E-commerce models and platforms
E-commerce is buying and selling online, but behind it sits a whole system: a store, payments, inventory, shipping and customer service, all of which must integrate with the ERP.
Nakhla scenarioNakhla will open an online store selling dates and coffee straight to consumers, plus a portal where shops order wholesale. Two models at once.
| Model | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| B2C | Business sells to consumers | Nakhla's consumer store |
| B2B | Business sells to business | The wholesale portal for shops |
| C2C | Consumers sell to consumers via a platform | Classifieds sites |
| B2G | Business sells to government | Online government tenders |
| D2C | Makers sell directly, no middleman | A date farm with its own store |
Your own store or a marketplace? A marketplace such as Amazon or Noon brings ready traffic but takes a commission and puts you beside competitors. Your own store gives full control and customer data, but you must attract visitors yourself. Many companies do both.
| Hosted platforms (SaaS) | Start fast on a monthly plan: Shopify globally, and Salla and Zid in Saudi Arabia, with ready local payment and shipping integrations. |
| Open source | Such as WooCommerce and Magento (Adobe Commerce): more flexible, but you need hosting and a technical team. |
| Inside the ERP | Such as Odoo's eCommerce app: stock and orders live in the same system. |
Watch outThe key analysis question: how does the platform integrate with the ERP? If every online order is re-typed into the ERP, we're back to the “islands” problem from the first ERP lesson.