Published on April 12th, 2016 | by Guest

E-Commerce: Evolution and Impact

The invention of internet has given power to the people to get connect with anybody in the world, spare their time on internet activities, expand their communication network and receive their desired product or service at home. If i say it has changed the life style of people, it would not be wrong. When we talk about evolution and expansion of internet, we should not forget E-Commerce. “E-Commerce involves transactions conducted electronically over the internet”. One can clearly observe the change in buying behavior of people and the increasing number of consumers who are migrating towards Electronic Commerce.

Economic Impact

B2B impact

E-Commerce has changed the practices of B2B and B2C starting from supply chain to distribution and delivering to final consumer. The example of B2B E-Commerce development is that; Manufacturing firms are now connected with their Suppliers, Retailers and Tier partners through EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). This real time information updates and quick exchange of information allow companies to save their time and cost and strengthen the inbound communication process. Suppliers are informed when raw material is needed, saving cost of companies to take out time and pay for transportation charges. In the same way, retailers can timely aware the manufacturers about the product units available in store that prevents from stock out situation. Just see the process of B2B in the image below:

B2C impact

Similarly in case with B2C, E-Commerce has changed the game for purchase of tangible and intangible goods. All intangible products or services for example online games, software or financial services are available through electronic means. For tangible goods such as food, clothing or electronic appliances, Consumers now select first from the available range of products irrespective of their location, compare at best prices and receive their desired product without moving out from home. Customer can buy without physically being there, saving their transportation and time cost. The explosive growth of E-Commerce retail stores has shown greater boost in Sales and number of customers because these retail stores are not restricted by geographic location, time zone and physical presence. Check the image below:

Social Impact

Emergence and growth of E-Commerce has affected organizations and individuals not only economically but socially too.

B2B Social Impact

E-commerce has greatly impact B2B by giving freedom of sharing information among business partners. Several tasks has been automated which makes decision making relatively easy. E- Commerce has increased the participation of partners and this integration of departments leads to efficiency and effectiveness.

B2C Social Impact

The emergence of online shopping allows customers to browse and shop goods of their choice. They can buy online via their credit cards, online banking or other payment modes over the internet. There is easier business monitoring, customer relationship management through E-Commerce technology. Every organization now can easily connect itself with its customers through E- Commerce for example social media sites, emails and customer service.

What’s next in E-Commerce?

The growth of E-Commerce in recent years is exponential. E-commerce has changed the paradigm of both, the business market and consumer market by introducing latest technologies of online payment and delivery of goods at home. Earlier to this, people use to go out of their home and shop for hours which means a lot of free time and efforts were needed to shop. Now there are no hurdles, Customers can buy at their home through internet and saving their monetary, time, psychic and transportation cost.

Here are some predictions listed of E-Commerce that what can be the possible trend of e commerce in coming years. According to experts following are some future trends predicted regarding E-Commerce:

Consumers will shift to foreign purchase by going global.
Personalized marketing will grow by marketers to provide their customers with best personalized experience.
Increase in use of smartphones and devices will continue to grow.
Niche target market will be better served.
Competition among rivals will lead to saturated pricing.

That’s not all from this topic, there may be a more disruptive change occur in technology and E-Commerce industry in near future. This may further change our buying behavior and leaves with some other social and economic impact. If you have found something more interesting in E-commerce, please do share with us.

Author Biography:

Fiona Allenn is content writer and designing consultant at 5Stardesigners. She likes to write about digital marketing, logo designing and internet marketing. 5stardesigners is Web Development Company and seeks to provide branding solution for small/medium enterprises.

Inspiration Source:

OECD (1999), “Economic and Social Impact of Ecommerce: Preliminary Findings and Research Agenda”, OECD Digital Economy Papers, No. 40, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/236588526334

Image Source:

http://www.differencebetween.info/difference-between-b2b-and-b2c

Tags: business, e-commerce, economy, evolution, impact