EDI: An -company, application-to-application communication of data in standard format for business transactions, Electronic Data Interchange is a set of standards for structuring information that is to be electronically exchanged between and within businesses, organizations, government entities and other groups. The standards describe structures that emulate documents, for example purchase orders to automate purchasing. standards In this era of technologies such as XML web services, the Internet and the World Wide Web, EDI is still the data format used by the vast majority of electronic commerce transactions in the world.XMLweb servicesInternet World Wide Web electronic commerce B2B: Business-to-business is a term commonly used to describe electronic commerce transactions between businesses, as opposed to those between businesses and other groups, such as business and individual consumers (B2C) or business and government (B2G).B2CB2G Similar to B2B, B2G is often meant to refer to B2G MarketingB2G Marketing The volume of B2B transactions is much higher than the volume of B2C transactions. One reason for this is that businesses have adopted electronic commerce technologies in greater numbers than consumers.An example of a B2B transaction is a chicken feed company selling its product to a chicken farm, which is another company. "Business-to-business" can also refer to all transactions made in an industry value chain before the finished product is sold to the end consumer.

B2C: Business-to-consumer (B2C, sometimes also called Business-to-Customer) describes activities of E-businesses serving end consumers with products and/or services. It is often associated with electronic commerce but also encompasses financial institutions and other types of businesses. B2C relationships are often established and cultivated through some form of Internet marketing.electronic commercefinancial institutionsInternet marketing An example of a B2C transaction is a grocery store selling grain-fed chickens to a consumer. Classifications of B2C e-commerce Online intermediaries, advertising-based models, community-based shrimp models and fee-based models

Eprocurement: The term Public eProcurement (electronic procurement in public sector) refers to the use of electronic means in conducting a public procurement procedure for the purchase of goods, works or services.electronic procurement Phases: eSourcing, eNoticing, eAccess, eSubmission, eTendering, eAwarding, eContract, eOrders, eInvoicingePayment. Online auction: The online auction business model is one in which participants bid for products and services over the Internet. The functionality of buying and selling in an auction format is made possible through auction software which regulates the various processes involved.productsservicesInternetauctionauction software eBay, the world's largest online auction site, is one of the better known examples. Strength of the business model: no time constraints, no geographical constraints, intensity of social interactions, large number of bidders, large number of sellers, network economies, captures consumers' surplus.

Online catalogue Information about products made available in electronic form via the Internet. Often incorporate voice and video. C2C  Consumer-to-consumer Consumers sell directly to each other. C2C involves the electronically-facilitated transactions between consumers through some third party. A common example is the Online auction, in which a consumer posts an item for sale and Other consumers bid to purchase it; the third party generally charges a flat fee or commission. The sites are only intermediaries, just there to match consumers. They do not have to check quality of the products being offered.

C2B  Consumer-to-business Individuals sell services or goods to businesses (C2B) is an electronic commerce business model in whichelectronic commercebusiness model consumers offer products and services to companies and the companies pay them. This business model is a complete reversal of traditional business model where companies offer goods and services to consumers. Ecommerce E-commerce consists of the buying and selling of products, services or information over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks productsservicescomputer networks

ebusiness  Electronic Business Business process that relies on an automated information system. Electronic business methods enable companies to link their internal and external data processing systems more efficiently and flexibly, to work more closely with suppliers and partners, and to better satisfy the needs and expectations of their customers. In practice, e-business is more than just e-commerce. While e-business refers to more strategic focus with an emphasis on the functions that occur using electronic capabilities, e-commerce is a subset of an overall e-business strategy. E-business can be conducted using the Web, the Internet, intranets, extranets, or some combination of these.

ebXML It means Electronic Business using eXtensible Markup Language. It is commonly known as e-business XML, or ebXML. It is a B2B (business-to-business) standard. Its mission is to provide an open, XML-based infrastructure that enables the global use of electronic business information in an interoperable, secure, and consistent manner by all trading partners.

Benefits of E-commerce Lower cost information Lower entry costs Decreases the cost of paper-based information Reduces the cost of communication Increased flexibility of location Available virtually anywhere in the world Availability expands markets for both buyers and sellers Provides richer communication than traditional means Fast delivery of digitized products

Limitations of E-commerce Lack of system security, reliability and standards Lack of privacy Insufficient bandwidth Integrating e-commerce software with existing software is not very well developed Lack of trust in system security The fact that electronic money is only bits and bytes is also consider a limitation

E-commerce safety Generally, that credit card information is safe Card information is encrypted and unreadable to anyone except you and the merchant The customer's biggest risk is having his or her credit card number stolen as it travels from the customer's computer to the merchant's web site. Don't believe this !! You are much more likely to have your card number stolen when you hand over your card to a waiter in a restaurant to pay for a meal. Almost all e-commerce credit-card transactions are now done via a secure connection, and very few card numbers are stolen during this phase of the transaction.