An e-Marketplace is a virtual online market in which business buyers and business sellers can buy and sell goods and services. e-Marketplaces have three main functions: they allow buyers to easily find and sellers to easily promote products; they facilitate e-Commerce such as online ordering and payment and they create a framework for the legal conduct of transactions.  Typical elements of an e-Marketplace include the seller’s portal, catalogues of the products, a search engine, a shopping cart and a payment gateway. There is a variety of types of e-Marketplace, with some offering online auctions, some private marketplaces set up for a single organisation and some independent marketplaces run by third parties for multiple sellers and buyers in a particular industry.   See also e-Commerce.