1.Introduction to E-Commerce.

E-commerce is the activity of buying or selling of products on online service or

over the Internet. Electronic commerce draws on technologies such as mobile

commerce, Electronic fund transfer, supply chain management, internet marketing,

online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory

management system, and automated data collection system.

Modern electronic commerce typically uses the world wide web for at least one

part of transaction’s life cycle although it may also use other technologies such as

e-mail. Typical e-commerce transaction includes the purchase of online books and

music purchases and to a less extent, customized/personalized online liquor store

inventory services. There are three areas of e-commerce: online retailing,

electronic markets, and online auction. E-commerce is supported by electronic

business.

‘E-commerce’ and ‘online shopping’ are often used interchangeably but at its core

e-commerce is much broader than this – it embodies a concept for doing business

online, incorporating a multitude of different service e.g making online

payments, booking flights etc.

E-commerce has experienced rapid growth since its humble beginnings with e-

commerce sales projected to grow to 434.2 billion USD by 2017. The power of e-

commerce should not be underestimated as it continuous to pervade everyday life

and present significant opportunity for small, medium and large businesses and

online investor. You don’t need to look far to see the potential of e-commerce

business. Amazon, for example which set the standard for customer-oriented

website as well as learns supply chain, has been seen to sell in excess of 426 items

per second.

The term e-commerce was coined back in the 1960s, with the rise of electronic

commerce – the buying and selling of goods through the transaction of data which

was made possible by the introduction of the electronic data interchange. Fast

forward fifty years and e-commerce changed the way in which society sell goods

and services.

E-commerce has become one of the most popular methodsof marketing money

online and an attractive opportunity for investor. For those interested in buying an

e-commerce business, this article serves to provide an introduction to e-commerce,

covering the reasons for its popularity, the main distribution models and a

comparison of the major e-commerce platformsavailable.

1.2.Advantages.

 Global reach

E-commerce reaches customers all over the world. They can make a purchase

anywhere and anytime. Thus, offering maximum convenience at consumers

fingertips. There are very few physical limitation for the product to reach the

consumers.

 Lower cost of transaction and greater profit margin

The nature of E-commerce business is such that the cost of office space at multiple

locations can be avoided. There is huge saving on real estate space. Also, due to

online nature of business, the cost of logistic and supply chain is relatively low.

There are very few or no intermediaries involved which again lead to savings of

cost.

 Customer insights

By tracking customer digital footprint and using advanced predictive analytics, the

customer entire user journey can be studied to gain insights on keywords for search

advertising, user experience, marketing message, pricing strategy, etc.

 Information

In a physical store merchants can provide only a limited amount of information on

a product. On the other hand, E-commerce websites allow the web space to have

information such as demo videos, reviews, and customer testimonials to help

increase sales.

 Customization

E-commerce use algorithmic technologies to provide personalized content and

product recommendations to its registered customers. These targeted

communications can help increased conversion and sales by showing the most

relevant content to each visitor.

 Easy scaling up

The growth of an online business is not dependent on the availability of

physical space. Inventory management and logistic can be a issue if the

business scales up but it won’t be such a big problem in case of brick and

mortar business. E-commerce merchants can scale up or down their operation

quickly, and take advantages of the unlimited shelf space depending on the

market trend and consumer demand.

1.3.Features of E-Commerce.

 Information

E-commerce provides a world of information about product, its variants,

features, benefits, etc. to enable consumers to make a purchase decision. It

also offers information on product comparisons, promotional offers, delivery

terms, etc.

 Consumer review

Consumers on the e-commerce share their feedback which helps other

shoppers in their purchase decisions. This makes the shopping experience

more authentic and genuine. A mix of positive and negative reviews can help

create more transparency in the purchase process.

 Ubiquity

E-commerce is known for its ubiquity. It is pervasive and universal. It is

available and accessible 24/7 and 365 days in a year. It is available anywhere

and anytime as long as the internet connection is available. The global reach

of e-commerce is what makes it so unique and appealing.

 Interactivity

Technologies used make consumer interaction easy and seamless. This adds to

an individual’s experience. It helps in engaging and retaining consumer

attention and interest on the platform. The algorithms used by the make the

low contact e-commerce as filled with interesting features.

 Personalization

Technologies within e-commerce allow for the personalization and

customization of marketing messages groups or individuals receives. For

example, product recommendations based on a users search history on a web

site allows individuals to create an account.

 Live chat

Live chat helps in closing the sale. Customers question can be answered

immediately. There are many live help platforms that solve customer queries

and leads to higher turnaround of sales. It also fulfils the human element that

is missing in the e-commerce transactions.

 Product comparisons

Product comparisons enhances shopping experience and leads to more

fulfilling purchase journey for the consumers. It also increases website traffic

and resulting into high sales. Consumers can view features side-by-side,

instead of flipping through websites.

 Product demos

Video based product demos help in educating the consumer about the

products. It is informative and reduces return rates. It helps consumers make

an informed decision about their purchases and solves any doubts or queries

about the usage, features or benefits gained from the product.

1.4.Types of E-Commerce.

 Business-to-consumer [B2C]

Business-to-Consumer is the most important business model, that has enterprises

on one end and consumer on the other hand. For example, flipkart.com,

amazon.com etc.

The Business-to-Consumer type of e-commerce is distinguished by the

establishment of electronic relationship between business and final consumer. It

corresponds to the retail section of e-commerce, where traditional retail trade

normally operates.

This

type of commerce has developed greatly, due to the advent of the web, and there
are already many virtual stores and malls on the internet, which sell all kind of

consumer goods, such as computers, software, books, shoes, digital publication, etc

 Consumer-to-Business [C2B]

A consumer to the business model is a type of commerce where a consumer or end

user provides a product or service to an organization. It is the reverse model of

business-to-consumer, where business produce products and service for consumer

consumption.

In this business model, individual customer offer to sell product or service to the

companies who are prepared to purchase them. For example, if you are a software

developer, then you can show a demo of your software or skill that you have on the
site like freelancer, etc. If a company likes your software or skills then the

company will directly buy the software from you or can hire you for their service.

 Consumer-to-consumer [C2C]

Here a consumer sells product, goods or service to other consumer using the

internet or the web technologies. The C2C business model helps us to sell our

assets or properties like a car, bike, electronics etc. via online to other consumer.

OLX, Quicker etc. are this type of business model.

Here, if the consumer-1 wants to sell a product then he/she can publish the details

of the product on the website like OLX or Quicker. The consumer-2 can view the

details of the product on that website that consumer-1 wants to sell. If the

consumer-2 is willing to buy the product that consumer-1 is selling, then the buyer
can directly contact the seller and the product will be sold. Here the products are

selling directly from a consumer to another consumer via the website.

 Business-to-Business [B2B]

Business to Business e-commerce can be simply defined as the commerce between

companies. In B2B type of electronic commerce system, companies do business

with each other. For say, a manufacturer selling a product to a wholesalers, a

wholesaler selling a product to retailers. Here manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer

all are doing their separate business.

Above diagram illustrates the B2B model. There are 3 businesses – wholesaler,

manufacturer and retailer. Here manufacturer has a website using which wholesaler

can purchase product from the manufacturer. When a wholesaler places an order
on website, the information regarding the order will be received by the

manufacturer through the website. Then after processing the order, the

manufacturer will send the product to the wholesaler. After receiving the product

wholesaler can sell it to the retailers. This type of business is called B2B model.
After understaffing the concept of Ecommerce the researcher was interested

to have further study on the following objectives. The stated objectives were

studied through internship.

1.4. Objectives of the study.

 To know the company structure and performance and business environment.

 To analyze various sales technique to attract new customer.

 To find the most suitable sales strategy to attract potential customer.