e-commerce

American  

[ee-kom-ers] / ˈiˌkɒm ərs /

Or ecommerce

noun

1. business that is transacted by transferring data electronically, especially over the internet.

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e-commerce British  

/ ˈiːˌkɒmɜːs /

noun

1. business transactions conducted on the internet

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Etymology

Origin of e-commerce

First recorded in 1990–95; e- ² + commerce

Example Sentences

Max is a messaging and e-commerce platform run by tech giant VK that is expanding to offer everything from taxi-hailing services to electronic passport wallets, modeled on China’s WeChat.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

“When the show launched, we could see the search increase for Calvin Klein, e-commerce traffic, D2C, is positive,” Larsson said, referring to “direct-to-consumer.”

From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026

Ministers must reach an agreement in Yaounde on extending the moratorium on tariffs on e-commerce.

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

Amid a food-delivery battle with rivals like Alibaba Group and e-commerce platform JD.com, Meituan has been aggressively offering discounts to attract customers and maintain its market leadership.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

All of these interoperable banking and e-commerce functions flattened the Internet marketplace so radically that even eBay was taken by surprise.

From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman

Related Words

• browsing
• spending