Introduction
The world economy has been increasingly characterized by an increase in trade and consumption aspects. People shop for different goods and services that are sold or retailed by different traders. With the coming of information and communication technology, trading activities have been greatly enhanced. E-commerce is slowly taking charge in trading activities and is expected to take full charge of trade in the near future (Rotem-Mindali and Salomon, 177). This paper will discuss one aspect of e-commerce, which is the e-retailing and development within the 2000 decade. The paper will focus on the cause behind the emergence of e-retailing and the likely future trend that is expected to be observed in e-retailing.
E-retailing as a subset of e-commerce
According to Rotem-Mindali and Salomon, e-retailing is one of the components of what is widely referred to as e-commerce (176). E-commerce has come with the advancement and adoption of information and communication technologies in commerce. E-commerce has been immensely supported since the dawn of the 21st century. This is because of advancement in information technology and the realization that information technology can greatly enhance business.
Therefore, the advancement in information technology can be termed as the major cause of increased e-retailing activities. Information technology is the only base on which e-retailing can take place. The production and distribution of information technology product was very high during the 2000 decade. This saw many IT companies being established. The communication technology gadgets are used in e-retailing. The aspect that should perhaps be investigated is whether the adoption of e-retail consumption is a consequence of information technology or whether it is important to the users (Dennis, 199).
Reasons for the development of e-retail consumption
The use of the internet and the World Wide Web has gained prominence from the later years of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century. This trend has continued up to date. With the development of the internet, most people have been finding it easy to conduct tasks and accomplish duties using the internet as a communication tool. With a significant number of people conducting their communicative activities on the internet, it has been easy to conduct trading activities electronically. This has been facilitated through the use of tools that are connected to the internet.
Online trading activities have been launched to enhance trade. Online consumer communities have been formed encouraging e-retailing and consumption. These developments have been happening at a highly accelerated pace. This trend is associated with what traders and consumers refer to as the increased efficiency and effectiveness in trading activities.
These benefits have enticed many people to start using e-retailing. This has led to what is considered as a revolution in e-retailing. However, it has been discovered that not all people enter consumer networks objectively. Some of the people who have been adopting e-retailing have had ill motives. This has caused fears amongst the genuine e-retail consumers. Therefore, they have exposed the weakness of e-retail consumption thereby hampering its growth. However, these fears have had very little impact on e-retail consumption as statistics reveal that an increased number of consumers have been employing e-retailing practices (Qin, 158).
Research reveals that most consumers are opting to indulge in e-retailing because of the many benefits that accrue to it. However, there are other consumers who do not prefer to do e-retailing because of the negative aspects related to online retailing. This group of consumers is different from the group that does not use e-retailing because of inaccessibility to online retailing enabling tools or enablers. However, it could also be argued that this group of people is just adamant in the sense that they do not want to acquire the tools of communication because they do not see the essence of adopting the concept. In other words, they are contended with conventional form of retailing. Thus, this group derives considerable utility from the old system of retailing as compared to e-retailing homes (Adomavicius and Gupta, 128).
Many consumers in the modern society opt to use the web in conducting online shopping or retailing because of the high level of convenience related to online or e-retailing. Costs of retailing are significantly cut down when consumers use online retailing services as compared to when they use the brick-and-mortar system of retailing. Time and resources are greatly saved since retailers are not forced to outsource for goods or services. Consumers can shop and place an order for goods from the comfort of their homes (Adomavicius and Gupta, 128).
The emergence of many online retailing companies such as the Amazon has also led to the growth of e-retail consumption. These companies offer a wide range of services to customers. They advertise and offer goods at highly discounted prices to attract consumers. This is because a good number of consumers are budget conscious owing to the effects of the harsh economic times of the 21st century. Online companies also offer a range of goods and services thus increasing a range from which consumers can choose the products they want. Nonetheless, the same range of goods and services are also offered in brick-and-mortar retailing. In fact, the consumers get a real touch on products rather than just descriptions that are offered in e-retailing. Consumers can be easily deceived in e-retiling (Zentes and Morschett, 78).
Conclusion
E-retail consumption has gained prominence in the modern business environment. This is because of the overwhelming benefits of using the internet in trade enhancement. Reasons for increased e-retail consumption include availability of technologies and the presence of online retailing companies. Therefore, e-retailing is projected to continue gaining momentum as a lot of people continue to access and use the internet and other information technology services.
Works Cited
Adomavicius, Gediminas and A. Gupta. Business Computing. Bingley: Emerald, 2009. Print.
Dennis, Charles. e-Retailing. New York: Routledge Publishing. 2004. Print.
Rotem-Mindali, Orit and I. Salomon. The impacts of E-retail on the choice of shopping trips and delivery: Some preliminary findings. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 41, 2 (2007): 176-189. Print.
Qin, Zheng. Introduction to E-Commerce. Berlin: Springer Berlin, 2007. Print.
Zentes, Joachim and D. Morschett. Strategic Retail Management: Text and International Cases. Wiesbaden: Betriebswirtschaftlicher Verlag Gabler, 2011. Print.