Introduction
Imagine you are in the 1980s and your parents are driving 10 kilometers to get groceries from a supermarket. Who could imagine that not just groceries but cooked food will be one click away? The delivery person who comes to that apartment on the 20th floor is just another convenient example of E-commerce. The world has completely transformed itself and evolved to the extent that we can’t even realize our lives without the comforts we take for granted.
E-commerce, as a term, was coined in the 1960s as it is then the rise of electronic commerce which meant buying or selling goods and services through the transmission of data. Fast-forward to today, when the most popular things are done online. From conducting online interviews to conducting crucial business, the popularity of E-commerce is here to stay and increase by leaps and bounds.
What is E-commerce?
It refers to the usage of the internet to conduct commercial business transactions that involve the exchange of money across organizations that are not limited by physical boundaries. In simple terms, it means that a trader based in the United States can order 1 million pens from China to be produced on an email and transfer the required money via various channels. This feasible task of doing things without even getting out of your room is called E-commerce.
Apart from the above example that is a tiny part of the whole of E-commerce, our everyday lives are surrounded by such other examples, be it reserving your railway tickets on the internet or applying for your first job on an online portal or even buying your kid’s favorite toy on the internet, E-commerce has revolutionized the way we used to conduct our tasks. Online websites like Amazon.com or ebay.com have become multi-billionaire businesses over just a matter of a few years.
Why do people prefer buying online?
- Lower prices: It is simple maths, a business will not have to hire employees to sell the goods or services to their consumers. This also means that they can settle on buying a warehouse which costs less for the company. Along with this, many other things work in favor of the businessperson. In this way, the products are listed cheaper to sell more and incentivize the customers. All of this results in producing and selling goods and services at a much cheaper price.
- Accessibility and convenience: Unlike physical stores, the websites that let you conduct business, are opened 24*7 and you can order millions of things with the convenience of one click. In this way, the online business transactions are not just convenient, but also customer-centric. The amount of knowledge and the expertise the internet provides, one can do all the research before making an informed decision.
- Availability of choice: Forget about the times when businesses had a monopoly on products and services. Competitive prices with extremely efficient service providers are just one Google search away. For example, an Apple iPhone is designed in the U.S., manufactured in China and its customer service is outsourced from India. It is in this sense the companies work and they provide the consumers with the best experience at good prices.
Having said all of that, E-commerce has opened up a plethora of opportunities for everyone aspiring to become an entrepreneur. However, we can’t deny the traditional way of conducting face-to-face business has its own relevance.
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