University: Management 11 - E-commerce and Online Shopping Essay

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of e-commerce and online shopping, exploring their evolution, trends, and impact on the business world. It examines the advantages and disadvantages of online platforms, comparing them to traditional retail, and discusses various business models li...Read More

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Management
Name of the Student
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Introduction
The essay helps in analysing and identifying the e-commerce and online shopping
aspects in the entire world. The e-commerce is one of the easiest along with most convenient
way of conducting the business over the internet for the different individuals along with
business professionals. In the fast-changing business environment, there are different drastic
changes in the information technology in last one decade and it has been capable of providing
the new concept of the marketing in which the different buyers as well as sellers do not get to
see one another face to face nor see the different goods in the physical manner at the first
place while placing the order. In the essay, the main aim and purpose is to understand the
evolvement of the online shopping or e-commerce aspects which are present in the business.
Discussion
As commented by Thiradathanapattaradecha, Chaisricharoen and Yooyativong
(2018), the e-commerce is considered to be the branch which helps in combining the different
features of the business community along with electronics. The electronic commerce mainly
draws on the different technologies such as the electronic funds transfer, internet banking or
online processing related to transactions. Moreover, as opined by Prince and Prasad (2020),
the online shopping plays a vital role in the present life as with the assistance of the e-
commerce, it helps in providing the different information regarding the different products as
well as services through email or the official portals of the different companies.
As opined by Pearce and Pinto (2018), there is a close kind of analogy between
shopping through the online website of the company and shopping physically at the store.
Firstly, as commented by Neghină et al. (2019), the main difference is the fact that the retail
stores have limited hours for working and on the other hand, the online shopping portals are
made available to the customers 24*7. In addition, as opined by Kong et al. (2020), during

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the online shopping, the different shoppers have the capability to pay for the items through
different modes of payments such as credit card, debit card, cash on delivery or Pay Later
option which is the new add in the list. In the pay later option, the customers can purchase the
products and they can pay for the same later in the next month. However, as opined by Huang
(2017), in the offline shopping method, there is lack of payment options and it makes the
customers bound to pay with the limited payment options.
As commented by Harrington (2019), the patterns of the shopping have changed to a
large extent in the last few years wherein the e-commerce is the important profit driver for the
business. Most of the things in the online stores are automatic and the different costs which
are incurred in everything from inventory or the details of the customers are lower in
comparison to the traditional or the offline marketing techniques. As described by
Chowdhury and Chowdhury (2017), there is incredible convenience in the context of online
shopping as in comparison to the brick and mortar stores with fixed hours, the online
shoppers can choose whatever they wish to purchase at any point of time in a day. It is the
most useful approach for the working women or the mothers with small children or in times
of the inclement weather.
Moreover, according to Cheng et al. (2016), e-commerce can be capable of
broadening the brand image as it is one of the most innovative aspects which will be capable
of becoming the favourite for the different customers. An online presence of the business can
become the home for the different products as well as the general home of the business. It
will be allowing to fully expand the range of products without any worry regarding the
moving of the different locations or worrying regarding the expanding the business. As
discussed by Calibo and Rodriguez (2018), the online store or setting helps in providing
different opportunities as the website of the company is one of the most effective marketing

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tools wherein the SEO can be helpful in building the site and it will be leading to the chances
of the business in getting found in the different search engines.
As commented by Zhao,Zhao and Deng (2017), through the online websites or the
channels, it provides the easy access to the customer reviews wherein the other customers
will be receiving the details of the products and it will be helping them in setting up their
mind whether to purchase the respective product. For instance- Amazon is one suitable
examples of the online business wherein they have been able to earn a high level of revenues
and profitability in the market through satisfying the different requirements of the customers
and it helped them in creating the strong customer base in the market effectively. Amazon has
been capable of earning 23,288.7 crores USD till the year 2019 and the net income of the
company till 2018 is 1007.3 crores (CNBC.com, 2020).
Figure 1: Significance of E-Commerce
(Source: CNBC.com, 2020)
From the respective figure, it can be analyzed that the online shopping or the
ecommerce shopping plays a vital role in the lives of the different individuals in the current
scenario in the 21st century. From the different surveys, it has been noticed that more than 26
countries were taken into consideration and it was being noticed that eBay, Alibaba along

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with Amazon plays a vital role in the online shopping websites and more than 65% of the
audiences prefer to purchase the different products from the online portals as they find the
same convenient and they receive the better information related to the product as well
(Alibaba Group.com, 2020).
Figure 2: Trends of the Retail E-commerce
(Source: Alibaba Group.com, 2020)
From the figure, it has been found that there is a lot of scope for the e-commerce
companies to succeed and double up their business till the year 2023 to more than $6.5
billion. The entire growth of the e-commerce is attributable to Amazon, as it is growing at the
faster pace and they have the capability to achieve the high level of revenues in the next few
years. In the market of the United States alone, the ecommerce websites help in representing
almost 10% of the sales of the retail stores and it helps them in improving their growth
prospects in a suitable manner.
In addition, as commented by Harrington (2019), in the online website techniques,
there are different aspects such as B2B, B2C along with C2C. The B2B example can be

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considered to be Alibaba which has the capability in selling the different products to the retail
stores and it does not deal directly with the customers as well. On the other hand, eBay or
Amazon are the B2C companies wherein the different products are being sold to the
customers which will be capable of achieving the competitive advantage in an efficient
manner. For instance- Amazon, eBay or Alibaba are the three major retail organizations
which are capable of making the customers satisfied with the products which are delivered by
them. The different aspects of the e-commerce business allow the different customers in
posting their comments regarding the products as well as services which will be effective in
helping the business in the long-run. Through introduction of e-commerce websites, the
customers have the option of selecting the clothing and keep the same in the Wishlist which
will be helpful for them in purchasing the same in the future as well.
Figure 3: Top E-Commerce Companies
(Source: Oberlo.com, 2020)
In addition, from the respective figure below, it has been analyzed that though the fine
line between the online and physical shopping has been blurring, however, the difference
between the growth trajectories among retail as well as ecommerce is still stark in nature. It

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has been noticed that the growth has been slowing down in the considerable manner, and in
such scenario, the e-commerce websites are expected to grow till the year 2023. In case of the
Alibaba, the ecommerce website has been capable of achieving $38 billion till the year 2018
and it has helped them in improving growth prospects of the company appropriately as well.
In order to start the online business, the most essential criteria which needs to be analyzed is
the fact that it contains the eye-catchy visuals which will be beneficial for attracting the large
number of customers and it will be capable of gaining competitiveness in the market in
comparison to the traditional sites.
Figure 4: Analysis of Total Retail Sales Worldwide
(Source: statista.com, 2020)
In addition, as opined by Harrington (2019), there are different disadvantages which
are impacting the effectiveness of the online shopping among the different individuals in the
market as there is lack of clarity regarding the products and services which are purchased by
them. Moreover, as commented by Awiagah, Kang and Lim (2016), one of the biggest
aspects which needs to be analyzed in case of the online shopping is the fact there is no

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guarantee regarding the different products and services which are sold by them to customers.
The reviews are not helpful for the customers and it will not be assuring regarding the quality
of the products and services which are sold by them.
Moreover, as commented by Zhao, Zhao and Deng (2017), in the current scenario,
there is high chances of the lack of privacy and the lack of transparency in the process of
buying and selling through online portals. There are different security issues related to
important details which are regarding the payment details of the customers and it will be
ineffective in managing the different aspects in an inefficient manner. There have been
different instances such as wherein the bank details have been hacked while making the
payment for the products which have been sold by them. In such scenario, it has been noticed
that the online shopping has few disadvantages as well which can be impacting the growth of
the business negatively in comparison to the traditional marketing techniques.
Figure 5: SEO Traffic of Top 50 U.S Ecommerce Companies by Revenue
(Source: Goinflow.com, 2020)

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Conclusion
Therefore, from the overall analysis of the online shopping and ecommerce aspects, it
can be inferred that there are different advantages along with disadvantages of the same. The
development of the e-commerce companies tries in keeping the different points in the
consideration for delivering the best kind of web or the application which will be suiting the
business. On one hand, it has been analyzed that online marketing helps the customers in
shopping from their workplace or wherever they are present through logging in the online
website of the company. However, on the other hand, there are instances wherein it has been
noticed that there are differences in the traditional and online marketing techniques as there
are lack of security and transparency concerns available.

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References
Alibaba Group.com (2020) Alibaba Group announces March Quarter and Full Fiscal Year
2019 Results (Online) Retrieved from
https://www.alibabagroup.com/en/news/press_pdf/p190515.pdf [Accessed on 19th February
2020]
Awiagah, R., Kang, J., & Lim, J. I. (2016). Factors affecting e-commerce adoption among
SMEs in Ghana. Information Development, 32(4), 815-836.
Calibo, D. I., & Rodriguez, C. A. (2018). eCommerce Sales Attrition: A Business
Intelligence Visualization. Big Data Technologies and Applications, 107.
Cheng, Z. Q., Liu, Y., Wu, X., & Hua, X. S. (2016, October). Video ecommerce: Towards
online video advertising. In Proceedings of the 24th ACM international conference on
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Chowdhury, E. K., & Chowdhury, R. (2017). Online shopping in bangladesh: a study on the
motivational factors for ecommerce that influence shopper's affirmative tendency towards
online shopping. South Asian Journal of Marketing & Management Research, 7(4), 20-35.
CNBC.com (2020) Amazon's cloud business reports 37% sales growth but misses analysts'
estimates (online) Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/25/aws-earnings-q2-
2019.html [Accessed on 19th February 2020]
Goinflow.com (2020) Research: How the Top 50 U.S. ecommerce Companies Dominate
SEO (Online) Retrieved from https://www.goinflow.com/top-companies-ecommerce-seo/
[Accessed on 22nd February 2020]
Harrington, D. L. (2019). INTERNET RESOURCES: Electronic commerce: The
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Huang, R., 2017. Ecommerce in Rural Areas and Environmental Sustainability: The Last-
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Prince, A., & Prasad, R. R. (2020). Drivers of E-Commerce Business Models in India. Our
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Zhao, X., Zhao, K., & Deng, J. (2017). Origin Location Advantages in Online Markets for
Foreign Branded Products.