Introduction to Online Business
Online business is any kind of business or commercial transaction that includes
sharing information across the internet. It also refers to the business with the
help of internet. According to Christopher Sharrocks(1976) A Online business is a
business conducted entirely online. Goods or services are marketed, viewed,
purchased and delivery is organized thereafter once the order has been placed
and paid for. Electronic business differ from electronic commerce as it does not
only deal with the online transaction of selling and buying of a product or service
but also enables to conduct business processes logistics, manufacturing and
operations, marketing and sales, customer service with the value chain through
internal or external networks. A strong online presence allows you to build your
brand and gain the credibility that you need to attract more customers.
As talking to the current scenario the world is facing
The COVID-19 pandemic situation various online business are facing different
opportunities as well as challenges and also their strength as well as weaknesses.
There are various strength and weakness of online businesses. Some of the
strength and weakness are as follows:
Strengths of Online Business
- Global access:
As per the transaction are to be held on virtual basis, we can upload our
item to our page and person sitting to another side of the country is able to
see it with the help of internet. We can able to reach any global market
with just their usernames. We can easily access to the global market for our
further business processes. - Reduced Cost:
One of the strength to have online market is it does not require extra cost
for the set-up of the office and office related things. While the business is
done through setting a user identification. It does not need traditional
office belongings. No more miscellaneous expense is required. - Flexibility:
Online business is more flexible than traditional business. Here we can
order goods on the basis of the product seen on the website of the
business. This is the way more flexible for the people who are working on
different sectors. - Reduced office requirements:
Virtual world doesn’t require a lot of people working together. A single
person is able to work for certain business. It requires less number of
people working on same place. As the business is carried out on virtual
basis. No more staffs are to be recruited. - Less paper waste:
No more consumption of the paper work is to be done as per every work is
to be carried on virtual basis. Papers are less consumed and the paper
waste is also managed while doing a business. - Information:
If you try to learn the opening hours of stores without a website, maybe
you should call several times and can be transferred to the operator just to
get answers to your simple questions. If you have a website, you can get
this information quickly and easily. Online websites can provide a lot of
relevant information to customers, including contact information, product
descriptions and company history etc. - Saves time:
Customers do not have to stand in queues in cash counters to pay for the
products that have been purchased by them. They can shop from their
home or work place and do not have to spend time traveling. The
customers can also look for the products that are required by them by
entering the key words or using search engines.
Weaknesses of Online Business
- Lack of interaction:
With a physical presence staff members can interact with customers face to
face. This can impress the purchaser and prompt them to share their
positive experiences with others. Some purchasers may simply prefer face
to face interaction, as opposed to purchasing their goods online. You may
struggle to develop a meaningful relationship with a purchaser when you
operate an online business. - Internet Connectivity:
Every transaction is based on the internet connection, when the server
goes down we can have a lot of lose in time as well as money. If the website
goes down and cannot be fixed for hours or even in days. This could cause
potential customers to be dissuaded from buying a product from you if they
receive an error message when trying to visit your website, and they may
communicate their poor experience with friends and family. - High shipping cost:
The process of delivering the goods and the cost of the delivery is high. As
online business could be accessible at any part of the world. The
transportation charge may vary from place to place and shipping charge is
meant to be paid by the customer themselves. So, it includes extra charge. - Limited number of online shoppers:
Most of the people don’t believe online transactions. So while retaining a
customer to the company it’s a difficult task to win their heart on virtual
basis. So, we tend to get a limited number of online shoppers in the market.
In country like Nepal people are still believing and trusting like traditional
form of business. - Security Privacy:
Many people still don’t believe on online transactions, they are still
committed to traditional business form and in online transaction it is
difficult to ensure the security or privacy. People aren’t comfortable sharing
their personal data’s which is affecting online business in least developed
or developing countries. - User resistance:
Users may not trust the site being an unknown or faceless seller. Such
mistrust makes it difficult to convince traditional users to switch from
physical stores to online/virtual stores. - Fraud:
As per the transactions are held on online, personal and financial details
provided for trading purpose are misused by hacker their personal undue
interest. - Fast-Exchange of information:
As online business is a message far. So, a single text can help to gain the
every data we need of the product we can get or access to every
information we require about the product. Virtual business always
guarantee for fast and accurate sharing of information among merchants
and customers and enables prompt quick just in time reply.
References:
Beynom Davies p (2004) E-business Palgrave, Basing Stoke.
Ben Wakeling (2009) Business Ideas, Coventry University.
www.business.qld.gov.au
www.creatly.com
