Courtesy : Mastersin Commerce (.Com)

Impact on employment

E-commerce helps create new job opportunities due to information related services, software app and digital products. It also causes job losses. The areas with the greatest predicted job-loss are retail, postal, and travel agencies. The development of e-commerce will create jobs that require highly skilled workers to manage large amounts of information, customer demands, and production processes. In contrast, people with poor technical skills cannot enjoy the wages welfare. On the other hand, because e-commerce requires sufficient stocks that could be delivered to customers in time, the warehouse becomes an important element. Warehouse needs more staff to manage, supervise and organize, thus the condition of warehouse environment will be concerned by employees.

Impact on customers

E-commerce brings convenience for customers as they do not have to leave home and only need to browse website online, especially for buying the products which are not sold in nearby shops. It could help customers buy wider range of products and save customers’ time. Consumers also gain power through online shopping. They are able to research products and compare prices among retailers. Also, online shopping often provides sales promotion or discounts code, thus it is more price effective for customers. Moreover, e-commerce provides products’ detailed information; even the in-store staff cannot offer such detailed explanation. Customers can also review and track the order history online.# ISO certification in India

E-commerce technologies cut transaction costs by allowing both manufactures and consumers to skip through the intermediaries. This is achieved through by extending the search area best price deals and by group purchase. The success of e-commerce in urban and regional levels depend on how the local firms and consumers have adopted to e-commerce.

However, e-commerce lacks human interaction for customers, especially who prefer face-to-face connection. Customers are also concerned with the security of online transactions and tend to remain loyal to well-known retailers. In recent years, clothing retailers such as Tommy Hilfiger have started adding Virtual Fit platforms to their e-commerce sites to reduce the risk of customers buying the wrong sized clothes, although these vary greatly in their fit for purpose. When the customer regret the purchase of a product, it involves returning goods and refunding process. This process is inconvenient as customers need to pack and post the goods. If the products are expensive, large or fragile, it refers to safety issues.# ISO certification in India

Impact on the environment

In 2018, E-commerce generated 1.3 million short tons (1.2 megatonnes) of container cardboard in North America, an increase from 1.1 million (1.00)) in 2017. Only 35 percent of North American cardboard manufacturing capacity is from recycled content. The recycling rate in Europe is 80 percent and Asia is 93 percent. Amazon, the largest user of boxes, has a strategy to cut back on packing material and has reduced packaging material used by 19 percent by weight since 2016. Amazon is requiring retailers to manufacture their product packaging in a way that doesn’t require additional shipping packaging. Amazon also has an 85-person team researching ways to reduce and improve their packaging and shipping materials.# ISO certification in India

Accelerated movement of packages around the world includes accelerated movement of living things, with all its attendant risks. Weeds, pests, and diseases all sometimes travel in packages of seeds. Some of these packages are part of brushing manipulation of e-commerce reviews.# ISO certification in India

Impact on traditional retail

E-commerce has been cited as a major force for the failure of major U.S. retailers in a trend frequently referred to as a “retail apocalypse.  The rise of e-commerce outlets like Amazon has made it harder for traditional retailers to attract customers to their stores and forced companies to change their sales strategies. Many companies have turned to sales promotions and increased digital efforts to lure shoppers while shutting down brick-and-mortar locations.The trend has forced some traditional retailers to shutter its brick and mortar operations.# ISO certification in India

E-commerce during COVID-19

In March 2020, global retail website traffic hit 14.3 billion visits signifying an unprecedented growth of e-commerce during the lockdown of 2020. Later studies show that online sales increased by 25% and online grocery shopping increased by over 100% during the crisis in the United States. Meanwhile, as many as 29% of surveyed shoppers state that they will never go back to shopping in person again; in the UK, 43% of consumers state that they expect to keep on shopping the same way even after the lockdown is over.# ISO certification in India

Retail sales of e-commerce shows that COVID-19 has a significant impact on e-commerce and its sales are expected to reach $6.5 trillion by 2023.

Business application

An example of an older generation of avatar-style automated online assistant on a merchandising website.

Some common applications related to electronic commerce are:

• B2B e-commerce (business-to-business)
• B2C e-commerce (business-to-consumer)
• Conversational commerce: e-commerce via chat
• Digital Wallet
• Document automation in supply chain and logistics
• Electronic tickets
• Enterprise content management
• Group buying
• Instant messaging
• Internet security
• Online auction
• Online banking
• Online office suites
• Online shopping and order tracking
• Online transaction processing
• Pretail
• Print on demand
• Shopping cart software
• Social networking
• Teleconference
• Usenet newsgroup
• Virtual assistant
• Domestic and international payment systems