What Is C2C E-Commerce?
Consumer to Consumer (C2C) e-commerce is a modern version of the classified form of advertising. When individuals participate in online trading of products and services, such trading is clubbed in the C2C e-commerce category.
How it Works?
Typically the sellers list their products or services on an aggregator website like eBay, Craiglist, OLX, or Gumtree. The listing is usually free but at times the aggregator website may charge a small nominal fee for the listing. The buyer can then look up for required products or services on these websites and pick the seller of their choice by considering factors such as price offered, customer ratings for the seller etc
Examples of C2C
There are many aggregator websites which offer a range of products and services online. eBay, Craiglist, OLX, Gumtree to name a few are the best examples of this form of e-commerce. The listings can range from brand new products to used products. Services are also often listed on such platforms. The interested buyer can get in touch with the seller and take it forward from there.
Facebook’s Entry into C2C
Facebook’s e-commerce platform called Marketplace is making a headway in the Europe. Facebook announced that Marketplace will be launched in 17 countries including Ireland, Denmark, Austria, France, Sweden, Portugal, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland. After the initial launch in the US, UK, Australia & New Zealand they expanded into Mexico, Chile & Canada.
Currently Facebook is not charging buyers or the sellers for using its platform so it will not add to the company’s current revenue. However a no fee platform will make Marketplace an attractive platform for customers and could give a serious challenge to C2C giants such as eBay and the classifieds site Gumtree.
In Western Europe, eBay has emerged as the most popular C2C e-commerce site in terms of unique visitors. comScore reported that eBay attracted more number of desktop users in the Netherlands compared to any other platform. In UK & Germany, eBay came second to Amazon. In the third largest economy of Europe, eBay came fourth behind Amazon and two local competitors. In countries such as France, C2C platforms are gaining popularity as trends show that more digital buyers make C2C purchases and do it through such digital platforms.
Facebook is widely used in Europe and eMarketer’s forecast suggests that 85% of the social network users come from Western Europe. Facebook and social media platforms haven’t been successful in getting its users to do shopping on their platforms. But with Marketplace they have the right platform to unsettle C2C giants like eBay and Gumtree.
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References:
https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/15/facebook-adds-ebays-daily-deals-to-its-marketplace-on-mobile/
https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/15/16152264/facebook-marketplace-ebay-daily-deals
