In short, when it comes to buy or sell anything and transferring money over the electronic network, mainly the internet, is electronic commerce. A good example is online shopping, where buying and selling goods over the internet takes place on the e-commerce website.
Internet is the crucial element that makes this industry go up and running. Individuals or businesses gain access to e-commerce websites and perform a transaction in place of products or services. Many traditional businesses have expanded to the e-commerce business. It enables customers to reach out to sellers with minimum hassle.
Common types of e-commerce are Business to Business, Business to Consumer, Consumer to Consumer, and Consumer to Business. Online retail shopping is also referred to as e-commerce. Many of us are familiar with this type of e-commerce activity. We will go further and discuss the advantages or disadvantages of E-commerce.
Advantages of E-commerce
The following are the few advantages of eCommerce that make this industry successful and grows continuously.
1. Quick and Available
Ecommerce enables shoppers to do shopping directly from where they are as travel is not needed. It takes time to shop physically from the traditional market. You might not get the item if it does not present upon your arrival. All you need is internet connectivity and the device to gain access to the e-commerce website.
Also, shopping is not limited to the period as the order can be placed 24/7 on most e-commerce websites or applications. Most of the food retails on e-commerce websites offer instant delivery all day long.
2. Search and Recommendation Feature on Ecommerce Websites
You may have a tough time finding products in the store physically. Assistance may require looking for the desired item, which may be frustrating and taking enough of your time. On the other hand, desired products or services can easily be found by typing in the search field on an e-commerce website.
Additionally, Purchases are made on websites, then artificial intelligence – AI helps you recommend products and services as per your purchase history with various options. It saves you money and time by filtering out the search results.
Disadvantages of E-commerce
No doubt, there are some bad with every good thing present in this world. ECommerce also has some disadvantages that create hurdles for many people in building trust in online shopping trends.
1. Physical Essence of the Market
The biggest drawback of e-commerce is that you are not assisted right away if you have any questions about products and services. Customer service is not readily available on e-commerce websites. Some of the websites have the Chatbot, but it is also constrained to particular questions which you may find irritating.
It has been witnessed that the product displayed on the website is not delivered in actuality. Therefore, we are unable to touch the product first before buying out.
2. Delivery and Fraud Risk
The product can be purchased right away in the traditional market, and delivery may not be required. It takes 3 to 5 delivery days for the standard shipping of the product when purchased from the websites. Even if it is experienced that next-day delivery often gets delayed.
Fraud is one factor that has to be considered, as using the payment method over the internet is a bit risky. Many professional hackers look for such websites where payment methods are used, and they steal the information.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, e-commerce has changed people’s shopping habits as we are more dependent on technology. Significantly, COVID 19 impacted society and restricted people from going out in the traditional markets. Customers are preferring using the online medium instead of going out.
We must look for the pros and cons before making any transaction over the electronic network. At the same time, we must adapt technology to get the most out of it.