same age-old commerce as before but with a modern twist: instead of a physically present commercial marketplace where buyers and sellers need to come to exchange commodities, the market itself is now online. People are increasingly making use of e-commerce because it is much less time consuming and has now become the easiest form of commerce, especially the millennials who use a lot of internet. 

One of the major disadvantages of traditional commerce is that it is difficult to create and maintain standard practices because of the absence of a regulator. This can lead to different standards being set for the same product within the same market. This creates confusion and distrust among the buyers. This problem is solved in the case of e-commerce since there is a regulating website on which all the products are put up for sale. There is a compulsion to follow the rules because otherwise, the product can get banned from that online market.  

Traditional commerce always has a level of personalization that e-commerce will never have. In traditional commerce, people conduct their business directly, meaning that the interaction between buyer and seller is up close and personal. This can lead to long-term customer relationships and hence, long-term customers. In e-commerce, however, this interaction does not exist and hence the personal element is lost. 

In traditional commerce, the transaction of money is manual. Money is given in paper or coin form in exchange for goods. However, in the case of e-commerce, the most common form of transaction is cashless. People can directly transfer money to the seller through their bank accounts or through e-wallets. The internet facilitates a wide range of transactions that are outside the scope of traditional commerce. 

One of the most fundamental differences between traditional and e-commerce is that traditional commerce is focused mostly on the supply side of the business while e-commerce is focused on the demand side. In traditional commerce, the sellers anticipate the needs of the market and create demand by selling more of their products. However, in the case of e-commerce, the seller will know what the demand of the market is beforehand and can stock up on and sell the products that the market needs.

One of the monumental advantages of e-commerce is its reach. In traditional commerce, the market is limited to the marketplace surrounding it. However, e-commerce is limited to nothing short of the entire world. The reach of websites such as Amazon, Flipkart, etc. stands testimony to this fact. 

Another important area where e-commerce gets the green light is customer support. Even though certain stores do provide customer support, most of them do not, which can be extremely annoying. Customer support is something that a lot of people expect nowadays and online stores are extremely effective in providing the best quality of it. 

Both traditional commerce, as well as e-commerce, come with their fair share of advantages and disadvantages. However, seeing as to where it is going, there is a very good chance that e-commerce is dominating the market, and will continue to do so.

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Commerce as a whole is an essential pillar of any nation and the world in general. What it means in simple terms is that it is the exchange of goods, services, products, etc on a large scale between businesses or nations and so on.

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This system of goods exchange has been around essentially from the birth of civilization, the early form of the barter system was reported in the Harappan civilizations and similar time periods. 

Now after million years of evolution the simple barter system has evolved as well, we have the foreign exchange committees, stock markets, cryptocurrency, and so on.

All these elements play a pivotal role in both traditional commerce and e-commerce.

Traditional Commerce vs E-commerce

The difference between traditional commerce and e-commerce is that the former refers to the exchange or rather a commercial transaction of goods, data, and other services which are done mostly in person or a face to face dealing. The latter one is done entirely with the help of the internet, that is the same transaction of goods, etc is done via the internet. 

What is a commerce How does it differentiate from traditional business models?

Comparison Table

Parameters of comparisonTraditional CommerceE-commerceProcess of transactionA Direct transaction is done between the buyer and the seller.An indirect transaction between the buyer and the seller.AccessibilityOnly when the business is open, thus it is accessible only at certain times of the day.The websites are up and running all around the clock, 24*7.MaintenaceThe seller needs to maintain a warehouse and also display goods and products they offer to attract customers.Mostly they need to physically maintain a warehouse, the website once created is up and running without much fuss or attention.InspectionThe goods can be physically examined for example while buying shoes, clothes, etc, the customer can get a perfect size.Such facilities are not easily available. Scope of businessRestricted to a certain geographical location.Worldwide transactions can be done.Business relationLinerEnd-to-end.

What is Traditional Commerce?

As defined before, traditional commerce refers to the practice of selling items or services which is done in person and face to face dealings.

This system has been around since the very dawn of civilization, the earliest form of traditional commerce was the barter system where people used to exchange goods as there was no currency like money, etc.

This has then evolved and now we see shops, shopping malls, and so on where people sell goods to interested buyers. 

These businesses are constricted to a general area geographically and they do not have a worldwide audience.

The major advantage of traditional commerce is that the person can get to see the quality, fit, ingenuity, or whatever the case may be of the product or service they are purchasing.

The buyer also feels a sense of brotherhood as they can directly support their local business and help the community grow.

Though they are not accessible 24*7, there are traditional businesses in remote parts of the world where there is poor or no internet. 

Also, there is no headache of getting scammed or anything as there are no hackers or fake sellers on this model.

These business models are based on the supply side and linear model where they take in components create products and sell it to the user. 

What is a commerce How does it differentiate from traditional business models?

What is E-commerce?

E-commerce or electronic commerce is the new age commerce where the buyer and the seller need not interact on a physical or face to face basis but contact over the internet to buy and sell products respectively.

It was in the year 1991 when the internet was opened up to commercial businesses and e-commerce has only bloomed since then.

Today it is accessible and availed by most of the urban population in the developing countries and all of the developed country population.

There are 3 major business models in e-commerce which are B-2-B transaction that is business-to-business, B-2-C, Business-to-consumer, and Consumer to consumer or consumer to business.

There is also the business to the administrator model where a business sells any item or service to public administration or government bodies and also vice versa, where the administrator sells to the business. 

The e-commerce site has really boosted up even those who were not so sure to buy materials via the internet are turning to it.

The advantages of this are high too, from the 24 hours availability, the ease of access given one has working internet, the worldwide delivery and beggar scope of business these help the buyer and the seller. 

There is also a lower cost to maintain the business as the seller only needs to maintain the warehouse physically and the storefront is done by programs and AIs.

However, there are some disadvantages of this which include theft or scams and even getting fake or damaged goods as the buyer cannot physically examine the good.

The buyer needs to wait a few days before getting the item and returns can be a hassle too. 

What is a commerce How does it differentiate from traditional business models?

Main Differences Between Traditional Commerce and E-commerce

  1. Traditional commerce means the commercial transaction of material goods or services on a large scale without the use of any internet. E-commerce, on the other hand, is done via the internet for the transaction of goods, etc. 
  2. The business relation in traditional commerce is linear while in e-commerce it is end-to-end. 
  3. The scope of business is restricted to a certain geographical area in traditional commerce while in the case of e-commerce it can be done worldwide. 
  4. The delivery of products is mostly instant in the case of traditional commerce while in the case of e-commerce it takes time to deliver products. 
  5. In traditional commerce, the seller needs to maintain both the warehouse and the storefront so as to attract customer, while in the case of e-commerce they mostly need to maintain the warehouse and the website once is up, is generally easy to maintain given they have the technical knowledge. 
  6. Traditional commerce is mostly focused on the supply side while 

e-commerce is based on the demand side. 

What is a commerce How does it differentiate from traditional business models?

Reference:

  1. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/301356832.pdf
  2. https://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:ijemr&volume=8&issue=2&article=023

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What is e

E-commerce i.e., electronic commerce is similar to traditional commerce. It also includes the exchange of goods and services. The solitary difference is that it is handled online through an electronic network – the Internet. Now it has spread across to online social networks.

What are some of the four 4 main differences between ecommerce and the more traditional commerce?

Face-to-face customer interaction. Automated process of business. Manual processing of business. End-to-end business relationship.

What is the traditional commerce?

Traditional commerce refers to the face-to-face process of buying and selling goods in physical store space, by exchanging goods for monetary gains.

What are the different business models available for e

Six common business models in ecommerce. ... .
B2C — business-to-consumer. ... .
B2B — business-to-business. ... .
C2B — consumer-to-business. ... .
C2C — consumer-to-consumer. ... .
C2G — consumer-to-government. ... .
B2G — business-to-government. ... .
Three additional ecommerce business models..