(1) Ubiquity: Ubiquity of E-Commerce means E-Commerce technological features are available anywhere and, we can connect to the Internet at any time, because they are web-based. It makes it possible to shop from homes, offices, video game systems with an Internet connection and mobile phone devices. The result is called a market space (i.e.) a marketplace which is able to extend its traditional geographic boundaries and operating hours. Example: An example includes the ability to access the Internet wherever there is a Wi-Fi hotspot, such as a cafe or airport. Moreover, individuals who have cell phones with data capabilities can access the Internet without a Wi-Fi connection. From the customer’s point of view, ubiquity reduces the transaction costs(i.e.) the cost of participating in the market. In order to transact, it is no longer necessary that we spend both time and money, by travelling to a market. At a broader level, the ubiquity of E-Commerce lowers the cognitive energy required to transact in a market space. Cognitive energy refers to the mental effort required to complete a task. Humans generally seek to reduce cognitive energy outlays. When given a choice, humans will choose the most convenient path, requiring the last effort.
(2) Global reach: Technologies within ecommerce seamlessly stretch across traditional cultural and national boundaries and enable worldwide access. Pearson Education states that instead of just offering goods and services to a population within a specific boundary, businesses can market to and serve an international audience. The Internet and multilingual Web sites, as well as the ability to translate a Web page, allows international visitors all over the globe to access company Web sites, purchase products and make business interactions. Pearson Education is a British-owned education publishing and assessment service to schools and corporations, as well as directly to students. Pearson owns educational media brands including Addison–Wesley, BBC Active, Bug Club, eCollege, Fronter, Longman, My English Lab, Penguin Readers, Prentice Hall, Poptropica and Financial Times Press.
(3) Universal Standards
Individuals, businesses and governments use one set of technological, media and Internet standards to use ecommerce features. Consequently, universal standards help to simplify the interactions. An individual can see these standards while shopping online, as the process to purchase items is similar on Web sites that use ecommerce technologies. Similarly, when an individual creates an online account, the site generally requires an individual to create a username and password so he can access his account. This universal technical standards of E-Commerce, greatly reduce the market entry costs. For the customers, it reduce the “search costs(i.e.) the efforts required to find suitable products. And by creating a single, one world market space, where the prices and the product descriptions can be inexpensively displayed to all to see, and so, the price discovery becomes simpler, faster and more accurate. With the E-Commerce technologies, it is possible for the first time in the history, to easily find all the suppliers, prices and delivery terms of a specific product, anywhere in the world.
(4) Information Richness: Information provided on the web can be made rich, by adding color to the textual information, and adding audio and video clips. Users can access and utilize text messages and visual and audio components to send and receive the information. Pearson Education states that such aspects provide a rich informational experience in regards to marketing and the consumer experience. An individual may see information richness on a company's blog, if a post contains a video, which is related to a product and hyperlinks that allow him to look at or purchase the product and send information about the post via text message or email. Users can access and utilize text messages and visual and audio components to send and receive the information.
(5) Interactivity: E-Commerce technologies are interactive means it allow for two way communication between the merchant and the customer. Technologies used in ecommerce require consumer interactions in order to make an individual feel as though he is an active participant in the transaction process. As a result, ecommerce technologies can adjust to each individual’s experience. For example, while shopping online, an individual is able to view different angles of some items, add products into a virtual shopping cart, checkout by inputting his payment information and then submit the order.
(6) Information Density: Information density means the total amount and quality of information available to all the market participants, consumers and merchants alike. The use of ecommerce reduces the cost to store, process and communicate information, according to Pearson Education. At the same time, accuracy and timeliness increase; thus, making information accurate, inexpensive much more about the consumers and plentiful. For example, the online shopping process allows a company to receive personal, shipping, billing and payment information from a customer, all at once and sends the customer's information to the appropriate departments in a matter of seconds. A number of business consequences are resulting because of the growth in the information density. In E-Commerce markets, prices and costs become more transparent. Price transparency refers to the ease with which the consumers can in out the variety of prices in a market. Cost transparency refers to the ability of the consumers to discover the actual costs, by which the merchants are paying for their products. Also, there are advantages for the merchants as well. Online merchants can discover much more about the various consumers, and this allows the merchants to segment the market into groups, and permits them to engage in price discrimination(i.e.) selling the same goods, or nearly the same goods to different targeted groups with different prices.
(7) Personalization / Customization: Technologies within E-Commerce allow for the personalization and customization of marketing messages groups or individuals receives. Pearson Education states that companies can base such messages on individual characteristics of a consumer. An example of personalization includes product recommendations based on a user's search history on a Web site that allows individuals to create an account. Merchants can target their marketing messages to specific individuals by adjusting those messages. The technology also permits customization. Changing the deliver product or service based, based on a user's preferences or prior behavior. Given the interactive nature of Ecommerce technology, a great deal of information, about the consumer can be gathered in the market place, at the moment of purchase. With the increase in the information density, a great deal of information about the consumer's past purchases and behavior can be stored and used by the online merchants. The result is a level of personalization and customization, which is unthinkable with the existing commerce technologies. For example, we may be able to shape what we see on a television by selecting a channel, but, we cannot change the contents of the channel, which we have already chosen.
Titany answered the question on September 23, 2021 at 06:03