e-commerce, the future of business and magento trend in online commerce

A Research Document by E-Commerce Expert Group

of SoftProdigy

Abstract

The scope of e-commerce has changed forever, with regional boundaries now outclassed, the evolution of Internet has made E-commerce the most effective and convenient way of buying/selling products online. No wonder the E-commerce marketplace has emerged as one of the quickest ways of exchanging goods and services globally.

E-CommerceThe future of Business

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Introduction

Having E-commerce website is one of the fastest ways of giving your business that global audience it deserves and the Return on Investments that you have always dreamt of. With the world turning virtual with each passing day, the advantages of using the web to sell your products online are immense, an opportunity that is not to be missed at any cost.

Ecommerce industry is wide open to new entrants with less risk and economical investment. There are many unexplored e-commerce market places to be explored in the coming years.

Many factors lead merchants to look for ecommerce, few among them is increased internet users, reduced inventory maintenance, and additional channel to increase sales. Most of internet users are adults and the buying rate over internet with number of internet users are increasing exponentially. Purchases over internet are increasing since past era especially for the travel, retail, and gaming industries.

Considering fact and figures of Comscore and other sources, black Friday (23 November 2012) online sales is reported as $1.042 billion, this made the historical day pertaining to online sales and reporting a 26-percent increase versus same day in 2011.

History

The basic idea of e-commerce, buying and selling products or services electronically without any paper documents, was named as such when the Internet was opened to commercial use in 1991. These transactions began with the use of technology like Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).

This technology allowed commercial enterprises to exchange payments and documentation electronically through the web with each other. E-commerce between businesses is still the largest source of e-commerce today.

It was almost a decade later, however, when the popularity of e-commerce really caught on with the general public. Some of the consumer populace started becoming acquainted with e-commerce in 1994, but it took four more years for proper security protocol (for example, HTTP) to be developed to ensure safe online transactions, and for DSL to become more widespread, allowing greater Internet access.


A Whitepaper on E-Commerce

Then, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, e-commerce began being defined as the process of purchasing goods and services over the Internet using secure payment services and electronic checkout, more like what we know today.

The dot-com collapse in 2000 created a bit of an obstacle for e-commerce, as many online companies were forced out of the marketplace. Yet, the bust was actually a silver lining in disguise because at that time, brick and mortar businesses had an opening to incorporate online sales with their current business model.

Some of the biggest companies, like grocers Albertson’s and Safeway, saw their chance to “go virtual,” adding shopping cart capabilities to their web presence. By 2001, the Business-to-Business model, which is the largest form of e-commerce, was reaping in $700 billion in transactions per year.



Types of E-Commerce

There are primarily five types of e-commerce models:

Business to Business (B2B)

Business-to-Business (B2B) e-commerce, or commerce between companies, accounts for 80% of all e-commerce sales. This model defines that Buyer and seller are two different entities. It is similar to manufacturer issuing goods to the retailer or wholesaler. The reason why these sales are so much greater than consumer e-commerce is because they are often raw commodities that are sold in high volume. For example, one company may sell a ton of rubber tires, glass windows and plastic to another company that will then use those materials to build a car.

“It is one of the cost effective way to sellout product throughout the world”

Business to Consumer (B2C)

Business-to-Consumer (B2C) e-commerce is probably the most familiar type of e-commerce to the average consumer. It is the model taking businesses and consumers interaction. Online business sells to individuals. The basic concept of this model is to sell the product online to the consumers.

B2C is the indirect trade between the company and consumers. It provides direct selling through online. For example: if you want to sell goods and services to customer so that anybody can purchase any products directly from supplier’s website



Directly interact with the customers is the main difference with other business model. As B2B it manages directly relationship with consumers, B2C supply chains normally deal with business that are related to the customer.

Consumer to Consumer (C2C)

Consumer-to-Consumer e-commerce (C2C) includes websites like Craigslist and eBay, where people can list their personal items online for another consumer to buy through personal rather than commercial transactions. These can occur online, like through a personal profile page on eBay, or through face-to-face transactions that have been facilitated online, like through Craigslist. This type of e-commerce gives consumers even more options to find the right buyer or seller in the wide pool of the Internet, and to set their own price.



Peer to Peer (P2P))

It is a discipline that deal itself which assists people to instantly shares related computer files and computer sources without having to interact with central web server.If you are going to implement this model, both sides demand to install the expected software so that they could able to convey on the mutual platform. This kind of e-commerce has very low revenue propagation as from the starting it has been tended to the release of use due to which it sometimes caught involved in cyber laws.

m-Commerce

It deals with conducting the transactions with the help of mobile. Mobile Commerce involves the change of ownership or rights to utilize goods and related services. The phrase mobile commerce was originally coined in 1997 to mean "the delivery of electronic commerce capabilities directly into the consumer’s hand, anywhere, via wireless technology." Many choose to think of Mobile Commerce as meaning "a retail outlet in your customer’s pocket."

According to BI Intelligence in January 2013, 29% of mobile users have now made a purchase with their phones. Walmart estimated that 40% of all visits to their internet shopping site in December 2012 was from a mobile device. Bank of America predicts $67.1 billion in purchases will be made from mobile devices by European and U.S. shoppers in 2015.



Global Trend in E-Commerce

Global ecommerce markets are growing extensively, and for the online based small businesses this represents an opportunity to put a great ecommerce retail site or excellent products into the hands of global customers. By creating a global market presence, small businesses can enlarge their operations, increase sales and keep competition at bay in other parts of the world. E-commerce trends are also leaving a crash on markets and merchant. As it makes easy the consumer’s ability to gather more information about products and prices, e-commerce will lead to make stronger price competition. As the better compact have grown at the cost of smaller ones, as they are able to balance economies and offer lower prices.

Let see some infographic related to the global trend throughout the Globe and relate the growth of E-commerce with it.





User Trend in E-Commerce

E-Commerce sales continue to grow rapidly, having topped $200 billion in 2011. Forrester expects that online sales will grow from 7% of overall retail sales to close to 9% by 2016. Key drivers of this growth include consumers' greater comfort level with purchasing various categories online, broader web shopping capabilities with mobile and tablet devices, innovative new shopping models that divert spend away from physical stores (e.g., flash sales, subscription models), online loyalty programs, and aggressive promotional offers from web retailers.

Let see some infographic related to the global user trend when it comes to E-commerce.



High Level Flow Diagram of E-Commerce



Who Is Who in E-Commerce

The infographic below highlights the top players in e-commerce.

● No e-commerce platform player has more than 12% market share.

● The top players are Magento and Yahoo Stores. (Magento is 4 years old; Yahoo Stores is 14!)

● WP E-commerce is kicking butt in helping businesses add e-commerce functionality to their blogs.

● BigCommerce's move into hosted e-commerce is working out great for the company.

About SoftProdigy

SoftProdigy is an ISO 9001:2008 certified offshore services provider based in Mohali, Punjab, India. SoftProdigy has a team of more than 125 software engineers with very good experience in multiple software technologies including open source tools. SoftProdigy offers services to End Clients, Solution Providers, System Integrators and Product Development companies across the globe and helping them as their trusted IT partner using ONSITE, OFFSITE and OFFSHORE models. SoftProdigy offers full spectrum of services for Consulting, Software Development, Customization, System Integration, Implementation, Training, Tech support and Maintenance.For further details contact us at [email protected].

SoftProdigy’s expertise in E-Commerce


In Softprodigy we have expertise in all the Major E-Commerce solutions. We have dedicated team to cater the needs of client in Magento, Virtuemart, ZenCart, Oscommerce, Wp E-Commerce and Ubercart. Softprodigy has been involved in the product development and IT consultation for many premium client in the field of E-Commerce. We understand that its not just another website that we make in E-Commerce but a complete online store for the client where the client can see their business turn Global and achieve new heights in their business.

Softprodigy's expertise in all the major E-commerce solution makes it a niche in the area and a one point solution to provide any and every E-Commerce solution.


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e-commerce, the future of business and magento trend in online commerce

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