Buying stuff online isn't just about clicking a "Buy Now" button on Amazon anymore. Honestly, the term has become so broad that it basically covers any financial transaction where the data moves across the internet. You’ve probably engaged in three different types of electronic commerce before you even finished your morning coffee today. Maybe you paid a recurring subscription for a news site, grabbed a digital gift card, or bid on a vintage lamp on eBay. It's everywhere.
But here is the thing. Most people think ecommerce is just a website with a shopping cart. That's a tiny slice of the pie. To really understand the landscape in 2026, you have to look at the plumbing—the Business-to-Business (B2B) stuff—and the weird, niche Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) markets that are exploding right now.
The Big Four: Traditional Examples of E Commerce
We usually categorize these by who is selling to whom. It sounds academic, but it’s actually the easiest way to see how money moves.
Business to Consumer (B2C) is the one we all know. Think of Nike. When you go to Nike’s website and buy a pair of Jordans, that’s a direct B2C transaction. There is no middleman like Foot Locker involved. This "Direct-to-Consumer" or DTC model has completely changed how brands operate. They get your data, you get the shoes, and everyone is happy. Other massive examples include Walmart's online portal or Warby Parker, which famously upended the eyewear industry by cutting out the physical storefront overhead.
Then you have Business to Business (B2B). This is the invisible giant. It’s actually much larger in terms of dollar value than B2C. A classic example is Alibaba. Not the consumer-facing AliExpress, but the core Alibaba platform where a boutique owner in Brooklyn buys 5,000 blank tote bags from a manufacturer in Ningbo. Or consider Slack. When a corporation pays for a 500-seat enterprise license, that is a B2B ecommerce transaction. No physical box arrives, but the exchange of value for a digital service is the backbone of the modern economy.
Peer-to-Peer and the Resale Boom
Consumer to Consumer (C2C) is where things get interesting and a bit more personal. You probably have an app on your phone right now that facilitates this. Poshmark and Depop have turned millions of people into mini-retailers. It’s not a company selling to you; it's Sarah from Chicago selling her lightly used leather jacket to you. eBay was the pioneer here, obviously, but the modern versions are way more social. Even Facebook Marketplace counts, though it often acts as a discovery layer for offline transactions.
👉 See also: Threes Above High Photos: Why Your Candle Charts Look Weird and What to Do
Consumer to Business (C2B) is the "reverse" model. It’s a bit of a head-scratcher at first. Think about a photographer who uploads their work to Shutterstock. A massive corporation like Google or Coca-Cola might buy the rights to use that photo. The individual (consumer) is selling to the business. Influencers work this way too. When a creator sells a sponsored post "slot" to a brand, they are engaging in a C2B transaction.
Breaking Down the Service-Based Models
Ecommerce isn't just physical goods. If it were, the industry would be half its current size. Some of the most robust examples of e commerce are entirely intangible.
SaaS (Software as a Service) is a massive category. Adobe Creative Cloud is a perfect example. You don’t "buy" Photoshop once and keep the disc in a drawer. You pay a monthly rent to access it. This subscription model provides companies with "predictable recurring revenue," which Wall Street absolutely loves. It also keeps the user hooked.
Then there are Online Marketplaces. These are the digital malls. Etsy is the gold standard for this. They don't make the handmade ceramics or the custom jewelry themselves. They provide the infrastructure—the payment processing, the search engine, and the trust—for millions of small sellers. Without the marketplace, those sellers would be shouting into a void.
Why Some Models Fail While Others Explode
Ever heard of Quibi? Probably not, or if you did, it’s a punchline. They tried to sell short-form video content in a B2C subscription model. It flopped spectacularly because they fundamentally misunderstood how people wanted to consume that specific type of media.
Compare that to Chewy. They sell dog food. It's heavy, it's boring, and you can get it at any grocery store. But they nailed the "Customer Experience" (CX) side of ecommerce. They use a subscription model (Autoship) that makes it so you never have to think about buying kibble again. They even send handwritten cards when a pet passes away. That level of empathy, baked into a digital transaction, is why they dominate.
The most successful examples of e commerce share a few traits:
- They solve a "friction" point (like lugging 40lbs of dog food).
- They offer price transparency.
- They leverage data to predict what you want before you know it.
The Tech Under the Hood
You can’t talk about these examples without mentioning the platforms that build them. Shopify is basically the "OS" of the internet's independent stores. Before Shopify, if you wanted to start an online shop, you needed a developer and a lot of patience. Now, a teenager can set up a store in an afternoon.
On the high end, you have Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento) and Salesforce Commerce Cloud. These are the heavy hitters. They handle millions of transactions a minute and allow for "headless commerce." That’s a fancy way of saying the front of the website is totally detached from the back-end database, allowing for insane levels of customization.
Surprising Niche Examples You Might Miss
Let's look at Government to Citizen (G2C). Yes, even the DMV is part of the ecommerce ecosystem. When you renew your car registration online and pay that fee via a portal, that’s ecommerce. It’s a transaction of value over a digital network.
And then there’s Dropshipping. This one gets a lot of hate on YouTube "get rich quick" channels, but it's a legitimate model used by big players too. In a dropshipping setup, the store doesn't keep the products in stock. Instead, when you buy something, the store purchases the item from a third party and has it shipped directly to you. Wayfair does a version of this with many of their furniture suppliers. It allows them to offer a massive "endless aisle" of products without owning a single warehouse for certain items.
How to Apply These Lessons
If you’re looking at these examples of e commerce to start your own thing, don't just copy Amazon. You will lose. Amazon has the logistics "moat" that no one can cross. Instead, look at the "Vertical" players.
StockX is a great example of a vertical marketplace. They only do high-end sneakers, electronics, and collectibles. Because they are focused, they can offer "authentication services"—someone actually looks at the shoes to make sure they aren't fakes. Amazon can't (or won't) do that for every pair of Nikes sold on their platform. Finding a niche where you can provide more value than a generalist is the secret sauce.
Actionable Next Steps
If you are evaluating which ecommerce model fits your business or project, start with these specific moves:
- Identify your "Who to Who": Are you selling to individuals (B2C) or other businesses (B2B)? B2B requires longer sales cycles and better invoicing tools, while B2C requires heavy social media marketing and high-quality visuals.
- Audit your friction: Look at your favorite online store. What's the one thing that annoys you? Is it the shipping cost? The checkout length? If you can solve that one annoyance for your customers, you’ve got a competitive advantage.
- Choose your stack wisely: Don't overbuy tech. If you’re just starting, a simple Squarespace or Shopify store is enough. Don't go for a custom-coded solution until you've proven people actually want to buy what you’re selling.
- Test the "Subscription" angle: Even if you sell a one-time product, is there a service or a consumable part of it that can be sold on a recurring basis? Predictable revenue is the holy grail of ecommerce.
- Focus on "Zero-Party Data": In 2026, privacy is king. Instead of relying on tracking cookies, ask your customers directly about their preferences through quizzes or polls. This builds trust and gives you better data than any algorithm ever could.
The landscape is shifting toward "Social Commerce" (buying directly inside TikTok or Instagram) and "Voice Commerce." The examples of e commerce we see today will look very different in five years, but the core principle remains the same: move value, build trust, and stay out of the customer's way.