E - Commerce

Electronic commerce otherwise known as ‘e – commerce’ is known widely to be the action taken to buy/sell products online, mainly this is done by transactional websites such as; ‘Amazon, Asos, Topman/Topshop, Superdry, Franklin & Marshall, HMV’ etc…  You can also use online banking and even auctioning online like ‘eBay’ these are all forms of electronic commerce. There are business out there who only work online! In this section I will give examples of online businesses, online banking & online auctions.

Online Shopping (Brick & Click)

Franklin & Marshall logo

Online shopping (otherwise known as the Brick & Click method) has hit the ground running, with many growth spurts on the way! It is believed that by the year of 2030 a third of shopping will all be online!  A lot of people see online shopping really easy, and I don’t blame them, being on the right website will make you want to spend and spend till you have no more money! It’s a lot easier to shop online then to go to the local town centre or RVP. You have specialized sites too, for shoes you could go to Office.co.uk their selection of shoes is very broad catering for most ages, however if you wanted music you could go to HMV.co.uk, this brand only focuses on music/DVDs. However if you wanted an online shop that had most things then you could go to Amazon.co.uk. There is an online shop for everyone.

Advantages of online shopping:

• You can be involved in special online discount codes/vouchers
• Can collect points in certain online shops (this can then be put towards your next purchase)
• The site is open 24/7
• There is a shop for everything as the target audiences are massive
• You can save items ‘put buy’ online (only in some online transactional websites)
• You can compare items with ease
• The site tells you what’s ‘in’ and what’s ‘out’
• If stock is out then it will tell you

Disadvantages:

• Sites that are transactional need high maintenance to keep going
• Nothing beats face – to – face communication (help/advice)
• Online shops can get hacked… (if the site isn’t secure your details could be stolen)
• P&P can sometimes make the overall price the same as if you were to go down the local shop
• Business shops that are not online lose out on potential sales
• Items can get mixed up, and or lost
• You have to be patient when buying online as it gets shipped directly to you

As myself I do shop online quite a bit, I do this because I can find really good deals online, for example, today  I purchased a fish-eye lens for my Nikon, this cost me £35 including P&P, in Jessops this cost £69, so its clear that I have saved a substantial amount of money! Although I do like the perk of shopping in the RVP as iI can see for myself what is there and I can try on anything I want too, you can't do that with online shopping, so you have to be 100% certain with what you are purchasing if you don't want the hassle of sending it back!

Online Banking

One important perk of e – commerce is online banking, this has slowly been evolving to be something great. This basically means that you can access your bank as exactly how you would do it in person. You can do all the same things, and you can transfer money to other accounts and create branch accounts with step – to – step guides. However there are people who would argue ‘is it safe?’ in answer to this FAQ, I would say that a vast majority are very safe, yes you have all your details on there, but so does your high street branch… there’s no real difference apart from you can access your bank online. You can make it more secure by adding questions that only ‘you’ would know, a lot of people do this, yet loads don’t bother as they feel more trust for the online banking systems.

Egg logo

There is actually an online bank that is only accessible online… this online bank is called ‘Egg’. Egg banking PLC is a British internet bank owned by Citigroup, and was established in 1996, it was properly launched in 1998 and is now the largest online bank system. They specialize in savings, credit cards & general insurance. Although it used to offer loans and mortgages it now longer does not.

The key to online banking is simple, its trust, without these the  systems simply wouldn’t function as no one would want to use them, luckily for us security is always improving. Without security these banks wouldn’t exist...

Advantages of Online Banking:

• Having an online bank means you don’t have to travel to the high street
• Can check your statements whenever you wish
• Accessible 24/7 unlike high street banks
• You can save the actual business itself from printing costs as they can send you information direct to your e – mail or bank account itself

Disadvantages:

• Hackers are always trying to break into online banks
• Security checks can be off putting and can be time consuming
• As it is a fairly new thing not everyone really trusts it
• Unlike a high street bank you can ask away, with an online bank it’s very hard to seek help

I myself don't use online banking, why? I'm not the biggest fan of it, although I would trust the service, I prefer face - to - face communication, where as if I do get in a sticky situation I know that help is only down the road. However I can see why others would use online banking, especially those who don't have access to a local bank.

Online Auctions

eBay  logo

Sites such as ‘eBay’ have bloomed! Everyone has heard of it, and to be honest, most people use it too! Anyone can join too, you can sell and purchase, the reason why people use it is to get rid of unwanted goods this is when the quote ‘another man’s rubbish is another man’s gold’ comes into place, it really is true. This site also works off trust too though, without trust this site would not function properly. And this is when ‘feedback’ comes into action, after every purchase you will review the service and the product. And that is honesty. If a seller receives bad feedback  buyers will then think twice to use them, however it would be a completely different story if the seller was to receive good feedback!

To aid the process most ‘eBayers’ use something called ‘PayPal’. PayPal is an e – commerce business allowing payments/money transfer to be made over the internet. This gives buyers on eBay more security because if the seller lies or is dishonest about his product you then have the right to claim your money back, and his reputation will go down. So it’s a win – win situation.

Advantages of Online Auctioning:

• You can see whose bad & whose good
• Wide/broad range of products
• Can make money from anything
• PayPal is really safe
• Something for everyone

Dr. Dre's Beats headphones

Disadvantages:

• Fake products are rife (for example Dr. Dre’s new beats headphones have been copied and sold online causing great distress to the buyer!)
• People can be dishonest
• You don’t always win an auction! So you must be patient 

I haven't yet used eBay, but I have wanted to use it for a while! I know of many people to have had great success with it, stating that you can get really good deals/purchases, and you can have fun selling stuff that you know longer need! I personally believe that because you have access to PayPal of which offers amazing security eBay will keep blooming and other online auction websites will join too!