What Is E-commerce? Definition, Types and Benefits with Examples
Matjarji · · 4 min read
In short
E-commerce is selling and buying products or services over the internet: showing products, taking orders, getting paid and delivering. Its main types are business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B) and consumer-to-consumer (C2C). Its biggest benefits are lower costs and reaching far more customers than a physical shop.
Create your store on Matjarji →What does e-commerce mean?
E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the process of buying and selling products or services online. It starts with a product shown on a website, an online store or a social page; the customer orders it, pays online or on delivery, and receives it. Today anyone can sell online without a shop and without coding.
Types of e-commerce
- Business to consumer (B2C): a store selling to individuals, like a clothing store or a supermarket. The most common type.
- Business to business (B2B): a supplier selling wholesale to a retailer, a restaurant or a factory.
- Consumer to consumer (C2C): individuals selling to each other, such as second-hand items.
- Direct to consumer (D2C): a brand selling its own products with no middleman.
Ways to sell online
- Your own online store: a site with your name and address, fully under your control.
- Marketplaces: platforms listing your products among many sellers, usually for a commission.
- Social media: selling through Facebook, Instagram and TikTok messages and comments.
- WhatsApp: showing products and confirming orders by chat — very common across the Arab world.
Online store vs. selling on social media
Social media is great for reaching people, but it does not organise orders, does not present your products in a clear catalogue and does not show up in search results. An online store brings products, categories, prices and orders together under one permanent link, and gives you statistics on visitors and orders. Most successful sellers use both.
Benefits of e-commerce
- Lower start-up cost than opening a shop.
- Your store is open around the clock.
- Customers beyond your city — even your country.
- Data on what customers look at and buy.
- Easy to test new products and change prices.
Challenges of e-commerce
- Earning the trust of customers in a new store.
- Delivery: its cost and speed.
- Strong competition in some categories.
- Answering customers quickly and consistently.
- Managing stock so you never sell what you don't have.
How to create your store on Matjarji
The easiest way to start selling online today is your own store with a link in your name. Matjarji is an online store builder made for Arab merchants wherever they are: you create your store in about five minutes, with no technical skills and no commission on your sales.
- Go to the store creation page.
- Choose your business type (clothing, supermarket, perfumes, cars, real estate and more) and a plan.
- Write your store's name and pick its own address, like your-name.matjarji.com.
- Add your WhatsApp number, how customers pay (cash on delivery, Sham Cash) and your delivery fee.
- Press create: your store is online with sample products you edit with your own photos and prices.
What you get:
- Organised orders in a dashboard or sent to your WhatsApp, with guest checkout if you want it.
- Cash on delivery and Sham Cash, with your delivery fee shown before the customer orders.
- Discount coupons, notifications for your customers and statistics on visitors and orders.
- Product and category pages built for search engines, so new customers find you on Google.
- A fixed subscription with no commission on your sales, paid by Sham Cash or Western Union.
Plans: «Intilaqa» is the low-cost plan to begin with; «Tawassu'» and «Riyada» are for more orders and come with a free trial, so you can try your store before paying. Current prices and offers are in the pricing section.
How do you start?
Pick a product you know, work out your profit margin and build a simple store. Read the beginner's guide to starting e-commerce for the detailed steps, or create your store now in five minutes.