SCOPE OF E-COMMERCE E-commerce has marked its place in the world of technology. With he increasing internet users and people getting more tech savvy, E-commerce is gaining fast pace in the current market. The scope of the e-commerce market has also evolved beyond the narrow buying and selling of goods to include services of all kinds including entertainment and communications that is making E-Commerce an integral part of everyone's daily life. Online shopping, online banking, teleconferencing, electronic tickets, instant messaging are some of the common activities related to e-commerce. Flipkart is the leading Indian e-commerce website in India and developed its innovative payment option of Cash on Delivery. This option has been a huge hit in India especially since internet infrastructure is not yet well developed and the number of failed online ard transactions is higher. Some of the other top e-commerce websites in India include eBay.in, SnapDeal.com, Myntra.com etc. Entry ofse Emvironment (FY. BCAE) Seq - e pressure 4 ae cee en aay sn has to increased ndustr} : ee i ter and er inthis industtY” ,e oo “aio » Electronic retailing /€-F B refers to the sale of goods , ing or e-tailin © usually refers to the busin, ot Btailing has grown in popularity oy, transactions: Et convenient and easy on vr 2 const a the years, mainly Decors le Thame or office. They can access the sco tom te comfet portant beat of oa tng Eetaing sites 240, Consumers find out quickly the deals (. tat cana vendors: OUST eee eae tats with Erte price comparisons. F. lectronic Data InterchanB® (EDD jc communica tt refers to electronic com! BL! erode petween organizations. It is the computer-to-computer exchange of ee ean 1 3 tet ee form without human documents exchanged via EDI are purchase orders, invoices, inventory documents oyome documents etc, THOU EDI, information can be document ed laser. It Tends to decreased costs by reducing cleric aaa rad lese paper wastage. It also improves delivery of goods as Se phasis wien ay wd ITY. This ultimately ends to improvement in customer service 3, On-line marketing research Marketing Research is a systematic process of collecting, recording and analyzing data which is used to solve marketing problems. These days, such data is collected via Internet. On-line research enables easy targeting of respondents across the globe. Such a research is affordable and fast, Further, the use of video, audio and images etc. makes the research versatile. Online information can be gathered through fnline surveys, keyword search, competitors’ links, blogs, so! networking s etc. 4. Onl Websites are becoming new channels for providing custom’ ens Coieinad oxi ad ocRae eard For instance, a cus required at pre-purchase S18: Steir pee Maety, nondiiercey Wilco eis prot 'o check the delivery status online. such services can be made availabl fo he pirical asta eco ees isnot always or. tion of business transactionsa s? Ss? S? omer 127 Mobile commerce 5 Mobile commerce (m-commerce) refers to the buying and selling ( products and services through wireless handheld devices such as ‘ lular phones, personal digital assistants, laptops, tablets etc. It is a march of e-commerce that is conducted over Internet-enabled wireless ’ | oF hand-held devices. M-commerce is considered the next generation of e-commerce and this particular technology allows users to. Po through the Internet without a plug-in terminal. M-Commerce ysed for various activities such as purchase and sale of range of goods d services, online banking, bill payment, information delivery and so on. It is quite easy and comfortable to access online through mobile device. Another advantage with M-Commerce is that it is available on an easy connection. As long as the network signal is available, it is easy to et connected to the Internet. Further, due to handy device, i Ir . , levice, it convenient to use M-Commerce. i ieee[22 E-TRANSITION CHALLENGES FOR INDIAN CORPORATE Some of the challenges that Indian corporate face while e-transforming themselves are explained as under : - Lack of clarity in laws governing e-commerce : Laws regulating e-commerce in India are still evolving and lack clarity. Cyber crime has become common. Legal issues pertaining to the sector differ across categories of e-commerce. This poses a challenge for the players in e-commerce.3, Rapidly changing business mod been changing rapidly in theo. throat competition and costs. Hence players in ¢. re wy lels : Business model i the e-commerce sector dee comm the Players to estan high constantly t0 sustain their business ae StaPtand immovate 'sinesses. So; .come obsolete while me businesses have become obsolete while some ave ronnie sins have their inability to sustain price wars with the cr ow” due to . ir competitors 3 Low rural penetration ; Ajith, ‘ager ‘ugh 70% of India’s population Is have to cut the " e-com due to various causes such as i s illiteracy, ignorance, low intern user base ete. The inadeq Siena rural areas, Problem of retaining customers : E-commerce sector players offer huge discounts to induce people to shop online. Since the consumers are generally bargain hunters on the Internet, the cost of acquisition is high for e-commerce companies. Moreover, many players offer the same product at same price. Hence the challenge is to develop sound strategies to attract and generate repeat customers. 5. Bureaucratic wrangles : With organizations e-transforming themselves, the old ways of doing things are being replaced by new ways. The superiors or managers who enjoy bureaucrat hold over business dealings are not comfortable with such a situation. They may oppose the organizations’ efforts towards transition to e-commerce. 6 Cultural changes : The transition to e-commerce brings in cultural changes in the organization, The e-biz team that undertakes e-commerce initiatives consists of young, dynamic and tech savvy people. This leads to a professional work culture. Such a culture may be in direct conflict: with the already established culture in the organization and may force the senior members to oppose any change. Challenges in maintaining security : E-commerce is based on internet use. As internet is unregulated and uncontrolled, it Poses several risks and threats to the systems operating on it.138 Some of the challenges before 29's? Business Environment (F.Y. B.C.A F.) (Sem ; ‘ H e-commerce players include : @ Maintaining confidentiality of information @ Providing resources to authorized parties only @ Maintaining record of transactions etc. Lack of trust of customers : In India, many customers Ps hesitant to buy through the Internet. The reasons are they are not sure of the quality and the delivery of the Products Further, they are reluctant to pay on-line with their debit o, credit cards. They feel that hackers may misuse their cards. Logistical constraints : Most of the e-commerce players are facing the problems: of excess inventory and absence oj liquidation market in India. The poor supply chain compounds inventory problems due to unpredictability of the supply. The cost of carrying the inventory is high. Further, the delivery and insurance charges are high. This increases cost of the product. 10. Other challenges : Poor telecom and infrastructure for reliable connectivity Limited internet access Lack of uniform taxation-Octroi, entry tax, VAT and lots of state specific taxes makes it confusing to conduct e-commerce business Cut-throat competition in e-commerce sector Scarcity of trained manpower in e-commerce cector.