28-09-2012, 04:31 PM
Differences between E-commerce and Traditional Commerce
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One interesting difference between e-commerce and in-store sales is that consumers often associate online shopping with "deals" or lower prices, due to auction sites and easy cross-referencing via search engines. In addition, using the Internet to purchase goods or services facilitates consumer competition because of greater accessibility. In other words, while consumers can visit only a few traditional outlets per day, they have access to countless Web retailers in the same timeframe. Because of the ease of access to many retailers and greater opportunities for bargain-hunting, "[c]ompetition on the web is fierce. Price transparency is the rule. With shopping-comparison services, it is possible to check the price offered by hundreds of merchants with a couple of mouse clicks" (The Economist 2004).
Another difference between e-commerce and traditional selling is the consumer's immediate access to information. "Consumers have access to an unprecedented amount of product information, not just from manufacturers' websites but also from online reviews written by previous customers, employees, and organizations faster, more directly, and with more visibility than ever before" (The Economist 2004).
Still a larger difference between traditional commerce and e-commerce exists because information technology (IT) is the middleman, with IT acting as a facilitator for globalization and integration (Kersten 2008). Differences also exist in terms of costs to consumers and retailers. For example, shipping is usually charged but not sales taxes, depending on the state or whether a storefront exists in the marketplace. In addition, face-to-face interaction usually does not exist in online retailing. Similarly, online retailers must rely on different skill sets to effectively market to their target audiences. For example, instead of facilitating taste tests to help sell a particular product, online retailers would use Internet pop-ups or e-mail blasts with promotional codes to feature a specific item.
The differences between e-commerce and traditional in-store sales may still pose difficulties for some consumers, but it is important to know that consumer perceptions are steadily shifting in a positive way toward online retailing. In general, "[c]onsumers are behaving as if they see no great distinction between online and offline shopping. They do both. For most consumers, the internet is just another sales channel, and a convenient tool for browsing and research, and they make their purchase in whatever way happens to suit them best" (The Economist 2004). That being said, some areas of online retailing, such as food sales, are slower to be adopted. Reasons for a lack of acceptance will be addressed later in this article.