E-Commerce

 E-COMMERCE

What is E-commerce ?

Ecommerce or electronic commerce is the trading of goods and services on the internet . It is your bustling city center or brick-and-mortar shop translated into zeroes and ones on the internet superhighway . This year , an estimated 2.14 billion people word wide will buy goods and services online , and the number of Prime members shopping amazon stores now tops 150 million .

                                                              It is commonly known as electronic marketing . It consist of buying and selling goods and services over an electronic system such as the internet .E-commerce is the purchasing , selling &exchanging goods and services over computer network or internet through which transactions or terms of sale are performed electronically .

Why E-commerce ?

Here are a few important benefits , among a host of others, of this revolutionary model of business:

• E-commerce bridges the gap between local sellers and global audiences , thereby helping them in widening their reach across the global market segments .
• The consumers are provided with a gamut of options for procurements .
• It facilitates the round-the-clock conduct of trade .

Types of E-commerce

The following are the different types of E-commerce platforms :-

1. Business-to-Business (B2B)
2. Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
3. Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)
4. Consumer-to-Business (C2B)
5. Business-to-Administration (B2A)
6. Consumer-to-administration (C2A)

Business-to-Business (B2B)

A B2B model of business involves the conduct of trade between two or more businesses / companies . the channels of such trade generally include conventional wholesalers and producers who are dealing with retailers .

Business-to-Consumer (B2C)

Business-to-Consumer model of business deals with the retail aspects of E-commerce , i.e. the sale of goods and / or services to the end consumer through digital means . The facility , which has taken the business world by storm , enables the consumer to have a detailed look at their proposed procurements before placing an order . After the placement of such orders , the company / agent receiving the order will then deliver the same to the consumer in a consumer time-span . Some of the business operating in this channel include well-known players like Amazon , Flipkart , etc.

Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)

This business model is leveraged by a consumer for selling used goods and/or services to other consumers through the digital medium. The transactions here are pursued through a platform provided by a third party, the likes of which include OLX, Quickr, etc.

Consumer-to-Business (C2B)

A C2B model is the exact reversal of a B2c model. While the latter is serviced to the consumer by a business, the C2B model provides the end consumers with an opportunity to sell their products/services to companies. The method is popular in crowdsourcing based projects, the nature of which typically includes logo designing, sale of royalty-free photographs/media/design elements, and so on and so forth.

Business-to-Administration (B2A)

This model enables online dealings between companies and public administration, i.e. the Government by enabling the exchange of information through central websites. It provides businesses with a platform to bid on government opportunities such as auctions, tenders, application submission, etc. The scope of this model is now enhanced, thanks to the investments made towards e-government

Consumer-to-administration (C2A)

The C2A platform is meant for consumers, who may use it for requesting information posting feedbacks concerning public sectors directly to the government authorities/administration. Its areas of applicability include:

• The dissemination of information.
• Distance learning.
• Filing of tax returns.
• Seeking appointments, information about illness, payment of health services, etc.

Advantages of E-Commerce

There are a number of prominent and not-so- advantages for doing business on an online platform. understanding exactly how e-commerce works can help individuals everage them to their and their business advantage :

A Larger Market

E-commerce allows individuals ton reach customers all across the country and all around the world. E-commerce gives business owners the platform to reach people from the comfort of their homes. The customers can make any purchase anytime and anywhere, and significantly more individuals are getting used to shopping on their mobile devices.

 Customer Insights Via Tracking and analytics

Whether the business are sending the visitors to their e-commerce website via PPC,SEO, ads or a good old postcard, their is a way of tracking the traffic and the customers  entire user journey for getting insights in to the keywords, marketing.

Lower Cost

With the advancement of the e-commerce platforms, it has become very affordable an easy to set up and run an eCommerce business with a lower overhead. Business people no longer need to spend a big budget on TV Ads or billboards, nor think about personnel and real estate expenses.

More Opportunities for "selling."

Business people can only offer a limited amount of information about a product in a physical store. Besides that, ecommerce websites give them the space to include more information like reviews, demo video, and customer testimonials for helping increased conversion.

Personalised messaging

E-Commerce platforms give people in business the opportunity to provide personalised content and product recommendations for registering customers. These targeted communications by showing the most relevant content to the visitor.

Fast Response To The Consumer Trends And The Market demands

Especially for the business people who do "drop ship," the logistics, when steamlined, allow these business to respond to the market and the trends o eCommerce and demands of the consumers in a lively manner. Business people can also create deals and promotions on the fly for attracting customers and generate more sales.

Disadvantages of E-Commerce

Running a business that is e-commerce is not always rainbows and unicorns. There are unique challenges to this business model-learning about them will help business people navigate the choppy waters and avoid common pitfalls.

Lack of personal Touch

Some customers appreciate the personal touch they offer when visiting a physical store by interacting with the sales associates. Such personal touch is especially essential for business that sell high-end products and have an excellent experience during the process.

Lack of Tactile Experience

No matter how good a video is made,customers still can't feel and touch a product. not to mention, it's never an easy task to deliver a brand experience that could often be including the sence of touch, taste, smell, and sound via the two-dimensionality of any screen.

product and Price Comparison

with online shopping, customers can compare several products and find the least price. This forces many business to compete on price and reduce their profit margin, reducing the quality of products.

Credit card Fraud

Credit card frauds are a natural and growing problem for online business. It can lead to many chargebacks, which result in the loss of penalties, revenue, and bad reputation.

Need for access to the Internet

This is obvious, but don't forget that the customers do need access to the Internet before purchasing from any business! As many eCommerce platforms have the features and functionalities which require a high-speed internet connection for an optimal consumer experience.

All the Eggs in One Basket

E-Commerce businesses rely solely or heavily on their websites. even just some minutes of downtime or teachnology glitches could be resulting in a substantial revenue loss and customer dissatisfaction. 

The best E-Commerce platforms

1. Shopify.
2. Wix.
3. BigCommerce
4. adobe Commerce
5. wooCommerce
6. Prestashop
7. squarespace
8. Big cartel
9. weebly.
10. 3dcart
11. Volusion
12. Opencart

How E-Commerce works ?

Here's one example of how a sophisticated, fully computerized e-commerce system might work. Not all e-commerce systems work in exactly this way:

• Sitting at her computer, a customer tries to order a book online. her Web browser communicates back-and-fourth over the Internet.
• The Web server sends her order to the order manager. 
• The order manager queries a database to find out whether what the customer wants is actually in stock.
• The bank computer confirms whether the customer has enough funds.
• The merchant system might make extra checks with the customer's own bank computer.
• The goods are delivered to the customer.
• The order manager sends a request to the warehouse to dispatch the goods to the customer.