Answer the following:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of e-business?
ANSWER:
The advantages of e-business are:
i. Ease of Formation - The investment required to start up e-business is almost negligible. This is because it does not require much capital or resources for the physical establishment of the business. Thus, it becomes a comparatively easier mode of trading than the traditional mode of business.
ii. Global Access - E-business provides a worldwide access to the business. Businessmen are able to extend their sale of products to a large number of consumers. Similarly, the consumers also get to choose from a variety of goods. Thus, it can be said that e-business has shrunk the whole world where international boundaries do not matter anymore.
iii. Consumer-Friendly - E-commerce saves the time and efforts of the consumers. It provides a wide range of payment options to its customers such as debit cards, credit cards, cash on delivery and EMIs. All these options are quite safe and secure.
The disadvantages of e-business are:
i. Lack of Personal Touch - Unlike traditional business methods, e-commerce lacks a personal touch, as both the consumer and the seller are not physically present when the deal is made. As a result, direct trading is preferred over e-commerce for products such as clothes, shoes and jewellery.
ii. Lack of Security - Online trading and transactions are highly prone to internet risks and online threats. The possible threats could be leakage of credit/debit card details to the third parties, anonymity of the trading people, virus attacks and hacking and phishing.
iii. Technical Drawbacks - Online trading requires basic computer knowledge and internet familiarity. This often creates distress for the people who do not know how to operate computer. Furthermore, this often divides the society (termed as ‘digital divide’) into computer literates and computer illiterates. Besides, sometimes due to technical problems or server downtime, websites stop functioning; this may add to the frustration of the consumers and may even discourage them to revisit the website.
