10 Advantages of E-commerce Websites
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1) No geographical limitation
When it comes to traditional commerce, you can only do
business where you have set up your physical store. This is not the case with
e-commerce websites. For them, the whole world is their playground if planned
strategically. People from one corner of the world can easily order a specific
product from another corner of the world with a few clicks.
2) Easy way to gain customers by search engine visibility
Traditional retail shops depend mostly on branding and
relations to drive more customers to their shop but on the other hand,
e-commerce drives most of its traffic from search engines. Over 30% of
e-commerce traffic comes from organic searches on search engines. This is just
the traffic from organic searches and then we have advertisements, social media
traffic which is the tipping point for many e-commerce businesses. By using a
standalone solution like Amazon, eBay, yokart for your e-commerce store, you
can easily gather insights into the traffic coming from different social media
platforms.
3) Lower cost/investment
One of the best reasons to open an e-commerce website is
because it requires a low investment as compared to setting up a physical
retail store. To cut down the prices for your e-commerce website, you can make
use of the best marketing strategy involving: organic search, pay per click or
social media traffic. Also, the manpower and property required to get the
business up and running are much less as compared to a physical store.
4) Locate a product quickly
We have all been through the hassle of locating a specific
product in a huge store, running up and down the aisles and asking the person
in charge to assist you. This is not the case with e-commerce stores, as the
customer just must click through intuitive navigation or just type the specific
product in the search box to immediately find their requirement.
5) Save travel time and cost
The main reason for people shifting from traditional
commerce to e-commerce is because it saves travel time and cost. For a physical
retail shop, the customer has to visit the outlet to purchase the item whereas,
for an e-commerce website or app, he can just do it with a few clicks sitting
on the couch. With the advent of e-commerce, it has, even more, saved the time
of the customer by allowing them to purchase the products on the go.
6) Enables deal, bargain, coupons, and group buying
Many of you would think that even traditional commerce
offers deals, bargains. But an e-commerce store makes it more convenient and
easier for customers to avail themselves of them. Imagine a situation where you
have coupons for groceries in one store and a discount voucher for clothing in
a completely different store. Imagine the amount of hassle you would have to
face to buy both these products. While in the case of online shopping, you can
purchase anything with just a few clicks and avail both the coupon and discount
voucher on the same platform.
7) Abundance of information
When you go to a shopping store, the only information you
see is that written on the product and the price of the product. In an
e-commerce store, additional information is easily available to the customer with
just a click. Mostly this information is entered into the system by individual
vendors which require no extra effort or cost of the e-commerce owner.
8) Remains open all the time
Another major factor why the customer has shifted from
traditional commerce to e-commerce websites is that they can shop at odd
timings too. E-commerce store timings are 24*7*365. An e-commerce website has
no obligation which is why it can remain open all the time. The sellers benefit
from it as they gain more and more orders and for the customer, and around-the-clock
store is much more convenient.
9) Create an e-commerce store for niche products
There are often niche products that are difficult to find in
the physical world. Some things do not have a market in the physical world or
even if they have, it’s very scarce. In the online sphere, all you must do is
type the specific product in a search engine and you will find a list of
websites that sell the product. For instance: Spare parts of the equipment are
very hard to find in the physical world but comparatively easier in the online
world.
10) Creates targeted communication
To create targeted communication, the only thing you require
is the email address and personal information/ habits of the potential
customer. To gather this information, creating a registration page and enabling
cookies on your website is important. Once you get a hold of the habits of the
customers, you can send across relevant messages. This information also helps
in recommending products on the e-commerce website. Some e-commerce websites
also send emails with products you may like to buy.
10 Disadvantages of E-commerce Platforms
Online portals have been in the news a lot because of hacks by cybercriminals and hackers. It is a very serious issue as your account might be hacked because of negligence and wiped out clean of the existing cash. This is a harsh reality of e-commerce sites, and a website cannot give this assurance that the financial information cannot be compromised on its portal. The website owner needs to take important steps to change its password to stop any data breaches.
It is important to remain vigilant and proactive to protect the website and ultimately the customer-related information. Security has been a concern since its inception and is considered a major disadvantage of e-commerce.
E-commerce is fully dependent on internet connection. A major disadvantage of e-commerce is putting a stop to buying capabilities because of a site crash. Such a small word site crash but can put a whole business down within a few seconds. This can happen if you do not have a good bandwidth connection as you will face serious issues while loading pages and placing orders. It is impossible to make a purchase if the site you are looking at crashes down. Ensure that your website is on the right platform where there are already precautions in place for this eventuality.
One of the major disadvantages of an e-commerce portal is that a customer is unable to try and test the product for his own satisfaction. We are habituated to buy at physical stores after trying a product several times and suddenly it takes a lot of guts to change this lifetime habit where you cannot touch, try, and test beforehand.
People miss the tangible feeling and there is always the fear that the product will not meet the standard you are expecting. This makes the consumer a bit hesitant before making a purchase.
Late delivery is one of the common disadvantages of e-commerce platforms. While ordering a product the customer is assured that it will reach him in a maximum of seven days or a particular time. In most cases that do not happen, and you are kept waiting for it. Ultimately when the information reaches you that the product will be delivered on this day the portal is not specific about the timings. There are several instances when a person who is going to collect the parcel had to wait for hours for the delivery. His whole day is wasted, and he could not go outside as per his original schedule. Such a situation makes the customer angry as he feels unnecessarily harassed.
Lack of privacy is a serious disadvantage of e-commerce. A customer must provide his personal details before making a purchase like address, name, phone number and so on. Some sites do not have advanced encrypted technology that can protect your personal details from hackers, and it is a cause of grave concern. This sensitive information if is leaked can create lots of problems for a consumer. Some sites collect sensitive details illegally and therefore people are afraid to use e-commerce portals as they have to give personal details which can be misused.
Several cyber laws have been implemented to protect the rights of both sellers and buyers. If you are looking to create a website, it is important that you go through the local laws as well as cyber laws so that you do not have to face any problems later.
A serious disadvantage of e-commerce portals is that people either take care of local laws or cyber laws and fail to realize that you need to pay attention to both of them if you want to make a success of your business.
7) Shipping problems
E-commerce stores run successfully because they can ship their products from anywhere to everywhere with ease. It has a strong network that helps it in its endeavour. In a physical store, a buyer chooses a product, purchases it and leaves the store with the item. This is not so on an online store where the customer has to choose and buy and then wait for the product to arrive at his doorstep within the stipulated time frame. Shipping is an integral part of commerce and if you do not have appropriate infrastructure then it can cause serious issues and become a disadvantage of e-commerce.
People fear the unknown. E-commerce transactions are mostly faceless and paperless without any due proof. Most of the organizations do not have a physical existence and customers are hesitant to make card payments beforehand. They fear that if the desired product does not arrive then they will lose their money. If this happens then how are they going to trace the online outlet and recover their hard-earned money? One of the disadvantages of e-commerce is the absence of the physical existence of the store.
It is a growing concern as we hear news of data hacks regularly. The websites need to place proper blockers in place because the customers will lose faith and will stop making online payments. Stop it before it starts proving a serious disadvantage for e-commerce sites.
An e-commerce site is heavily dependent on its website. If it is not properly projected or the software is not implemented the site can face technology hiccups. It then comes under the serious radar. Customers tend to lose faith very easily and shift their loyalties to other portals that they find convenient. The portal will suffer substantial loss because of this action. Do not keep all the eggs in one basket as the dependency on the website can prove a disadvantage of e-commerce in times of crisis. What will you do at that time as the only available option is a physical store? Security has become a serious issue as hackers are on the lookout for any loopholes to make mischief. Although purchasing products is easy but how can you check the quality of the product and what about its availability. It takes a few days for the product to arrive and what will happen when you need to use the item as soon as possible. Navigating the choppy waters is not an easy feat as individuals have to face several challenges.
- Advantages of E-commerce Platforms, D. (2022). 6 August 2016, from https://www.flyingvgroup.com/blog/2021/11/09/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-ecommerce/
- 6 eCommerce Advantages and Disadvantages to Consider in 2021. (2020). Retrieved 14 January 2022, from https://www.ecommercefuel.com/ecommerce-advantages-and-disadvantages/
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