E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet, especially the World Wide Web. In practice, this term and a newer term, e-business, are often used interchangeably. For online retail selling, the term e-tailing is sometimes used.

Ecommerce simply means electronic business

Break ecommerce down into e and business, and the definition is clear. E simply means anything done electronically, usually via the Internet. Business means business...that you already understand.

• The ecommerce process explained
  
  Ecommerce is the means of selling goods on the Internet, using web pages. This involves much the same processes as selling goods elsewhere, but in a digital format.
  
  Presentation, placement, display, stocking, selling and payment are all familiar concepts, ecommerce demands that all this be done on screen, and as an automated process.
• Creating a catalogue
  
  To sell goods, you must display them. Ecommerce approaches this in much the same way as a catalogue. Goods are presented as images with text descriptions, prices and product options.

The main difference is in the way that goods are stored and placed. Any ecommerce definition would have to include an understanding of databases. Instead of "printing" each product web page uniquely, only one page is made, and filled in by a database