Consumer Oriented E Commerce
Consumer Oriented E Commerce
Electronic retailing, or e-tailing, refers to the practice of selling goods and services
online over the Internet. It involves the entire process of buying and selling
products electronically, from browsing and selection to payment and delivery.
E-tailing has become increasingly popular due to the convenience it offers to both
consumers and retailers. Customers can shop from the comfort of their homes, at
any time of the day or night, without the need to visit physical stores. Retailers
benefit from reduced overhead costs associated with maintaining brick-and-mortar
stores and can reach a global audience with their products.
The process of e-tailing requires the company to capture internet sales by building
out different sorts of distribution channels.
It is the direct sale of information, products, or service via virtual stores available
on webs and sites as thousands of e-commerce sites are present on the internet
which is behaving like an extension of existing start-ups.
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Some ingredients are essential for e-retailing success such as an attractive B2C
(business to business) e-commerce portal, right revenue model, penetration of the
Internet, etc.
Features of e-tailing:
1. Ease of Use: This is the number one thing shoppers are looking for in an
ecommerce site: they want it to be easy to use.
2. Hi-res photos: Shoppers are looking for multiple views of an item in hi-res,
so they can see every detail. And we should mention that those hi-res
pictures should not take a long time to load. Adobe reports that 39% of
consumers will drop off if the photos take too long to load.
3. Mobile-formatted site: An ecommerce site is more successful if it’s friendly
to the mobile device user. In fact, Google lowered the boom on sites that
aren’t mobile friendly in 2017, and they don’t get the same SEO (search
engine optimization) considerations that mobile friendly sites do. That means
that your site won’t come up near the top in a Google search.
4. Free shipping: Is it worth it? Customers love free shipping so much that
they’ll spend 30% more on average if free shipping is offered.
5. User reviews: When shoppers buy a product they haven’t been able to touch
and engage with, they want to hear how other users like it. Encouraging
users to give reviews and featuring them prominently is important.
6. Secure payment options: Not only should there be secure payment options,
there should be cutting edge payment options. PayPal is passé . . . perhaps
ACH, WePay and Skrill are options you want to offer. Customers are always
looking for ways to keep their money and identity safe.
Generally, when a business purchases wholesale products online, they are buying
large quantities of goods. Therefore, it is important to negotiate reasonable prices
with fast shipping and safe handling.
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In order to develop the best e-tailing business model for B2B transactions, the
wholesale business must offer quantity discounts, reasonably fast shipping, and
ensure that the goods remain undamaged.
This makes shipping times and handling standards very important in any
company’s e-tailing business model.
1. Pure Play E-tailers: Pure play e-retailers are the types of business that only
offer e-tailing and do not operate any sort of physical stores that customers
can walk into.
Examples of pure play e-retailers are businesses such as Amazon, Ali
Express, Ali Baba, and drop-shipping businesses.
2. Brick and Click E-tailers: Brick and click e-tailers are businesses that offer
both e-tailing and maintain physical brick-and-mortar stores that customers
can shop at.
Almost every brick-and-mortar business uses some form of e-tailing but
more prominent brick and click e-tailers that offer exceptional service
include Apple, Foot Locker, and Sport Chek.
Benefits of E-Retailing:
1. Global Reach: E-retailing allows businesses to reach a global audience without
the need for physical stores in multiple locations. This expands their customer base
and market reach, opening up new opportunities for growth and revenue
generation. By leveraging the power of the internet, businesses can connect with
customers around the world and showcase their products or services to a much
larger audience than would be possible with a traditional brick-and-mortar store.
2. 24/7 Availability: Online stores are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,
allowing customers to shop at their convenience, even outside of regular store
hours. This flexibility is a key advantage of e-retailing, as it ensures that businesses
can cater to the needs of their customers around the clock. This can lead to
increased sales and customer satisfaction, as customers can shop whenever it is
most convenient for them.
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3. Lower Overheads: E-retailing often involves lower overhead costs compared to
traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Without the need for physical storefronts,
businesses can save on rent, utilities, and staffing costs. This allows them to offer
competitive prices to customers while maintaining healthy profit margins. Lower
overhead costs also mean that businesses can invest more in other areas of their
operations, such as marketing and product development.
4. Increased Product Visibility: Online platforms offer businesses the opportunity
to showcase a wide range of products and services, increasing their visibility and
the likelihood of sales. By providing detailed product descriptions, images, and
customer reviews, businesses can help customers make informed purchasing
decisions and increase their confidence in the products or services being offered.
5. Ease of Transaction: Online payment systems make transactions quick, easy,
and secure, providing a seamless shopping experience for customers. This reduces
the friction associated with traditional payment methods and helps businesses
capture more sales. Additionally, online retailers can offer a variety of payment
options to cater to the preferences of different customers, further enhancing the
shopping experience.
6. Customer Insights: E-retailing allows businesses to gather valuable insights
into customer behavior, preferences, and buying patterns through data analytics.
This information can be used to improve products, services, and marketing
strategies, ultimately leading to better customer engagement and increased sales.
By understanding their customers better, businesses can tailor their offerings to
meet their needs and preferences more effectively.
E-services:
An e-service is an interactive, content-centred and Internet-based customer service,
driven by the customer and integrated with related organizational customer support
processes and technologies with the goal of strengthening the customer-service
provider relationship. E-service is defined as it is a service available via the internet
that provides information, completes tasks or conducts transactions. It can be any
electrically provided services offered directly or indirectly to customers, including
direct as well as after sales services. In addition to this e-service can deliver high
quality, timely and extensive product information to consumer inexpensively and
effectively. They can provide better price and quality comparisons. Furthermore, a
company that can respond to the needs of the customer accommodate their requests
promptly and support their buying decisions creates value and wins customer
patronage and loyalty. E-service operation include all the customer centric
activities starting from pre-transaction, transaction and post transaction interactions
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through the internet in delivering products or services within service level
agreement.
E-services are the electronic service. As the name suggests, E-services is nothing
but doing our works using the Information and Communication Technologies
(ICTs) in different arenas. It has become a trend in the fastly moving society. It
simplifies the human works. it is usually done with the help of the Internet.
Growth of communication
In the earlier days, a man has to walk to a far of distance to pay his electronic or
water bill. But at present, the E-services allow us to pay the bills through the
internet. In the ancient days, a man has to go to different places to get education.
Now-a-days, there are many professional and diploma courses online. Moreover, in
the earlier days, a man has to stand in a queue to withdraw his money from the
bank, now he/she can withdraw the money through Automated Teller Machine
(ATM) or through credit or debit cards. All these are made possible due to the
development in the field of E-services.
COMPONENTS of E-SERVICES:
According to Rowley, there are three important components in the E-services. They
are:
Service providers
Service receivers
Channel
The service providers are the people or the agency involved in providing services.
For example, in public services, the public agency is the service provider.
Similarly, in the cooperative societies in the rural areas, the Primary Agricultural
Credit Society (PACS) is the service provider.
Service receivers are the one who receive the services from the agencies. For
example, in the public services, the citizens are the service receivers. In the same
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way, in the cooperative societies, the rural people or the villagers including the land
owners and labourers are the service receivers.
The channel of E-service is the third and important element as far as E-service is
concerned. Without this element, the project will not complete and willnot reach its
expected range. Internet is the most oftenly used channels of E-services. The other
channels include:
Telephones
Call Centers
Mobile phones
Televisions
Public kiosks
Etc. they are also used for E-services but not as extensively as the Internet.
IMPORTANCE OF E-SERVICES:
ADVANTAGES OF E-SERVICES:
Lowering of entry obstacle to new markets and cost of acquiring new
customers: the important advantage of the E-service is that it lowers the obstacles
to enter into a new field. Moreover, it reduces the cost of acquiring new customers
because, the advertisement is done through the Internet which is a cheaper form of
communication.
Alternative communication channel to customers: in the ancient days, the
advertisements are done through the television or radio, but at present, the
advertisements are displayed on the websites. This provides an alternative channel
to the customers.
Expanding services to customers: the E-services helps in expanding services to
the customers. For example, the cooperative societies help the farmers to get loans
easily with the help of the E-services.
Enhancing perceived company image: the E-services enhance the company
image due to its easy access.
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Gaining competitive advantages: E-services provide the informations about the
trend in the current market. Thereby it helps in enhancing the competitive skills of
the producers.
Possible for increasing Customer knowledge: it is indeed true that the E-services
play a crucial role in enhancing the knowledge of the customers or the consumers
about the products and services.
DOMAINS OF E-SERVICES:
E-services have many applications. Therefore, they can be found in many areas
or disciplines.
They are mostly used in two main domains. They are:
Business or commerce
And government
A. E-BUSINESS: E-business is the area in which the E-services are used. They
include the E-services provided by the business sectors, areas relating to
Commerce and the other non-governmental organizations shortly called as
(NGOs). E-services play a crucial role in these areas to maintain data and
information’s.
Moreover, the measurement of land and survey numbers for the lands are fed
into the computers from all the taluk offices and the people can get these
numbers and documents from their nearby cooperative societies. This is one
of the examples of the E-services.
TYPES OF E-SERVICES:
E- Banking services
E- Governance
E- Bill payment services
E- Food services
E- Shopping
E- Portal
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1. E-BANKING SERVICES: E-banking is an active area. In the ancient days,
the people had to walk to a long distance to use the banks. They also had to
stand in a long line topay or withdraw money. In that case, E-banking acts as
a rescue. It saves the people’s time and energy. They can use the E-banking
services such as the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) or the debit or
credit cards to pay and withdraw the money. E-lockers are also introduced to
provide safety to the customers wealth.
It simplifies the human work. It provides the informations about all the fields
include: science, ethics, philosophy, economy, mathematics, literature, arts,
social works, etc. therefore, it consumes much time.
Similarly, in the ancient days, people had to search for the books from
different shelves. It takes much time. The E-service provides an Online
Catalogue by which one can check the availability and the location of the
books. Moreover, most of the libraries provide an online access. By which,
any member can access to the books within the codes of the library. For
example, any member can access the American library. All one has to do is
that they should fill in the application form. After sending the application
form, one may receive books either through postal or online. These E-
libraries play a crucial role in easy access of books.
CHALLENGES IN E-SERVICES:
Though E-services attain a greater claim, it is true that there are some challenges
to take the e-services to the rural areas.
Firstly, some people in the rural areas are illiterate. They are not open minded to
welcome changes. It is very difficult to convince them to use the E-services.
The next main challenge regarding is that the lack of technological knowledge of
the people. They fail to concentrate and learn the technical skills. Therefore, the E-
services cannot be reached to such sort of people.
The third main reason is that the difficulties in accessing the internet. Since every
activity is based on the internet, the people who cannot afford for the net suffers a
lot. The E-services cannot be reached as effectively as expected to such people.
Finding a suitable way to bring down these challenges can enhance the use of E-
services.
The B2B eCommerce business model has become one of the most successful
online business strategies that have led to massive revenue for internet
businesses. It is expected that by the year 2031, the global B2B market size will
reach USD 36,107.63 billion. This means that B2B commerce is exponentially
projected to rise at a rate of 19.2% every year. With the rapid growth of
eCommerce across the globe, more and more companies are adapting to the B2B
model to accomplish goals and increase profitability.
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In simple terms, the B2B eCommerce Business is a form of electronic commerce that
deals with the transaction of goods and services between businesses through the
internet. In most cases, this transaction is performed through an online portal. The
main objective of this business model is to increase the business efficiency and
revenue of retailers. Rather than manually processing orders, all the orders in the B2B
model are processed in the digital platform. Contrary to the conventional eCommerce
model of purchase and sale between the consumer and seller, the B2B model deals in
commercial transactions between businesses.
The crux of this business model is based on careful planning in order to have efficient
and profitable transactions in consideration of complex market conditions.
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2. Better Sales: An improved supply chain management process along with a
collaborative approach increases customer loyalty in the B2B eCommerce
business model. This, in turn, leads to improved sales. It helps businesses to
showcase product recommendations and unlock effective upselling and cross-
selling opportunities.
3. Lower Costs: Due to an effective supply chain management process,
this online business model leads to lower costs for businesses. In most cases,
the work is done through automation that eradicates the chances of errors and
undue expenditure.
4. Data-Centric Process: One of the main advantages of the model is that it
relies on effective and factual data to streamline the whole process. In this way,
errors can be avoided and proper forecasts can be made. With an integrated
data-driven approach, you can calculate detailed sales statistics.
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