The term E-commerce refers to the distribution and marketing of goods online. This encompasses a wide range of online business activities, including buying and selling products or services, facilitating transactions, and managing the logistics involved in these processes over the internet. E-commerce can include various business models, such as Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Business-to-Business (B2B), Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C), and Consumer-to-Business (C2B), each leveraging the digital platform to facilitate commerce.
This term captures the essence of modern retail and commerce by highlighting the internet's role in transforming traditional shopping and business interactions into electronic formats. While aspects like shopping malls, payment systems, and website design services are relevant to E-commerce, they do not encapsulate the full meaning of the term. They might be components or support systems within the broader E-commerce landscape but do not define it as directly as the distribution and marketing of goods online does.