@harshkumar-a-patel
Active 9 years, 6 months ago-
Harshkumar A Patel wrote a new post on the site MIS2101 – Spring 2015 9 years, 9 months ago
E-Commerce is the new marketplace with many benefits such as ease of access, but there are also some disadvantages to e-commerce. For example a consumer buying clothes from a website is not able to try them on before making the purchase. This article looks at a possible solution to this problems. It explains how giving customers the chance to have a hands on experience with a product can be beneficial for e-commerce businesses.
Article: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239690
Discussion Questions:
Do you think combining e-commerce with brick and mortar stores is an effective way for e-commerce companies to increase their sells?
What are some possible reasons why an e-eCommerce company might not want to invest in a retail store?
Since I shop online at least 90% of the time, I found this article to be quite interesting. For these E-commerce companies to compete with the brick and mortar businesses, they had to create virtual locations. Just like the brick and mortar businesses had to create E-commerce sites for those of us who enjoy shopping from home, but like having the option of going to an actual store as well. There was a need for both options and to have one and not the other you are leaving those customers to be attracted to companies that provide both.
Great article on the need for a brick and mortar store – though I am not sure I am sold – it will be interesting to hear what everyone else is thinking. Here’s another article that you might find interesting as you read and think about the topic:
http://www.retaildoc.com/blog/amazon-showrooming-brick-and-mortar-retail-store-susceptible
As many people now do, I also do a significant amount of shopping online. However, I do not prefer to do clothes shopping online for the exact reason that is mentioned immediately in the article. I am not rich and therefore will not pay for clothes that may not fit only to find out a week later when they get delivered that they do not. I believe having a physical presence in addition to e-commerce is important if you are selling clothing. Another innovator is Zappos.com, which is an online shoe distributor that features videos and other features to display how potential customers will look in the shoe and describe how they will fit.
As I mentioned last week in class, I value convenience. It is so simple to be sitting in my office or on the couch and log onto Macy’s and order a new pair of shoes or Amazon and have the protein bars I like shipped, etc. That being said, I’ve had similar experiences clothes shopping online where I needed to return items that didn’t fit or weren’t as described which can be annoying. I don’t usually return items to the store, I’ll just drop them back in the mail and wait for a replacement, but my wife will take things back to the store when it’s convenient for her. I guess there’s a place for brick and mortar locations, but they wouldn’t necessarily encourage or discourage my buying decision either way.