E-commerce,
also known as Electronic
commerce is a business industry where transaction of products and services
are conducted electronically or online using internet applications like e-mail
and web services. It is basically application of technology in the daily
transactions of businesses by companies that include marketing, sales and
exchange of data to aid in the financing and payment so that it does not
necessarily require physical presence. It presents an effective and efficient
way of communicating within organizations and is therefore more useful way of
conducting business.
The success of e-commerce is mainly associated with
its numerous advantages over retail shops that make businesses adapt. These
benefits include reduction in cost of operations because online shopping does
not necessarily require physical presence, therefore cutting down rent and
other costs that are eminent for retail businesses. With online shopping,
customers are also able to compare prices in the market before committing to
purchase a product or service. E-commerce also allows small businesses to mix
and equally compete for global market share with established businesses. Online
shopping also greatly reduces time wastage.
E-commerce was massively adapted with the innovation
and introduction powerful personal computers that powered a whole new world of
intellectual, social and financial interactions by enabling linkage to global
information networks. Businesses were using primitive computer networks prior to
that to conduct electronic transactions called Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI). The innovation of universal
standard for sharing business information electronically by American
National Standards Institute (ANSI) known as ASC X12, followed by many other breakthroughs
like the Transmission Control Protocol and Internet
Protocol (TCP/IP) triggered this shift to the new era.
Introduction of networking services for home PC users
like the CompuServe enabled not only emailing but also chatting and
electronic Mall where users could purchase items directly online merchants was
another notable reason.
Currently almost all
major business entities across the world use online credit card sales and
digital identifications. There is also heavy investment on their part in regard
to security of their online users. Many governments and military of stable
economies are also investing more than decades before in new technologies for
even more effectiveness and that can only serve as indicators of more engagement
in e-commerce. This conscious investment can be attributed to the extreme
growth in smartphones, tablets and other
portable devices; e-commerce has been growing at least twice as fast as total
retail sales since 2008.
The future of
e-commerce is therefore where businesses appreciate personalization and curated
content like Near Field Communication (NFC)
that allows a user to transact through his/her smartphone or filtering and
recommending products based on customers’ previous purchases. To cope up with
competition as a result of e-commerce, businesses have to depend on product
differentiation and keenness to end-product to keep customer loyalty.
The growing confidence
of people to use their credit cards online is also another indicator that
e-commerce has a lot to offer in terms of expansion. This exponential growth in
online transaction, spending and ecommerce penetration will be expected to
cause drastic changes as the global markets mature leading to further impetus for a favorable
online scenario.
Growing online e-commerce will
also lead to increase in creation of new jobs and business opportunities for
people with the necessary skills like e-marketers and online customer support
staff. Programs like
Search engines, SEO Services, social media co-ordination, secure
online payments, handling the integration of online accounts therefore are some
of the services which will be in demand to support this e-commerce trend in the
future.
In conclusion, the future is bright for
entrepreneurs and businesses who are either planning or have already adapted
e-commerce worldwide. There are so many opportunities that online business
transaction presents to all its users which has led to confidence in investing
in these opportunities by championed by institutions like Amazon and eBay.
Many governments and military agencies are also
following this foot print by adapting technologies in their daily operations in
the attempt to create effectiveness and efficiency.
