eCommerce vs eBusiness
eBusiness and eCommerce are terms that are often used interchangeably by most people. But as a matter of fact, they refer to different phenomena, or at least one can be viewed as a particular form of the other. eCommerce is considered to be a subset of eBusiness.
Simply put, eCommerce is part of eBusiness that focuses on buying and selling products or services online. Compared with eCommerce, eBusiness is a broader concept as it refers to the digital enabling of both transactions and business processes within a firm.
eCommerce is considered to be a subset of eBusiness
The primary goal of an eCommerce platform is to make commercial transactions involving an exchange of value, while the primary purpose of an eBusiness system is to exchange information. Furthermore, eCommerce primarily involves outward client-facing processes and transactions that cross firm boundaries, while eBusiness mainly implements the application of digital technologies to internal business processes within the firm and collaborating with business partners, distributors and suppliers.
Besides eCommerce, eBusiness involves several other information systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Business Intelligence (BI).