Shopping experience in the last 10 years has changed a lot. There is no doubt about the fact that consumers are seeking an all-round experience. They no longer want to get constrained within the boundaries of their local store and availability of a single category of product. They want to buy anything, anytime, through any channel and from anywhere. In this age of technology and e-tailing, it is possible. Hence, this has led to e-tailing and subsequent evolution.
But this is not the only reason why instead shopping in local stores, consumers are opting for online alternatives. Now average income is rising, market is also emerging at a steady space. Every 5 to 10 years down the line, there are new platforms, software and applications, which are hitting the market. This combination of rising economy and technology as well as the internet-empowered wealthy and middle class sections of the society are driving the whole shopping experience forward.
Why businesses favor e-tailing?
1) Instead of maintaining several stores in different localities, company can distribute services or products to different locations from one online store.
2) It is possible to start with lesser investment.
3) Distribution cost for a company is slashed down immensely. This is because a company need not ship items to their warehouse and then to their stores. Items reach directly to all consumers.
4) It is possible to have a more clear and precise understanding of the demand, thus maintaining an efficient communication with the supplier and consumer.
5) Companies are able to serve at a much higher level of satisfaction for the consumers because –
- Customers have wider choice of merchandises at their disposal.
- They can browse and buy at the same time.
- With current technology, there is better ease of comparison between two products of choice, so consumers know which product and why to buy them.
6) E-tailers are also able to use price discrimination more effectively. With the previous transactions, company can identify whether a consumer are in more likelihood to buy any of the products.
7) E-tailers can change product placement based on previous transactions of the consumer, to increase visibility of products that consumers are more likely to purchase. In addition, instant recommendations can be put into visibility of a consumer when they are buying any product.
This led to the rise of modern retailing with subsequent evolution of various channels of distribution, customer communication and transaction. Transactions have become more secured now. Delivery has become faster. As internet is slowly creeping from urban to rural locations, in the next few years, this frenzy of buying products online is only expected to increase. In fact, it is projected that by 2020 online sales would touch USD 500 billion. To this future of e-tailing, integrated ecommerce solutions for retailers will play a huge role to diminish the struggle and redefine e-tailing in a multichannel, millennial-led world.
