The Increasing Popularity of E-Commerce and the Effectiveness of Online Retail
The Increasing popularity of E-Commerce and the effectiveness of online retail
The increased usage and awareness of E-Commerce and online retail has greatly affected the way in which products are bought and sold in today’s society. For this assignment I will be researching the effectiveness and efficiency of offline and online retail environments of clothing products. I will be using Porter’s Value Chain Analysis to evaluate how value is created in e-business and I will then suggest significant improvements which I feel can lead to increased consumer use of online purchasing.
There are many differences between the online retail environment of clothing and offline retail environment clothing. The main differences between the two can be seen through their placement; presentation; security; merchandise and audience size; payment methods; and fulfilment. There are many advantages and disadvantages of both environments.
Regarding placement, offline retail usually involves stores situated on the high street, towns, shopping malls, market stalls, and even big supermarkets such as Tesco. This environment is usually referred to as “Bricks and Mortar”. It involves a physical presence of the products and the physical presence of an agent or a seller. It involves face-to-face interaction, which a lot more people trust in comparison with buying clothes online. Online clothing retail involves customers visiting websites of clothing stores or online auction sites such as E-bay and buying and paying for the items over the internet. The clothes are then delivered to the customers or in some cases can be collected at a certain location by the customer.
With regards to security, shopping for clothes in-store eliminates the risk of fraudulent activity that sometimes occurs when shopping online such as; goods not physically being the same as what they have been described as online; clothes brands being fake; payment scams; or in some cases the products not even existing.
The increased usage and awareness of E-Commerce and online retail has greatly affected the way in which products are bought and sold in today’s society. For this assignment I will be researching the effectiveness and efficiency of offline and online retail environments of clothing products. I will be using Porter’s Value Chain Analysis to evaluate how value is created in e-business and I will then suggest significant improvements which I feel can lead to increased consumer use of online purchasing.
There are many differences between the online retail environment of clothing and offline retail environment clothing. The main differences between the two can be seen through their placement; presentation; security; merchandise and audience size; payment methods; and fulfilment. There are many advantages and disadvantages of both environments.
Regarding placement, offline retail usually involves stores situated on the high street, towns, shopping malls, market stalls, and even big supermarkets such as Tesco. This environment is usually referred to as “Bricks and Mortar”. It involves a physical presence of the products and the physical presence of an agent or a seller. It involves face-to-face interaction, which a lot more people trust in comparison with buying clothes online. Online clothing retail involves customers visiting websites of clothing stores or online auction sites such as E-bay and buying and paying for the items over the internet. The clothes are then delivered to the customers or in some cases can be collected at a certain location by the customer.
With regards to security, shopping for clothes in-store eliminates the risk of fraudulent activity that sometimes occurs when shopping online such as; goods not physically being the same as what they have been described as online; clothes brands being fake; payment scams; or in some cases the products not even existing.
Bibliography: Books Turban, E. King, D. Lee, J,K. Viehland, D. 2006. Electronic Commerce, A Managerial Perspective. 4th Ed. Prentice Education. Upper Saddle River NJ Chaffey, D. 2009. E-business and e-commerce management : strategy, implementation and practice 4th Ed. Prentice Hall. Harlow : Financial Times Chaffey, D and Smith, P.R. 2005. Emarketing Excellence : the heart of Ebusiness. 2ND Ed. Heinemann. Oxford : Elsevier Butterworth Websites http://www.netmba.com/strategy/value-chain/ [Accessed 24th February 2010] http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Misc/misc.survivalism/2009-01/msg00085.html [Accessed 25th February 2010] http://www.nisra.gov.uk/ [Accessed 20th February 2010] http://www.bay-online.com/ [Accessed 24th February 2010] http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2009/12/generate-company-trust-online/ [Accessed 24th February 2010]