E-Commerce

E-Commerce

Electronic commerce, abbreviated to E-commerce, refers to the action of buying and selling products by means of using the internet as your source of distribution of items or collection of items. However, e-commerce doesn’t just cover the action of buying and selling online, it can also refer to such factors like development, marketing, banking and many more. The name given to brands that have a retailer and a website are known as ‘brick and click’. Although there are some brands that only have a site or only have a shop.

Shopping:

The sheer amount of internet shopping has increased radically over this generation and will undoubtedly continue to grow in many years to come. People see online shopping as such an easier task when compared to taking a trip to the town centre; especially if they can access their desired shop from the comfort of their own home. There are also specific websites that are dedicated to selling an enormous amount of products from all categories, such sites being Amazon.co.uk, Ebay.co.uk. These two sites are among the most popular and most used across the internet; they rely on the feedback and reviews that are given to them, otherwise the site will cease to exist, as they are heavily dependent on the people that use the site. Ebay and Amazon were both founded in 1995 and are among the highest rated shopping sites on the internet. Although they may seem quite similar, Ebay is an auction website, where the user can bid for the item they wish, and Amazon is simply an online shopping site. One huge difference that these sites have is one of the payment systems, being PayPal. PayPal is a very secure way of making sure that both the seller and the buyer receive both item and money. PayPal sends the money to the seller regardless of the condition but keeps hold of it just out of the reach of the seller. Once the item is received to the buyer then the money is transferred to the seller, however, if the item is not sent within a certain time then the money is instantly returned.



Ebay Logo
(Taken from Google Images)



Amazon Logo
(Taken from Google Images)



Advantages of Online Shopping:

-There is a definite potential to selling more of your stock if you use online as well as retail (from a business point of view).

-Discounts/special offers/sales can be rewarded and be made more visible on a website than in shops in some instances, meaning people will be more likely to come back to the website.

-The site will always be open.

-There is a much wider customer base online than in the shopping centre.

-You do not need to travel anywhere in order to purchase anything online.

-You can save your browsing history in online shops so that you can come back to possibly buying them at a later date.

-It is much easier to compare items from the internet than it is in store, in terms of whether the same item is available in another shop and you want to compare prices.

Disadvantages of Online Shopping:

-The site will require a high amount of maintenance to ensure that it is kept running smoothly.

-There is the possibility that the item you ordered was not what you thought it was going to be, or that it may get mixed up with another person’s order.

-There is less direct help online, so you are unable to ask a shop assistant about any questions you may have.

-You will need to wait for your item to be delivered; this is one of the biggest downsides that people see in online shopping, the fact that you can’t have your item there and then like in the actual shop.

-Hackers can get into the website and potentially shut it down or gain access to many peoples banking details.

-Postage and packaging may be involved and the cost could be added to the total at the end, which may not end up being as cheap as it once was.

Banking:

Online banking is a feature of E-Commerce that has also been growing in popularity over the generations; but not as much as online shopping. The reason for this is that you are having to supply the bank site with all your details, just like you would do in a normal bank on the high-street, but you do not necessarily know how safe it is; as there is always the risk of your bank being hacked and your details stolen. However, banks are still able to get around this worry that customers may have by offering the best security and anti-hacking systems so that they will be safe when using their site. This usually involves many questions to be answered and passcodes to be entered by the user so that everything they are giving is completely safe and 100% secure to them and them alone. Along with high security systems the banks will also offer compensation if anything does happen to your bank details, money back guarantees, credit card details and much more; all so that you are able to bank confidently and feel safe whilst doing it.

Advantages of Online Banking:

-Using the online bank means that you do not need to travel there.

-Banks are known to have very unhelpful opening and closing times, and not open at all on Sundays, but online banking is open 24/7.

-You can get online statements to give you full details of your banking.

-Every so often the banks need to send out mail regarding information on how much money you have in your account. But with the online site, they can send you the information via the site or an email you have provided for them which is much quicker than mailing out the information; and in turn it also saves the business money on postage and paper.

Disadvantages of Online Banking:

-Online banks are always number one at risk of being overrun with virus’s and hackers trying to steal bank credentials.

-Transactions may take a long time to process with all the security checks you might need to pass.

-Banking online can sometimes be a very complicated system to get into.

-There is no professional advice or one to one advice for people with questions, which is something that banks are quite usually used for.

My Experience:

My only experience of using E-commerce is using online shopping, including Amazon and Ebay, but not online banking. I have bought many items from both sites, but it has not always been such a smooth transaction. I had once paid for a pair of trainers on Ebay, going by the picture of which was shown it had taken my interest. Though once it arrived it was not the same item as shown on the picture, so I needed to send an email asking what had gone wrong. Eventually, after waiting a few more days, I got the right shoes I had wished for and as an apology by the seller, got to keep the other ones too. This is a clear example of how people are so reliant on feedback and good reviews on these sites, as I could’ve given a negative review on the seller saying they had sent me the wrong item, but as they were deeply sorry for the incident and apologized, there was no need to write such a review.