E-Commerce

What is E Commerce?

E Commerce, also referred to as electronic commerce, involves any business or commercial transaction which takes place over the internet. E Commerce covers a number of different businesses from retail sites, auctions, music sites, to business exchanging trading goods. Ecommerce first emerged in the late 1970s. Ecommerce provides a 24/7 online ‘shopping’ experience with no barriers regarding distance.

Advantages of Ecommerce

Ecommerce offers a quick way of buying and selling products in an environment with no time limit or distances restrictions. Ecommerce also allows small businesses that have no have retail stores open to ‘open’ online; this gives smaller companies more of a chance to compete against bigger businesses. Ecommerce is easy to set up and manage and allows the customers to easily select the product they want, read details and reviews about that product and even compare it to similar products.

Disadvantages of Ecommerce

There are some disadvantages to Ecommerce. Many sites can take the customers money for the product that they are buying without any guarantee that the quality will be as promised, this is particularly common with auction sites such as EBay. Security is also a massive part of Ecommerce; many hackers/ viruses are able to access sites and take credit card details and then use them for other purchase without the knowledge of the customer.

Personal Experience:

In my experience E-Commerce offers so many different advantages such as shopping online for clothes, controlling my bank balance using Nationwide’s Online Banking sites. It saves me so much time and effort.

Online Banking

Egg.com Logo

Many of the well known banks such as NatWest, HSBC and Nationwide now offer online banking for their account holders. These are referred to as ‘Brick and Click’ banks. There are a number of ‘Brick and Click’ banks, although sites such as Egg Banking (www.egg.com) that operate entirely online, which started back in 1998 and has been growing ever since. There are many advantages and disadvantages of online banking:

Advantage of Online Banking for the Customer

With all Online Ecommerce, you can access your latest online bank statement any time of day, unlike the high street branches this makes it extremely convenient people who may have busy lives. Another advantage of Online Banking is that you can make transfers in to your bank or transfers to other accounts anywhere in the world. This makes Online Banking very much an international business; this compared to high street where it usually takes 3-5 working days. Online Banks also set up ‘app’ with both Android and iOS compatible devices which allow customers to make transfers on the go.  With Online Banking no paper is being used, which could be seen as an advantage and a disadvantage (for the more old fashioned).

Advantage of Online Banking for the Bank:

One advantage of Online Banking is the attraction of more customers and the bank itself can begin to gain more profit. This then increases how well the bank is known on a global scale.

Disadvantage of Online Banking for the Customers:

There are, however, some disadvantages of Online Banking.  Trust is a big part of Online Banking; trusting a computer with what can be, your life savings, is a big risk for some people. Although banks always have very complex security systems, your money could still be at risk. There is no human interaction for the customer, a friendly face is always useful if you need someone to trust, if anything goes wrong you can go back to that person, this doesn’t happen with Online Banking.

Disadvantage of Online Banking for the Banks:

Setting up of an Online Bank for the Bank can be very expensive with the setting up of security and the website itself.

Personal Experience:

As I previously mentioned I use Nationwide’s Online Banking site, it allows me to cheque my balance etc and is a really useful asset to have.

Online Shopping:

Online Shopping is one of the most successful additions to the web since it was created. It is now easier and quicker to buy things online than it even has been with next day delivery as an added option. There is also no need to travel which saves the customer money on car/bus/train.

Advantages of Shopping Online for the Customer:

One obviously advantage of online shopping is the lack of queues, you can now have your product delivered to your front door the day after you have ordered it; again like all Ecommerce online shopping offers 24/7 service. Online shopping allows you to save your favourite item and come back for it later, you can also leave comments and reviews on products for other customers to read and ‘like’ or ‘dislike’. One of the biggest that Online Shopping offers is the range and size of the stock they have.

Advantage of Shopping Online for the business:

There are a number of obvious advantages that Online Shopping offers to stores. It boosts the store appearance and makes the shop look good; it increased their popularity and brings in far more revenue then retail stores. Online shopping is also a fantastic way of expanding newly formed businesses.

Disadvantages of Shopping Online for the Customers:

Online shopping doesn’t give the customer the option to try out the product he/she are buying, sizing, quality etc. When buying online you have to pay for P&P (Postage and Packaging). There is a possibility of delays with the delivery therefore you may not be at home when it arrives and miss the delivery.

Disadvantages of Shopping Online for the Business:

Websites may not seem it but they are very expensive to run and maintain. Another disadvantage of online shopping for the businesses is the amount of competitions around.

Personal Experience:

I online shop, A LOT! I find it so much easier than going down to the nearest town and into store, it also gives me the option to shop on sites that may not be near me.

Online Auctions

The days of auction houses and hammers have gone and in their place are computers and the sound of mouse’s clicking. The most well known online auction site eBay was found in 1995 and has expanded to a global phenomenon. EBay allows customers to list an item up for auctions, other members then bid on that item in an attempt to get the highest bid.  

Advantages of Online Auction Sites for the Customer:

Online Auction sites allow customers to find items for great prices that they wouldn’t find anywhere else. Auction sites such as eBay allow you to see how trustworthy the person you are buying off is, it shows you a percentage of how happy people were with their products. If you already a product which is broken, you can buy parts for that product.

Advantages of Online Auctions site for the sellers:

Sites such as eBay can make a business out of selling other people items and even take commission on the profit that people make. eBay offer a service where if you build up a good enough reputation on their site you can become a ‘Power Seller’ and have your own section on eBay.

Disadvantages of Online Auction Sites for the Customer:

Online auctions are well known to be full of ‘scammers’ whose sole purpose is to rip people off. Some people sell fake products, to make people buy them and then sell them nothing. The customer is unable to test out products before buying them. The product that the customer receives may be broken or damaged.

Disadvantage of Online Auction Sites for the sellers:

As previously mentions eBay take commission (10%) on some good that you may sell. Selling on an online auction can be very time consuming as well.