Nowadays, e-commerce become to mainstream in business. More and more consumers choose online-business. The customer to customer e-commerce pattern is rapid in its communication; the range of goods is rich, low cost and many other benefits. This essay focuses on the study of C2C e-commerce particular. Firstly, e-commerce and C2C system is defined; the participants of economic activity are noted and the features of e-commerce explored. Secondly due to success of e-Bay and Taobao, C2C's current situations described. Thirdly, advantages with C2C e-commerce are short of business to customer. Finally according to the main trend of C2C e-commerce on analyses is presented of what the future with the consumer behaviour gives to C2C model's development.
With the popularization of information technology, C2C as the main model of e-commerce includes many users now. The report from Yahoo shows that (Yahoo Japan and China's Taobao Announce Cross-border E-commerce Tie-up. 2009) there are more than 190 million users registered and generated gross product volume of more than 29 billion US dollar in 2009 on Taobao. Another report form e-Bay (E-Bay: The World's Online Marketplace. 2010) there is multi-billion dollar business with operations and localized in over thirty countries. Millions of collectibles, decor, appliances, laptop, furnishings, vehicles, and other miscellaneous items are listed bought or sold daily on eBay. These two reports could easily to conclude that the number of users is enormous and annual turnover tremendous also.
E-commerce born form electronic commerce which includes two aspects, one of them is electronic, another is commerce. But so far, there are no authoritative strict and unified definitions of e-commerce. Different understanding gives different concept of e-commerce. For example Miller (2009) has quoted that e-commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet, especially the World Wide Web. Another scholar Zhaohao (Zhaohao et al, 2004) defines e-commerce as in the process of commercial information sharing and conducting business transactions among the communication network.
The economic activity participants can be divided into G (government), B (business), and C (customer) three roles. C2C is one mode and means customers interact with other customers through online business. In this definition, online business is condition. Customer has the role of participation.
Based on the information technology, support of e-commerce in the traditional business is developed on the traditional business, and shipped as compared; e-commerce has the following four main features. The first feature is that e-commerce crosses space and time; time and space constraints are the major obstacles relevant in economics. E-commerce can supply all-day interactive business operations and services. And e-commerce provides service 24 hours a day from almost any location.
The low cost also makes e-commerce attractive customer. E-commerce stretches beyond the traditional marketing areas without the middlemen and optimizes the value chain. It reduces transaction costs; customers could obtain high quality low price products or services. E-commerce developed rapidly is comprehensive functions; Internet-based E-Commerce has fully supported the different types of users, to achieve business objectives at different levels. It could provide beyond the traditional business functions, for businesses, consumers and third-party online service.
Finally, e-commerce provides personalized service. E-commerce with the support of modern high technology can be fully realised by customer as the center, meet the individual needs of customers. This individual is reflected in: personalized information, personalized products and personalized service.
There are the two advantage of C2C e-commerce. Firstly, it provides pluralistic goods. There are a large number of diversified products to choose from C2C e-commerce, including food, daily necessities, clothing, electronic products and services. The second benefit to consumers is that the price is reasonable. C2C e-commerce commodity's prices generally cheaper than traditional stores, because it has no rent. And the same types of goods prices in different stores can easily be compared.
However, there are also have following shortcomings. The greatest problem in C2C e-commerce development is not solving the basic problems of credit. Credit problems with the development of the Internet and e-commerce will become increasingly prominent. The current credit system has a congenital defect; credit records can be artificially increased in a short time.
Another feature of C2C e-commerce is lack of quality control. Although many commodity prices look very attractive, they are often low quality goods. C2C mode has not yet found an effective way to control the quality of the goods, leading to a growing number of consumers losing confidence in C2C mode instead of choosing other modes of E-Commerce such as B2C.
By contrast, B2C E-Commerce brings more benefits than C2C E-Commerce. It can make up the defects of C2C E-Commerce if the government advances the development of B2C E-Commerce. At first the seller should have a business license and good effect so that customers can better believe the credit of the seller. B2C e-commerce model can well solve the key issue of lacking credibility. People must think of Amazon if they want to buy books on the internet because Amazon has a good will.
Then it saves cost and human resources. As we all know, B2C purchases the supplier from different countries of manufacturer on the chain by mails, it can delivers detailed information in seconds rather in days or weeks. And consumers can find what they want easily by the unique search function of B2C. B2C sells its own products and services to consumers over the internet so that it saves the cost and time for transportation. At the same time many kinds of alternatives of the manufacturer or goods can reduce the purchase costs of enterprises and quality of maintaining products.
Another important thing is the goods should follow the trail of the service: The network purchases the chain by mails to not only offers the manufacturer or goods information, but also offers convenient and fast logistics service even more, company can direct serve at network inquiring treatment of goods and transporting stating through logistics, the situation of the goods happen to grasp the goods at any time.
The reliability of the product and return goods is important issue of C2C E-commerce. It often happens that consumers do not have strong senses for shopping online. Thus consumers are worried about return goods issue for the C2C model, analyze the causes, C2C is not as good as the B2C model. In the B2C e-commerce it have its own logistics system and service system for support, it can realize the goods' feedback easily. However if seller in C2C model could not find a satisfying way to return goods, this kind of problem cannot be solved. Secondly, Consumers do not recognize online purchases of higher-value products. This is also a major impact in the development of C2C mode. It will limit customers' purchase and affect the C2C model richness of goods; it also affects the seller's profits. In addition, low visual of online shopping making consumers the low level of confidence to choose high value goods. These two factors will be restricted in the period of development of C2C mode.
The most original mind of customer is individual each other between buyers and sellers put them personal idle items on the Internet to sell or exchange, in exchange for some money or items they need, so not only to prevent an idle waste of goods, but also have some other income. However C2C e-commerce as the most basic stage of development is gradually deviated from the original intention now, more individual sellers who employ oneself in C2C is a way of business or employment, thus C2C E-Commerce has become a way of solving the employment.
There are three stages in development of C2C e-commerce. First, individual sellers are engaged in e-commerce at the beginning of time is holding the attitude to make some money. They would do the first stage in C2C. In fact, the shops doing job will for people who engage in e-commerce is not a difficult thing, at this stage seller needs more are familiar with the relevant rules with C2C and the internet, familiar with these rules, and find not bad goods of the supply. Second, Not only have the "not bad" with the foundation stage, and high-quality source and supply can be an important condition with second stage. At the same time seller have to do some basic personnel management. This stage is not simply C2C e-commerce, B2C e-commerce among a mixture of ingredients inside. Finally make stronger, customer is no longer a customer, but by the turn into the business development. This stage has more progress, e-commerce rules and sources will no longer be the main factor of competition. The seller is required have a wider field of view of internet, and enough connections with each supplier to support the development of his own.
All in all, e-commerce can use its own advantages crosses space and time, the low cost is important factor to attract customers, and e-commerce also has comprehensive functions and personalized service. That is the reason more and more people choose e-commerce. Although c2c based on e-commerce which has convenience for customer, but its deficiencies cannot be ignore. By contrast, B2C model bring more advantage than C2C, It has solved the key issue of lacking credibility, saves cost and human resources and offers convenient and fast logistics service. In addition, form customer change the most original mind in e-commerce can be seen that, C2C model has beginning to transform B2C already. Along with three stages in development of C2C e-commerce, B2C proportion will gradually increase, and finally the proportion of C2C and B2C will exchange, it is the inevitable development of electronic commerce. So develop customer into business is inevitable result of development with C2C e-commerce model.
