I hear these two words mis-stated on a regular basis. It seems to me that people don’t quite understand the difference so I thought I would clarify it with a blog post. They are very similar, but e-commerce is a function of e-Business and thats where the clarification is needed.

E-business is defined as “A business that operates partially or primarily over the Internet, usually providing services to other businesses.” by wictionary.org. E-commerce is described as “commercial activity conducted over the internet”.

Any business cnducted via the web or over the web would then become e-Business. e-Commerce is a function or a feature of e-Business. All e-Business is not e-Commerce. For example. Jim Bob owns a plumbing store/company and has a static/brochure website built to maintain a web presence, add himself to local search, and make his services searchable and findable for online users. He sells nothing over the internet. His static/brochure website is conducting e-Business by acting as an advertising platform and virtual storefront for his business.

Jenny Sue owns a custom Teddy Bear Store on the internet. You go to her site, pick and order your bear, it is made, shipped and delivered to you. She has no brick and mortar storefront. Jenny is conducting e-Commerce over the internet through her commercial activity. He e-Commerce site is an e-Business as it performs and operates a business or business acitvities on the web.

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