What is e-commerce?Advantages of e-commerceHow do I start e-commerce from scratch?E-commerce is the process of buying and selling goods and services, or transferring money or data, over the Internet. Continue reading the following lines to learn more about e-commerce and how to start your own business from scratch.What is e-commerce?

What is e-commerce?E-commerce is the process of buying and selling goods and services, or transferring money or data, over the Internet. These business transactions occur either from company to company, from company to consumer, or from consumer to consumer.                                                                                                                   

In the past decade, the widespread use of e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and eBay has contributed to a significant growth in online retail. In 2007, e-commerce accounted for 5.1% of total retail sales. In 2019, e-commerce accounted for 16.0%.E-commerce is operated via the Internet, where customers can access a store by browsing websites, and place orders for products or services through their own devices.                                           

When placing an order, the customer's web browser will communicate back and forth with the server hosting the online store website. Data related to the order will then be transmitted to a central computer known as an order manager, and then forwarded to databases that manage stock levels to ensure that the store's inventory and customer funds are sufficient to process the order. After validating the order, the order manager will notify the store's web server, which will then display a message to notify the customer that their order has been successfully processed. The order manager will then send the order data to the warehouse or fulfillment department, until the product or service is successfully dispatched to the customer.                                                             

At this point, the tangible and/or digital products may be shipped to the customer, or they may be given access to the service.Platforms that host e-commerce transactions may include online marketplaces that sellers simply subscribe to, such as Amazon.com.                                                                                                                                       

Advantages of e-commerceAmong the advantages of e-commerce are the following:Bypass geo-restrictions: If you have a physical store, you are restricted to the geographical area you can serve. With an e-commerce site, the whole world is your playground. The advent of e-commerce has removed all remaining limitations of geography. Gain new customers through search engine visibility: Online retail is driven by traffic from search engines. It is not unusual for customers to follow a link in search engine results and land on a site