Online commerce provides an additional method for buying or selling.
Traditional sales
In traditional sales, the buyer and/or the salesman is the active party. In one case, the buyer initiates the purchase by either going to the store to buy or calling on the phone and making an order. In another situation, the salesman goes to the home or place of business to make the sale, or he calls on the phone to make the sale.
A third method combines action from both parties. The business’ sales department mails a catalog or other material, and the customer then makes a purchase from the catalog. These methods all apply to business-to-person as well as business-to-business sales.
Online commerce
Online commerce adds a new method, similar to a mail order catalog. The business’ sales department posts a Web site with an online catalog. The buyer then selects items from the online catalog and makes the purchase, either online or by phoning or mail order.
Although the buyer is really using an online catalog, the metaphor of browsing a store with a shopping cart of most often used in eCommerce. This allows the customer to put items in the shopping cart to hold until checkout or when the purchase is finally made.
