ECommerce is a very controversial type of commerce that is going to grow disproportionately. It is a marketing process that it is adaptable to new market rules and situations, which offers new possibilities. Knowing it thoroughly is not easy and a good market study is needed to understand if your product meets the profile to enter the market by this means.
But as in everything, there are two sides of the coin, know the advantages and disadvantages of using eCommerce.
The main buts and cons of ecommerce
Before starting, It is convenient to have an objective and realistic image of what it means to dedicate yourself to ecommerce (electronic commerce). The illusion can sometimes blind us to the inconveniences of something, just as ignorance or mistrust prevents us from seeing the positive things. For this reason, we will review 10 advantages and 10 disadvantages of ecommerce.
10 Advantages of Ecommerce
- There are no geographical limitations, this is because the network is global so you can expand your business anywhere.
- You can show and offer a greater range of products.
- The cost of both startup and maintenance is much lower than in a traditional trade business.
- Save time when making the purchase for the customer.
- There is greater ease in developing batch, coupon, and discount marketing strategies.
- You can offer more information to the customer.
- There is a greater possibility of offering a better comparison of products with their prices and characteristics.
- You can be your own boss.
- There is no time limit, unless you are a workaholic, it allows you to better reconcile your family and adapt your work to the schedules and pace of your life.
- You can partially digitize the business, but you can always have a 100% online and electronic, which reduces costs to levels really affordable for all budgets.
10 Disadvantages of Ecommerce
- The competition is much higher since anyone can launch this type
of business. - There are consumers who prefer to see the product before buying it and are suspicious
of online payments. - Not all products can be sold online with the same ease.
- Shipping costs can be very expensive when volume is small.
- Loyalty to a customer is quite difficult due to the wide range of competition.
- Site security can give potential customers a lot of questions.
- Consumers want the best price and the best service and it is difficult to get
both always. - If you tend to procrastinate, it is very easy to get distracted with other things or tasks, especially if
you are at home. Good discipline is essential. - There is a risk of phishing attacks (theft of keys and passwords) and acts
malicious. - If your page (or server) goes down, you will not be able to offer what you are selling, losing
those sales. - The impatience of the consumer. In a physical store, any doubt or question can
be answered instantly, as opposed to what usually happens online.
Likewise, the time to acquire a product is not immediate, and when a
person is in a hurry, may even decide not to purchase the product due to times of
delay.
Opportunities and creativity
Personally, one of the most important points (and achievements) of ecommerce. As in physical and traditional businesses, ecommerce allows us to implement what we have in mind. But the main reason here lies in the advantage of implementing an idea is that it is usually faster and cheaper. This differentiating fact allows us to "shoot" an idea without putting at risk an effort or capital as great as it could be in the physical business.
In case of going wrong, we will be able to evaluate where we have failed, or if our idea was not as interesting for the public as it was for us. The probability of failure if we go from being "innovative" is high, this is a reality, but it is also a reality that we have a success that we do not expect. Y there is nothing better than to be successful in something that you also like.
We can find examples of this type in many places. People who liked to travel and are now dedicated to traveling the world, capturing their impressions and photographs of other cultures on their pages, offering advice and creating authentic discussion threads that have led to promoting products that they did not even expect ... Even people with knowledge of ecommerce that have found people with a special gift, and that together they have been successful. Surely a case like the ones I explain will come to mind, and it is that in the beginning they started like this. Hence the importance of being yourself and unleashing creativity.
Ecommerce as a necessity
You will have previously read that not all businesses can or need to have an online presence. Although this statement is true, it has become less and less important as the years go by. Not only digitization but the global transformation at a technological level drives and helps the continuous growth of electronic commerce. Some key data to understand the importance of growth would be the following:
- In 2018, ecommerce in Spain had a new record, 40.000 million euros.
- The average annual increase that people spend online increases by around 20%.
- More and more generations are using the internet not only to purchase products, but even to obtain information, advice, or find the location of a business. Even by proximity, before any eventual immediate need.
Beyond weighing the advantages and disadvantages that we can find in ecommerce, the annual data reflect a change in trend in consumption that is establishing itself and does not seem to be reversing. In fact, ecommerce is establishing itself, quickly, and every day it occupies and touches sectors that we did not expect before. As if autonomously, a world was being developed in a parallel way, but of a very different nature that we would not have thought before in some cases. From finding someone in real time, to even virtual currencies.
Conclusions
All business startups have hard beginnings, and when it comes to an industry, the same thing happens, with somewhat greater length of time. It is normal, and it is natural, since the introduction to something must go through most of the shops, and each one advances in its own way. Ecommerce is no exception, although the expansion is being very fast compared to other times, since the internet facilitates interconnection between companies and customers. Taking advantage of these opportunities will take us into a world of possibilities that until now had been restricted. But we will have to be patient and responsible, because the trends and the management of this type of trade is not the conventional one either.