Question

What is e-commerce?

Electronic commerce draws on technologies such as ?

The main stages that e-commerce passes through three stages ?

Types of e-commerce ?

Challenges in the e-commerce ?

Traditional Commerce vs E-commerce?

"with reference "

Answer 1

Ecommerce refers to electonic commerce. It  the process of buying and selling of products or services, making money transfers, and transferring data over an electronic medium (Internet). This network allows people to do business without the constraint of distance and time.Buying and selling products on Amazon, eBay etc are examples of ecommerce. With internet banking you can pay bills online.In present scenario not Covid 19 ecommerce is of great importance as cash payments are being avoided due to fear of spread of virus.

Electronic commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems.

Three stages of ecommerce

Sales phase

This phase involves selecting the type of product that fits online marketing. Selling books and electronics will fetch more customers as compared to groceries and vegetables.Capturing this market will require investing into transactional websites, CRM and fulfillment capabilities.

Consumer Phase

Creating the ultimate experience, by building a seamless shopping journey. Focus on tailored products and personalized offers. Success in this phase will require an instantly responsive supply chain; being able to deliver within the expectations. Consumers want to buy anywhere, have delivery everywhere, and both completed at all times.This phase is concerned with satisfaction of consumers.

Profitability Phase

Online profit margins are less.This means sales are to be made on large scale to increase profits.Focus on the ability to offer lower prices, a broad selection and increased convenience. These will likely lead to higher sales growth to offset the lower margins.

Types of ecommerce

B2B: Business To Business Ecommerce
A B2B model focuses on providing products from one business to another Example ExxonMobil Corporation and the Chevron Corporation, Boeing, and Archer Daniel.

B2C Business to Consumer

This is the most commonly used model. Business selling products to consumer.Wal mart, Amazon, Overstock.com are certain examples.

C2C Consumer to Consumer

Created by the rise of the ecommerce sector and growing consumer confidence in online business, these sites allow customers to trade, buy, and sell items in exchange for a small commission paid to the site. Opening a C2C site takes careful planning.Examples include varius auction sites, olx.com etc.

C2B Consumer to Business

In this model consumer sells goods and services to business.Itviscroughly equal to sole proprietorship. Up work, affiliate marketing, Google AdSense are certain examples.

Challenges in Ecommerce

Identity verification.

You are not aware of the true identity of online customer. You are not sure if he is entering his true name and providing true credentials.

Competitor analysis

Competition in this sector is going day by day.Many sellers are offering this service. You have to figure out how to stand out of competition and attract more customers.

Customer Loyalty

Retaining a customer is big problem in Ecommerce business. This had to be done by customer satisfaction, follow ups, sending emails etc.

Pricing and Shipping

Same product may be priced differently on different websites. Big brands can provide shipping discounts ad they have warehouse located at different places. New and upcoming brands have to look out for ways to offer quality products at less price.

Data Security

This is one of greatest drawback of Ecommerce industry. Customer data can be stolen by hacking websites leading to leakage of important information. Proper security measures have to be adopted by e-commerce stores to prevent data leakage.

Traditional Commerce vs Ecommerce

Traditional commerce is a branch of business which focuses on the exchange of products and services, and includes all those activities which encourages exchange, in some way or the other. e-Commerce means Carrying out commercial transactions or exchange of information, electronically on the internet.

Traditional Commerce enables consumer to check the product thoroughly before buying as compared to e-commerce

Traditional Commerce requires extra efforts as customer has to visit to store but e-commerce is suitable for ultra busy people who don't have time for personal shopping.

During present scenario of Covid 19 e-commerce is of immense importance as compared to traditional Commerce.Due to lockdowns and avoidance of cash transactions e-commerce is the need of hour.