E-commerce or Electronic commerce means buying and selling of goods, products or services over the internet . These services are provided online over the internet network. Transaction of money, funds and data are also considered as E-commerce.
These medium has been widely accepted and now seen as the best way to trade or do business but it has its own challenges aside the benefit.
Now in this post, we would like to outline some of the pros and cons associated with it
Benefits and Challenges of E-commerce
E-commerce had enormous opportunities for Micro small and medium Enterprises to showcase their products and services and grow revenues.
E-commerce Pros.
. E-commerce provides sellers with a global reach. They remove the barrier of place (geography)
. E-commerce substantially lower the transaction cost. It eliminates many fixed costs of maintaining brick and mortar shops. This allows the companies to enjoy a much higher margin of profit.
. E-commerce provides quick delivery of goods with very little effort on part of the customer.
. One great advantage is the convenience it offers. A customer can shop 24*7. The website is functional at all times, it does not have to working hours likes shop.
. E-commerce also allows the customer and the busines to be touch directly, without any intermediaries. This allows for quick communication and transactions. It also gives a valuable personal touch.
E-commerce -cons
. E-commerce gives the consumer all(or most ) products details. This information revealed can make the supplier vulnerable with its competitors.
. The start-up costs of the E-commerce portal are usually very high. The setup of the hardware and the software, the training cost of employers, the constant maintenance and upkeep makes it quiet expensive.
. E-commerce industry has a high risk of failure. Many companies risking on platforms such as dot-com can fail.
.E-commerce can sometimes feel impersonal. So it takes the warmth of an interpersonal relationship which is important for many brands and products.
. Security is another area of concern. Only recently, we have witnessed many security breaches where the information of the customers and businesses were stolen. Credit card theft, identity theft etc. remain big concerns with e-commerce partners.
. Then there are also fulfillment problems. Even after the order is placed there can be problems with shipping, delivery, mix ups etc. This leaves the customers unhappy and dissatisfied.
Well I just brought up these points so we can outweigh and make our choices when choosing E-commerce as a platform to sell our products.
I’m a business Development officer and I will be taking you through some of these things related to business in order to ensure we have a successful journey ahead.
