e-Commerce - The future?

Swami Nikhilaananda said:
"In this e-commerce fight, the consumers seem to be gaining the most."

After Flipkart took the market by storm, numerous players have entered the field. Flipkart definitely revolutionised buying books. And why is e-Commerce relevant? Read on...

Low Prices
One of the top reasons for e-commerce companies to become successful is the low prices. If you go to buy something from a conventional shop, you have to pay an amount for the same product which is available on an e-commerce site at a cost far lesser. Why? A conventional shop has to pay rent for the store, and has to pay the salesboys and sales girls in his store. He has to pay for electricity, water etc. and for transportation and for the products themselves. And he is limited to a small area in which his shop is in. An e-commerce site is not limited by most of these. Since most the overheads are not relevant, these companies pass on the benefits to the consumers directly. This is a huge advantage!

Delivered to your house... For Free!
Do you really want to waste a lot of time stuck in traffic jams, burning fuel unnecessarily and then waste even more time looking for parking spaces? Shipping is free for most online stores - they will deliver it to your house. What more do you want?

Exchanges - No problems
Ever tried to exchange a product in a conventional store? You have to either coax, cajole and placate the owner or pick a fight. Then at most store credit will be given. E-commerce stores like Zovi.com will allow you to exchange, but in case you are not satisfied with the product and want your money back, they will refund the ENTIRE amount, no questions asked! This is really unique. Flipkart now gives  store credit, but advantage is that there is a lot more security and safety shopping online.

Greater choices
Many conventional stores have a limited stock since they can't hold everything under the sun in their small shop/godown. e-Commerce sites have huge warehouses and can hold practically everything. So, you have more choices.

Payment options - Same as conventional shop
And no extra 2% charged either. Cash on Delivery for those who feel their shipment will not be delivered.

No strings attached
Think about it. All of these are advantages. In case of any damaged item being received, all of these stores seem to readily accept them back. The only thing that I found some people were worried about while buying clothes online was "What if that size doesn't fit me?" and I told them "I don't know about other sites. But Zovi.com readily allows you to exchange in case of an incorrect size. And a full refund, no strings attached"

Fantastic discounts... are real!
Some of the discounts provided by e-commerce sites are so fantastic and spectacular that most of us tend to think there is a fine print that is not being put up, and that it is a waste of time to bother. Many of the great deals that come by emails are often discarded thinking it is a marketing gimmick. But the point to remember is that, as an end user, these sites are trying to get you to buy from them, and they definitely want to give you a genuine advantage (for now, at least) because they have to capture you. So, these discounts are really genuine and excellent most of the times. In this e-commerce fight, the consumers seem to be gaining the most.

Remember, e-commerce sites won't want to screw with you on anything, because they just can't afford to. So, go on now, start buying stuff you shopaholics!

Comments

Niranjan said…
Yeah, that's nice. There are few sites where you can order products of both sizes and return the one that doesn't fit you and you will get complete refund. one such site is yebhi.com
Anup said…
Hey, wanted to understand how ecommerce sites can achieve low price. The reasons u stated are also applicable to ecommerce sites, right? they need to have a place where they have to store the inventory, they need to have probably a lot more manual force who deliver the stuff to their door step, and not to forget, they should have a huge office where they work, probably bigger than the shop that keeps books.

i thought that they are actually in loss right now, and they will eventually be profitable with scale and time.
U'll know better since u work in them.
Anup - You are right in that all of the factors are applicable to them as well. But the difference is the reach. While a shop will cater only to that area, an e-commerce site has customers from the entire country. So because of that, I think it will even out.

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