International Journal of Production Research

Running head: CHALLENGES OF ECOMMERCE
CHALLENGES OF ECOMMERCE
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CHALLENGES OF ECOMMERCE1
Introduction:
Ecommerce also referred to as the electronic commerce or the internet commerce, refers
to the commercial activities which are one or conducted by and through the modes of internet or
by the help of electronic media. It refers to the buying and selling of the products and the
transferring of the money with the use of the internet and the electronic media. The concept or
the history of ecommerce began with the first online sale of a CD. Across the world. This
particular incident is known as the initiation of the ecommerce. Since then the practice of
ecommerce has been expanded exponentially and currently it is the present and the future of the
economy. One of the most important and effective aspect of practicing the ecommerce activities
is that it has helped in the discovery of the new products and in the development of the same
(Singh, S. and Singh. 2015). More importantly it has helped in expanding the market and now,
people can shop from the world market sitting at their homes. The ecommerce not only includes
the commercial products but ta the same time, it has made the business relationship easier as
well. More numbers of independent freelancers have come into the market, and the ecommerce
has made the online platforms an easier option to buy and sell the products. Therefore, the
ecommerce platform is steadily increasing, and according to the researchers the sale at the
ecommerce is expected to reach $27 trillion, by the end of 2020. The growth is mostly observed
in the field of retail. There is almost a 45% increase in the retail market (Yadav. and Rahman.
2017). In fact the wholesale market and the service industry is also gradually registering itself
into the ecommerce and now the ecommerce has become an industry in itself.
The basic types or forms of ecommerce business are, business to consumer, business to
business, consumer to consumer, and consumer to business, thus, from the types it can be stated

CHALLENGES OF ECOMMERCE2
that the almost all of the business and all the types of businesses are registered on the ecommerce
platform, contributing to the rapid growth and wide practice of this activity (Shemi. 2013).
In this notion, it is important to mention, that Logistics is an inseparable and inevitable
aspect of the practice of ecommerce. Therefore, in the following report, the challenges that
ecommerce faces due to logistics, will be discussed. The report will first discuss about the
relation between the logistics and the ecommerce industry, and thereafter the challenges the
logistics pose in the practice of ecommerce will be mentioned. Further a certain number of
recommendations will also be mentioned and discussed which will effectively state the ways and
the activities that can be helpful to overcome the challenges related to logistics.
Logistics challenges of E-Commerce:
Defining Logistics:
Logistics refers to the process of gathering or collecting the objects together, storing the
same, and then shipping the products to their end destinations. To continue and to successfully
managing the process of logistics it is very important to maintain a system and to develop a
proper planning system for the same. Different objects are to be stored and packed and sent off
differently (Grabara., Kolcun. and Kot. 2014). Therefore, storing the objects and the packaging
of the objects and the maintenance of the same must be designed strategically. Now, it is
important to mention, that different industries include different strategies to manage their
logistics. However, the three most basic and important strategies that the logistics department of
each of the industries include are,
 Identifying the potential suppliers and the distributors within the being available within
the considered perimeter.

CHALLENGES OF ECOMMERCE3
 Identifying the accessibility of the products and the services as well as identifying the
effectiveness of the business terms and production.
 Understanding and recognizing the potential conflicting area and the gets which can
contribute in the creation of the problems, and therefore finding the right solutions for the
same. It also focuses upon identifying the accessible of the solutions that are devised (Yu
et al. 2016).
Since this report is concerned about the business aspects of the ecommerce industry,
therefore, it can be said that logistics is one of the most vital aspects of the industry. All the
researchers have opined that behind the success factors of the ecommerce, the prime contribution
is of the department of ecommerce. Zhang et al. (2017) state that the main concern of the
department of logistics in the ecommerce industry is the fulfilment of the requirements of the
industry as well as of the customers. There are a number of layers involved within the
ecommerce industry. The products that the consumers receive, reach to them following a number
of steps and by scrutinizing through a number of layers. There are a good number of personnel
involved in the process of maintain the logistics and in reaching the products to the respected
customers. Therefore. Since the ecommerce industries have to manage a large amount of
diversified products, therefore, practicing a good logistics system is one of the prime aspects of
the companies. More importantly, since the products have to be reached to the consumers,
therefore, the collection of the products and the packaging and the storing of the products are
very important for the organizations belonging to the ecommerce industry. Ecommerce industries
are growing at an exponential growth and the prime reason for that is, more and more numbers of
people are finding it to be effective and helpful (Giuffrida et al. 2017). Therefore, the prime
concern for these organizations is to reach the consumers well packed and well products just as