Electronic commerce is the process of buying and selling goods and services by the use of electronic means. Electronic commerce differs from traditional commerce in that; the latter does not use electronic transactions while buying or selling products. Electronic commerce has given most businesses an equal playing ground where each company can compete with other companies irrespective of whether that company is an infant company or not. It is important to note that the company can use the power of technology to reach wider or even international markets. It is crucial to determine the requirement of one business before going online, and this means that one must produce a good business plan to succeed in electronic commerce.
This follows a comprehensive plan of how you want your website to be. It is important since it will be the interface between you and your customers. It is also very important to develop a web-based application that will capture the attention of one’s customers. In electronic commerce, brick and mortar can be defined as a business that maintains a physical business and offers face to face services to their customers but still use the power of electronic or information technology to market their businesses. The use of electronic commerce to market one’s business has proved to be effective by cutting the cost of advertising by almost 50 per cent. This is possible because by going online, one will be in a position to reach a wide range of people all over the world. This makes it possible for small businesses to compete with companies that have been declared as a monopoly.
The other effect of e-commerce on such businesses is increasing sales. This is made possible since the information can reach many people at the same time and once the customers’ loyalty is won the customers will always be enquiring from a specific dealer about the products. The other reason one should value the dual presence is because of the digital divide. This means that you will be able to maintain the customer who doesn’t use internet services and also those who are in a position to use the internet.