Electronic Commerce: Benefits on Implementation
Electronic Commerce: Benefits on Implementation
Electronic Commerce (e-Commerce) and its related technologies are unquestionably the current leading-edge business and finance delivery systems for the 21st Century. The explosion in the application of technologies and the delivery of these technologies into the hands of consumers has made the vision, the dream, the fantasy, of conducting business electronically, anywhere in the global community, a reality. Electronic Commerce (EC) is no longer just a concept; it is a market force to be reckoned with. Let's discuss the benefits of implementing E-com into your business.
Earlier Article: Electronic Commerce: What is E-com?
Let's quickly discuss the 3 major benefits of implementing a E-com application on your business processes.
1. You’ll Reach More Customers
This is the main reason why people have started implementing E-com applications on their business.
A major advantage of ecommerce is the potential to reach thousands of new customers daily. Traditional brick and mortar businesses are limited to the customer base that lives or works in the vicinity of the store, or those that pass through while traveling. However, since you start an online retail presence, you’ll never again be limited by geography.
Essentially, if you can promote your shop online and people are interested in your products, anyone in the world could be your customer, provided you are willing to ship to them. E-Commerce presents immense benefits to individual organizations, consumers, and society as a whole.
2. You’re Literally Always Open
The ability to have customers complete orders 24 hours a day is invaluable. A potential customer can roll over in bed at 4 AM, think of something they want to buy, search for it on your site, and make the purchase instantly. And you, the small business owner, don’t have to pay for the resources to physically keep a store open 24 hours a day.
3. The Cost Is Lower for Both Sides
On the supply side, ecommerce stores can remain open without paying staff to run the registers and manage the store. On the demand side, shoppers don’t have to pay travel costs in order to make a purchase.
These are the ultimate benefits of an E-com. This is what sets it apart from traditional means of conducting business. But these are not all.
4. Other Benefits
Apart from these, there are many other benefits, some of them include:
- Reduction in costs to buyers from increased competition in procurement as more suppliers are able to compete in an electronically open marketplace.
- Reduction in errors, time, and overhead costs in information processing by eliminating requirements for re-entering data.
- Reduction in costs to suppliers by electronically accessing online databases of bid opportunities, on-line abilities to submit bids, and on-line review of rewards.
- Reduction in time to complete business transactions, particularly from delivery to payment.
- Creation of new markets through the ability to easily and cheaply reach potential customers.
- Easier entry into new markets, especially geographically remote markets, for enterprises regardless of size and location.
- Better quality of goods as specifications are standardized and competition is increased and improved variety of goods through expanded markets and the ability to produce customized goods.
- Faster time to market as business processes are linked, thus enabling seamless processing and eliminating time delays.
- Optimization of resource selection as businesses form cooperative teams to increase the chances of economic successes, and to provide the customer products and capabilities more exactly meeting the requirements.
- Reduction in inventories and reduction of risk of obsolete inventories as the demand for goods and services is electronically linked through just in time inventory and integrated manufacturing techniques.
- Reduction in overhead costs through uniformity, automation, and large-scale integration of management processes.
- Reduction in use of ecologically damaging materials through electronic coordination of activities and the movement of information rather than physical objects).
- Reduction in advertising costs.
Clearly, the benefits of corporate-wide implementation of e-Commerce are many, and this list is by no means complete.
With the benefits, however, also come the risks. An organization should be cautious not to leap blindly into e-Commerce, but rather first develop an e- Commerce strategy, and then organize a corporate-wide team to implement that strategy. We shall discuss these risks in the coming article. Stay tuned for that.
Well, that's all on the benefits of implementing an E-com application in your business processes. If you have any queries, suggestions or doubts, please let me know. Click on ask questions from the left panel of your screen.
Thank You.
