A01 chaf6542 06 se fm indd

C2C

) and where they initiate trading with companies (

C2B

). These 

monikers are less widely used (e.g. Economist, 2000), but they do highlight significant differences 

between  Internet-  based commerce and earlier forms of commerce. Consumer-to-consumer 

interactions (also known as peer-to-peer or person-to-person, P2P) were relatively rare, but are 

now very common in the form of social networks. Hoffman and Novak (1996) suggested that 

C2C interactions are a key characteristic of the Internet that is important for companies to take 

into account, but it is only in recent years with the growth of always-on broadband connections 

and mobile access to the web that these have become so popular. P2P transactions are also the 

main basis for some online business models for digital businesses such as Betfair (see Mini case 

study 1.4) and eBay (

www.ebay.com

, see Case study 1.2) which are still run on a business basis, 

and some blogs which are not run by companies but by individuals.

Finally, the diagram also includes government and public services organisations which 

deliver online or e-government services. As well as the models shown in Figure 1.11, it has 

also been suggested that employees should be considered as a separate type of consumer 

through the use of intranets; this is referred to as employee-to-employee or E2E.

Web 3.0 concept

A description of the web 

around 2009 incorporating 

 high‑  speed  connectivity, 

complex   cross‑ 

 community  interactions, 

full range of digital media 

(text, voice, video) and 

an intelligent or semantic 

web where automated 

applications can access 

data from different 

online services to assist 

searchers to perform 

complex tasks of supplier 

selection.