Ecommerce in Today’s Marketplace

Umar Zai

What is Ecommerce?

Before getting into details of Ecommerce, it is important to understand Ecommerce from the definition. For easy understanding, Ecommerce (Electronic Commerce) is defined as the buying and selling of goods and services or the transfer of money or data through the internet connection or an online platform. Ecommerce remains a relatively new, emerging, and constantly evolving business in the marketplace and information technology area. 

There are three main types of Ecommerce;

• Business to Business (B2B)

This is the sale and buying of goods and services through an online sales platform. An example is when a business is buying software from another company or business. The different categories of B2B customers in the marketplace are producers, sellers, government and institutions. 

• Business to Consumer (B2C)

This type of Ecommerce is also referred to Retail Ecommerce which involves companies selling their products to customers through the internet. An example of B2B companies are Amazon and Walmart. In B2B customers get to choose the items they want, quantity and also get the chance to have it delivered direct to their location be it home or office.

• Customer to Customer (C2C)

In this type of Ecommerce, it facilitates commerce between private individuals or between customers. This is beneficial in that a customer can find products easily that may otherwise be difficult to locate. An example of this type of C2C Ecommerce platforms is Jiji (Formerly OLX) and eBay.

In a nutshell, Ecommerce has made buying faster, flexible, less costly for both consumers and businesses. Starting an Ecommerce business allows someone to become a leader in your niche. Ecommerce is really growing because a business can also grow organic traffic and sales with Ecommerce blogging. Not only will you be able to get traffic but you will also be able to monetize those customers with re-targeting ads.

There are a number of well-known and not-so-obvious advantages for doing business on an online platform.

1. Geographical Limitations – If you have a physical store, you are limited by the geographical area you can sell your goods or services. But with E-commerce anything is accessible from whatever location you are at.
2. Lower Costs – The automation of inventory management, billing, payments, checkouts and other operational processes lowers the number of employees required to run an e-commerce setup. With E-commerce you do not need a physical store which also reduces the costs you would have incurred paying rent and other expenses.
3. Get rid of travel time and cost – On normal businesses operations consumers tend to travel long distances to reach their preferred physical store. E-commerce allows consumers to browse through a number of E-commerce platforms and find the best and comfortable prices.

There are also a number of challenges associated with Ecommerce as a type of business model. They include;

1. Need for internet access – All Ecommerce platforms have the features and functionalities that require a high-speed Internet connection for productive consumer experience, which makes it disadvantageous to those who have slow or no internet connections.
2. Complexity in compliance, regulations and taxation – sticking to the regulations of one’s own country or state or their consumers’ places of residence could be creating a lot of complexities in accounting, taxation and compliance.

Ecommerce Dominance in the Marketplace today

Speaking in the most general terms, a marketplace is a platform that offers products and services of numerous sellers, which can be bought by clients. Most of these products come from external companies, although some platforms nowadays also offer their own products. Other businesses must be able to sell their products to make the platform a marketplace, otherwise it is just be considered as an online shop. Sometimes the term “marketplace” is wrongly used for online stores with a very wide selection of products. As previously explained, marketplaces can also offer services for sale. Sellers sell on popular platforms frequently visited by users in exchange for money. Most often, the marketplace business model is based on collecting money for sales made through them. These fees differ depending on the platform and the category of products. Some marketplaces collect fees for listing the product and sellers agree to such fees, because marketplaces allow them to enter the market with low financial outlays. As a result, such platforms are key selling venues for many sellers

It is estimated that globally, the value of retail Ecommerce in 2021 reached over USD 4.8 trillion with the share of Ecommerce in the retail sector steadily growing and reaching 17.6% . the most purchased products on these online platforms include, Fashion products (clothes, footwear, accessories), electronics and media through personal electronics, music, games.

Customers purchase products both from online shops and marketplaces, with the second mentioned enjoying specific popularity. According to online research, last year, the top 100 biggest marketplaces generated turnover of USD 1.86 billion. This gave an explanation for over 95% of the revenues across all platforms and around 65% of the world’s e-commerce combined. 

Apart from small businesses, large firms and medium-sized businesses also sell their products on marketplaces. Off late, more and more of the largest businesses have been joining marketplaces. These new forms of selling have become an important part of both ecommerce and the entire economy. This is because marketplaces eliminate entry barriers to new businesses and the expansion of existing ones. They also create new solutions and show new control in the digital economy. 

As ecommerce continues to develop, new marketplaces are still emerging. The biggest market players offer practically all types of products that can be purchased from aluminum and gypsum ceilings. Their platforms often offer items that are only available in the particular store only, e.g., hand-crafted items. None the less, just like there are specialized online shops, marketplaces have also become segmented. As a result, platforms that focus on specific products and business areas have been launched, e.g., electronics, fashion, home or hand-crafted items. 

A multi-channel strategy is already another emerging trend, depending on the seller’s presence in various online and off-line sales channels. Some marketplace owners expand and launch traditional sales channels, whereas some of the biggest websites open their own marketplaces. 

Currently, quite a number of web users compare prices of products and services and a few among them make their first purchases on the basis of results from price comparison sites. Every third online shop uses price comparison sites as promotion tools. Apart from the price, products are graded based on criteria such as popularity of the online platform or positive feedback from the buyer about the store or the product. 

As ecommerce continues to grow, the role of price comparison sites is also changing. The whole online shopping process can now be conducted on a price comparison site, so such sites are more and more commonly treated as marketplaces. Every year, many new marketplaces emerge in the world. This is made possible, because the entry barriers do not seem difficult to cross. Unlike with online shops, no goods, logistics employees or warehouses are needed. 

Upkeep of the site and developing it are the biggest problems. The cost of developing the IT tools is not an obstacle that cannot be overcome. Building your brand awareness and ongoing promotional activities, getting the ideal scale of operation seem to be the key to success. Most new marketplaces build their potential in the initial stages of operations by offering discounted products or offering services free of charge. However, this can only be done with outstanding financial back-up. Additionally, the largest marketplaces continue to improve their tools and go to great lengths to attract and keep their clients. Unfortunately, most e-commerce businesses has seen numerous promising marketplaces that have failed to withstand the pressure from competitors, 

Biggest Ecommerce Companies in the World

Businesses and trade have long ago moved from the physical or offline world to Ecommerce and majority of us have either heard of, or used services of the following companies. When COVID-19 forced most people worldwide to quarantine or stay indoors, they switched to online trading. The largest e-commerce companies became even larger, as a result of meeting their customers’ needs.

• Amazon 

Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994. It started as an online bookstore that later diversified to selling everything from electronics, food, apparel to furniture and toys, making it the largest e-commerce company in the world. Today, it operates 12 websites around the world and has a major presence in markets including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Japan and Spain. Since then, Amazon has also expanded its business reach and influence, offering a paid subscription program for its members and further extending its list of offerings.

• Alibaba

Also known as AliExpress, Alibaba founded by Jack Ma in 1999. The platform connects millions of brands, merchants and vendors with consumers all over the world. Since its founding, it has transformed consumers’ lifestyle and has contributed to the rise of the China’s online and mobile shopping market. Today, it still remains as one of the world’s most highly recognized ecommerce platforms with strong presences on social media and in the global e-commerce industry overall., is one of the largest e-commerce companies in China.

• eBay

eBay was the first one to introduce the marketplace concept to online shopping making one of the oldest ecommerce companies It was founded by Pierre Omidyar in San Jose, California in 1995, the e-commerce company says it has 1.5 billion live listings on its marketplace and has 174 million buyers. Over the years eBay has developed from its original business format of auction-style shopping to incorporate flash sales, classified advertisement and online ticket trading. 

• Walmart

Walmart is one of the largest multinational retail platforms that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores and grocery stores. Since 2016, it has been making aggressive moves into online shopping business. It now offers in-store pickups of online orders in many markets globally.

• Shopify

Shopify Inc. is a Canadian multinational Ecommerce company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario.  Shopify is the name of its proprietary E-commerce platform for online stores and retail point of sales systems. The Shopify platform offers online retailers a suite of services including payments, marketing, shipping and customer engagement tools. The company reported that it had more than 1,700,000 businesses in approximately 175 countries using its platform as of May 2021.

Effect of Ecommerce in Malls around the World

It’s not a lie that Ecommerce will heavily affect the sales of malls. And, the future will show a comprehensive and bright picture of the online stores only. The credits to this belief go to the tremendous discounts offered by the Ecommerce websites in their early days. Those discounts and offers are meant to grab or attract the attention of customers and develop the habit of this new trend.

In contrast to the old days, at the moment you will find that the cost of the products that are available on the e-commerce outlets have competitive pricing, but are not inexpensive.

The growth of Ecommerce  has been a major discussion in the characteristics of shopping in the contemporary society. This has been a major concern as people aspire to relate the exponential growth of online shopping to the recent decline in the growth of shopping malls. Various studies have significantly shown the growth of online shopping and have always mentioned the impact of online shopping on shopping malls to be a negative one.

As opposed to the old times, the value system of shopping malls improvised a lot. Even when shopping malls are effective, the hours you will spend looking for the right product you need can be a lot and unfortunately you might end up not getting the exact brand you are looking for. You will spend hours and hours looking at the products, trying, and checking if that goes well and comes in your budget, but you may get a bit of hard luck. That’s one of the major pain points that customers have sorted with Ecommerce. 

Who Are Online Buyers and Why do They Prefer Online Buying

Online buyers or Online Shoppers are individuals who search for and purchase goods and services through the internet. The main advantage or the reason why they prefer online shopping is that the customers can find and purchase items that they need and have the advantage of those products being delivered at the comfort of their homes.

The other advantage of online shopping is that Customers get a huge selection and a variety of products. This is because most physical stores have limited stock and only keep those things that are common and selling the most. As opposed to online shopping where they showcase a variety from their many stores. Another perk of online shopping is that there is no sales pressure in that you do not get floor assistant who try to make you buy stuff that you don’t need just because you didn’t get exactly what you wanted.

How Ecommerce is Revolutionizing the Way We Shop

The manner that people purchase goods and services has changed a bit as a result of current technological advances. Going to your preferred shopping mall to purchase your goods or services was routine. That was exciting because you got to explore new surroundings away from home, but it was also physically taxing. Technology helped create ecommerce business, which has now been welcomed by many customers around the world. Online merchants have embraced a few ecommerce trends as the days, months, and years have gone on in order to stay current with the online market and avoid falling behind and seeing a decline in their ecommerce sales.

We can say with certainty that, given how ecommerce has altered consumer purchasing habits, it has benefited many consumers more than it has hurt them. Consider how ecommerce companies have made it simpler for customers to order goods and services from the convenience of their homes. How much time is saved by the method? You, the consumer, won’t have to go far from your home to a shopping center in order to purchase goods or services. Take your tablet or mobile device and use a single, seamless click on the buy button to purchase whatever you require. Shopping made simple with only one click.

The social media channels that enable ecommerce businesses to engage with customers and inform them on the newest goods and services offered in the online stores have also been well utilized by these businesses. Ecommerce retail stores bring the products closer to their target audience than traditional retail stores do. Thanks to social media marketing, they also have distinctive online marketing techniques that make it simple for them to advertise and sell their items to customers.

Customers would require a large-screen tablet, laptop, or desktop to have the confidence that the things they are purchasing from an ecommerce business site like Amazon are real and exactly what they need to buy. This would enable customers to clearly see the products that were listed and easily read the specifications and descriptions before hitting the buy button.

Consider your payment options. All e-commerce companies accept electronic payments, which are the safest and most convenient way to buy goods. Among these electronic payments are PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, and similar options. Unlike traditional retail businesses, you don’t have to wait for change. You will be able to pay the exact amount that is shown on the screen at an online checkout.

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Posted on: November 4, 2022 at 2:10 pm