What is E Commerce ?
Ecommerce (electronic commerce) refers to all online activity that involves the buying and selling of products and services. In other words, ecommerce is a process for conducting transactions online. When you go to your favorite online retailer to buy a new pair of shoes, you’re engaging in ecommerce.
E COMMERCE IN INDIA
E-commerce has transformed the way business is done in India. The Indian E-commerce market is expected to grow to US$ 111.40 billion by 2025 from US$ 46.2 billion as of 2020. By 2030, it is expected to reach US$ 350 billion.
By 2021, total e-commerce sales are expected to reach US$ 67-84 billion from the US$ 52.57 billion recorded in 2020.
India’s e-commerce market is expected to reach US$ 111 billion by 2024 and US$ 200 billion by 2026.
Much of the growth for the industry has been triggered by an increase in internet and smartphone penetration. As of July 2021, the number of internet connections in India significantly increased to 784.59 million, driven by the ‘Digital India’ programme. Out of the total internet connections, ~61% connections were in urban areas, of which 97% connections were wireless.
What are the 3 types of e-commerce?
There are three main types of e-commerce: business-to-business (websites such as Shopify), business-to-consumer (websites such as Amazon), and consumer-to-consumer (websites such as eBay)
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 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.