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26 Part 1 Introduction

Value network Business or consumer models of e-commerce transactions
The links between an
organization and its
strategic and non- It is now commonplace to describe e-commerce transactions between an organization and
strategic partners that its stakeholders according to whether they are primarily with consumers (business-to-
form its external value
chain. consumer – B2C) or other businesses (business-to-business – B2B).
Figure 1.8 gives examples of different companies operating in the business-to-consumer
Business-to-
consumer (B2C) (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) spheres. Often companies such as BP or Dell Com-
puter will have products that appeal to both consumers and businesses, so will have different
Commercial transactions
between an organization parts of their site to appeal to these audiences.
and consumers.
Referring to the well-known online companies in Table 1.1 initially suggests these companies
Business-to- are mainly focused on B2C markets. However, B2B communications are still important for
business (B2B) many of these companies since business transactions can drive revenue, as for example eBay
Commercial transactions
between an organization Business (http://business.ebay.com/) or the B2C service may need to be sustained through
and other organizations advertising provided through B2B transactions, for example Google’s revenue is largely based
(interorganizational on its B2B AdWords (http://adwords.google.com/) advertising service and advertising based
marketing).
revenue is also important to sites such as YouTube, MySpace and Facebook.
Consumer-to- Figure 1.8 also presents two additional types of transaction, those where consumers trans-
consumer (C2C)
act directly with other consumers (C2C) and where they initiate trading with companies
Informational or financial
transactions between (C2B). Note that the C2C and C2B monikers are less widely used (e.g. Economist, 2000), but
consumers, but usually they do highlight significant differences between Internet-based commerce and earlier forms
mediated through a
business site. of commerce. Consumer-to-consumer interactions (also known as peer-to-peer or person-

From: Supplier of content/service
Consumer or citizen Business (organization) Government
citizen Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) Business-to-Consumer (B2C) Government-to-Consumer (G2C)
• eBay
• Transactional: Amazon
• National government
transactional: Tax – inland
or • Peer-to-Peer (Skype) • Relationship-building: BP re venue
• Brand-building: Unilever
• Blogs and communities
Consumer • Product recommendations • Media owner – News Corp • National government information
• Social networks: MySpace,
• Comparison intermediary: Kelkoo, • Local government services
Bebo
Pricerunner
content/service (organization) Consumer-to-Business (C2B) Business-to-Business (B2B) Government-to-Business (G2B)
• Transactional: Euroffice
• Government services and
• Priceline
transactions: tax
• Relationship-building: BP
• Consumer-feedback,
publications
of communities or campaigns • Media Owned: Emap business • Legal regulations
• B2B marketplaces: EC21
Consumer Business
To: • Feedback to government Business-to-Government (B2G) Government-to-Government (G2G)
Consumer-to-Government (C2G)
Government through pressure group or go vernmental organizations • Exchange of information
• Inter-government services
• Feedback to government
businesses and non-
individual sites

Summary and examples of transaction alternatives between businesses, consumers and
Figure 1.8
governmental organizations