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Transcript of 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