Question

What challenges must be overcome to establish an international e-commerce operation? minimum 650 words

Answer 1

International e-commerce is a type of business conducted in a foreign country with the help of commercial websites. This business is operated with the intention to attract foreign customers. This type of business has emerged with the growth of the internet and the scope of the area of doing business has increased tremendously around the world. Customers can shop anywhere in the world according to their wishes by sitting in their home country. But for operating business in such large areas, there are several hindrances that have to be overcome for the successful running of the business. The challenges that must be overcome are as follows-

1. No Common Language- When the business is conducted in a foreign land, one has to be accustomed to the local language spoken there. Every country has a different language and their things are named or labeled as per that. If there is a difference in that language, then the communication really becomes very difficult for both the host country as well as for the foreign country where the transaction will take place as the customer will not be able to understand the products.

2. Culture and tradition- There is a huge difference in the culture and tradition of all the countries. The products, their size, shape, usage vary a lot according to the place. The country initiating the business has to take care that it does not offend the tradition or culture of the target company while doing the business. Like the culture and taste of a Muslim oriented country quite differs from that of the christian oriented country. The businessman also has put his products following the tradition and customs to attract more customers.

3. Internet Dependency- For conducting an international eCommerce business, there has to be the provision of very speed net connectivity, otherwise doing the business is next to impossible. But sometimes due to many technical issues, the servers are not functioning properly. Due to this problem, the transactions failed, which cause huge loss both for the businessman as well as to the customers.

4.24 hour support system- It is an usual practice to provide a 24 hours assistance after the sale of the products. But here in this case, due to physical distances and different time zone, the 24 hours support system becomes quite difficult and it may annoy the client, if they do not get proper support on time.

5. Payment differences- For conducting international trade, the countries have to deal with different types of currencies and payment methods. These different payment options and transfer become quite difficult in case of different currencies of countries.

6. Employment- The employment opportunities of hiring in different countries are also very difficult to maintain.

7. Taxation issues - As there are different rules regarding taxation in different countries, the taxation becomes quite a hectic issue for conducting the business.

8. Loss of products- In conducting the business in different countries, there is always a risk of losing or damaging the products while in the transit.

9. Returning Products- The return policy in the international trade becomes quite difficult. As the customers and the place of business place varies so the returning of products becomes quite an impossible task.

10. Local competition becomes violent- The local competition with the foreign naturals becomes quite violent due to the insecurity in the local market for foreign entry of a new business.The customers also become quite reluctant to trust the new entered business and may not like to buy their products.