Nowadays, technology is becoming part of every person’s daily life, to the point that it has made it possible to buy and sell products and services without leaving home thanks to the presence of e-commerce.
This allows them to access an online store or website from anywhere in the world without limitations in terms of day, time, payment methods and more. Find out what this is all about by reading this post.
Electronic commerce, or eCommerce as it is also commonly identified, is a business model based on online transactions with products and services on different websites and social networks.
In other words, the term refers to any type of commercial operation carried out through the World Wide Web without direct physical contact.
It is an economic activity used by many entrepreneurs to offer products and services to the public through digital media, which they can access by simply accessing web pages from their cell phones, computers, tablets, iPads and other smart devices with internet connection.
E-commerce can be used in any environment where it is necessary to exchange information or documents, since it facilitates purchases, sales, finances, product distribution, income collection, expense calculation, taxes and more.
But, at the same time, it is a powerful tool used by many online stores, based on Woocommerce, Shopify and others, in order to offer their extensive catalogs of products and services to all those users who require them without moving from their home or workplace.
This, undoubtedly, has been a modality implemented by many companies to stay afloat during the incidence of the Covid-19 pandemic; some examples of successful e-commerce are Mercadona, a supermarket chain in Spain, Amazon in different countries around the world, Maaji, a fashion company in the United States, Rappi, a delivery system in Colombia, Farmalisto in Chile and many others.
Transactions through digital channels are increasing considerably in recent years, its growth is due to the scope of technology used to reach the Internet to a greater number of users, who make maximum use of social networks and with them the knowledge of different brands of products that are available online.
E-commerce has a number of advantages for businesses and consumers, such as those listed below:
E-commerce, despite having great benefits, also has certain limitations or risks, which leads some consumers to prefer to continue making their daily purchases in the traditional way, in addition to other disadvantages such as those listed below:
Many shoppers like to appreciate the product in physical form, which is not possible through e-commerce. But this risk can be solved to a large extent by knowing the review of other users who have already purchased it, so they can have an idea of its quality or the reliability of its manufacturer.
Many users are reluctant to give information about their bank or credit card details, as fraud and scams have been known to occur over the Internet, but it is a risk also assumed by the manufacturer, who can be supplanted by cybercriminals for their own benefit. However, there are online stores whose platforms are invulnerable.
Web hosting systems are susceptible to failures or malfunctions that have serious consequences for the business; in which case they can lose customers, reduce their sales, lower the rate of visitors and more. So it is essential to keep them in constant maintenance.
More time for the purchase process unlike the time used in physical stores, so it is not convenient to create an e-commerce for perishable products such as food, as they could reach the buyer in poor condition, thus losing their investment.
E-commerce, despite being associated with a series of advantages and disadvantages, continues to be indispensable for millions of users around the world; the best way to buy and sell at a distance without having to have a physical property or having to have large crews of workers attached to a certain schedule.
