Ever play house as a kid? You dont even have to be in a house to play it. You just say, The kitchens over there, and this is the laundry, and heres the garage, and so on. You make it all up in your mind, but none of its really there.

You can add stuff whenever you want, and you can decide its the end of the workday even if its really ten oclock in the morning.

Thats what eCommerce is like.

With eCommerce, a business doesnt have to be in a traditional business-type setting or building. If they want a store, they just:

make some webpages (which are really only computer files)

upload them to a server (which is really only a computer hooked up to the Internet)

make sure they have a way their customers can pay them (a payment provider)

And suddenly they have a store, even though theres no actual store anywhere that anyone can go into. And it can be open 24 hours a day.

But just as playing house isnt just about the kitchen, eCommerce isnt just about selling things online. With eCommerce, if a business wants a service department, they just:

create an email address

then make sure somebody somewhere (anywhere) is going to pick up the emails sent to that email address

Or they might put customer support information on their website things like Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), or installation instructions, or product registration forms.

Or they might make up tools their customers can use, such as a mortgage calculator, or a currency converter, or even an ovulation calculator.

Or they might provide access to a person they can contact for help through email, or chat, or a phone number (maybe), or even snail mail (regular postal mail).

They just make up what they need to do business online as they go along because its so easy to make it up.

And thats why eCommerce is like playing house.