Flipkart, Alibaba and Amazon are examples of:

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — C or D (both accepted). Flipkart and Amazon's retail platforms sell directly to individual shoppers, which is the textbook B2C (Business-to-Consumer) model. Alibaba's flagship platform, Alibaba.com, is instead the classic example of a B2B (Business-to-Business) marketplace, connecting manufacturers and wholesalers with business buyers — and Amazon itself also runs a dedicated B2B arm, Amazon Business. Because the three named companies collectively span both the B2C and B2B models rather than fitting neatly into one, the commission granted grace and accepted both (c) B2C and (d) B2B.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Consumer-to-Business — where an individual consumer offers a product/service or sets a price for a business to accept (e.g. freelancing platforms, reverse auctions). None of Flipkart, Alibaba or Amazon operate primarily on this model.  (b) Consumer-to-Consumer — individuals trading directly with other individuals (e.g. OLX, Quikr, eBay-style auctions). Flipkart, Alibaba and Amazon are business-run platforms, not peer-to-peer marketplaces.

Concept: E-commerce is classified by WHO is on each side of the transaction: B2B (business sells to another business), B2C (business sells to an individual consumer), C2B (a consumer offers value that a business accepts), and C2C (one consumer sells to another consumer, usually via a platform). The same company can operate more than one model at once.

State PCS 2023 Q46 — Science & Technology PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2023 Q46 — Science & Technology PYQ with Answer