The future of E-commerce: Challenge or opportunity?
Introduction
Introductory note on the current trends on electronic commerce in contrast with traditional business models
Short description of the causes of rapid growth of E-commerce
Thesis: E-commerce present many opportunities than the traditional business models.
History of E-commerce
The circumstances that led to e-commerce
Current state of e-commerce in various industries, banking, shopping, leisure, and technology among others
Projections to the future of e-commerce on the same industries
The opportunities and costs of e-commerce
Benefits of e-commerce to current investments
Time saving
Less costly
Convenient
Higher customer satisfaction
Maximum profits
Potential advantages of online business in the future.
Increased customer benefits
Sophisticated clients or customers and shift in consumer behaviors.
Rising of new business frontiers as technology penetrated areas with little use in the world (Goele and Chanana, 2012).
Excellent resource management.
Why traditional businesses are not sustainable.
High-cost of running
Reduced resources management (land, premise, and workers)
Consumer behaviors have since shifted (“Future of e-Commerce: Uncovering Innovation,” n.d).
Minimum profits
Drawbacks of e-business
Reduced employment.
Security issues.
Difficulties in offering after-sales services.
Volatility of infrastructure in warring areas.
Cost implications.
Solutions to the challenges.
Would also create jobs for those working or delivering goods.
Can use up-to-date software and hardware
After-sales services do not necessary need one on one interactions
Market volatility is inevitable and appropriate risk managements methods can help insure the investment from losses.
Conclusion
The future of e-commerce looks brighter than it is today
Have efficient resource management approaches than traditional investments
E-commerce maximizes profits and is in line with customer behavior.
The current business trends have anchored their success on the advancement of technology evidenced by the growth of e-commerce (Winn, 2012). In this regard, e-commerce has become a common aspect in many of the investments (Zeng, 2014). Although traditional businesses are showing unparalleled resilience in the market share, they have suffered major drawbacks due to the emergence of e-commerce. It follows that investors should consider the future of the e-commerce to make decisions from an informed point of view.
Justification of the research
Current trends indicate that there has been a significant shift in consumer behavior due to advancement in technology. Consumers have been seeking efficiency necessitating investments to venture into the online platform. However, such does not come without some considerable challenges that in turn leads to questions about the prospects of e-commerce in the future. The results of the research would help investors in understanding the future trends, and as a result, make decisions from informed perspectives. Besides, it would also help traditional investors on deciding when to shift to e-commerce.
Methods
The research would use a qualitative approach. First, it will report on existing literate review on the projections of the future trends of e-commerce i.e. analysis of secondary data (Sarode, 2015). After that, data collection would involve questionnaires administered to respectable participants, such as IT experts, investors in both traditional and e-commerce platforms. Data analysis would be in tables and graphs.
References
Future of e-Commerce: Uncovering innovation. (n.d). Retrieved on April 7, 2016 from http://www.assocham.org/upload/event/recent/event_1113/Background_Paper_Future_of _e-Commerce_web.pdf
Goele, S., and Chanana, N., (2012). Future of E-commerce in India. International Journals of computing & business research. SSN (Online): 2229-6166 Retrieved on April 7, 2016 from http://www.researchmanuscripts.com/isociety2012/7.pdf
Sarode, R. M., (2015). Future of E-commerce in India Challenges & opportunities. International Journal of Applied Research. 2015; 1(12): 646-650. Retrieved on April 7, 2016 from http://www.allresearchjournal.com/archives/2015/vol1issue12/PartJ/1-12-83.pdf
Winn, M. (2012, September 14). The Truth About Ecommerce and the Economy. Retrieved from http://www.volusion.com/ecommerce-blog/articles/the-truth-about-ecommerce-and-the- economy/
Zeng, M.,(2014). The future of E-commerce. Alibaba. Retrieved on April 7, 2016 from http://www.alibabagroup.com/en/ir/presentations/pre141203.pdf
