4 the Sem E-commerce

8/12/2019 4 the Sem E-commerce

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgement Preface

Scope of the study Objectives Executive summary1. Introduction of the topic Research methodology2. Conceptual Framework Global trends in E-Commerce E-commerce in India E-Commerce in Global Sourcing Scenario. Security concern in e-commerce E-commerce: A Boon for the Current Economic Downturn Key Reasons for success of e-Commerce Factors affecting Distribution and form of Global e-commerce

o Internet Adoptiono Buying and selling onlineo Advertisement and searching phaseo Payment phaseo Delivery phase.


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INTRODUCTION

E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and

services on the Internet, especially the World Wide Web. In practice, this term and

a newer term, e-business, are often used inter changebly. For online retail selling,

the term e-tailing is sometimes used Electronic commerce is generally considered

to be the sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the exchange of data to

facilitate the financing and payment aspects of business transactions.

E-commerce can be divided into

-tailing or "virtual storefronts" on Web sites with online catalogs, sometimes

gathered into a "virtual mall"

emographic data through Web contacts

-to-business exchange of data

-mail and fax and their use as media for reaching prospects and established

customers (for example, with newsletters)

-to-business buying and selling

Today Ecommerce is an integral part of business because of various reasons like:

easy compassion of products from different vendors

less time consuming. It is therefore very important for any new entrepreneur to


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understand the significance of E-Commerce and should know how to utilize this

tool for the growth and development of business.

So, whether you have an existing business or launching a brand new business,

whether the volume of your business is large or small, you can always generate

profit by demonstrating your products or services online, thereby acquiring a large

amount of viewer exposure. In concise, buying and selling will result in profits and

returns.

There are so many factors which makes e-commerce to come to the fore front in

today's world. Saving precious time involved in business transactions is really a

prominent factor. Like for instance, net banking makes it easy to carry out money

and baking transactions in a break neck speed as compared to the real banking

scenario. This asserts the fact that Ecommerce is beneficial to both business and

consumer wise as payment and documentations can be completed with greater

efficiency and reliability. Another important factor determining the flow of whole

business is connectivity. Connectivity is very important for both consumers and

business. Ecommerce provides better connectivity for all the potential candidates

all over the globe, thus helping in enhancing the business without any geographical

barriers. From the view point of the customer, Ecommerce is a good platform for

hassle free shopping by sitting in your home. The customer can browse through all

the products and services available and can review and compare the prices of the

similar products available in the online space.

In global market scenario, the emergence of Ecommerce as a forerunner has

opened up various windows of opportunities for a variety of online companies and

investors. More and more resources are being directed into electronic securities,

internet facilities, business plans and new technologies due to the boom in the


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space of E-commerce. As a result various new markets have emerged from

Ecommerce itself giving a boost to the global market.


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CHARACTERISTICS

Exchange and Share Data Across the World

Text messages, documents, graphics, photographs, music, video, and much more,

can be converted into data and sent as email attachments or presented on a web

site. There are no postage, printing and packaging costs with eCommerce

communications. So, use this new communications method to work quicker, and in

new ways, with customers and suppliers outside of your locality or country. Send

Messages Faster and Cheaper

When you send a message, you only pay for the Internet access. As soon as the

message arrives at your ISP, it is sent for zero cost to all the people to whom it has

been addressed. Moreover, the message is likely to arrive at its destination, in a

matter of seconds or minutes, depending on the size of the email and its

attachments. Think of the possibilities for saving time and money with email.

Approve and Proof Work Quickly

A quotation, purchase order, letter, design drawings, brochure, or advert colour

proof, etc. can be emailed to you as an attachment for your approval. Using email

in this way can dramatically speed-up the turn-around of work between you and

your business contacts. Introduce Collaborative Working

With fast, reliable and cheap eCommerce communications, it is possible for

colleagues, customers, suppliers and partners, to use collaborative working

practices to manage, share, and enhance the project work, regardless of location

where they are at a particular instance. Update Employees Instantly With New

Policies or Procedures

Email and messengers etc. works well when communicating with colleagues/pals

who are off-site, out of the country,or teleworking. Hold Web Meetings (Data

Conferencing)


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A great way to have a virtual meeting is to upload a document (spreadsheets,

project plans, etc) on to a web site and enable it to be viewed and edited in real-

time through the Internet. Holding virtual meetings can save significantly on travel

expenses and time.

Take Advantage of Time Differences

As eCommerce communications are so fast and low cost, new business

relationship have been established where work is exchanged between time zones at

the end of one day, which, on the other side of the world, is the beginning of either

the same or next day.

Send Out email Automatically

Event-triggered emails can be used to acknowledge orders made on web sites, and

to update customers on order progress. Alert-emails or SMS messages can also be

used to notify technical support of critical issues or maintenance problems. There,

and many other similar applications, are effortless, cheap, and efficient ways of

enhancing customer service and the brand experience.

Use the Internet to Improve Business Administration

With a mobile phone connected to a portable computer, employees working off-

site can access and update internal information, such as customer records, price

lists, time sheets, schedules, and job reports. Providing remote Internet access for

staff makes it possible for the latest information to be at hand, for administrative

tasks such as invoicing, employee whereabouts, and expense claims etc.


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Train on the Web

The multi-media capabilities of web sites make them ideal for creating a virtual

learning environment for employees and customers. When training material is

updated, the latest version is immediately available. On-line learning facilities

enable trainees living all over the world to access courseware when it is convenient

to them, and without having to travel to a training centre, which in turn, saves time

and expenses. Replace the Fax Machine and Save Money

If a multi-page document has to be faxed to many people, it can work out

expensive on telephone bills, especially if a national or international call has to be

made. The cost savings can be huge if email is used instead, and the message can

also be sent to multiple people for no extra cost.


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History of E-commerce

Concerning Technology

E-commerce began before personal computers were prevalent and has grown into a

multi-billion dollar industry. The meaning of the term "electronic commerce" has

changed over the last 30 years. Originally, "electronic commerce" meant the

facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, usually using technology like

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), where

both were introduced in the late 1970s, for example, to send commercial

documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically.

The 'electronic' or 'e' in e-commerce refers to the technology/systems; the

'commerce' refers to be traditional business models. E-commerce is the complete

set of processes that support commercial business activities on a network. In the

1970s and 1980s, this would also have involved information analysis. The growth

and acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone

banking in the 1980s were also forms of e-commerce. However, from the 1990s

onwards, this would include enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data

mining and data warehousing. In the dot com era, it came to include activities more

precisely termed "Web commerce" - the purchase of goods and services over the

World Wide Web, usually with secure connections (HTTPS, a special server

protocol that encrypts confidential ordering data for customer protection) with e-

shopping carts and with electronic payment services, like credit card payment

authorizations.

Today, it encompasses a very wide range of business activities and processes, from

e-banking to offshore manufacturing to e-logistics. The ever growing dependence

of modern industries on electronically enabled business processes gave impetus to

the growth and development of supporting systems, including backend systems,

applications and middleware. Examples are broadband and fibre-optic networks,


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supply-chain management software, customer relationship management software,

inventory control systems and financial accounting software.

Concerning Decisions/Foot steps

When the Web first became well-known among the general public in 1994, many

journalists and pundits forecast that e-commerce would soon become a major

economic sector. However, it took about four years for security protocols (like

HTTPS) to become sufficiently developed and widely deployed. Subsequently,

between 1998 and 2000, a substantial number of businesses in the United States

and Western Europe developed rudimentary web sites.

Although a large number of "pure e-commerce" companies disappeared during the

dot-com collapse in 2000 and 2001, many "brick-and-mortar" retailers recognized

that such companies had identified valuable niche markets and began to add e-

commerce capabilities to their Web sites. For example, after the collapse of online

grocer Webvan, two traditional supermarket chains, Albertsons and Safeway, both

started e-commerce subsidiaries through which consumers could order groceries

online.

The emergence of e-commerce also significantly lowered barriers to entry in the

selling of many types of goods; accordingly many small home-based proprietors

are able to use the internet to sell goods. Often, small sellers use online auction

sites such as EBay, or sell via large corporate websites like Amazon.com, in order

to take advantage of the exposure and setup convenience of such sites.

Concern ing Transformation of I T

EDI Some authors will track back the history of ecommerce to the invention of the

telephone at the end of last century. EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is widely

viewed as the beginning of ecommerce if we consider ecommerce as the

networking of business communities and digitalization of business information.


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Large organizations have been investing in development of EDI since sixties. It has

not gained reasonable acceptance until eighties. EDI has never reached the level of

popularity of the web-based ecommerce for several reasons:

1. High cost of EDI prohibited small businesses and medium-sized companies

from participating in the electronic commerce.

2. Slow development of standards hindered the growth of EDI.

3. The complexity of developing EDI applications limited its adaptation to a

narrow user base.

The Internet and the Web The Internet was conceived in 1969, when theAdvanced Research Projects Agency (a Department of Defense organization)

funded research of computer networking. The Internet could end up like EDI

without the emergence of the World Wide Web in 1990s. The Web became a

popular mainstream medium (perceived as the fourth mainstream medium in

addition to print, radio and TV) in a speed which had never been seen before. The

Web users and content were almost doubled every a couple of months in 1995 and

1996. The web and telecommunication technology had fueled the stock bubble in

the roaring 90s and eventually pushed NASDAQ over 5,000 in 2000 before it

crashed down to 1,200 in 2002.

XML and Web Services Besides the availability of technical infrastructures, the

popularity of the Web is largely attributed to the low cost of access and simplicity

of HTML authoring, which are the obstacles of EDI development. The Internet and

the Web have overcome the technical difficulty of EDI, but it has not solved the

problem of slow development of ecommerce standards.

XML, as a meta markup language, provides a development tool for defining format

of data interchange in a wide variety of business communities. Web Services offers


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a flexible and effective architecture for the implementation. There is no doubt that

XML and the Web Services will shape the course of ecommerce in years to come.


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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Sources of Data

For having the detailed study about this topic, it is necessary to have some of the

secondary information, which is collected from the following:-Books, Websites

and Newspapers. So in this basically secondary data is used in collecting the

information. The sources of data are:

Websites:

Wikipedia

-commerce

Newspapers:


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Type of Study

The research design or type of study specifies the methods and procedures for

conducting a particular study. The type of research design applied here are

Descriptive and Desk Analysis as the objective is to have knowledge about

the ecommerce in global Scenario. Descriptive study means situation, but not the

causal linkages among its different elements. Descriptive studies (such as a cross-

sectional study) help in generating hypothesis on which further research may be

based. Desk analysis is to Gather and analyze information, already available in

print or published on the internet.


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CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Global trends in E-commerce

cant vehicle for c-commerce implementations

trading partners to implement EDI

us on core competencies and outsource technology to

consulting groups

manage

s to be capable of handing different business processes and must

integrate with existing IT investments

As social media, app stores and global availability become standard, many

companies are looking to enhance the online customer experience. And while retail

and other transactions via Internet are customary, more than ever companies are

simplifying the ways in which customers interact with their website and ultimately

make online purchases. Here are eight trends happening right now in global e-

commerce that seek to enhance the user experience:

Micro-payments Among the most revolutionary changes in the coming

monthsnot yearsis the use of micro-payment systems from a variety of


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financial firms, e.g., Paypal, Visa, WesternUnion, among others, including banks.

This trend is facilitated by the W3C working group that approved these protocols

and technical standards for the interworking. These systems will change not only

how we carry money but how we value money and think about purchases.

(Consider how a purchase of $4.99 feels in a mobile app store vs. at Dunkin'

Donuts.) Payment systems that make it easier to buy online, coupled with mobile

technologies will accelerate the usage of global e-commerce applications.

Mobile technologiesMore people access the Internet on their mobile devices

than on any other device. We are rapidly approaching the time (if we are not

already there) where designs must be created for the mobile Web first, and for the

desktop second. Mobile technologies facilitate comparison shopping; with the

advent of barcode reader apps and price-comparison databases, a consumer could

snap a bar code in Walmart and quickly reference product reviews and prices on

walmart.com (or compare prices with Walmart competitors). Mobile technologies

also facilitate impulse buysespecially with the advent of micro-payments tied to

the mobile device. Just recently, Starbucks customers can not only place an order

with their Smartphone, but also make a purchase.

Social mediaAs Facebook has become the most visited site on the Web, the

role of social media, including Facebook and its local clones such as Twitter, isincreasingly important. Social media sites increasingly act as points of entry to e-

commerce sites, and vice versa, as e-commerce sites build rating, loyalty and

referral systems tied to social media. Group buying (e.g., Groupon) is also gaining

mainstream ground, with many "deal of the day" sites competing for an


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increasingly savvy consumer base, but improvements lie ahead as the social

aspects and user experience are refined.

Fulfillment optionsI believe that users will want to have multiple fulfillments

and return options when interacting with a vendor: ship to address, courier, pick-up

in store, return to store, etc. Having many fulfillment options is how customers

view their overall customer experience. Some companies have made a business

proposition online by being exceptional in service to the online channel (e.g.,

Zappos).

Global availability Increasingly, consumers want the availability to buy

products from foreign sites and have them delivered locally. Thus, currency and

customs will be of growing concern to many online retailers. Along with this, there

will be concerns with local privacy laws and restrictions on related data collection

and storage.

LocalizationWhile the trend is to globalize, whats often more important is tolocalize. User Centrics research clearly shows that sites that feel local with

proper imagery, language, time/date, weights/measures, currency, etc. resonate

far more than sites that seem culturally distant or sterile.

CustomizabilityConsumers want control, and want to be able to design the

details of the items they purchase.

Time-based availability Some of the hottest and most successful sites are

those that have a time-critical response component. Sites like Groupon, Gilt and

others capitalize on the perception of limited-time availability. Creating a sense of

urgency drives traffic and purchase behavior.


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E-COMMERCE IN INDIA

New Gold Rush in E-commerce in India

Kunal Bahl, founder- CEO of e-commerce site Snapdeal.com bought out

eSportsbuy.com for an estimated of Rs.50 crores.

Bahl has 20million (Rs. 100 crore) stash for acquisition-significant because

Snapdeal is itself a startup-but a rich on. It has raised Rs.52 million from ventures

funds.

Bahl is not alone who is scouting for potential suitor. In February this year

aggressively online shopping site Flipkart.com acquired rival Letsbuy.com. Early

last year, US-based social buying site Groupon acquired Indias SoSasta.com and

renamed it as Crazeal.com.

And so it seems that e-commerce is not about customers buying goods. It is about

firms shopping for others. Industry trackers say leading sites are gobbling up rivals

to build size, or acquiring customer niches either to add product segments or to get

technologies that help efficient operations.

In the game in which future share issues are on the radar for bigger players, the

smaller ones often prefer to cash out than be crushed in lonely pursuits in an

aggressively competitive game. At stake is a huge market will growing potential

because India has 900 million mobile phones, with a big chunk of that growing up

from voice talk to Internet, wile the current Web user base at more than 100

million is in itself a significant number.

Industry estimates say Indias e-commerce market will zoom from the current

Rs.51000 crore to Rs.10,20,000 crore in revenues by 2020. The race lead to

buyouts-often at the cost of profitability.

At present sites are falling over each other to offer deep discounts, but you do

not survive only through discounts. This only creates a disloyal discount shopper

who moves from one site to another in search of the cheaper deal, said Mahesh


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Murthy , managing partner of investment firm Seefund Advisors. Murthy added

that sites without a credible differentiation strategy and loyal customers base would

bleed-and will be up for grabs.

Experts say acquisition of other sites is also a good strategy to built brand and

broaden a loyal customer base. Snapdeal.com snapped up eSportsbuy.com to get

access to its large catalogue of sports and fitness products. Flipkart.com started out

with books, added cameras and mobile handsets and then got Letsbuy.com to

acquire muscle in electronic goods, while Groupons buyout was to enter India.

There in no room for newer players in the general category but there is space for

niche category players, he said. This has been observed by Prashanth Prakash,

partner at Accel partners, which has invested in Flipkart.com.

Private enquiry is doing a huge amount of work backstage. Venture capitalists say

they more than doubled the funding level in e-commerce over the past year, and

the average size of investment has ranged from Rs.20 to 40 million.

However, having a deep pocket is no guarantee to success. Money can only

delay your death. The only key to survive is to have a credible differentiation

strategy, Murthy said.

Size is not everything, but could help if investors have a sense of timing. As the

e-commerce companies grow and get brand loyalty the valuations are expected to

increase even further. It will be the time when we can offload our stake, for hefty

profits, a venture capitalist with significant stake in leading e-commerce site.

Hundreds of Internet startups went bust in 2000 and 2001 in the dotcom bubble

and comparing the current e-commerce rush to that may not be farfetched said

Shailen Amin, co-founder and CEO of footwear sites Bestylish.com.

There are a lot of guys in this business who dont have a retail background. They

are form either consulting or technology. So one should ask if they are really

qualified to run e-retail businesses.


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In the world where old-fashioned retail meets high-technology and innovative

management, the winners could well be those who understand dimensions.

What the consolidation?

-commerce sites compete on deep discounts, which hit their margins.

-

commerce ventures are still profitable.

What makes a Long-Term Player?

product/service differentiation.

Challenges for E-Commerce Sites

h-on-delivery

State of Play

add categories.

customers, and are not based on eyeballs.

E-commerce companies in India offers the most tangible and finest e-commerce

solutions, provide high end e-commerce solution taking utmost care of the privacy

and security of the e-commerce website. E-Commerce service includes shopping


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carts, database programmers, graphic design services, graphics, e-business, Flash

designs etc.


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TOP TEN E-COMMERCE COMPANIES IN INDIA

20North.com:

This website offers variety of products like electronics ,books ,music ,movies ,car

accessories. The site also offers lucrative deals. Log onto the site to shop. Happy

Shopping!!!

99labels.com:

This site offers many fashion and luxury brands at good prices. Check this site for

more brands .

Dealsandyou.com:

This site offers various kinds of deals be it holidays, shirts etc. Also this site gives

heavy discounts on regular basis that cab be profitable for the shoppers. Browse

this site for more.

Fashionandyou.com:

This site also is a great place to shop and that too sitting at home. Also this site

declares sale and heavy discounts almost every day. Sign Up today to get more

deals.

Flipkart :

This site offers various kinds of products and that too at one place. Mobile, its

accessories , books, camera and laptop accessories. and many more things are

available on this site. One can find deals for home appliances also that are

available at affordable prices. Check this site

Indiangiftsportal:

This is known for providing gifts for various occasions like birthdays ,anniversary,

wedding, bhai dooj, diwali and many more .Also flowers, cakes ,chocolates and

many more things are offered by this site. Browse it today to send gifts to your

loved ones.


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MagazineMall:

This company specifically deals in magazines and one can get magazines of

different and unique categories like Gardening/Housekeeping, lifestyle, fashion,

luxury, current affairs and many more.

Bindaasbargain:

Here new deal comes everyday at 10 am and it is India's first One Deal A Day

online shopping site.Check out the site for new deal. Happy Shopping

Buytheprice.com:

The site offers Mobiles, Computers, Cameras, Home Appliances ,Life style, Audio

and Video and much more. Variety of products are available under each category.

Perfume2order:

It has categories like Perfumes for Men, Perfumes for Women, Deodorants & Deo

Stick, Perfume Gift Set, Designer Wallet & Belts, Flowers, Handbags & Clutches,

Sunglasses and many more things.


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E-COMMERCE IN GLOBAL SOURCING SCENARIO

What Is E-commerce And How Does It Augments Global Sourcing?

E-commerce or electronic commerce, as it is popular, allows domestic as well as

international trade over the Internet. The advent of E-commerce is boon for global

sourcing and import and export. The boost to global sourcing and import/export

through E-commerce is because of its to conduct online marketing, monitoring

supply chain and monetary & data transaction in a dependable manner.

Evolution of E-commerce with Global Sourcing?

It is hard to tell whether import/export volume has swelled because of E-commerce

but sure it made global sourcing easier to monitor with its evolutionary phases.

Three decades ago, it facilitated fund transfers- albeit electronically besides

facilitating exchange of POs and invoices in international trade. Electronic teller

machines are the recent manifestations now overtaken by internet creditcard

processing and endorsement of unsigned invoices even in international trade.

Why is E-commerce Popular in International Trade and Import/Export?

Looked at from both import and export traders' perspective, international trade is

easier conducted electronically. Here are the points why present international trade

depends much on E-commerce.

-commerce storefronts for both global sourcing as

well as import/export.

many staff.

e/list import/export vendor

Online.

transaction


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to international trade, simultaneously

In international trade, global sourcing happens to be one of the chief aspects of

import and export business. Global sourcing is an integral part of B2b scenario and

has essentially transformed world economies as well as boosted business in a great

way. Nonetheless, it is also giving great transformation to the work culture around

the globe with China playing a lead role in global sourcing. Nevertheless, it is also

transforming work cultures around the world silently with China business playing a

major role.

Being an extension of open market dynamics, global sourcing facilitates the export

and import of goods to be in the reach of several small and medium enterprises in

different countries. In this b2b scenario, E-commerce plays an active role in the

global sourcing where the business houses are putting in deep efforts and reaping

the benefits. In this rally of export and import, traders happen to claim the share of

the pie in global sourcing.

E Commerce & Global Sourcing

nown strategies of ensuring smooth

business and access to markets in a cost effective manner. In such a scenario, E-

commerce has brought in a new transformation. It has added to advantages like

removing the barriers of time zones, differences in costs, geographical locations

etc. This has resulted in a major push in development in infrastructure, technology

and several other sectors across the globe. As we see, E commerce is driving the

export and import and propelling the economic growth of numerous developing as

well as developed nations.


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Business strategies are becoming easy to execute and business houses are having a

wide range of options from where they can make their choices.

-commerce has made the path of business smoother and has facilitated not only

in lower cost, but also resulted in procuring material from places where there is

specialization. Moreover, business negotiations are easier and decisions are quicker

due to this boon. Driving the import and export business in this global sourcing

scenario has opened new frontiers for higher growth. The ease in supply chain is

one of the best advantages that has come from e-commerce in the global sourcing

scenario.

in the e-commerce enabled era. The use of internet has facilitated trade and

boosted it at an immense rate. Business from all over the world has been bagged by

this country in spite of the competitive market. Chinese traders have minted fast

money and are still running in that race.

Security concerns in Global Sourcing

E-commerce is not without security concerns, loss/misuse of encrypted data which

are still being seriously being viewed by import/export operators before engaging

in international trade electronically. The truth is E-commerce providers employ

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) to encrypt data/money (remember banks) transfer

from your desktop to your clients'. You can say, E-commerce is secure for both

import/export operators as well as global sourcing agents alike. E-commerce has

arrived on the global sourcing scene as both import and export and international

trade partners are accepting it. Despite its growing stature and popularity E-


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commerce is still thriving in retail sector domestically and the international trade

needs to cover a long distance before it catches up. Another reason for

import/export operators' leaning towards E-commerce is the growing costs of

delays in processing POs and invoices through traditional methods which render

global sourcing useless.


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E-commerce: A Boon for the Current Economic Downturn

E-commerce: A Boon for India

By the end of 2011, the e-commerce market in India had clocked close to Rs

50,000 cores. It is interesting to consider whether the global economic downturn

may have negatively impacted the growth of e-commerce or possibly accelerated it

as consumers look to new online channels which can often deliver greater value

than traditional stores. Today, even though there are less than 10 million internet

users who are actually engaging in e-commerce activities, there are about 150

million internet users in India or around 75 million households that are ready for e-

commerce.

The growing reach in terms of internet connectivity to the interiors of India

coupled with the positive experiences of end consumers when buying online

beyond the metros and big cities are key drivers of the e-commerce boon in India.

Businesses in even the smallest towns and villages are becoming increasingly

aware of e-commerce and are excited by the growth potential.

The growing penetration of e-commerce along with positive consumer experiences

is reflected in a trend towards higher value online purchases. Today, consumers

across urban India are confident enough to make purchases that exceed Rs 20,000-

25,000. Earlier, the same shoppers stayed in the Rs 2,000-5,000 ranges. According

to one study almost 57% of business for e-commerce product sites came from tier

I, tier II and tier III cities while the eight metros accounted for the remainder 43%.

The same pattern was visible in the service sites too, with tier I, tier II and tier III

cities contributing 54% of revenue versus 46 % by the eight metros. According to a

report by the IAMAI, the current e-commerce market in India is around US$ 10

billion. But with different levels of adoption, the market has the potential to grow

anywhere between US$ 70 billion US$ 150 billion under one scenario and at

another level it can grow between US$ 125 billionUS$ 260 billion by 2024-25.


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E-commerce: The world over

Globally, the scenario is much the same. Brazil, one of fastest growing economies

in Latin America, is seeing considerable growth. According to a recent report, it

estimates business-to-consumer (B2C) ecommerce, including both retail e-

commerce and online travel sales, will total to $18.7 billion in 2012, a growth of

21.9% over the previous year. Brazil will account for more than half of the total

B2C e-commerce sales in Latin America through 2013, thanks in large to its huge

populace and growing number of online buyers.

Retail e-commerce itself in the U.S.is predicted to grow at 17% and it will likely

account for $200 billion in sales in 2012 , according to a presentation at a popular

forum. Retail e-commerce totalled $48.2 billion during the third quarter of 2011;

an increase of 13.7% compared with the third quarter of 2010, according to

estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. 2011 also saw the European online market

boom despite the floundering euro. Germanys online trade increased 17% in 2011

to 21.48billion compared to 2010, crossing the 20 billion mark for the first time,

outstripping traditional mail order sales by 10%. A similar growth rate of 10% to

15% is expected in 2012.

In the global scenario, China is fast emerging as the biggest player in e-commerce.

According to an e-commerce report, by 2015, it may well surpass the U.S. In an

astonishing illustration of its online growth rate, China has added the equivalent of

the entire population of France in internet users in each of the last four years. It

will add the equivalent of the entire population of Canada as e-shoppers in each of

the next four years. China is projected to rise from 145 million e-shoppers today to

329 million by 2015.


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KEY REASONS FOR THE SUCCESS OF E-COMMERCE

Shopping 24x7: E-commerce facilitates shopping anytime, anywhere and for

almost anything desired. Busy consumers prefer this to the restrictions of when a

mall/shop is open and the need to physically travel to a shop. Online business takes

shopping a step further by taking itself to the customer creating conveniences of

shopping anywhere and at anytime.

Reduced operational cost: Since the entire business can be moved online, the

need for physical stores has become obsolete. Less infrastructural investment and

associated labour costs drives up the profit margin. The seller can then transfer this

benefit to the customer in the form of discounted pricing which boosts the appeal

of online shopping.

Easy to compare: It is far easier and quicker to compare prices of goods online,

equipping the customer with the information to decide the right price or terms for

themselves. The comparison is not restricted to items from a single seller, or a

single region. One can explore products across global markets via e commerce.

Safe & secure:Customers can trust the process of going online and purchasing

only when transactions are fast, convenient and secure. A high degree of integrity

is possible only when the online electronic payment provider is reputable and

trustworthy. In India, all payment transaction providers are required to comply

with the security requirements laid out by the Reserve Bank of India making the

system more robust and reliable.

Increased reach for the merchant: Just as the customer finds them able to

venture across geographic markets, the merchant too is able to display his product


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to customers in new territories. Market penetration also becomes far more

achievable with e-commerce; it is possible for a merchant in Mumbai to extend his

reach to north-eastern cities or even rural villages that are now connected by the

online network.

Social media trend: In India, with the increasing propensity of social media,

businesses have now begun to engage their customers on social networking portals

such as Facebook. Promotions, sales and new products are increasingly showcased

through such channels and mobile apps are now available that suggest products to

users based on their profiles. These are likely to be rapidly developing marketing

channels for the future.

The e-commerce world is changing rapidly in the digitized world. These e-

commerce developments may have been accelerated by the global economic

downturn which may be driving consumers to find new ways of reducing their

costs of living. The online channel offers a clear value proposition for both

merchants and consumers making it the most sought after and exciting business

model today

Documents

4 the Sem E-commerce