E commerce and its advantages

Source: Medium

Purchasing and selling of goods, products, or services over the internet is what is referred to as “e-commerce” or “electronic commerce.” E-commerce is often referred to as electronic commerce and business conducted via the internet. These services are offered digitally, via the global network of the internet. The exchange of data, money, and funds is also regarded to fall under the umbrella of e-commerce. These commercial dealings may be conducted in one of four different ways: business to business (B2B), business to customer (B2C), customer to customer (C2C), or customer to business (C2B). A commercial transaction that takes place over the internet is typically referred to as “e-commerce,” which is an abbreviation for “electronic commerce.” E-commerce websites include the likes of Amazon, Flipkart, Shopify, Myntra, Ebay, Quikr, and Olx, which are examples of online stores. The potential value of all retail sales conducted online worldwide could exceed $27 trillion by the year 2020. Let’s get some more information on the many sorts of e-commerce, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of using each one.

 

E-commerce is a common term that refers to electronic commerce or even commerce conducted over the internet. Its purpose is to bring together people who are interested in buying and selling items through the internet, as the name suggests. This includes the buying and selling of products and services, the moving of money, and the sharing of information with one another.

 

Therefore, if you go to Amazon and buy a book through their website, you are engaging in a classic example of an online commercial transaction. After interacting with the vendor (in this case, Amazon), exchanging information in the form of photographs, text, addresses for delivery, etc., and finally making the payment, you will arrive at this page.

 

E-commerce is currently one of the areas that is expanding at one of the quickest rates in the overall economy. According to one estimation, its annual growth rate is close to 23%. Furthermore, by the end of this decade, it is anticipated that the industry would be worth $27 trillion.

 

E commerce models

  1. Business to Business

These are business transactions between two businesses. Here, the many companies are engaged in commercial transactions with one another. The end user does not play a role in this process. Therefore, only the manufacturers, distributors, merchants, and so on are involved in the online transactions.

 

  1. Business to Consumer

Direct to consumer marketing. In this scenario, the corporation will offer their products and/or services straight to the end user. The customer can look at the products, read customer reviews, and view images of the goods on the company’s website. After that, they place their order, and the corporation sends the goods to them without any intervening steps. Examples such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Jabong are very popular.

 

  1. Consumer to Consumer

Consumer to consumer refers to situations in which individual customers interact directly with one another. There is not a single company participating. It facilitates the sale of individuals’ personal belongings and assets to a third party who is interested in purchasing them. In most cases, things such as automobiles, bicycles, technological devices, and the like are traded. This model is followed by OLX and Quikr, among others.

 

  1. Consumer to Business

This is the opposite of business-to-consumer, which stands for business-to-consumer. Therefore, the consumer supplies the corporation with a good or some sort of service. Consider the case of a self-employed information technology worker who promotes and sells his own software to businesses. This is considered a business-to-business transaction.

 

E commerce and its advantages

  1. A larger audience is accessible to businesses

E-commerce makes it easier to connect with a huge number of potential customers without the need to first determine an ideal physical site for a retail business. The audience can be targeted in a more straightforward manner, which ultimately results in the generation of leads.

  1. Costs to run a business are lower

When companies are handled electronically, there is a reduction in the costs associated with running the firm. There will be a decrease in either the office space or the rent. The burden of flashing the advertising boards that are both the most expensive and the most conspicuous is also lifted. Because the profit margin is much higher than average, the prices charged to customers are also much lower than average.

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  1. It’s easier for the customer to shop from home

People all across the world have seen a sea change in their way of life as a direct result of the coronavirus. People feel better at ease purchasing things online rather than physically visiting to a crowded market. This trend began with purchases of food and apparel and has since progressed to include considerations of preferences and tastes. In the past, going to the market was a common practise that was favoured for a variety of reasons. On the other hand, now that COVID has been overturned, people are more willing to put their faith in businesses that sell things online.

 

  1. Shoppers now have easy access to product information across many brands

As a result of the proliferation of internet businesses, consumers are now more knowledgeable about the many different brands and varieties available. They are now more brand and quality concerned than ever before. Customers are able to learn more about the brands’ specs through e-commerce, and they can then determine their preferences based on this information.

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  1. Varieties are offered

The traditional method of doing business was not an easy-to-go-job for many, as it involved higher costs and more in-depth understanding of the industry. On the other hand, running an online business is generally simpler because there are fewer overhead expenses, a smaller personnel, and a smaller physical footprint. As a direct consequence of this, the level of competitiveness has significantly risen across all industries. This has shown to be beneficial for customers, as a result of which they are serviced better with a broader selection of high-quality options in an atmosphere of intense competition.

 

  1. Direct communication

In the old model of a company’s operations, the supply chain would not allow the original manufacturer to have direct contact with the end users of the product. As a result, there was a significant divide between the consumers and the manufacturers. Consumers are now able, as a result of the rise of e-commerce, to very simply communicate their likes and dislikes, which provides manufacturers with the information they need to make the necessary customizations.

 

Conclusion

There are currently 12–24 million websites that are used for commercial transactions online, and that number is growing at an exponential rate.  The future is e-commerce, or it isn’t. It is highly conceivable that the existing companies will fail in the not-too-distant future if they do not adapt to both, the old, and the emerging modes of conducting business, i.e., e-commerce. It is not possible to make the maximum profit through traditional retailing alone.

 

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