argumentative essay about e commerce

Essay on E-Commerce: Scope, Importance, Advantages and Limitations

Essay on E-Commerce: Scope, Importance, Advantages and Limitations! Read this essay to learn about essay on e commerce, e-commerce essay topics, essay on ecommerce in india, e-commerce essays advantages and disadvantages, essay on e commerce and online shopping, e-commerce essay conclusion!

Essay on e-commerce:.

Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, is the buying and selling of product or service over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. Electronic commerce draws on such technologies as electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems.

Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at one point in the transaction’s life-cycle, although it may encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail, mobile devices and telephones as well.

Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the exchanging of data to facilitate the financing and payment aspects of business transactions.

Even today, some considerable time after the so called ‘dot com/Internet revolution’, electronic commerce (e-commerce) remains a relatively new, emerging and constantly changing area of business management and information technology.

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There has been and continues to be much publicity and discussion about e-commerce. Library catalogues and shelves are filled with books and articles on the subject.

However, there remains a sense of confusion, suspicion and misunderstanding surrounding the area, which has been exacerbated by the different contexts in which electronic commerce is used, coupled with the myriad related buzzwords and acronyms.

In the emerging global economy, e-commerce and e-business have increasingly become a necessary component of business strategy and a strong catalyst for economic development. The integration of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in business has revolutionized relationships within organizations and those between and among organizations and individuals.

Specifically, the use of ICT in business has enhanced productivity, encouraged greater customer participation, and enabled mass customization, besides reducing costs. With developments in the Internet and Web-based technologies, distinctions between traditional markets and the global electronic marketplace-such as business capital size, among others-are gradually being narrowed down.

The name of the game is strategic positioning, the ability of a company to determine emerging opportunities and utilize the necessary human capital skills to make the most of these opportunities through an e-business strategy that is simple, workable and practicable within the context of a global information milieu and new economic environment.

With its effect of leveling the playing field, e-commerce coupled with the appropriate strategy and policy approach enables small and medium scale enterprises to compete with large and capital-rich businesses.

On another plane, developing countries are given increased access to the global marketplace, where they compete with and complement the more developed economies.

Most, if not all, developing countries are already participating in e-commerce, either as sellers or buyers. However, to facilitate e-commerce growth in these countries, the relatively underdeveloped information infrastructure must be improved.

Among the areas for policy interventions are:

(i) High Internet access costs, including connection service fees, communication fees, and hosting charges for websites with sufficient bandwidth;

(ii) Limited availability of credit cards and a nationwide credit card system;

(iii) Underdeveloped transportation infrastructure resulting in slow and uncertain delivery of goods and services;

(iv) Network security problems and insufficient security safeguards;

(v) Lack of skilled human resources and key technologies;

(vi) Content restriction on national security and other public policy grounds, which greatly affect business in the field of information services, such as the media and entertainment sectors;

(vi) Cross-border issues, such as the recognition of transactions under laws of other ASEAN member-countries, certification services, improvement of delivery methods and customs facilitation; and

(vii) The relatively low cost of labor, which implies that a shift to a comparatively capital intensive solution including investments on the improvement of the physical and network infrastructure is not apparent.

It is recognized that in the Information age, Internet commerce is a powerful tool in the economic growth of developing countries. While there are indications of e-commerce patronage among large firms in developing countries, there seems to be little and negligible use of the Internet for commerce among small and medium sized firms.

E-commerce promises better business for SME’s and sustainable economic development for developing countries. However, this is premised on strong political will and good governance, as well as on a responsible and supportive private sector within an effective policy framework. This primer seeks to provide policy guidelines toward this end.

Essay on the History of E-Commerce:

History of ecommerce dates back to the invention of the very old notion of “sell and buy”, electricity, cables, computers, modems, and the Internet. Ecommerce became possible in 1991 when the Internet was opened to commercial use. Since that date thousands of businesses have taken up residence at web sites.

At first, the term ecommerce meant the process of execution of commercial transactions electronically with the help of the leading technologies such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) which gave an opportunity for users to exchange business information and do electronic transactions.

The ability to use these technologies appeared in the late 1970s and allowed business companies and organizations to send commercial documentation electronically. Although the Internet began to advance in popularity among the general public in 1994, it took approximately four years to develop the security protocols and DSL which allowed rapid access and a persistent connection to the Internet.

In 2000 a great number of business companies in the United States and Western Europe represented their services in the World Wide Web.

At this time the meaning of the word ecommerce was changed. People began to define the term ecommerce as the process of purchasing of available goods and services over the Internet using secure connections and electronic payment services.

Although the dot-com collapse in 2000 led to unfortunate results and many of ecommerce companies disappeared, the “brick and mortar” retailers recognized the advantages of electronic commerce and began to add such capabilities to their web sites (e.g., after the online grocery store Webvan came to ruin, two supermarket chains, Albertsons and Safeway, began to use ecommerce to enable their customers to buy groceries online).

By the end of 2001, the largest form of ecommerce, Business-to- Business (B2B) model, had around $700 billion in transactions.

According to all available data, ecommerce sales continued to grow in the next few years and, by the end of 2007, ecommerce sales accounted for 3.4 percent of total sales. Ecommerce has a great deal of advantages over “brick and mortar” stores and mail order catalogs. Consumers can easily search through a large database of products and services.

They can see actual prices, build an order over several days and email it as a “wish list” hoping that someone will pay for their selected goods. Customers can compare prices with a click of the mouse and buy the selected product at best prices.

Online vendors, in their turn, also get distinct advantages. The web and its search engines provide a way to be found by customers without expensive advertising campaign. Even small online shops can reach global markets. Web technology also allows to track customer preferences and to deliver individually-tailored marketing.

History of ecommerce is unthinkable without Amazon and E-bay which were among the first Internet companies to allow electronic transactions. Thanks to their founders we now have a handsome ecommerce sector and enjoy the buying and selling advantages of the Internet. Currently there are 5 largest and most famous worldwide internet retailers- Amazon, Dell, Staples, Office Depot and Hewlett Packard.

According to statistics, the most popular categories of products sold in the World Wide Web are music, books, computers, office supplies and other consumer electronics.

Amazon.com, Inc. is one of the most famous ecommerce companies and is located in Seattle, Washington (USA). It was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos and was one of the first American e-commerce companies to sell products over the Internet.

After the dot-com collapse Amazon lost its position as a successful business model, however, in 2003 the company made its first annual profit which was the first step to the further development.

At the outset Amazon.com was considered as an online bookstore, but in time it extended a variety of goods by adding electronics, software, DVDs, video games, music CDs, MP3s, apparel, footwear, health products, etc.

The original name of the company was Cadabra.com, but shortly after it become popular in the Internet Bezos decided to rename his business “Amazon” after the world’s most voluminous river. In 1999 Jeff Bezos was entitled as the Person of the Year by Time Magazine in recognition of the company’s success.

Although the company’s main headquarters is located in the USA, WA, Amazon has set up separate websites in other economically developed countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and China. The company supports and operates retail web sites for many famous businesses, including Marks & Spencer, Lacoste, The NBA, Bebe Stores, Target, etc.

Amazon is one of the first ecommerce businesses to establish an affiliate marketing program, and nowadays the company gets about 40% of its sales from affiliates and third party sellers who list and sell goods on the web site.

In 2008 Amazon penetrated into the cinema and is currently sponsoring the film “The Stolen Child” with 20th Century Fox. According to the research conducted in 2008, the domain Amazon.com attracted about 615 million customers every year.

The most popular feature of the web site is the review system, i.e. the ability for visitors to submit their reviews and rate any product on a rating scale from one to five stars. Amazon.com is also well-known for its clear and user-friendly advanced search facility which enables visitors to search for keywords in the full text of many books in the database.

One more company which has contributed much to the process of e-commerce development is Dell Inc., an American company located in Texas, which stands third in computer sales within the industry behind Hewlett Packard and Acer.

Launched in 1994 as a static page, Dell.com has made rapid strides, and by the end of 1997 was the first company to record a million dollars in online sales. The company’s unique strategy of selling goods over the World Wide Web with no retail outlets and no middlemen has been admired by a lot of customers and imitated by a great number of ecommerce businesses.

The key factor of Dell’s success is that Dell.com enables customers to choose and to control, i.e. visitors can browse the site and assemble PCs piece by piece choosing each single component based on their budget and requirements. According to statistics, approximately half of the company’s profit comes from the web site.

In 2007, Fortune magazine ranked Dell as the 34th-largest company in the Fortune 500 list and 8th on its annual Top 20 list of the most successful and admired companies in the USA in recognition of the company’s business model.

History of ecommerce is a history of a new, virtual world which is evolving according to the customer advantage. It is a world which we are all building together brick by brick, laying a secure foundation for the future generations.

Essay on the Scope of E-Commerce:

There is high scope of e-commerce in each aspect of business, at present it is in the embryonic stage but in future e-commerce would be the part of day to day activity of business firms.

Following are the marketing areas where we seek scope of e-commerce:

(i) Marketing, sales and sales promotion.

(ii) Pre-sales, subcontracts, supply.

(iii) Financing and insurance.

(iv) Commercial transactions – ordering, delivery, payment.

(v) Product service and maintenance.

(vi) Co-operative product development.

(vii) Distributed co-operative working.

(viii) Use of public and private services.

(ix) Business-to-administrations

(x) Transport and logistics.

(xi) Public procurement.

(xii) Automatic trading of digital goods like games, learning material, songs and music etc.

(xiii) Accounting and financial management.

(xiv) Legal advice

Essay on the Need for E-Commerce:

E-commerce and e-business are not solely the Internet, websites or dot com companies. It is about a new business concept that incorporates all previous business management and economic concepts.

As such, e-business and e-commerce impact on many areas of business and disciplines of business management studies:

1. Marketing:

Issues of online advertising, marketing strategies, consumer’s behavior and cultures. One of the areas in which it impacts particularly is direct marketing. In the past this was mainly door-to-door, home parties and mail order using catalogues or leaflets.

This moved to telemarketing and TV selling with the advances in telephone and television technology and finally developed into e-marketing spawning ‘e-CRM’ data mining and the like by creating new channels for direct sales and promotion.

2. Computer Sciences:

Development of different network and computing technologies and languages to support e-commerce and e-business, for example linking front and back office legacy systems with the ‘web based’ technology.

3. Finance and Accounting:

On-line banking; issues of transaction costs; accounting and auditing implications where ‘intangible’ assets and human capital must be tangibly valued in an increasingly knowledge based economy.

4. Economics:

The impact of e-commerce on local and global economies, understanding the concept of a digital and knowledge-based economy and how this fits into economic theory.

5. Production and Operations Management:

The impact of on-line processing has led to reduced cycle times. It takes seconds to deliver digitized products and services electronically; similarly the time for processing orders can be reduced by more than 90 per cent from days to minutes.

Production systems are integrated with finance marketing and other functional systems as well as with business partners and customers.

6. Production and Operations Management:

Moving from mass production to demand driven, mass customization customer pull rather than the manufacturer push of the past. Web based Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) can also be used to forward orders directly to designers and/or production floor within seconds, thus cutting production cycle times by up to 50 per cent, especially when manufacturing plants, engineers and designers are located in different countries.

In sub-assembler companies, where a product is assembled from a number of different components sourced from a number of manufacturers, communication, collaboration and coordination are critical so electronic bidding can yield cheaper components and having flexible and adaptable procurement systems allows fast changes at a minimum cost so inventories can be minimized and money saved.

7. Management Information Systems:

Analysis, design and implementation of E-business systems within an organization; issues of integration of front-end and back-end systems.

8. Human Resource Management:

Issues of on-line recruiting, home working and ‘intra- pruners’ working on a project by project basis replacing permanent employees.

9. Business Law and Ethics:

The different legal and ethical issues that have arisen as a result of a global ‘virtual’ market. Issues are copyright laws, privacy of customer information, and legality of electronic contracts.

Importance of E-Commerce :

Today, we can see e-commerce is becoming a part of study of almost all the courses in management and commerce. It is an integral part of any book or manuscript that is written on retailing, and it claims a significant share in this text also. The reason behind this lies in the fact that e-commerce technology is different and more powerful than any of the other technologies we have seen in the past century.

While these other technologies transformed economic life in the 20th century, the evolving Internet and other ITs will shape the 21st century in many ways. The foremost of these is the rise of a sizeable class of Internet-habituated consumers, and then is the creation of an ecosystem essential for e-tailing’s growth. In India’s case, both these factors are poised to fall into place rapidly.

Prior to the development of e-tailing, the process of marketing and selling goods was a mass- marketing and/or sales force-driven process. Consumers were considered as passive targets of advertising (promotional) “campaigns,” and branding blitzes were intended to influence their long-term product perceptions (brand positioning) and immediate purchasing behavior.

Selling was conducted in typical well-insulated “channels.” Consumers were viewed to be trapped by geographical and social boundaries, unable to search widely for the alternatives with best price and quality. Information about prices, costs, and tariffs could be hidden from the customers to get the resultant profitable “information asymmetries” for the selling firm.

Here, information asymmetry means any disparity in relevant market information among parties in a transaction. E-commerce has challenged much of these traditional retail business norms, assumptions, and behavior.

Essay on the Principles of E-Commerce:

The various principles of e-commerce are as follows:

1. Sell Everywhere – be Seen and be Shopped:

Customer expectations for how and when they buy products have changed substantially over the past few years. Multi-channel selling was once limited to managing direct sales, a call centre, a website, and possibly a partner channel.

With E-Commerce 2.0, this has been expanded and refined to include various online channels. These new channels include additional branded websites, various online marketplaces (such as eBay, Amazon.com, Overstock.com and others), and online shopping comparison engines (such as Shopping.com, PriceGrabber.com and others).

2. The Long Tail -Target Niche Markets:

E-Tailers who can connect with niche markets and provide a better online experience are capitalizing on new-found revenue. In the past, the obvious strategy was to find the bulk of the market and then mass market to them. With so much competition, many online merchants have adapted by discovering new methods and tools that target specific niche markets.

These niche markets are not flooded by the big brands and respond well to content and online experiences directed specifically at them. In many cases, the demands of these niche markets are simply not being met by big brands.

The Long Tail principle of E-Commerce 2.0 is about being able to reach beyond the traditional prospect base and tap the potential of niche markets.

3. Decentralized Content Generation – Data from the Community:

Buyers were once along for the ride in the e-Commerce process. Now they are in the driver’s seat. The content buyers create through forums such as product reviews, blogs and social networks influences other buyers as much or more than any promotion E-Tailers create.

Forums like YouTube and MySpace underscore how content created by consumers has become a viable and valuable part of the promotional and sales cycle for retailers. The Canadian e- Commerce site Wasabi even encourages buyers to submit any offers that they find through social and economic incentives.

While some E-Tailers are frightened by the perceived loss of control over content being published, these new avenues of data acquisition greatly increase the richness and diversity of information available, ultimately helping the buyer make better decisions.

4. Personalized Shopping – Make it Fun to Shop and Easy to Buy:

Shopping has long been considered a recreational activity by many. Shopping online is no exception. In fact, with the sophistication and speed of online shopping tools, consumers are spending more and more on E-Tailer sites.

The best of these shopping tools takes into account that buyers want to be entertained and pleased. Buyers are just as in the brick-and-mortar world do not like long checkout processes. When building your online brand, regardless of channel, remember that speedy checkout equates to happier buyers who are more likely to return and buy again.

5. Mash-Ups -Integrate and Collaborate:

Integration is nothing new, but what is new is how dynamically these integrations need to be initiated, modified, and used. The e-Commerce 2.0 environment is built upon many interrelated systems and processes that require information to be exchanged dynamically.

This happens between many systems based on individual user experience and the context of a particular customer interaction or order. Seamless access and interaction between systems is what promotes increased conversions and buyer loyalty, as well as attracts new buyers.

6. Data is King-Collect a Wealth of Opportunities:

Gone are the days of looking at purely operational reports. Seeing how many listings you have in a marketplace is fine, but it does not tell you how you compare to other E-Tailers, what your performance is like over time, or what other channels may be more profitable.

E-Commerce 2.0 is about collecting and managing data from all online channels to enable better business decisions. Discovering product opportunities relies on being able to define business objectives carefully, identify related key performance indicators (KPIs) and receive continual data to act on it.

In E-Commerce business is possible in various combinations like:

(i) B2B – Business to Business

(ii) B2C – Business to Consumer

(iii) C2B – Consumer to Business

(iv) B2E – Business to Employee

(v) C2C – Consumer to Consumer

(i) B2B – Business to Business:

E-Commerce has been in use for quite a few years and is more commonly known as EDI (electronic data interchange). In the past, EDI was conducted on a direct link of some form between the two businesses where as today the most popular connection is the internet. B2B E-Commerce could be used as a significant enabler in their move towards greater trading partner collaboration. E-Commerce technologies have allowed even the smallest businesses to improve the processes for interfacing with customers. They are now able to develop services for individual clients rather than provide a standard service.

The two businesses pass information electronically to each other.

Typically in the B2B environment, E-Commerce can be used in the following processes:

(i) Procurement

(ii) Order fulfillment.

(iii) Managing trading-partner relationships.

B2B is helpful in reduction in transaction costs and improvement of product quality and customer service and insistence by large businesses that all of their suppliers link into their e-commerce system as a condition of doing business. In addition, there is greater demand by final consumers for fast order fulfillment and the ability to track an order as it is being processed and delivered.

(ii) B2C – Business to Consumer:

Business to Consumer e-commerce is where the consumer accesses the system of the supplier. It is still a two way function but is usually done solely through the Internet.

B2C can also relate to receiving information such as share prices, insurance quotes, on­line newspapers, or weather forecasts. When the product cannot be physically examined, traditional commerce has no advantage over the convenience of electronic commerce. The largest business-to-consumer e-commerce involves intangible product that can be delivered directly to the consumer’s computer cover the network is composed of five broad categories-entertainment, travel newspaper/magazines, financial services, and e-mail. Entertainment, online games, music and video, is the largest category of products sold to consumers.

(iii) C2B – Consumer to Business:

Consumer to Business is a growing area where the consumer requests a specific service from the business. Like reservation in a hotel in a specific time period.

(iv) B2E – Business to Employee:

Business to Employee e-commerce is growing in use it is in practice in business like pharmacy marketing, supply chain management, insurance, IT companies etc. This form of e-commerce is more commonly known as an ‘Intranet’. An intranet is a web site developed to provide employees of an organization with information. The intranet is usually access through the organizations network, it can and is often extended to an entrant which uses the Internet but restricts uses by sign on and password.

(v) C2C – Consumer to Consumer:

These sites are usually some form of an auction site. The consumer lists items for sale with a commercial auction site. Other consumers access the site and place bids on the items. The site then provides a connection between the seller and buyer to complete the transaction.

Essay on the Key Elements Supporting E-Commerce :

Here are seven important infrastructure decisions that ecommerce businesses face:

Of all the infrastructure elements, marketing may be the most important. To succeed, your website must be found. Once visitors are on your site, you need to keep them there and compel them to buy from you. That’s the job of your marketing team.

Whether it is website design, social media, search marketing, merchandising, email or other forms of advertising, it’s all about marketing.

To effectively manage marketing activities in-house is very challenging. Most small ecommerce businesses outsource some element of marketing.

2. Facilitie s:

A key competitive advantage that ecommerce businesses have over brick-and-mortar stores is the investment in their physical offices and warehouses. In many cases, you can host your business out of a home office and your basement or garage.

If you drop ship or outsource fulfillment, you may be able to do that for a long period of time. Even when you grow to have many employees, you can set up your offices in class B or C space, as you have no need for a fancy store in the right location.

A word of advice is to keep your options flexible. Try to find an office park that has a wide variety of spaces in different sizes. You may be able to start in a smaller space and move up to a larger one without penalty, as your needs change.

3. Customer Service :

There are many choices today for delivering high-quality customer service. You can manage those activities in-house or outsource to a third party. Basic customer service for sales and post- sales activities can be handled using email, and by providing an 800 number for more extensive phone support.

A customer-management system will make those activities easier, but for smaller companies it is not a requirement.

Live chat will impact your operations as someone needs to be available during specified hours of operation. Be sure to gauge the impact of that on your organization, if you decide to handle those activities in house.

4. Information Technology :

Choosing the right ecommerce platform is one of the most important decisions you will make in your business. Do you want to build and host your own system, outsource the development and then manage the system going forward, or using a host, software as a service platform that is more turnkey and externally managed?

If you build and host your own system, you may need more cash up front and skilled administrators and developers on your staff. By using a SaaS platform, you will not need to host or manage the system in-house, but you may still need web developers on staff.

Choosing to outsource the development and hosting will reduce your staffing costs, but you will incur higher costs for any future enhancements or changes to your websites.

There are pros and cons to any approach. Just be sure to think through the impacts on both your staffing and your cash flow and bottom line before you move forward.

5. Fulfillment :

Another key decision is whether you will manage your own inventory or outsource those activities to a fulfillment house or through drop shipping arrangements with your suppliers.

Managing your own inventory will provide you with a high level of control, but you will tie up your cash in inventory, warehouse space, and your own fulfillment staff. In some industries like the jewelry supply industry that my previous business was in managing your own inventory was the most logical choice.

We had no alternative for drop shipping, and most items were purchased in bulk and were very small. We did not trust preparation and fulfillment to an outside service.

Select the best fulfillment option to meet your needs. Be sure to understand the costs involved and analyze the other options before moving forward.

6. Finance and Administration :

As with other business operations, you will need to decide if you want to manage your finance and administration activities in-house, outsource, or a hybrid of the two. If your ecommerce platform is tightly integrated to your accounting system, you may have very little need for an in-house bookkeeper.

If you use separate systems for your website, order management and accounting, you may require more help for data entry and making sure that the information is properly managed. Many ecommerce companies use outside services for vendor payments, payroll, and other basic accounting activities.

They decide to focus on the sales, marketing, and customer service. This allows them to maintain a focus on growing their businesses, instead of paying an internal accountant or doing that work you as the business owner.

On the administration side, you need a leadership team and provide direction to them. Good communication is important, whether you have 3 or 100 employees. Whether you choose to be more authoritative or democratic in your management style is up to you.

But choose a style and stay consistent. Be sure that everyone understands their roles, as well as the overall business strategies. You may need to adjust your approach as your business evolves.

7. Human Resources :

Many small-business owners avoid the human resources function. Recruiting, setting up compensation, maintaining compliance and other HR activities are specialized and time consuming.

You may choose to bring the resources in-house to manage those activities, but also evaluate outsourcing them. There are many individuals and agencies well equipped to take on your HR activities.

Impact of E-Commerce on Business:

i. Transformation in the Marketplace:

Now business can be conducted at anywhere any place accessible to internet. Firms can offer their products and services with involvement of intermediaries. Traditional intermediary functions will be replaced, new products and markets will be developed, and new and far closer relationships will be created between business and consumers. It will change the organization of work- new channels of knowledge diffusion and human interactivity in the workplace will be opened more flexibility.

ii. Fast Growth of Business:

E-commerce will serve as a catalyst and diffuse more widely changes that are already under way in the economy, such as the reform of regulations, the establishment of electronic links between businesses (EDI), the globalization of economic activity, and the demand for higher-skilled workers. Likewise, many pectoral trends already under way, such as electronic banking, direct booking of travel, and one-to-one marketing, will be accelerated because of electronic commerce.

iii. Helpful in Globalization:

Information exchange was constraint in transnational business but e-commerce provides facilities to MNCs and global organizations to transfer real time information to employees, stake holders and customers. E-commerce over the Internet greatly increases interactivity in the economy. These linkages support business organization in expansion of business.

iv. Electronic Commerce Growth:

At present, electronic commerce over the Internet is relatively small but is growing very rapidly. At present electronic commerce is in a birth stage, and technology and market dynamics are still casting its basic shape. People resist using e-commerce. This is especially true for the business-to-consumer segment, where people concerns about security of payment, potentially fraudulent merchants, privacy of personal data, etc.

v. New Employment Opportunities:

Electronic commerce will cause changes in the mix of skills required, driving demand for information technology professionals. For electronic commerce, IT expertise also needs to be joined with strong business applications skills, and therefore requires a flexible, multi-skilled works force. Apart from contingent skills needed to support electronic commerce transactions and applications, there will be a requirement of hardware and software professionals.

vi. New Business Opportunities:

Changing industry structures and electronic commerce systems allow for new business models, based on the wide availability of information and its direct distribution-to end customers. Going further than new ones, we also see new business models are new forms of intermediaries, or information brokers. The examples are currently the directory providers or the search engines, such as Yahoo and Lycos, bidding sites like e-bay, Internet shopping, on line trading, online consultancy etc.

E-commerce is a technology driven activity which require an infrastructure that supports the seamless location, transfer, and integration of business information in a secure and reliable manner. Adaptability of e-commerce in small cities and village is very low due to non-availability of basic infrastructure.

vii. Product Promotion:

Through a direct, information rich and interactive contact with customers. The first use of electronic commerce is to provide product information through online electronic brochures and buying guides. This can be seen as an additional marketing channel, allowing reaching maximum number of customers the advantage of electronic commerce as way to deliver product information and its availability anytime, anywhere, provided the customer has right infrastructure to access the information.

viii. New Sales Channel:

Multidirectional approach of e-commerce has created new sales channels by which firms can directly reach to customers, suppliers, and stake holders, considering electronic commerce and in particular the World Wide Web, as a sales channel makes sense for two kinds of products- Physical products sometimes also sold in conventional stores, which can be advertised and for ordered online, such as computer hardware or wine, products which can additionally be delivered over the electronic commerce medium, such as information or software.

Electronic commerce strategies are of primary value in markets where information is of significant added value to the products being brought, rather than in commodity markets. Centralizing, this information digitally is therefore of significant value for customers.

ix. Customer Service:

E-commerce provides on line customer care and support services. The ability to provide online answers to problems, through resolution guides, archives of company encountered problems, electronic mail interaction, in the future audio and video support and all that 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, builds customer confidence and retention. Monitoring how customers use this support information also provides insights on improvement areas in current products and the list of issues encountered with products can be significant source of product feedback for the design of new products.

x. Customer Relationships:

Electronic commerce systems will allow for more personalized relationships between suppliers and their customers, due to their ability to collect information on customer’s needs and behavioural patterns. The role of technology in learning about customers is its ability to record every event in the relationship, such as customers asking for information about a product, buying one, requesting customer service, etc. Throughout all these interactions, either over the phone, in person or online, the needs of the customer are identified and will feed future marketing efforts.

Essay on the Basic Elements of E-Commerce Hosting:

Ecommerce web hosting is gaining swift popularity with every passing day as more and more people use the internet to shop and purchase things. Even traditional brick and mortar businesses are also looking for options to make their products and services available online so as to increase the customer base by allowing geographically dispersed customers to access their online store.

Since an online store is such an important part of the business, you may need to put in a lot of time and effort while selecting your ecommerce hosting company.

Following are the key elements of ecommerce hosting:

1. Security :

You need to bear in mind that while making online sales, you will have access to the credit card information of many clients and such information is very sensitive. Hence, online stores are prone to security issues as hackers try to gain access to such information.

Thus, to ensure that the client information is not at risk, you need to choose an ecommerce hosting provider which offers tight security options such as sophisticated firewalls, valid SSL certificates and anti- phishing software.

2. Flexibility :

If you are a startup business your business demands might not be as high as those of large businesses and you may opt for an ecommerce plan which fulfills your immediate hosting needs. However, as businesses grow, demands increase and you may need more space and bandwidth.

If your current ecommerce hosting provider does not offer flexible plans, you may need to transfer your hosting account to another provider. Thus, keep your expansion plans in mind while selecting a hosting company and make sure your provider offers flexible plans.

3. Reliability :

The key to the success of an online store is convenience and round the clock availability. People generally use online stores because they are accessible at all times from anywhere in the world.

However, if your hosting company does not provide maximum uptime, your online store may not be available to customers hence forcing them to purchase from your competitors. Thus, choosing a hosting provider which offers 50% uptime would mean that you are allowing competitors to lure your customers.

4. Accessibility and Ease :

A website which is easy to browse for products and services is generally liked by customers. Therefore, it is necessary to bring your website at the top in terms of search engine results. Once your website is search engine optimized, you may drive loads of traffic to the website. However, if the hosting servers are down most of the time, making your website search engine optimized would be in vain.

5. Technical Expertise and Customer Support :

Another key element of ecommerce hosting is technical expertise of the hosting provider. This is an essential element especially during peak times as you may need immediate technical help for your online store in order to deal with certain website issues.

Also, ensure the customer support is available 24/7 via live chat, email and phone to assist clients in solving issues.

The above mentioned elements of ecommerce hosting are crucial to the success of any online business and thus should not be ignored.

Now that you know what you need to run a successful ecommerce site, you can buy and sell websites, being sure that you will be able to figure out how to host them on a decent server or offer the best quality possible (in case you sell sites) to your buyer.

Essay on the Advantages, Limitations, and Challenges :

E-tailing can be considered another form of non-store retailing. Its closest “cousin,” in terms of other forms of non-store retailing, is catalog retailing. Catalog retailing still claims a significant part of all retail transactions pie. It is therefore instructive to compare e-tailing to catalog retailing to gain some insight into its potential impact.

Catalog retailing, which evolved over a century ago, grew rapidly in its early stages (similar to e-tailing), and it was assumed to become a very important part of the overall retailing environment and market. It allowed customers to shop from home, when they wanted, at their own convenience. While this proved enticing and comfortable for some consumers and some types of products, there are some limitations that limited its growth further.

Advantages :

1. Customers have a much wider choice at their fingertips (many e-tail sites, etc.). Thus, the web creates a global bazaar-style marketplace that brings together many consumers and many retailers and sellers.

2. With web search capabilities (which need further development), it is easier to find the different types and varieties of goods a customer is searching for.

3. Customers can execute transactions/put orders via the same medium the information is provided, so there is no disconnect between the desire to purchase and the ability to purchase.

4. Payment schemes are still evolving, and therefore, this advantage is likely to become more apparent in the future.

5. E-tailers can use price discrimination more efficiently than other retailers.

6. E-tailers can use previous transactions to identify the likelihood of products being pur­chased at certain price points.

7. Product placement- E-tailers can change the product placement (user display) based on previous transactions, to increase the visibility of goods that the user is more likely to purchase based on their close relationship with previous purchases. Thus, placement can be designed based on the context of the previous purchases.

8. E-tailing includes some advantages to the consumer that no other form of retailing can provide. The hypertext nature of the medium allows for more flexible forms of transactions—the growth of C2B and C2C highlights this point. It allows for ease of comparison across broad product categories with the evolution of shopping bots and allows for more flexible pricing mechanisms that lead to dynamic pricing.

9. This is giving benefit to marketers who provide products with real (perceived) value and consumers in general. It also penalizes the marketers who have thrived in market­places that had “information” barriers to entry, where lack of information for customers restricted their choices and led to inefficient pricing and localized monopolies.

10. Inventory-based e-retailers are known the world over for running highly automated and efficient warehouses, bringing new benchmarks in this function.

Limitations :

1. All the customers may not have access to the web, as they do to the postal system. This is a temporary issue as the evolution of the web continues.

2. Ease of use may be an issue, as the web design may appear to be complex for some users or at sometimes a bit chaotic.

3. Online retail stores are not standardized in design in the way catalogs and retail stores (which use planograms for the same) have become.

4. Therefore, different user behaviors and patterns (navigation schemes) need to be observed for each online store. This is again a temporary issue as the evolution of the web continues.

5. Many times, trust deficit, security, and privacy concerns prevail. Consumers are con­cerned with the exposure of the data they provide/insert during transactions.

6. In Indian context, tax demands and regulatory hassles, coupled with low Internet den­sity and sundry other problems, pose some other challenges.

Related Articles:

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Internet
• Personal Selling: Meaning, Advantages and Limitations
• 8 Examples of E-Commerce around the World | Global Trade
• Advantages and Limitations of Advertising

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Essay on Impact of E-Commerce on the Retail Sector

1. introduction.

In the contemporary business community, the idea of electronic commerce has gain popularity and is an essential feature in today’s business survivorship and success. E-commerce has grown rapidly in the international market, in both large, medium, and small sized enterprises. The impact of electronic commerce, popularly known as e-commerce, has been discussed and explored extensively by researchers; however, its effects in the retail industry have not been fully understood. Electronic commerce is defined as business transactions that are conducted electronically through the internet. Buyers and sellers use the internet to sell and buy goods and services and transfer data and money to execute such commercial transactions. Doing business through the web has evolved and has been regarded as a new topic for research and development (Shankara, Mahanta, Arora, and Srinivasamurthy, 2015, p.2). Modern online trading utilizes the concept of the World Wide Web in one of their transaction life cycle. Due to the rapid advancement in technology, e-commerce has revolutionized various aspects of retail operation, which include order fulfillment, store design, advertising, and service. Small businesses have benefited from the activities of electronic commerce, and they have been able to boost their sales through online trading. E-commerce is the fastest way of doing business today. This paper will explore the concept of e-commerce and its impacts on the retail industry.

1.1. Problem Statement

E-commerce has been simplifying the way businesses conduct their operations, either to other businesses or to customers. The rise of e-commerce retailers has made it hard for different businesses to attract more customers and has forced such companies to alter their sales strategies. The trend of e-commerce has forced traditional retailers to grow their digital efforts and tune into sales promotions to lure customers. E-commerce has brought many benefits to the retail sector; however, not all businesses have been able to benefit from their positive impacts.

1.2. Objectives

To investigate the role and impact of electronic commerce in the retail sector.

To assess the various driving forces and factors affecting electronic commerce activities in the retail industry.

2. E-commerce and the Retail Sector

The retail sector utilizes a concept referred to as e-tailing to sell their goods and services using the internet. Electronic retailing involves various transactions like business-to-customer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B). The ideal of e-tailing calls for businesses to modify their business strategies to attract the internet market, which can comprise of developing distribution channels like product distribution centers, internet webpages, and warehouses. Vibrant distribution channels are essential in e-commerce as they are perceived as the avenues which move goods to the consumers. In order to ensure successful e-tailing, businesses must develop a strong brand name, engaging websites in which customers can easily navigate, and frequently updated to meet the varying demands of customers. In addition, it is vital to ensure the products offered to stand out from those offered by the competition, and such products should add value to the lives of customers (Shankara et al., 2015, p.4). It is also imperative to competitively price the products to lure customers into purchasing the products, as customers would typically choose products based on costs. A business engaged in e-tailing require secure distribution networks that are prompt and efficient as customers do not want to wait for long deliveries. Transparent and accountability is crucial in e-tailing to build trustworthy relationships with customers as well as brand loyalty.

B2C retailing is the most common method of e-commerce businesses and is the most known to internet users. This cluster of retailers consists of businesses trading finished goods to consumers directly through their websites. For instance, the case of Amazon Germany, eBay, and Saturn. The goods are usually shipped from the sellers’ warehouse and delivered directly to the customer’s location. In order to ensure a successful B2C retailing, developing good relations with customers is required. B2B retailing entails businesses that sell to other businesses. Such retailers comprise of wholesalers, freelancers, consultants, and software developers. Wholesalers vend their goods in bulk to businesses, which in turn sell to the final consumers. E-tailing does not only comprise of e-commerce-only businesses but other customary brick-and-mortar stores who are nowadays capitalizing on e-tailing (Paris, Bahari, and Iahad, 2016, p.19) Companies can benefit from e-tailing as infrastructure costs are generally low as compared to such traditional means of trade. Businesses can move their commodities faster and reach a broader customer base online. Opening a website costs less than opening a store, and fewer personnel is required to run the websites, which cuts down unnecessary costs while boosting profit margins.

2.1. Role of E-commerce on Retail Sector

Retailers across the world have an idea of how e-commerce is essential for their operations; however, to some businesses, it may be a passing drift, implying that traders are not capitalizing on resolutions that meet the online shopping desires of consumers. E-commerce targets for even more advancement in the coming future and inadequate implementation of systems that serve online consumers could be a tragedy for businesses. Due to the growing popularity of online shopping, traders are required to implement the appropriate retail management software solutions which focus on providing exceptional online experiences for consumers, assist in growing businesses’ retention rates and bottom lines. Some of the globally recognized e-tailing stores include Amazon and Alibaba. Amazon is the biggest, and it provides consumer subscriptions and products through its website. In 2018, the company generated revenues totaling $230 billion and $10 billion in terms of net profit. Other electronic retailing businesses that compete with Amazon include JD.com and Overstock.com. Alibaba Group operates in web-based business operations globally, and it’s the largest in the Chinese market. In the year 2018, the company generated revenues totaling $40 billion, and its net profits were under $10 billion (Paris et al., 2015, pp.23-24) These big e-tailing businesses have recognized the roles e-commerce has played in their success, which will be discussed below.

E-commerce simplifies business operations. Among the raised concerns associated with e-commerce is the rising unemployment as people are being replaced by technology. This is the same reason why there were rumors Tesco was going to retrench 9000 of its employees. Tesco operates in the European retail market, and it runs various chain stores. The aim of axing some of its employees was to simplify their operations and accomplish their cost-saving goals. The business was intending to operate differently from the competition Morrison with the motive of attaining competitive advantage. E-commerce websites should be modern-looking, easy to use, secure, and to engage in luring customers (Hagberg, Sundström, and Nicklas, 2016, pp.694-695). The optimization of the site is essential in increasing sales and retention rates. Through e-commerce, customers can browse on their own the products they want and add them into a catalog, check out, and process payments without the need for personnel assistance. The entire system of the retail sector has, therefore, been simplified by e-commerce. In addition, the concept of Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) has simplified means of payments as customers can transfer funds into the retailer’s account from their locations.

E-commerce streamlines deliveries. E-commerce is becoming more popular in the business world, and products can be delivered to the consumer digitally without the need to physically visit the store. The idea of products being conveyed to your doorstep is a huge deal for consumers. This development has led to the closure of various stores by recognized brands. Most of the retail stores in Europe are aiming at increasing business efficiencies and savings so as to fund price cuts. The move aims at providing customers with similar discounts they were getting before e-commerce gained popularity. Reports published in 2016 indicated that Tesco had reduced its operating expenditures by around 1.5 billion pounds, which was possible as the retail business had invested inefficient distribution networks and procurement savings (Hagberg et al., 2016, pp.694-695). Most of the retailers today desire to establish efficiencies in their delivery systems, as consumers do not want to wait for long deliveries after ordering. In fact, some companies strive to deliver items ordered on the same day to ensure customer satisfaction, irrespective of the distance. Thousands of businesses engaged in e-commerce have targeted to reduce their operational costs and emphasize the overall service quality and delivery to enhance customer satisfaction.

Through e-commerce, operations become convenient and easy. For many individuals across the globe, e-commerce has become the most recognized method of shopping. Individuals enjoy web-based shopping die to its easiness and convenience. Consumers are allowed to browse different products day and night and order at any time from their locations. In addition, the best thing about this kind of shopping is that such consumers will transfer funds electronically, which is quick and convenient. Thus, consumers can save a lot of time, which is involved in the traditional retailing of going around the store searching for products or having to queue at the checkout system. E-commerce offers self check out system after, where consumers can proceed directly to the payment option as the prices are automatically computed. For this reason, 10 percent of the world population have opted to buy their products online due to the user-friendly and convenient business environment created by electronic commerce (Hagberg et al., 2016, pp.696). Companies like Amazon offers quantity discounts and shopping coupons, and customers can enjoy price cuts, thereby saving money. Moreover, transport costs have been discounted to ensure customers do not pay stiff charges for delivery. Businesses across the globe have, therefore, set goals to ensure they optimize the idea of e-commerce and ensure customers get what they want at any time. One essential objective is to ensure no stock outs as consumers are continually browsing for products at any time of the day.

2.2. Impact of E-Commerce

E-tailing offers various opportunities to both producers and consumers. Consumers usually capitalize on decreased search costs, which enable them to benefit from increased product varieties and minimized prices. This reduction of the expenses offers additional opportunities for businesses to expand their market through the internet. The growth of e-commerce has had significant impacts on consumer spending patterns. The increment in product varieties and reduced costs have altered consumer demand and has led to enhanced consumer welfare. This has led to the refutation of the “Pareto” principle of trades concentration as transactions of niche merchandises become meaningfully more imperative in web-based markets (Gregory, 2015, p.2). Various of the impacts of e-commerce on the markets include the following.

Promotion of products: e-commerce has enhanced the promotion as products can be promoted in unique ways, and more information is available to the consumers. This reduces costs as the same information rotates and stays on the internet for a long time while reaching a broader audience. Consumers can interact with this information, which saves the costs of advertising, and businesses can invest in other vital business areas. Also, through e-commerce, customer service is enhanced. Consumers can search for detailed information regarding products they desire to procure, and such online platforms offer varied products that give consumers a variety to choose from. New businesses can post their innovative brands on the internet by utilizing attractive images and setting affordable prices to improve their brand image. This idea is also crucial in establishing their market base and luring customers to purchase their products. Furthermore, new businesses desire to develop long-standing relationships with customers to ensure they claim their share of the market (Gregory, 2015, pp.2-3). Advertisement traditionally was done to let consumers know of an innovative product in the market. Through the practice of e-commerce, advertisement has been utilized in two folds where consumers can search for products, compare different prices, and ask queries to the venders. Through e-commerce, customized products can be offered to consumers as per needs. Customers will normally be attracted by the market if such products provided meet their specifications. The order-making process has been simplified through e-commerce. Traditionally, a lot of time was taken as intermediaries were involved, which was also expensive. With e-commerce, the ordering process has been simplified, which has reduced unnecessary costs and has proved to be time-saving. Businesses can also make more sales. Finally, customer value is a significant goal for most businesses. Traditionally, businesses strived to attract customers, but in modern days, vendors desire to establish long term relations with such customers to achieve long term value through special discounts.

For retailers, e-commerce has various impacts on their business operations. For instance, turnover has increased as compared to offline retailers, which is a good signal for business. When operating e-commerce, the customer base for such business has increased from time to time. That increase signifies growth in sales, which in turn increases profit margins. Offline retailers suffer, on the other hand, as they have to reduce their prices to compete with online retailers. They have thus suffered losses as income earned is used in funding their operational costs. With regards to discounts, online retailers offer substantial discounts as compared to offline retailers. The aim of such discounts is to attract more customers and enhance the retention rate. In order to survive in the market, such businesses continue to offer discount day in day out. A variety of products are offered by online stores in which offline retailers cannot match. Such variety is good for businesses as it gives customers time to browse through and ascertain whether their needs are met. The concept of window shopping has increased after businesses adopted e-commerce (Gregory, 2015, p.3). Consumers usually go window shopping offline retail stores but purchase the product online. Thus, offline retailers have more prospective customers than actual customers. Finally, offline retailers focus more on advertisement as they aspire to match the competition from online retailers.

E-commerce has revolutionized the way businesses advertise today due to the radical changes in the procurement process. With alteration sin procurement tactics, it is essential for advertising techniques to change as well. In modern times, consumers who purchase their products from offline stores look up the merchandises virtually, relate prices, and read criticisms before they make any procuring decisions. Thus, businesses cannot rely on traditional marketing methods anymore. Digital marketing must, therefore, be considered to meet the rising demands of the tech-savvy consumers of contemporary society. Some of the tactics of advertising which can be employed to reach millions of consumers include social media optimization, email marketing, paid ads, and search engine optimization. Most consumers own smartphones nowadays, and businesses can capitalize on this by ensuring they constantly advertise on social media platforms, where consumers spend most of their time (Sabou, Avram-Pop, and Zima, 2017, pp.77-78). Doing so would ensure the company is recognized internationally, which can lead to growth in sales or expansion in the international market.

With e-commerce, the size of the business does not matter anymore. To the end consumer, it does not matter whether you run the store single-handedly or with the help of hundreds of personnel. This implies small businesses can effectively compete with large corporations for market share. The offline stores face the major drawback of having inadequate staff to assist in business activities. Today, the situation has changed due to e-commerce. Small businesses can thus run their operations online, and consumers would never know their size, as that is not their concern. The important thing is to ensure products are available to consumers, and attention is paid to their experience. Also, e-commerce ensures 24/7 operations, which means there is no downtime. With 365 days a year operations, sales can occur at any time, with traditional retailing, shops close at the end of the day, with few managing 24-hour operations (Sabou et al., 2017, p.79). This implies shoppers are restricted to a specified time. Nowadays, with the growing popularity of electronic commerce, consumers can shop at any time, be it early morning or in the middle of the night. Besides, shoppers can shop from anywhere, at the comfort of their homes or while traveling, at any location globally.

A few years ago, businesses were unable to reach out to other consumer markets. Most common in remote areas where it is hard to operate businesses. The development of e-commerce has made it easier for vast outreach. Individuals from remote areas can order products online and have them delivered to their location. Businesses can not only sell their goods and services to their local markets, but also to individuals from each corner of the planet. In addition, marketing products have become more comfortable, and even the mode of payment has become a cakewalk. This implies that the playing field has evened out as compared to before, and smaller businesses can target the markets of giant corporations. With the growing practices of e-commerce, returns on intangibles have been prevalent. Traditional retailing involved capitalizing on both tangible and intangible benefits. For instance, offline retailers require proper management, building, customer relations, IT infrastructure, and equipment in order to remain competitive. Advancement in technology and the internet has made businesses to attain profits with only intangible assets. The concept of e-commerce has eliminated the constraints of space, and time businesses face some time back. Organizations today are not required to operate from a specific time zone or geographical location, as everything has become global (Sabou et al., 2017, p.80). An example is Uber and eBay. eBay does not have physical assets but has been valued at around $2 billion. Also, Uber is the biggest ridesharing platform, and it does not own a single car. Thus, the concept of e-commerce has enabled organizations to become prominent in their industries without the need to hold physical assets.

In present times, vertical integration is not required anymore, as it was the case some time back. In this concept, if individuals required something done correctly, they had to get such things done themselves. As organizations grew, thy began doing things in-house, from retailing processes to research and development. This cost such organizations huge expenses, and it made business processes inefficient and inflexible. The evolution online retailing has led to the reduction of such costs and has enabled companies to focus on fundamental business functions. Electronic commerce enhances communication and quick decision making. Conversations frequently happen through the websites, and the business can provide instantaneous feedback to the consumer (Gregory, 2015, p.4). E-commerce enables individuals to communicate with the retailing company in various ways. If a person is not comfortable through video chats or phone calls, they can always opt-in emailing and messaging. The interactions between consumers and companies enhance communication and thus leads to the development of trustworthy relationships with such consumers.

In times to come, e-commerce operations will grow into a novel impression in the business community. The concept has affected companies both positively and negatively. It makes it easier for companies to reach a broader market at smaller costs than what would be the case in traditional retailing. E-commerce does not require businesses to acquire high-end shops in high streets. The most important thing is to develop a website and advertise them online, regardless of the location. A few decades back, massive capital costs were involved in establishing a business. Nowadays, it has become possible to set up investment from the garage. Some of the negative impacts associated with e-commerce include security and privacy. Retailers normally require a lot of information from consumers visiting their websites. Such retailers develop cookies, which are electronic trackers designed to track the browsing behaviors of visitors for the purpose of targeting adverts to consumers based on their requirements. Various critics state these activities intrudes on the privacy of consumers. With regard to security, there is a potential threat to the personal information of consumers. When consumers are purchasing products online, they input their personal and credit card information. Hackers could access this information through flawed information systems; nevertheless, advanced security systems have been developed by retailers to protect customer information (Sabou et al., 2017, p.80). Despite these drawbacks, e-commerce has more benefits to the organization as compared to the limitations, and more businesses are venturing into the practice each day with the advancement in technology.

3. Drivers and Factors Affecting E-commerce

3.1. factors affecting e-commerce.

There are various factors that affect e-commerce, and it is essential for companies to analyze the factors carefully. The goal is to make better decisions for the success of the business. These factors include technological, social, economic, and political, commonly referred to as PEST analysis.

Political factors entail the role of government funding, initiatives, and legislation to support the development and usage of online trading and IT in the trade sector. Various aspects of the government can impact the practice of online trading. All businesses are required to adhere to established government laws like labor laws, taxation policies, and environmental laws. It is the duty of the business to investigate how upcoming government legislation will affect its business operations. The role of the government is each country is to enable the requisites for the development of e-commerce by establishing robust online payment options, offering educational programs, enabling a firm ICT infrastructure, and building awareness. Economic factors involve the commercial and general wellbeing of the nation regarding monetary and fiscal policies. Economic efficiency leads to lower advertising costs, minimal communication costs, economic technological infrastructure, more economical, and speedier supplier transactions (Gregory, 2015, p.5). Economic integration is divided into external and internal forms. Internal integration entails the networking of different departments in an organization and the integration of business processes and operations. External integration involves the electronic networking of various organizations, independent contractors, customers, and suppliers into one community, which is done virtually. The integration allows crucial business intelligence to be kept in a digital method and can be recovered and conveyed by electronic means. Various fiscal factors affect the success of e-commerce, and they include interest rate risks, currency risks, and changes in inflation levels. The role of the government is to regulate such risks to ensure business success in the retail sector.

Social factors deal with the incorporation of IT training and education, which will allow potential consumers and personnel to comprehend the usage of technology. The practice of e-commerce has benefited from high disposable incomes, lack of adequate time for traditional shopping, busy lifestyles, higher disposable incomes, and a rise in the standards of living. Thus, websites have been developed, such as eBay and Amazon, to bring goods and services to the consumers. Technological factors include the advancement in technological factors, which is key to the success of electronic commerce (Lim, Osman, Salahuddin, Romle, and Abdullah, 2016, pp.401-402) Growth in technology has resulted in efficient communication. Economic transactions have become more manageable with technological advancements, thus boosting the development of e-commerce.

3.2. Drivers of E-commerce Growth in Retail Sector

The activities of e-commerce are growing fast every year. Research indicates that online trading activities are projected to upsurge by over ten percent in the year 2020. There are various aspects that have been fueling the rise of e-commerce activities, and they will be discussed. First, logistics plays a crucial part in the establishment of visibility in the electronic commerce supply chain and ascertains the general customer satisfaction, service delivery, and efficiency. Unfortunately, the concept of logistics is in-depth and complex in nature. It involves lots of proficiency and a comprehensive network of various minor systems. These trends or difficulties as resulted in the evolution of the supply chain within the sector. An essential driver to e-commerce is the emerging third party logistics, as most retailers are finding it commercially viable to subcontract the logistics component of the supply chain due to its complexity and substantial capital requirements (Lim et al., 2016, p.403). Another driver of the e-commerce business is the explosion of the mobile sector. Each year, the mobile industry has been evolving. The introduction of smartphones has led to the growth of e-commerce as people can surf the internet through smartphones and access online platforms. Mobile shopping has been made possible globally, and such evolution and many brands available has lowered the price of smartphones tenfold, and low-income earners can as well afford. According to statistics, mobile internet penetration has increased by over 66 percent, which means 4.960 billion of the world population can surf the internet using their smartphones. This penetration, together with the availability of disposable income, has driven consumers to online mobile shopping. Business owners believe that quality service emerges from an exceptional assessment of customer desires and conveying consumer experience in one’s solutions. With e-commerce, this can be a challenge as there are no face-to-face interactions with the consumer. However, this issue has been resolved by the utilization of artificial intelligence and big data. Artificial intelligence assists in tracking the spending patterns of consumers, determining their preferences, tastes, and needs. With this information at hand, e-commerce websites can adjust their offerings to suit the preferences and needs of consumers. Lastly, there has been an increase in political enthusiasm and promotion of online retailing. Many governments have realized the benefits associated with cross border activities and have, therefore, started promoting the activity (Lim et al., 2016, p.404). There has been a decrease in clearance procedures, lowering of customs, and other lengthy processes that delayed deliveries. Thus, more online retailers have been able to ship products across the globe with ease.

4. Conclusion

Electronic commerce has been recognized as the quickest way of conducting business in modern days. This is because it is economical, efficient, convenient, and profitable. There has been an emergence in online stores as businesses recognize the benefits attached to e-commerce in the retail sector. People nowadays can order items and such items would be delivered on the doorstep. E-commerce has aided in increasing revenues for many organizations. In order to attain a competitive advantage in this practice, offering discounts and ensuring continuous promotions is imperative. In addition, the retail sector is required to adapt to the changing needs of consumers to ensure success. In this regard, I would recommend businesses to employ e-commerce in their operations as it comes with many advantages, and they can match the likes of Amazon in the near future.

4.1. Outlook

This paper has widely expounded on the concept of e-commerce and is impacts on the retail sector. We have seen how big businesses today have succeeded in the retail business, such as Alibaba, Amazon, and eBay, by implementing e-commerce in their operations. Continuous development in technology will ensure the activities of e-commerce occur for the unforeseeable future. However, trust issues will always remain a primary concern in this sector, although businesses have been developing policies to minimize the concerns. E-commerce will thus continue gaining popularity, and it has simplified shopping behaviors for many individuals.

5. References

Gregory, J., 2015. The Internet of Things: revolutionizing the retail industry.  Accenture Strategy,  pp.2-7.

Hagberg, J., Sundström, M. and Nicklas, E.Z., 2016. The digitalization of retailing: an exploratory framework.  International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management ,  44 (7), pp.694-696.

Lim, Y.J., Osman, A., Salahuddin, S.N., Romle, A.R. and Abdullah, S., 2016. Factors influencing online shopping behavior: the mediating role of purchase intention.  Procedia economics and finance ,  35 (5), pp.401-410.

Paris, D.L., Bahari, M. and Iahad, N.A., 2016, August. Business-to-customer (B2C) Electronic Commerce: An implementation process view. In  2016 3rd International Conference on Computer and Information Sciences (ICCOINS)  (pp. 19-24). IEEE.

Sabou, S., Avram-Pop, B. and Zima, L.A., 2017. The impact of the problems faced by online customers on ecommerce.  Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai Oeconomica ,  62 (2), pp.77-80.

Shankara, P., Mahanta, P., Arora, E. and Srinivasamurthy, G., 2015, October. Impact of internet of things in the retail industry. In  OTM Confederated International Conferences” On the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems”  (pp. 61-65). Springer, Cham.

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E-Commerce, Essay Example

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E-commerce includes the buying and selling of objects over the Internet.  It can include services and products, and e-commerce may also be performed on other types of computer networks besides the Internet.  E-commerce has become considerably popular in recent years, with its involvement in some aspect of transactions that occur over the Internet.  Online shopping and banking are two examples of this common aspect of the Internet and online business as it resembles today’s market.

E-business is much broader than e-commerce.  The former represents the application of information and communication technologies to support the business’s activities.  E-business includes more aspects than e-commerce, such as the interaction between business customers and partners.  E-business goes beyond the buying and selling of goods and services of e-commerce, although it certainly contains it in many cases.  Thus, they intersect in the dynamics of online transactions.

Competitive advantage can of course take many forms, referring to the higher earning of the cost of investments.  The capturing of advantageous attributes represents an effective strategy, such as the implementation of new technologies into a product or business model.  Access to natural resources can also provide a company with a competitive advantage.

Obtaining a competitive advantage can take two forms.  Porter (1985) has identified two type of competitive advantage, found in cost advantage and differentiation advantage.  The former refers to delivering the same benefits as the business’s competitors, but at a lower cost.  The latter refers to delivering benefits that go above and beyond products of competing businesses.  As these two forms both create superior value for its customers, a business can obtain a competitive advantage in either, or boy, ways.  A business may use either of these positional advantages to prove benefits in cost or differentiation.  Or, a resource-based advantage makes use of the business’s resources and capabilities to produce a competitive advantage.

Scaling methods remain an important dynamic, even for small businesses.  For instance, one method is used by small businesses in regards to search engine optimization, where such principles are utilized in order to allow the website to be scaled.  Scaling allows websites to become friendlier to users and servers.  Thus, businesses should be careful to spend time on the many scaling methods available to improve the efficiency and presentation of their website to customers and other businesses.

Online security measures often run into dangerous online criminals who exhibit a number of options in the way of Internet crime.  According to Chickowski (2008), “the ways of making money with online scams, identity theft, and hacking are limited only by criminal creativity.”  Chickowski also points to the “thriving” underground community of online criminals (2008).  A number of scams exist to give problems to Internet crime.

Some of the most dangerous forms of Internet crime are which Chickowski mentions.  Identity theft is one growing crime in the United States and around the world, with the Internet serving as a major role.  Hackers and other criminals target businesses or users on the Internet for online crimes.  For instance, malware writers attempt to exploit Internet Explorer, which takes up nearly 70% of the browser market (Keizer 2009).  It has caused users to look for other browsers, account for Internet Explorer’s dropping share.

Internet security is constantly evolving.  However, so are methods to hack into user’s and business’s accounts.  As a result online crime is undergoing difficult situations in this realm.  Not to mention, not all Internet users keep up with the latest technologies and scams.  This makes them easy targets for online criminals to take advantage of these users, to infiltrate their accounts, passwords, and other sensitive information.

Someone who uses the Internet would generally be much more likely to continue doing so.  The Internet allows individuals to perform a number of activities, both for business and personal reasons that would make continued use of the Internet quite logical.  For instance, an individual may find connectivity with friends and family useful.  Others may find the Internet complimentary to research for work, or even supplement their work with a website to improve business.

Internet usage can also be seen along the lines of e-commerce, to which we have analyzed briefly.  Shopping online is considered quite convenient for many who have engaged in this part of business.  As retailers make better use of the Internet, such as cheaper and faster methods of shipping and online sales, consumers will be more likely to shop online.  This relationship is one of many in the growing use of the Internet for individuals who are becoming more experienced online.

Overall convenience will dictate increased presence on the Internet for many individuals.  The Internet provides many conveniences to enhance the quality of life, to connecting with family via e-mail or a social network to finding additional work online.  Of course conveniences exist in e-commerce and business online for consumers and businesses.  The nature of the Internet will allow experienced users to continue or increase their Internet usage.

Chickowski, Ericka (2008). “Inside online crime: Of hackers, identity theft and online scams.” http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/Security/Inside-Online-Crime-Of-Hackers-Identity-Theft-and-Online-Scams/. Retrieved 2010-05-25

Keizer, Gregg (2009). “Internet explorer loses market share.” http://www.pcworld.com/article/156306/ie_loses_market_share.html?tk=rss_news. Retrieved 2010-05-25

Porter, Michael (1985). Competitive advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance. New York, NY: Free Press.

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6 Key Strategies for Writing a Compelling E-Commerce Essay

Crafting a remarkable e-commerce essay goes beyond simply listing facts and stats. It involves integrating these details into a story that reflects the modern online business environment. Your essay should blend analysis, insight, and foresight, offering a unique perspective on a constantly evolving field.  

This challenge often requires students to think creatively and write with conciseness and accuracy. If you find yourself seeking guidance or inspiration, there’s no better option than to ask DoMyEssay to “help me write an essay.” And, if you need some extra practical recommendations on e-commerce essay writing, this article is for you.  

The foundation of any impactful e-commerce essay lies in thorough research. Delving into the latest market studies, consumer behavior analytics, and technological advancements gives your writing substance and authority. Imagine you’re discussing the rise of AI in e-commerce. By incorporating recent research findings, your essay transforms from a mere opinion to a well-informed discussion on how AI revolutionizes customer experiences.

But remember, research isn’t just about gathering data; it’s about critically analyzing it. Question the sources, compare different viewpoints, and look for patterns. This approach adds depth to your essay and shows your critical thinking skills.

• Structure Your Essay  

A well-structured essay guides the reader through your writing, helping them understand the logic of your argument. Follow these steps to achieve it:

• Begin with an engaging introduction.
• Outline your main arguments early on.
• Make each paragraph focused on one specific point.
• Use transitions to connect paragraphs.
• Include examples and case studies for illustration.
• Avoid jargon to maintain clarity.
• Use quotes from experts sparingly.
• Analyze data to support your points.
• Conclude with a strong summary of your arguments.
• End with a thought-provoking statement or question.

Incorporate Real-World Examples

A practical method to improve your e-commerce essay is to include real-world examples. These examples offer solid proof to bolster your arguments, assisting readers in bridging the gap between theoretical concepts and practical application. For instance, discussing Amazon’s business model provides a practical illustration of e-commerce strategies in action.

When selecting examples, choose those that are relevant and recent. This demonstrates your up-to-date knowledge of the field and makes your essay more engaging. A discussion about the use of social media in e-commerce, backed by examples from successful Instagram marketing campaigns, can vividly illustrate your points.

Analyze and Critique

Analysis and critique are crucial in academic writing. They demonstrate your ability to think beyond the surface and engage with the material at a deeper level. When writing about e-commerce, don’t just describe trends; analyze their implications and critique their impact:

• Analyze the significance of e-commerce trends.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of various e-commerce strategies.
• Discuss potential future developments.
• Consider the ethical implications of e-commerce practices.
• Compare and contrast different e-commerce models.
• Take into account how tech tools influence consumer behavior.
• Assess the sustainability of e-commerce growth.
• Explore the global reach of e-commerce.
• Question existing norms and suggest improvements.

For example, when writing about the rise of mobile commerce, don’t just list statistics. Analyze how this trend is changing consumer behavior and critique its long-term sustainability. This depth of analysis shows your engagement with the topic and ability to think critically.

Use Visuals to Enhance Understanding

Incorporating charts, graphs, and infographics in your e-commerce essay can help illustrate complex data and trends. A well-placed graph demonstrating the growth of online sales over the last decade, for instance, can make your point more effective than text alone.

When using visuals, ensure they are relevant and add value to your essay. Each visual should be clearly labeled and referenced in the text. This aids in the reader’s comprehension and demonstrates your ability to integrate different forms of information cohesively.

Conclude with Impact

In your e-commerce essay, the conclusion should summarize the key points and offer insight or a call to action. For instance, after discussing the future of e-commerce, you might conclude by suggesting areas for further research or potential challenges that need addressing.

The concluding paragraph is the final thing the reader will remember. Make it clear, concise, and reflective of the essay’s overall argument. Avoid introducing new information. Instead, focus on encapsulating the essence of your discussion in a way that resonates with and inspires your reader.

Continuously developing your writing skills is crucial in your role as a student and future professional. This process includes seeking feedback, revisiting your strategies, and staying informed about current e-commerce trends. In this context, resources like the best paper writing service can be priceless. They provide you with quality examples to learn from and offer a perspective on communicating complex ideas.

Each essay is an opportunity to hone your skills, develop your voice, and deepen your understanding of this exciting field. It is not just about achieving academic excellence; it’s about preparing you for the dynamic and evolving world of e-commerce.  

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Argumentative Essay On Online Shopping

Type of paper: Argumentative Essay

Topic: Business , Internet , Money , Customers , Commerce , Shopping , Products , Online Shopping

Published: 03/18/2020

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Online shopping

The emergence of the Internet represented a great variety of tools that facilitate our everyday life. With the help of Internet such ordinary activities as studying, watching movies, paying bills, shopping can be performed without going out. For now online shopping is the most attractive for people. According to the researches in 2017 online shopping sales are predicted at the level of $370 billion, while in 2012 the estimate value was $231 billion (Abramovich, 2014). There are different opinions regarding making purchases online. The first advantage of online shopping is its convenience (according to the statistics 71% of shoppers believe that it is better to make deals online than in stores) (Geoff, 2014). To make a purchase, people only have to use computer. There is no longer a need to go out and spend a lot of time for reaching the store by driving a car or catching a bus. All the desired things can be reached just in few clicks. The second attractive point is that products which are selling online are usually cheaper than those that are proposed by traditional shops. There are a variety of seller who ready to propose lower price in order to get and keep the customer as online competition is very tough. But here is the other side of the ‘moon’. Quite often online purchases have a lot of hidden costs such as shipping and handling or different membership fees. According to the survey 74% are not willing to buy online, because of the high delivery charges, while only 49% are not satisfied with this idea because of high prices (Charlton, 2011). Customers claim that information provided on the online store pages should be transparent and easy found. The other concern related to the online shopping is privacy and security. There are number of cases which shows, that online payments are not secure. It can happen that the payment may be interrupted by a technical glitch and the money will be written off from the balance. Also there is a chance that the payment account can be hacked and the customer will remain without money and purchased thing. Thus, online sellers have to protect customers’ security by all means. On the contrast, online shopping can represent a vast variety of items, available for customers. Unlike the physical stores that can offer limited array of products, online stores can represent almost everything, starting from simple apparel to complicated industrial vehicles. The only tricky point is the quality of product. In real life you can comprehensively evaluate product quality (try it on, taste, smell, and touch), but you will lack this option in online store. Online sellers can offer only the picture of the product. One more point to the ‘advantage basket’ of online shopping is the ability to launch e-commerce business. Nowadays it is much easier for people, who cannot afford buying or renting a shop, but willing to sell goods, to start small business. This factor is also important, as leads to the reduction of unemployment. On the other side, there are a great amount of scam and fraud companies. According to recently released official crime figures, the number of frauds has risen by 60% within the last five years (Barrette, 2013). The last advantage of the online shops is its availability. Most of them are working 24/7, 7 days a week 365 days. Such availability gives customer a freedom to shop at his own convenience and pace. The only problem is that product cannot be used instantly, as after buying it in retail store. Online shopping requires patience, because some items can reach the customer’s door step within 2-3 days, and sometimes even longer, depending on the location. There are a lot of opinions regarding the online shopping. On one hand it is an easy and convenient way of buying goods, on the other hand people should pay extra attention to what and where they are buying online. In my opinion in future the vast majority of people will make transactions online, that is why online sellers have to improve security system and protect their customers.

Abramovich, Giselle (2014). 15 Mind-Blowing Stats About Online Shopping.CMO by Adobe. Retrieved from http://www.cmo.com/articles/2014/5/6/Mind_Blowing_Stats_Online_Shopping.html Geoff (2014). 40 Online Shopping and Ecommerce Statistics. Selz Blog. Retrieved from https://selz.com/blog/40-online-shopping-ecommerce-statistics-know/ Charlton, Graham (2011). Why do consumers abandon online purchases?. Econsultancy. Retrieved from https://econsultancy.com/blog/7730-why-do-consumers-abandon-online-purchases Barrette, David (2013). Fraud cases up 60 per cent as criminals head online. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10387332/Fraud-cases-up-60-per-cent-as-criminals-head-online.html

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Essay on e-commerce: meaning, advantages and disadvantages.

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Read this article to learn about the meaning, advantages and disadvantages of E-Commerce.

Meaning of E-Commerce:

The fast and dramatic changes in information technology specially in last one decade has given new concept of marketing in which buyer and seller do not see each other face to face nor see the goods physically; the whole transaction is carried out with the help of ‘on line’ communication. The entire deal is carried out with the help of computer – telecommunication and net working with associated hardware.

In the e – commerce internet provides information about goods and services “It is” a way of conducting imaging and executing business transactions and services through elec­tronic media and net working in computers and communication net work, websites, e-mail are resorted.

Customers know about goods and services sitting at home. The manufacturers, distributors, suppliers and services providers let the consumers know about their products quality, price, size, color etc. through multi-colored catalogues on website. The consumers can ‘surface various web sites and compare their relative prices, quality characteristic, features etc.

These details can be obtained from suppliers around the globe. The websites are available beside for goods for direct selling, context selling, financial and other services such as hospitals, education, training, advertise­ments, property, entertainment, product demonstrations, bill payment, exchange and all other ser­vices which one can think of.

The types of selling through the use of internet and other electronic devices can be of following types:

1. Business to Business (B2B):

This implies selling by one business manufactures to other business manufactures, trade, wholesaler or retailer. In India as yet most of the e-commerce is B2B. The number of companies like TELCO, IBM, C1TI BANK, BHEL, ESSAR, TVS, MARUTI, BAJAJ, and many others are doing B2B. In 1998 out of total e-commerce of us$ 210 billion us$ 100 billion was accounted for B2B.

2. Business to Consumer (C2B):

When business sells to customers/consumers it is called B2C and is most important from our point of view. The products include items sold in departmental stores, chemist shops, grocery stores, books, stationery, clothes, vegetables, fruits and what not. As yet in India such sales are only of US$ 100 billion but are expected to go up to US$ 900 billion by 2005 i.e. the growth of 9000 percent. Many service sectors are adopting this mode.

3. Consumer to Consumer (C2C):

Under this system when some consumer want to dispose off his old items, he can take the help of selling through internet. But this type of e-commerce is not very common at least in India and the business is negligible.

4. Business to Government (B2G):

Business house or on individual business has to file income tax and sales tax returns and various types of other returns. As yet this requires filing of return in respective office and apply for approval in concerned office. But now many countries allow this type of activity through e-mail/e-commerce. However, as yet this is not being done in India.

5. Government to Consumer (G2C):

In order to provide facilities to public and speed up information and records government in many cases provide record of information, through this system; sale of documents, passport forms, copies of returns etc are supplied through e-mail. The main features of e-commerce is that one does not physically feel an item nor sees it and places order on the basis of information supplied through website or in response to consumers inquiry, as yet e-commerce has last preference for daily consumption items.

It is largely limited to durable goods like computers, TV’s, automobiles, books, travel reservation. In case of service it is becoming popular for banking and share purchases. The growth of E-commerce is restricted as given in Table 20.1

Key players in e-commerce are consumers and sellers.

E-mail net work :

E-commerce requires visit of website, selection of products, select a payment mode, realization of money (which is done before dispatch) and dispatch of goods.

The process may be depicted as under:

A. Visit of website :

Selection of a product

Selection of payment mode

1. Credit card

2. E-banking

3. VP/courier (who collects the payment at the time of delivery, but this is discouraged.

4. Placement of order through e-mail

5. Realization of money.

Dispatch to the customer can be on line or through courier.

In order that consumer may visit particular website, sellers have to advertise about their website so that consumer may visit the website. The consumer decides which websites have to be visited and after getting the information from various sites he makes a choice and decides which one should be purchased. He then places an order intimating the mode of payment which is generally through credit card or e-banking and advise the bank where he has credit card to debit the amount to his account.

After the seller realizes the amount for the goods order he dispatches the goods. In most of the cases whole process takes couple of minutes and goods reaches the consumer within half an hour to one hour if he is a local consumer, it is claimed so by sellers. In India in this business Rediff(dot)com is most popular and sells products worth Rs. 1340 million every month.

Advantage to Consumers:

The consumer has number of advantages and convenience and therefore the system is becoming popular.

1. Consumer has wider choice not from his town or country but also round the globe unless there are import restrictions.

2. Customized or personalized product and service. For instance if some lady wants a bra of exact size, her size can be measured through internet and stored and she will be supplied bra of her requirement.

3. In case of purchase, one is not required to go from store to store to see the products to collect their details, prices etc. Sitting at home he gets all the required information and that too very fast without spending much time.

4. There is absolute flexibility of time, place and distance is no hurdle; one can open the site any time day or night to get details, there is no problem of shops/stores opening/closing hours. Website can be opened any time. In physical sales place and distance is also a problem which is no problem in e-commerce because one can see sites all over the world without moving out of the house.

5. Goods are available at cheaper price because there are lot of economies of space, rent, interest to the seller Further, he manages with much lesser number of outlets and cost of marketing is reduced. Part of these savings is passed on to consumer and therefore, he gets the products cheaper than from conventional shops/departmental stores, grocers etc.

6. It helps to globalize retail trading. One can buy things without geographical boundaries.

7. It eliminates with the system of distributors, authorized dealers and retailers, the manufac­turer can deal with large territory with one store.

8. The inventory is reduced, and so the cost of carrying goods and distribution cost.

9. Exports to final consumers is possible through e-commerce, not only-just sales but procure­ment, accounts, logistics product development and other related services are also possible through e-commerce

10. The net enables suppliers to introduce and promote new markets and new products to meet the needs of individual buyers.

11. Long distance, travelling and delays, pollution all are avoided because one has not to travel to the shop.

12. Consumer is better informed about products, price etc and therefore can make better choice.

13. Suppliers, competitors and customers come under one roof through internet websites and massive exhibition of various items is possible.

Disadvantages:

1. The biggest disadvantage of e-commerce is that one is not able to see and feel the product.

2. Since consumers are not able to feel and touch the products and therefore business is on trust and as yet business is largely limited to travel, automobiles, PC’s, services, books and CD’s entertain­ment. As yet sales of apparel, food products is largely small percentage of total e-business. For instance in 1999 the maximum ownership of internet was 50 percent in USA, in other countries it varied between 1.8 percent to 45 percent (Table 20.2) But gradually this disadvantage is being reduced but still there is large percentage of population which does not own internet.

3. There is a big problem in on-line payment. It is with regard to time and legality of order to complete the transaction. As yet satisfactory system of payment has not been developed by banks and financial institutions in large number of countries.

4. The electronic signatures acceptance has been legalized by large number of countries but still many more have to take steps in this direction. Further, there are great chances of fraud in-spite of all the precautions.

5. The. e-commerce requires large investment to build a brand image on internet which is esti­mated around us$ 100 million or around Rs. 500 crores which can be invested only by big players. Thus small suppliers cannot get business through internet.

6. The market is restricted to high income and educated population who own and know the use of internet. Thus in poor, illiterate or less educated countries it has limited access.

7. Sometimes there could be flood of orders for any particular product which makes problem of timely supply to consumer. In 2000 there was YK2, problem and customers had to wait to get product of their choice.

8. Consumer has number of problems. He has to search internet/websites information on internet, make the purchase domain and the payment. There are difficulties in searching, surfing, browsing and wandering around the internet which costs both time and money.

9. Privacy of consumer is adversely affected specially in the matter of accounts; he is required to tell his credit card number to supplier or e-banker.

10. E-commerce is good for branded products like automobiles, electronic goods, computers, electrical goods, branded garments, branded food products, music, books etc. If middle class or lower middle class want to buy non branded products which are generally cheaper, they cannot be bought through e-commerce.

In other words e-commerce is for effluent society i.e. why population in USA use is 50%, in Europe 13 percentage, in poor countries only 1-2 percent and in some countries it is negligible. Thus e-commerce is for classes and not for masses.

Related Articles:

• Speech on E-Commerce: Meaning, Characteristics and Other Details
• E-Commerce System: Meaning, Resources Required and Benefits

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Home — Essay Samples — Economics — Commerce — The Importance of E-commerce

The Importance of E-commerce

• Categories: Commerce E Commerce

About this sample

Words: 531 |

Published: Mar 1, 2019

Words: 531 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

• Knowing when an product was saved or not saved in the shopping cart.
• Returning to different parts of the site after adding an item to the shopping cart.
• Easy scanning and selecting items in a list.
• Effective categorical organization of products.
• Simple navigation from home page to information and order links for specific products.
• Obvious shopping links or buttons.
• Minimal and effective security notifications or messages.
• Consistent layout of product information

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Home / Essay Samples / Business / Online Shopping / E-commerce and Online Selling: Trends and Challenges

E-commerce and Online Selling: Trends and Challenges

• Category: Business , Economics
• Topic: Competition , E Commerce , Online Shopping

Pages: 1 (661 words)

• Downloads: -->

Introduction

Perceived effectiveness of e-commerce platforms (peep).

• Cybersecurity;
• Competition;
• Order fulfillment.

Cybersecurity

Competition against the marketplace, order fulfillment.

• Low Profit Margins
• Counterfeit Products

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