Pros and Cons of E-Commerce
Electronic commerce or e-commerce involves the buying and selling of products or services over the internet. Put simply, e-commerce means conducting business online. E-commerce software programs run the main functions of an e-commerce web site, including product display, online ordering, and inventory management. This software resides on a commerce server and works in conjunction with online payment systems to process payments. E-Commerce can help a small business off to a great start or can make it fizzle into bankruptsy. It can have a positive and negitive impact on the success of a small business.
There are many pros to e-commerce. One factor is
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These are a few of the major factors that can make e-commerce the right thing for a small business.
Though not all parts of e-commerce can make a small business soar to the Fortune 500. There are some cons to using e-commerce as an small business endeavor. One major con is the failure to understand the customers and why and how they buy. Retailers who do not understand customer habits, expectations, and motivations can have trouble selling a sound value product. Failure to co-ordinate is yet another con. If existing reporting and control relationships do not suffice, one can move towards a flat, accountable, and flexible structure, which may or may not aid co-ordination. Failure to obtain senior management commitment can often result in a failure to gain sufficient corporate resources to accomplish a task. It helps to get top management involved right from the start. Failure to obtain employee commitment will occur if planners do not explain their strategy well to employees, or fail to give employees the whole picture, then training and setting up incentives for workers to embrace the strategy may assist. Under-estimation of time requirements is another con of e-commerce. Setting up an e-commerce venture can take considerable time and money, and failure to understand the timing and sequencing of tasks can lead to significant cost overruns. Profitability may have to wait for the
The Internet over the past few years has seen a huge increase in online businesses and consumers. Electronic-commerce is expected to generate $36 billion in revenue during 1999, up 140% from last year alone.[1] With such a huge amount of money to be made on the Internet it is becoming very appealing for small businesses and start-up companies to try and make their niche in e-commerce. The Internet is drastically affecting the way companies and people conduct business now. E-commerce encourages growth in existing as well as new businesses because of lower overhead costs, the huge consumer base and the freedom of information flow. However the online revolution has created a large
E-commerce is the process of buying and selling of various products and services by businesses through the Internet. Primarily there are five types of ecommerce systems: Business to Consumer (B2C)
Before deciding on whether or not to engage in e-Commerce, a business must look at several factors in order to determine if they are ready and able to do everything needed in order to make it successful. Companies should initially perform a SWOT analysis in order to determine if selling products online would be beneficial to the overall company. They also need to make sure they understand they will be dealing with customers all over the world and are willing to take on the work involved to know all of the legalities involved. Taking a business online opens up a world of opportunities but also presents new challenges and difficulties. A company has to be able to spend the time and money in order to do the necessary research so
A computers have become more mainstream, more and more operations are conducted online. From online bill pay to simple searches, as one would do with the yellow pages, to online shopping, the Internet has helped shape the way computers are used today. With the Dotcom boom of the mid-nineties and early 2000s, ecommerce and e-business really started to take off. The Internet has given way to some of the biggest economic booms in history. The invention of smartphones and tablets has allowed for consumers to have instant access to the Internet, right at one's fingertips. While e-business is becoming more mainstream, and has its advantages, e-business also has its disadvantages.
E-commerce has fundamentally changed the lifestyle of the people. E-commerce has expanded rapidly that business transactions and services have no barriers. Some of the anticipated benefits of implementing e-commerce site by MMIS Bakery are:
Despite this, e-commerce doesn’t guarantee a business profit increases, as instead it can pose severe threats. One such threat is the risk of cyber attacks. A cyber attack is an attempt by hackers to damage or destroy a computer network or system. If a business falls vulnerable to one of these attacks it can severely damage their reputation. This reputation damage can lead to a loss of trust in the company by customers, as they will potentially have personal details such as bank cards/addresses accessed. This loss of trust will decrease brand loyalty and so the business will lose customers to competitors meaning lower sales and so decreased profits. Talk Talk shows a very recent case of a cyber attack. In October 2015 Talk Talk found themselves exposed to a cyber attack. Around 4% of the companies 4 million users were affected by the events. With More than 15,600 bank account numbers and sort codes were stolen, the company said. The scandal resulted in a £35 million pound loss for the company. This points shows how e-commerce can provide huge threats to companies despite the number of opportunities it provides too. These big risks that come alongside
E-commerce is a product that has been available since the early 90’s. It is something that people are familiar with. A product that is now part and parcel of people’s lives.
Many organizations industriously look for the opportunity to gain the competitive advantages in their industries. One of the opportunities that frequently used by the organization is the implementation of e-commerce. Thus, the e-commerce and the online sale transaction become popular in each industry. E-commerce provides many benefits, such as the saving of shopping time, the cost savings, convenience, and free from geographical constraints.
Starting a business can be a daunting task. Many prospective business owners think it is less costly to choose e-commerce. While this may be so, an e-commerce company still requires an investment (Holden, Belew, Elad, Rich, & Gulbrandsen, 2008). The owner will mitigate some of the normal overhead expenses by taking on tasks instead of paying professionals and working from a home office.
It is without a doubt that e-commerce has become a part of life for most of us. The E-commerce industry has grown and has truly taken the world by storm. It has faced numerous challenges from its initial stages and has surpassed a ton of them, making it a successful innovation in how we shop. However, there definitely still is room for improvement, as there are challenges that are left to be addressed.
E-commerce enhances the product fame. E-commerce makes life simpler and comfortable as we will opt for any product on line, no wants to move market.
E-Business and the internet allow for businesses to reach large sections of the population. It has changed the way we conduct business. It has impacted the way consumers make their decisions. The internet has enabled long distance purchasing as there are no geographical barriers. This is very evident from Zappos.com one of the first companies to take advantage of this.
E-business can transform the way a company does their business. There are plenty of benefits of this form of business for both the company and the customers. It gives customers an unlimited access to your products at every time of the day while most traditional brick shops would only be opened for a limited time. Secondly it makes expansion into foreign markets much easier as you can always sell your products abroad as customers can see all the products with a mouse click
Electronic commerce, or e-commerce, refers to economic activity that occurs online. E-commerce includes all types of business activity, such as retail shopping, banking, investing and rentals. Even small businesses that provide personal services, such as hair and nail salons, can benefit from e-commerce by providing a website for the sale of related health and beauty products that normally are available only to their local customers. To operate as an e-commerce company you need certain hardware, I will explain this.
E-commerce is when businesses decide to create websites to help promote and sell their products on the Internet. Here are some examples of successful e-commerce businesses.