Sunday, August 3, 2008
Click n Buy: E-retail
Retail is one of the more visible market sectors on the Web. In retail, merchants sell products and services directly to a buyer. E-retail, also called e-tail, occurs when retailers use the Web to sell their products and services. E-retailers constantly challenge the old ways of conducting business as they bring new products and services to market. New software tools make it easy for consumers to compare and assess the quality, image, and price of products. The result of this might be the shrinking of the already diminishing profits of today's vendors. The crowded field of competitors in B2C e-commerce indicates that achieving long-term success in Web retailing requires e-vendors to adhere to traditional economic and marketing principles and apply traditional marketing strategies A customer (consumer) visits an online business at the Web equivalent of a showroom: the electronic storefront. An electronic storefront, also called an online catalog, is the Web site where an e-retailer displays its products. It contains description, graphics, and sometimes product reviews. After browsing through merchandise, the customer makes a selection and adds it to the shopping cart. The shopping cart is a software component on the Web that allows the customer to collect purchases; it is trolley/basket equivalent of the retail showroom. Items in the cart can be added, deleted, or even saved for a future visit. When ready to complete the sale, the customer proceeds to the checkout. At this time, the customer enters personal and financial data through a secure Internet connection. The transaction and financial data automatically are verified at a banking Web site. If the bank approves the transaction, the customer receives an online confirmation notice of the purchase. Then, the e-retailer processes the order and sends it to the fulfillment center where it is packaged and shipped. The e-retailer notifies the bank of the shipment, and payment is sent via electronic channels to the e-retailer. Inventory systems are updated. Shipping information is posted on the Web, so the customer can track the order. The customer typically receives the order a few days after the. E-retailing presents a new way to shop. The store is open 24 hours a day with a few clicks…….
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5 comments:
Yeah..in hyper competition of retail world we can target niche products to sell through e-tailing.
We can eliminate facility cost by eliminating showroom and concentrating on efficient supply chain cost will further come down.
In case of niche product price margin is significant, by using e-tailing.But we can't generalise the phenomena.
The advantages of the E-retail are obvious!! Low cost, 24x7 availability, tracking of customer tastes and preferences become much easier. However, Indian consumers typically have a high touch and feel requirement. This can further be noticed by extremely low development of the brochure selling model in India, unlike other markets. Just think it over …how many times have you bought something online or from a brochure??
Also the fact that the Indian Infrastructure is not developed except for the already developed areas would create a big challenge in the development of this market…even if you are able to sell online, the products would have to be physically be delivered to the customers in a quick and efficient way to all corners of the country. There is no ‘FedEx’ in India which can assure the service from Kashmir to Kanyamukari and go to the remotest of villages…
But looking at the brighter side of it...the rapid changes in the life style and the rising disposable incomes of the exponentially increasing middle class give a great opportunity for the online marketers. The E retailers would have to evolve drastically for the Indian market as the ‘tried and tested’ Western models are not going to work in India..The success depends on how well the E-retailers adapt to the Indian market…
Its true e-tailing is better option to explore along the fact where convinence is given priority but taking into consideration the personal data the risk involved are high.
A Person cannot risk to keep on providing data to these segments. As far as security with the transactions is conidered it's again a issue to be handeled.
With such a situation the e-tailing format can only be lead by big-corps where the interaction is based on trust. This phenomenon cannot be further generalised as still till date the preference of consumers is to buy from retail shops.
Hey!!
Nice blog... specially for the retail enthusiasts. Would be glad if you could share something on the Triangle/Pentagon model.
Cheers!!
Its very useful blog post!!!
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