Cambridge O Level Business Studies · Syllabus 7115 · Marketing
E-commerce
What is E-commerce?
The buying and selling of goods or services through electronic systems, especially the internet, including the ordering, payment and customer-service processes that surround the transaction. It gives businesses access to customers without physical premises and gives consumers continuous access and easy price comparison, while creating costs and risks in delivery, returns, cybersecurity and dependence on third-party platforms.
This definition is part of the Marketing chapter in Cambridge O Level Business Studies.
Common mistakes with E-commerce
- "E-commerce lowers costs, so it raises profit." Correction It replaces store costs with delivery, packing, returns, payment-handling and cybersecurity costs, and price transparency compresses margins. Sales volume and profitability are different questions. What it costs The whole balanced half of a 3.3.5 evaluation.
Last reviewed Syllabus 2026