Introduction
In existing period of time, due to the increasing intervention of technology in business practices, the norms and trends of business operations have been changed quite significantly. Nowadays, internet has become one of the major aspects of business practices undertaken by business organizations. The presented paper is directed to reveal some crucial information regarding e-commerce business operations and different measures undertaken by small scale business organizations for preventing risks associated with their e-commence related business activities.
Advantage and disadvantages of undertaking small business through online measures
Internet can be proved one of the most effective ways through which a business organization can approach its customers and sell its products to them. However, there are some critical issues also associated with such online business practices. In regard to this some advantages and disadvantages of online business model adhered by a small scale business organization can be reflected through Its SWOT analysis:
Strengths
- Online measures allows the company to have interaction with a large population simultaneously, which is not possible in retails store business model
- The overall business transactional and operational costs of the company will also be minimized through online method as the company needs not expand on maintenance of its retail store and warehouses (Campbell & Woodley, 2003).
Weakness
- Through this measure direct interaction of customer with the company decreases which can lead to harm their loyalty towards the company
- Online business model can attract only those customers who have compatibility with virtual shopping practices through internet.
Opportunities
- In existing period of time, the usage of internet among common people has been increased quite significantly, which can make online shopping popular among people.
- Operational cost saved by the company through its virtual and online store can be invested by the company on making its product offerings more effective and versatile for fulfilling all the expectation of customers (Lee, 2006).
Threats
- Nowadays increasing rate of cyber crimes and frauds have created a doubt in the mind of customers regarding shopping and paying bills through internet
- Lack of direct interaction with customers with the company can lead to enhance their brand switching tendency, which can be proved harmful for future perspective of the company (Bagby, 2002).
Strategies undertaken for addressing issues in E-business
As Internet helps in connecting different computers all over the world, any business that engages in e-Commerce instantly becomes an international business. However, this expansion of the company at international level is not easy for a small scale business organization as there are some critical issues associated with this practice. In this regard, the key issues faced by company include trust, culture, language, government, and infrastructure. For the business organizations it is essential for addressing such issues. In this context, first and foremost issue in dealing within international business environment is related to the lack of cultural compatibility and language differentiation. For the purpose of dealing such problems, the company is required to make changes in its product offerings and operational framework as per the demand of local market. In external business environment no company can go with standardized products and services (Deans, 2005). It is required to make an in-depth market research and reveal the demands and tastes of customers so that the company can customize its products offering in the most effective manner.
Along with this being align with differentiated governmental rules and regulation of the host country is also one of the major problems for a company in international expansion. For this purpose, the company can make strategic alliance and merger with any domestic company, which is compatible with legal and political business environment of the region while entering into a new market. Moreover, through such contracts the company can use the infrastructure of the domestic company at starting, which helps foreign company in resolving issues related to lack of infrastructure in a different location (Bagby, 2002).
Prevention of complications associated with e-commerce
In existing business scenario, every organization that operates on internet platform is required to be complied with the some laws and regulations for governing their business operations. However, there are two complicating factors for the company in complying with the existing law. These factors can be listed as below:
- The Web extends a company’s reach beyond traditional boundaries, which enhances the burden on cultural integration
- The Web increases the speed and efficiency of business communications, which have reduced the decision making time for top level management.
For addressing such issues, the company is required to have an effective and intensive market research so that it can reveal the existing demands and requirements of local customers. Moreover the company can also explore the local culture while researching a new market. Information collected through such measures can be proved helpful in making its products offerings and operational framework customized as per the demand of customers (Campbell & Woodley, 2003).
In addition to this, for the purpose of making decision making fast and effective the company should use decentralized business structure in which, the strategic decision making regarding business practices in a host country can be possible without the intervention of top level management in home country. In this way, the immediate response to any complications in business practices in a host country is possible (Smith, 2004).
Online crimes prevalent in e-Commerce
Despite having several advantages, there several online crimes that have restricted the intentions of people regarding undertaking e-commerce related practices.
1. Hacking of Personal Information of the user:
The first and foremost issue prevalent in e-commerce scenario is the lack of security of personal data such as name, telephone numbers, account details, and address. In recent period of time frequency of crimes in which, the personal information of the user of e-commerce have been hacked and misused, has been increased. In regard to this, the user of e-commerce is required to have proper security of their passwords and bank accounts while undertaking e-commerce related business transaction. They should follow all the security guidelines issued by their banks and companies for making online business transaction secured (Qin, 2010).
2. Financial Frauds
Another critical online crime is related to financial frauds and scams in which the customer is hoaxed with fake and lucrative offers and induced for disclosing their personal and confidential information. On the basis of such information, online criminal can access the bank accounts of the user and make unauthorized transactions. For the purpose of addressing such critical online crime, the legal authorities of the country are required to make some strict laws. There should a different legal and institutional framework in the country, with the help of which the occurrence of such critical online crimes can be reduced up to a significant level (Shahidullah, 2008).
References
Alghamdi, A.M. (2011). The Law of E-Commerce: E-Contracts, E-Business. AuthorHouse.
Bagby, J.W. (2002). E-Commerce Law: Issues for Business. Thomson/South-Western West.
Campbell, D. & Woodley, S. (2003). E-commerce: Law and Jurisdiction, Issue 2002. Kluwer Law International.
Deans, P.C. (2005). E-commerce and M-commerce Technologies. Idea Group Inc (IGI).
Lee, J. (2006). Data Engineering Issues in E-Commerce and Services. Springer.
Qin, Z. (2010). Introduction to E-commerce. Springer.
Shahidullah, S.H. (2008). Crime Policy in America: Laws, Institutions, and Programs. University Press of America.
Smith, G.E. (2004). Control and Security of E-Commerce. John Wiley & Sons.
