The Benefits Of E-Commerce

E-commerce

Introduction

E-commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services using the internet. It is facilitated through online shopping, online marketplaces, or electronic data exchange. It can also be described as a market where buyers and sellers transact via internet and payment is made through E-credit. Although traditional business is also present and highly used in the world, the e-commerce is rapidly becoming popular forcing traditional business to go online.

Importance of the E-commerce

Cheap and Convenient. Carrying out business online has cut down the cost of promotion and marketing for goods and services. Time barriers do not affect online transactions as the services can be accessed any time of the day with just a click

The online business platforms provides a consumer with a variety of options to choose from, as there are endless number of services and products available on the internet. Therefore, a consumer makes rational decisions before purchasing a product or a service. Due to a large number of sites available on the internet, even consumers in the developing countries have been able to break the barriers of distance and ignorance. These consumers are now able to own products that are not available in their country of origin.

Information. E-commerce allows customers to exchange information and views among themselves. Members of certain online business platforms have created online forums where they express their opinion about a certain product or service. In turn, a customer acquires the relevant information before buying a product or a service. On the other hand, businesses use these platforms to get feedback on the various products and services they have been offering to the

Unlike the brick and mortar stores, the e-commerce websites are able to handle a large number of customers at the same time there by saving on the time a client would spend queuing on store awaiting to be served. The use of payment services, such as PayPal and Skrill, makes online shopping faster and simple. The added security measures helps keep the sites secure, thus improving on customers trust.

Challenges and Opportunities in the E-commerce

Regulation Issues. Businesses require consistency in regulation to avoid repeated change in decisions. The applicability of different state taxes in the various countries is posing a major hurdle in online business transactions, and this worsens in the less developed countries. Different countries have different legal age limits when purchasing certain products. Such limitations greatly affect the sale of products, such as alcohol, cigarettes, and weapons. If the regulations were harmonized, market penetration by online business platform would increase tremendously (Zang et al 5).

Payment Method. The online business transactions require a robust payment method. These methods vary across the globe. Therefore, companies should accept the payments in ways the customer prefer. Kmart store faced similar problems. However, the store did not change from the traditional form of carrying out business. Customers walked into their business, and nothing had