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How to write an argumentative essay | Examples & tips

How to Write an Argumentative Essay | Examples & Tips

Published on July 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

An argumentative essay expresses an extended argument for a particular thesis statement . The author takes a clearly defined stance on their subject and builds up an evidence-based case for it.

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When do you write an argumentative essay, approaches to argumentative essays, introducing your argument, the body: developing your argument, concluding your argument, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about argumentative essays.

You might be assigned an argumentative essay as a writing exercise in high school or in a composition class. The prompt will often ask you to argue for one of two positions, and may include terms like “argue” or “argument.” It will frequently take the form of a question.

The prompt may also be more open-ended in terms of the possible arguments you could make.

Argumentative writing at college level

At university, the vast majority of essays or papers you write will involve some form of argumentation. For example, both rhetorical analysis and literary analysis essays involve making arguments about texts.

In this context, you won’t necessarily be told to write an argumentative essay—but making an evidence-based argument is an essential goal of most academic writing, and this should be your default approach unless you’re told otherwise.

Examples of argumentative essay prompts

At a university level, all the prompts below imply an argumentative essay as the appropriate response.

Your research should lead you to develop a specific position on the topic. The essay then argues for that position and aims to convince the reader by presenting your evidence, evaluation and analysis.

Don’t just list all the effects you can think of.
Do develop a focused argument about the overall effect and why it matters, backed up by evidence from sources.
Don’t just provide a selection of data on the measures’ effectiveness.
Do build up your own argument about which kinds of measures have been most or least effective, and why.
Don’t just analyze a random selection of doppelgänger characters.
Do form an argument about specific texts, comparing and contrasting how they express their thematic concerns through doppelgänger characters.

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An argumentative essay should be objective in its approach; your arguments should rely on logic and evidence, not on exaggeration or appeals to emotion.

There are many possible approaches to argumentative essays, but there are two common models that can help you start outlining your arguments: The Toulmin model and the Rogerian model.

Toulmin arguments

The Toulmin model consists of four steps, which may be repeated as many times as necessary for the argument:

Make a claim
Provide the grounds (evidence) for the claim
Explain the warrant (how the grounds support the claim)
Discuss possible rebuttals to the claim, identifying the limits of the argument and showing that you have considered alternative perspectives

The Toulmin model is a common approach in academic essays. You don’t have to use these specific terms (grounds, warrants, rebuttals), but establishing a clear connection between your claims and the evidence supporting them is crucial in an argumentative essay.

Say you’re making an argument about the effectiveness of workplace anti-discrimination measures. You might:

Claim that unconscious bias training does not have the desired results, and resources would be better spent on other approaches
Cite data to support your claim
Explain how the data indicates that the method is ineffective
Anticipate objections to your claim based on other data, indicating whether these objections are valid, and if not, why not.

Rogerian arguments

The Rogerian model also consists of four steps you might repeat throughout your essay:

Discuss what the opposing position gets right and why people might hold this position
Highlight the problems with this position
Present your own position , showing how it addresses these problems
Suggest a possible compromise —what elements of your position would proponents of the opposing position benefit from adopting?

This model builds up a clear picture of both sides of an argument and seeks a compromise. It is particularly useful when people tend to disagree strongly on the issue discussed, allowing you to approach opposing arguments in good faith.

Say you want to argue that the internet has had a positive impact on education. You might:

Acknowledge that students rely too much on websites like Wikipedia
Argue that teachers view Wikipedia as more unreliable than it really is
Suggest that Wikipedia’s system of citations can actually teach students about referencing
Suggest critical engagement with Wikipedia as a possible assignment for teachers who are skeptical of its usefulness.

You don’t necessarily have to pick one of these models—you may even use elements of both in different parts of your essay—but it’s worth considering them if you struggle to structure your arguments.

Regardless of which approach you take, your essay should always be structured using an introduction , a body , and a conclusion .

Like other academic essays, an argumentative essay begins with an introduction . The introduction serves to capture the reader’s interest, provide background information, present your thesis statement , and (in longer essays) to summarize the structure of the body.

Hover over different parts of the example below to see how a typical introduction works.

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts is on the rise, and its role in learning is hotly debated. For many teachers who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its critical benefits for students and educators—as a uniquely comprehensive and accessible information source; a means of exposure to and engagement with different perspectives; and a highly flexible learning environment.

The body of an argumentative essay is where you develop your arguments in detail. Here you’ll present evidence, analysis, and reasoning to convince the reader that your thesis statement is true.

In the standard five-paragraph format for short essays, the body takes up three of your five paragraphs. In longer essays, it will be more paragraphs, and might be divided into sections with headings.

Each paragraph covers its own topic, introduced with a topic sentence . Each of these topics must contribute to your overall argument; don’t include irrelevant information.

This example paragraph takes a Rogerian approach: It first acknowledges the merits of the opposing position and then highlights problems with that position.

Hover over different parts of the example to see how a body paragraph is constructed.

A common frustration for teachers is students’ use of Wikipedia as a source in their writing. Its prevalence among students is not exaggerated; a survey found that the vast majority of the students surveyed used Wikipedia (Head & Eisenberg, 2010). An article in The Guardian stresses a common objection to its use: “a reliance on Wikipedia can discourage students from engaging with genuine academic writing” (Coomer, 2013). Teachers are clearly not mistaken in viewing Wikipedia usage as ubiquitous among their students; but the claim that it discourages engagement with academic sources requires further investigation. This point is treated as self-evident by many teachers, but Wikipedia itself explicitly encourages students to look into other sources. Its articles often provide references to academic publications and include warning notes where citations are missing; the site’s own guidelines for research make clear that it should be used as a starting point, emphasizing that users should always “read the references and check whether they really do support what the article says” (“Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia,” 2020). Indeed, for many students, Wikipedia is their first encounter with the concepts of citation and referencing. The use of Wikipedia therefore has a positive side that merits deeper consideration than it often receives.

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An argumentative essay ends with a conclusion that summarizes and reflects on the arguments made in the body.

No new arguments or evidence appear here, but in longer essays you may discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your argument and suggest topics for future research. In all conclusions, you should stress the relevance and importance of your argument.

Hover over the following example to see the typical elements of a conclusion.

The internet has had a major positive impact on the world of education; occasional pitfalls aside, its value is evident in numerous applications. The future of teaching lies in the possibilities the internet opens up for communication, research, and interactivity. As the popularity of distance learning shows, students value the flexibility and accessibility offered by digital education, and educators should fully embrace these advantages. The internet’s dangers, real and imaginary, have been documented exhaustively by skeptics, but the internet is here to stay; it is time to focus seriously on its potential for good.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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An argumentative essay tends to be a longer essay involving independent research, and aims to make an original argument about a topic. Its thesis statement makes a contentious claim that must be supported in an objective, evidence-based way.

An expository essay also aims to be objective, but it doesn’t have to make an original argument. Rather, it aims to explain something (e.g., a process or idea) in a clear, concise way. Expository essays are often shorter assignments and rely less on research.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

The majority of the essays written at university are some sort of argumentative essay . Unless otherwise specified, you can assume that the goal of any essay you’re asked to write is argumentative: To convince the reader of your position using evidence and reasoning.

In composition classes you might be given assignments that specifically test your ability to write an argumentative essay. Look out for prompts including instructions like “argue,” “assess,” or “discuss” to see if this is the goal.

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Essay on E-Commerce: Scope, Importance, Advantages and Limitations

Essay on E-Commerce: Scope, Importance, Advantages and Limitations! Read this essay to learn about essay on e commerce, e-commerce essay topics, essay on ecommerce in india, e-commerce essays advantages and disadvantages, essay on e commerce and online shopping, e-commerce essay conclusion!

Essay on e-commerce:.

Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, is the buying and selling of product or service over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. Electronic commerce draws on such technologies as electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems.

Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at one point in the transaction’s life-cycle, although it may encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail, mobile devices and telephones as well.

Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the exchanging of data to facilitate the financing and payment aspects of business transactions.

Even today, some considerable time after the so called ‘dot com/Internet revolution’, electronic commerce (e-commerce) remains a relatively new, emerging and constantly changing area of business management and information technology.

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There has been and continues to be much publicity and discussion about e-commerce. Library catalogues and shelves are filled with books and articles on the subject.

However, there remains a sense of confusion, suspicion and misunderstanding surrounding the area, which has been exacerbated by the different contexts in which electronic commerce is used, coupled with the myriad related buzzwords and acronyms.

In the emerging global economy, e-commerce and e-business have increasingly become a necessary component of business strategy and a strong catalyst for economic development. The integration of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in business has revolutionized relationships within organizations and those between and among organizations and individuals.

Specifically, the use of ICT in business has enhanced productivity, encouraged greater customer participation, and enabled mass customization, besides reducing costs. With developments in the Internet and Web-based technologies, distinctions between traditional markets and the global electronic marketplace-such as business capital size, among others-are gradually being narrowed down.

The name of the game is strategic positioning, the ability of a company to determine emerging opportunities and utilize the necessary human capital skills to make the most of these opportunities through an e-business strategy that is simple, workable and practicable within the context of a global information milieu and new economic environment.

With its effect of leveling the playing field, e-commerce coupled with the appropriate strategy and policy approach enables small and medium scale enterprises to compete with large and capital-rich businesses.

On another plane, developing countries are given increased access to the global marketplace, where they compete with and complement the more developed economies.

Most, if not all, developing countries are already participating in e-commerce, either as sellers or buyers. However, to facilitate e-commerce growth in these countries, the relatively underdeveloped information infrastructure must be improved.

Among the areas for policy interventions are:

(i) High Internet access costs, including connection service fees, communication fees, and hosting charges for websites with sufficient bandwidth;

(ii) Limited availability of credit cards and a nationwide credit card system;

(iii) Underdeveloped transportation infrastructure resulting in slow and uncertain delivery of goods and services;

(iv) Network security problems and insufficient security safeguards;

(v) Lack of skilled human resources and key technologies;

(vi) Content restriction on national security and other public policy grounds, which greatly affect business in the field of information services, such as the media and entertainment sectors;

(vi) Cross-border issues, such as the recognition of transactions under laws of other ASEAN member-countries, certification services, improvement of delivery methods and customs facilitation; and

(vii) The relatively low cost of labor, which implies that a shift to a comparatively capital intensive solution including investments on the improvement of the physical and network infrastructure is not apparent.

It is recognized that in the Information age, Internet commerce is a powerful tool in the economic growth of developing countries. While there are indications of e-commerce patronage among large firms in developing countries, there seems to be little and negligible use of the Internet for commerce among small and medium sized firms.

E-commerce promises better business for SME’s and sustainable economic development for developing countries. However, this is premised on strong political will and good governance, as well as on a responsible and supportive private sector within an effective policy framework. This primer seeks to provide policy guidelines toward this end.

Essay on the History of E-Commerce:

History of ecommerce dates back to the invention of the very old notion of “sell and buy”, electricity, cables, computers, modems, and the Internet. Ecommerce became possible in 1991 when the Internet was opened to commercial use. Since that date thousands of businesses have taken up residence at web sites.

At first, the term ecommerce meant the process of execution of commercial transactions electronically with the help of the leading technologies such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) which gave an opportunity for users to exchange business information and do electronic transactions.

The ability to use these technologies appeared in the late 1970s and allowed business companies and organizations to send commercial documentation electronically. Although the Internet began to advance in popularity among the general public in 1994, it took approximately four years to develop the security protocols and DSL which allowed rapid access and a persistent connection to the Internet.

In 2000 a great number of business companies in the United States and Western Europe represented their services in the World Wide Web.

At this time the meaning of the word ecommerce was changed. People began to define the term ecommerce as the process of purchasing of available goods and services over the Internet using secure connections and electronic payment services.

Although the dot-com collapse in 2000 led to unfortunate results and many of ecommerce companies disappeared, the “brick and mortar” retailers recognized the advantages of electronic commerce and began to add such capabilities to their web sites (e.g., after the online grocery store Webvan came to ruin, two supermarket chains, Albertsons and Safeway, began to use ecommerce to enable their customers to buy groceries online).

By the end of 2001, the largest form of ecommerce, Business-to- Business (B2B) model, had around $700 billion in transactions.

According to all available data, ecommerce sales continued to grow in the next few years and, by the end of 2007, ecommerce sales accounted for 3.4 percent of total sales. Ecommerce has a great deal of advantages over “brick and mortar” stores and mail order catalogs. Consumers can easily search through a large database of products and services.

They can see actual prices, build an order over several days and email it as a “wish list” hoping that someone will pay for their selected goods. Customers can compare prices with a click of the mouse and buy the selected product at best prices.

Online vendors, in their turn, also get distinct advantages. The web and its search engines provide a way to be found by customers without expensive advertising campaign. Even small online shops can reach global markets. Web technology also allows to track customer preferences and to deliver individually-tailored marketing.

History of ecommerce is unthinkable without Amazon and E-bay which were among the first Internet companies to allow electronic transactions. Thanks to their founders we now have a handsome ecommerce sector and enjoy the buying and selling advantages of the Internet. Currently there are 5 largest and most famous worldwide internet retailers- Amazon, Dell, Staples, Office Depot and Hewlett Packard.

According to statistics, the most popular categories of products sold in the World Wide Web are music, books, computers, office supplies and other consumer electronics.

Amazon.com, Inc. is one of the most famous ecommerce companies and is located in Seattle, Washington (USA). It was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos and was one of the first American e-commerce companies to sell products over the Internet.

After the dot-com collapse Amazon lost its position as a successful business model, however, in 2003 the company made its first annual profit which was the first step to the further development.

At the outset Amazon.com was considered as an online bookstore, but in time it extended a variety of goods by adding electronics, software, DVDs, video games, music CDs, MP3s, apparel, footwear, health products, etc.

The original name of the company was Cadabra.com, but shortly after it become popular in the Internet Bezos decided to rename his business “Amazon” after the world’s most voluminous river. In 1999 Jeff Bezos was entitled as the Person of the Year by Time Magazine in recognition of the company’s success.

Although the company’s main headquarters is located in the USA, WA, Amazon has set up separate websites in other economically developed countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and China. The company supports and operates retail web sites for many famous businesses, including Marks & Spencer, Lacoste, The NBA, Bebe Stores, Target, etc.

Amazon is one of the first ecommerce businesses to establish an affiliate marketing program, and nowadays the company gets about 40% of its sales from affiliates and third party sellers who list and sell goods on the web site.

In 2008 Amazon penetrated into the cinema and is currently sponsoring the film “The Stolen Child” with 20th Century Fox. According to the research conducted in 2008, the domain Amazon.com attracted about 615 million customers every year.

The most popular feature of the web site is the review system, i.e. the ability for visitors to submit their reviews and rate any product on a rating scale from one to five stars. Amazon.com is also well-known for its clear and user-friendly advanced search facility which enables visitors to search for keywords in the full text of many books in the database.

One more company which has contributed much to the process of e-commerce development is Dell Inc., an American company located in Texas, which stands third in computer sales within the industry behind Hewlett Packard and Acer.

Launched in 1994 as a static page, Dell.com has made rapid strides, and by the end of 1997 was the first company to record a million dollars in online sales. The company’s unique strategy of selling goods over the World Wide Web with no retail outlets and no middlemen has been admired by a lot of customers and imitated by a great number of ecommerce businesses.

The key factor of Dell’s success is that Dell.com enables customers to choose and to control, i.e. visitors can browse the site and assemble PCs piece by piece choosing each single component based on their budget and requirements. According to statistics, approximately half of the company’s profit comes from the web site.

In 2007, Fortune magazine ranked Dell as the 34th-largest company in the Fortune 500 list and 8th on its annual Top 20 list of the most successful and admired companies in the USA in recognition of the company’s business model.

History of ecommerce is a history of a new, virtual world which is evolving according to the customer advantage. It is a world which we are all building together brick by brick, laying a secure foundation for the future generations.

Essay on the Scope of E-Commerce:

There is high scope of e-commerce in each aspect of business, at present it is in the embryonic stage but in future e-commerce would be the part of day to day activity of business firms.

Following are the marketing areas where we seek scope of e-commerce:

(i) Marketing, sales and sales promotion.

(ii) Pre-sales, subcontracts, supply.

(iii) Financing and insurance.

(iv) Commercial transactions – ordering, delivery, payment.

(v) Product service and maintenance.

(vi) Co-operative product development.

(vii) Distributed co-operative working.

(viii) Use of public and private services.

(ix) Business-to-administrations

(x) Transport and logistics.

(xi) Public procurement.

(xii) Automatic trading of digital goods like games, learning material, songs and music etc.

(xiii) Accounting and financial management.

(xiv) Legal advice

Essay on the Need for E-Commerce:

E-commerce and e-business are not solely the Internet, websites or dot com companies. It is about a new business concept that incorporates all previous business management and economic concepts.

As such, e-business and e-commerce impact on many areas of business and disciplines of business management studies:

1. Marketing:

Issues of online advertising, marketing strategies, consumer’s behavior and cultures. One of the areas in which it impacts particularly is direct marketing. In the past this was mainly door-to-door, home parties and mail order using catalogues or leaflets.

This moved to telemarketing and TV selling with the advances in telephone and television technology and finally developed into e-marketing spawning ‘e-CRM’ data mining and the like by creating new channels for direct sales and promotion.

2. Computer Sciences:

Development of different network and computing technologies and languages to support e-commerce and e-business, for example linking front and back office legacy systems with the ‘web based’ technology.

3. Finance and Accounting:

On-line banking; issues of transaction costs; accounting and auditing implications where ‘intangible’ assets and human capital must be tangibly valued in an increasingly knowledge based economy.

4. Economics:

The impact of e-commerce on local and global economies, understanding the concept of a digital and knowledge-based economy and how this fits into economic theory.

5. Production and Operations Management:

The impact of on-line processing has led to reduced cycle times. It takes seconds to deliver digitized products and services electronically; similarly the time for processing orders can be reduced by more than 90 per cent from days to minutes.

Production systems are integrated with finance marketing and other functional systems as well as with business partners and customers.

6. Production and Operations Management:

Moving from mass production to demand driven, mass customization customer pull rather than the manufacturer push of the past. Web based Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) can also be used to forward orders directly to designers and/or production floor within seconds, thus cutting production cycle times by up to 50 per cent, especially when manufacturing plants, engineers and designers are located in different countries.

In sub-assembler companies, where a product is assembled from a number of different components sourced from a number of manufacturers, communication, collaboration and coordination are critical so electronic bidding can yield cheaper components and having flexible and adaptable procurement systems allows fast changes at a minimum cost so inventories can be minimized and money saved.

7. Management Information Systems:

Analysis, design and implementation of E-business systems within an organization; issues of integration of front-end and back-end systems.

8. Human Resource Management:

Issues of on-line recruiting, home working and ‘intra- pruners’ working on a project by project basis replacing permanent employees.

9. Business Law and Ethics:

The different legal and ethical issues that have arisen as a result of a global ‘virtual’ market. Issues are copyright laws, privacy of customer information, and legality of electronic contracts.

Importance of E-Commerce :

Today, we can see e-commerce is becoming a part of study of almost all the courses in management and commerce. It is an integral part of any book or manuscript that is written on retailing, and it claims a significant share in this text also. The reason behind this lies in the fact that e-commerce technology is different and more powerful than any of the other technologies we have seen in the past century.

While these other technologies transformed economic life in the 20th century, the evolving Internet and other ITs will shape the 21st century in many ways. The foremost of these is the rise of a sizeable class of Internet-habituated consumers, and then is the creation of an ecosystem essential for e-tailing’s growth. In India’s case, both these factors are poised to fall into place rapidly.

Prior to the development of e-tailing, the process of marketing and selling goods was a mass- marketing and/or sales force-driven process. Consumers were considered as passive targets of advertising (promotional) “campaigns,” and branding blitzes were intended to influence their long-term product perceptions (brand positioning) and immediate purchasing behavior.

Selling was conducted in typical well-insulated “channels.” Consumers were viewed to be trapped by geographical and social boundaries, unable to search widely for the alternatives with best price and quality. Information about prices, costs, and tariffs could be hidden from the customers to get the resultant profitable “information asymmetries” for the selling firm.

Here, information asymmetry means any disparity in relevant market information among parties in a transaction. E-commerce has challenged much of these traditional retail business norms, assumptions, and behavior.

Essay on the Principles of E-Commerce:

The various principles of e-commerce are as follows:

1. Sell Everywhere – be Seen and be Shopped:

Customer expectations for how and when they buy products have changed substantially over the past few years. Multi-channel selling was once limited to managing direct sales, a call centre, a website, and possibly a partner channel.

With E-Commerce 2.0, this has been expanded and refined to include various online channels. These new channels include additional branded websites, various online marketplaces (such as eBay, Amazon.com, Overstock.com and others), and online shopping comparison engines (such as Shopping.com, PriceGrabber.com and others).

2. The Long Tail -Target Niche Markets:

E-Tailers who can connect with niche markets and provide a better online experience are capitalizing on new-found revenue. In the past, the obvious strategy was to find the bulk of the market and then mass market to them. With so much competition, many online merchants have adapted by discovering new methods and tools that target specific niche markets.

These niche markets are not flooded by the big brands and respond well to content and online experiences directed specifically at them. In many cases, the demands of these niche markets are simply not being met by big brands.

The Long Tail principle of E-Commerce 2.0 is about being able to reach beyond the traditional prospect base and tap the potential of niche markets.

3. Decentralized Content Generation – Data from the Community:

Buyers were once along for the ride in the e-Commerce process. Now they are in the driver’s seat. The content buyers create through forums such as product reviews, blogs and social networks influences other buyers as much or more than any promotion E-Tailers create.

Forums like YouTube and MySpace underscore how content created by consumers has become a viable and valuable part of the promotional and sales cycle for retailers. The Canadian e- Commerce site Wasabi even encourages buyers to submit any offers that they find through social and economic incentives.

While some E-Tailers are frightened by the perceived loss of control over content being published, these new avenues of data acquisition greatly increase the richness and diversity of information available, ultimately helping the buyer make better decisions.

4. Personalized Shopping – Make it Fun to Shop and Easy to Buy:

Shopping has long been considered a recreational activity by many. Shopping online is no exception. In fact, with the sophistication and speed of online shopping tools, consumers are spending more and more on E-Tailer sites.

The best of these shopping tools takes into account that buyers want to be entertained and pleased. Buyers are just as in the brick-and-mortar world do not like long checkout processes. When building your online brand, regardless of channel, remember that speedy checkout equates to happier buyers who are more likely to return and buy again.

5. Mash-Ups -Integrate and Collaborate:

Integration is nothing new, but what is new is how dynamically these integrations need to be initiated, modified, and used. The e-Commerce 2.0 environment is built upon many interrelated systems and processes that require information to be exchanged dynamically.

This happens between many systems based on individual user experience and the context of a particular customer interaction or order. Seamless access and interaction between systems is what promotes increased conversions and buyer loyalty, as well as attracts new buyers.

6. Data is King-Collect a Wealth of Opportunities:

Gone are the days of looking at purely operational reports. Seeing how many listings you have in a marketplace is fine, but it does not tell you how you compare to other E-Tailers, what your performance is like over time, or what other channels may be more profitable.

E-Commerce 2.0 is about collecting and managing data from all online channels to enable better business decisions. Discovering product opportunities relies on being able to define business objectives carefully, identify related key performance indicators (KPIs) and receive continual data to act on it.

In E-Commerce business is possible in various combinations like:

(i) B2B – Business to Business

(ii) B2C – Business to Consumer

(iii) C2B – Consumer to Business

(iv) B2E – Business to Employee

(v) C2C – Consumer to Consumer

(i) B2B – Business to Business:

E-Commerce has been in use for quite a few years and is more commonly known as EDI (electronic data interchange). In the past, EDI was conducted on a direct link of some form between the two businesses where as today the most popular connection is the internet. B2B E-Commerce could be used as a significant enabler in their move towards greater trading partner collaboration. E-Commerce technologies have allowed even the smallest businesses to improve the processes for interfacing with customers. They are now able to develop services for individual clients rather than provide a standard service.

The two businesses pass information electronically to each other.

Typically in the B2B environment, E-Commerce can be used in the following processes:

(i) Procurement

(ii) Order fulfillment.

(iii) Managing trading-partner relationships.

B2B is helpful in reduction in transaction costs and improvement of product quality and customer service and insistence by large businesses that all of their suppliers link into their e-commerce system as a condition of doing business. In addition, there is greater demand by final consumers for fast order fulfillment and the ability to track an order as it is being processed and delivered.

(ii) B2C – Business to Consumer:

Business to Consumer e-commerce is where the consumer accesses the system of the supplier. It is still a two way function but is usually done solely through the Internet.

B2C can also relate to receiving information such as share prices, insurance quotes, online newspapers, or weather forecasts. When the product cannot be physically examined, traditional commerce has no advantage over the convenience of electronic commerce. The largest business-to-consumer e-commerce involves intangible product that can be delivered directly to the consumer’s computer cover the network is composed of five broad categories-entertainment, travel newspaper/magazines, financial services, and e-mail. Entertainment, online games, music and video, is the largest category of products sold to consumers.

(iii) C2B – Consumer to Business:

Consumer to Business is a growing area where the consumer requests a specific service from the business. Like reservation in a hotel in a specific time period.

(iv) B2E – Business to Employee:

Business to Employee e-commerce is growing in use it is in practice in business like pharmacy marketing, supply chain management, insurance, IT companies etc. This form of e-commerce is more commonly known as an ‘Intranet’. An intranet is a web site developed to provide employees of an organization with information. The intranet is usually access through the organizations network, it can and is often extended to an entrant which uses the Internet but restricts uses by sign on and password.

(v) C2C – Consumer to Consumer:

These sites are usually some form of an auction site. The consumer lists items for sale with a commercial auction site. Other consumers access the site and place bids on the items. The site then provides a connection between the seller and buyer to complete the transaction.

Essay on the Key Elements Supporting E-Commerce :

Here are seven important infrastructure decisions that ecommerce businesses face:

Of all the infrastructure elements, marketing may be the most important. To succeed, your website must be found. Once visitors are on your site, you need to keep them there and compel them to buy from you. That’s the job of your marketing team.

Whether it is website design, social media, search marketing, merchandising, email or other forms of advertising, it’s all about marketing.

To effectively manage marketing activities in-house is very challenging. Most small ecommerce businesses outsource some element of marketing.

2. Facilitie s:

A key competitive advantage that ecommerce businesses have over brick-and-mortar stores is the investment in their physical offices and warehouses. In many cases, you can host your business out of a home office and your basement or garage.

If you drop ship or outsource fulfillment, you may be able to do that for a long period of time. Even when you grow to have many employees, you can set up your offices in class B or C space, as you have no need for a fancy store in the right location.

A word of advice is to keep your options flexible. Try to find an office park that has a wide variety of spaces in different sizes. You may be able to start in a smaller space and move up to a larger one without penalty, as your needs change.

3. Customer Service :

There are many choices today for delivering high-quality customer service. You can manage those activities in-house or outsource to a third party. Basic customer service for sales and post- sales activities can be handled using email, and by providing an 800 number for more extensive phone support.

A customer-management system will make those activities easier, but for smaller companies it is not a requirement.

Live chat will impact your operations as someone needs to be available during specified hours of operation. Be sure to gauge the impact of that on your organization, if you decide to handle those activities in house.

4. Information Technology :

Choosing the right ecommerce platform is one of the most important decisions you will make in your business. Do you want to build and host your own system, outsource the development and then manage the system going forward, or using a host, software as a service platform that is more turnkey and externally managed?

If you build and host your own system, you may need more cash up front and skilled administrators and developers on your staff. By using a SaaS platform, you will not need to host or manage the system in-house, but you may still need web developers on staff.

Choosing to outsource the development and hosting will reduce your staffing costs, but you will incur higher costs for any future enhancements or changes to your websites.

There are pros and cons to any approach. Just be sure to think through the impacts on both your staffing and your cash flow and bottom line before you move forward.

5. Fulfillment :

Another key decision is whether you will manage your own inventory or outsource those activities to a fulfillment house or through drop shipping arrangements with your suppliers.

Managing your own inventory will provide you with a high level of control, but you will tie up your cash in inventory, warehouse space, and your own fulfillment staff. In some industries like the jewelry supply industry that my previous business was in managing your own inventory was the most logical choice.

We had no alternative for drop shipping, and most items were purchased in bulk and were very small. We did not trust preparation and fulfillment to an outside service.

Select the best fulfillment option to meet your needs. Be sure to understand the costs involved and analyze the other options before moving forward.

6. Finance and Administration :

As with other business operations, you will need to decide if you want to manage your finance and administration activities in-house, outsource, or a hybrid of the two. If your ecommerce platform is tightly integrated to your accounting system, you may have very little need for an in-house bookkeeper.

If you use separate systems for your website, order management and accounting, you may require more help for data entry and making sure that the information is properly managed. Many ecommerce companies use outside services for vendor payments, payroll, and other basic accounting activities.

They decide to focus on the sales, marketing, and customer service. This allows them to maintain a focus on growing their businesses, instead of paying an internal accountant or doing that work you as the business owner.

On the administration side, you need a leadership team and provide direction to them. Good communication is important, whether you have 3 or 100 employees. Whether you choose to be more authoritative or democratic in your management style is up to you.

But choose a style and stay consistent. Be sure that everyone understands their roles, as well as the overall business strategies. You may need to adjust your approach as your business evolves.

7. Human Resources :

Many small-business owners avoid the human resources function. Recruiting, setting up compensation, maintaining compliance and other HR activities are specialized and time consuming.

You may choose to bring the resources in-house to manage those activities, but also evaluate outsourcing them. There are many individuals and agencies well equipped to take on your HR activities.

Impact of E-Commerce on Business:

i. Transformation in the Marketplace:

Now business can be conducted at anywhere any place accessible to internet. Firms can offer their products and services with involvement of intermediaries. Traditional intermediary functions will be replaced, new products and markets will be developed, and new and far closer relationships will be created between business and consumers. It will change the organization of work- new channels of knowledge diffusion and human interactivity in the workplace will be opened more flexibility.

ii. Fast Growth of Business:

E-commerce will serve as a catalyst and diffuse more widely changes that are already under way in the economy, such as the reform of regulations, the establishment of electronic links between businesses (EDI), the globalization of economic activity, and the demand for higher-skilled workers. Likewise, many pectoral trends already under way, such as electronic banking, direct booking of travel, and one-to-one marketing, will be accelerated because of electronic commerce.

iii. Helpful in Globalization:

Information exchange was constraint in transnational business but e-commerce provides facilities to MNCs and global organizations to transfer real time information to employees, stake holders and customers. E-commerce over the Internet greatly increases interactivity in the economy. These linkages support business organization in expansion of business.

iv. Electronic Commerce Growth:

At present, electronic commerce over the Internet is relatively small but is growing very rapidly. At present electronic commerce is in a birth stage, and technology and market dynamics are still casting its basic shape. People resist using e-commerce. This is especially true for the business-to-consumer segment, where people concerns about security of payment, potentially fraudulent merchants, privacy of personal data, etc.

v. New Employment Opportunities:

Electronic commerce will cause changes in the mix of skills required, driving demand for information technology professionals. For electronic commerce, IT expertise also needs to be joined with strong business applications skills, and therefore requires a flexible, multi-skilled works force. Apart from contingent skills needed to support electronic commerce transactions and applications, there will be a requirement of hardware and software professionals.

vi. New Business Opportunities:

Changing industry structures and electronic commerce systems allow for new business models, based on the wide availability of information and its direct distribution-to end customers. Going further than new ones, we also see new business models are new forms of intermediaries, or information brokers. The examples are currently the directory providers or the search engines, such as Yahoo and Lycos, bidding sites like e-bay, Internet shopping, on line trading, online consultancy etc.

E-commerce is a technology driven activity which require an infrastructure that supports the seamless location, transfer, and integration of business information in a secure and reliable manner. Adaptability of e-commerce in small cities and village is very low due to non-availability of basic infrastructure.

vii. Product Promotion:

Through a direct, information rich and interactive contact with customers. The first use of electronic commerce is to provide product information through online electronic brochures and buying guides. This can be seen as an additional marketing channel, allowing reaching maximum number of customers the advantage of electronic commerce as way to deliver product information and its availability anytime, anywhere, provided the customer has right infrastructure to access the information.

viii. New Sales Channel:

Multidirectional approach of e-commerce has created new sales channels by which firms can directly reach to customers, suppliers, and stake holders, considering electronic commerce and in particular the World Wide Web, as a sales channel makes sense for two kinds of products- Physical products sometimes also sold in conventional stores, which can be advertised and for ordered online, such as computer hardware or wine, products which can additionally be delivered over the electronic commerce medium, such as information or software.

Electronic commerce strategies are of primary value in markets where information is of significant added value to the products being brought, rather than in commodity markets. Centralizing, this information digitally is therefore of significant value for customers.

ix. Customer Service:

E-commerce provides on line customer care and support services. The ability to provide online answers to problems, through resolution guides, archives of company encountered problems, electronic mail interaction, in the future audio and video support and all that 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, builds customer confidence and retention. Monitoring how customers use this support information also provides insights on improvement areas in current products and the list of issues encountered with products can be significant source of product feedback for the design of new products.

x. Customer Relationships:

Electronic commerce systems will allow for more personalized relationships between suppliers and their customers, due to their ability to collect information on customer’s needs and behavioural patterns. The role of technology in learning about customers is its ability to record every event in the relationship, such as customers asking for information about a product, buying one, requesting customer service, etc. Throughout all these interactions, either over the phone, in person or online, the needs of the customer are identified and will feed future marketing efforts.

Essay on the Basic Elements of E-Commerce Hosting:

Ecommerce web hosting is gaining swift popularity with every passing day as more and more people use the internet to shop and purchase things. Even traditional brick and mortar businesses are also looking for options to make their products and services available online so as to increase the customer base by allowing geographically dispersed customers to access their online store.

Since an online store is such an important part of the business, you may need to put in a lot of time and effort while selecting your ecommerce hosting company.

Following are the key elements of ecommerce hosting:

1. Security :

You need to bear in mind that while making online sales, you will have access to the credit card information of many clients and such information is very sensitive. Hence, online stores are prone to security issues as hackers try to gain access to such information.

Thus, to ensure that the client information is not at risk, you need to choose an ecommerce hosting provider which offers tight security options such as sophisticated firewalls, valid SSL certificates and anti- phishing software.

2. Flexibility :

If you are a startup business your business demands might not be as high as those of large businesses and you may opt for an ecommerce plan which fulfills your immediate hosting needs. However, as businesses grow, demands increase and you may need more space and bandwidth.

If your current ecommerce hosting provider does not offer flexible plans, you may need to transfer your hosting account to another provider. Thus, keep your expansion plans in mind while selecting a hosting company and make sure your provider offers flexible plans.

3. Reliability :

The key to the success of an online store is convenience and round the clock availability. People generally use online stores because they are accessible at all times from anywhere in the world.

However, if your hosting company does not provide maximum uptime, your online store may not be available to customers hence forcing them to purchase from your competitors. Thus, choosing a hosting provider which offers 50% uptime would mean that you are allowing competitors to lure your customers.

4. Accessibility and Ease :

A website which is easy to browse for products and services is generally liked by customers. Therefore, it is necessary to bring your website at the top in terms of search engine results. Once your website is search engine optimized, you may drive loads of traffic to the website. However, if the hosting servers are down most of the time, making your website search engine optimized would be in vain.

5. Technical Expertise and Customer Support :

Another key element of ecommerce hosting is technical expertise of the hosting provider. This is an essential element especially during peak times as you may need immediate technical help for your online store in order to deal with certain website issues.

Also, ensure the customer support is available 24/7 via live chat, email and phone to assist clients in solving issues.

The above mentioned elements of ecommerce hosting are crucial to the success of any online business and thus should not be ignored.

Now that you know what you need to run a successful ecommerce site, you can buy and sell websites, being sure that you will be able to figure out how to host them on a decent server or offer the best quality possible (in case you sell sites) to your buyer.

Essay on the Advantages, Limitations, and Challenges :

E-tailing can be considered another form of non-store retailing. Its closest “cousin,” in terms of other forms of non-store retailing, is catalog retailing. Catalog retailing still claims a significant part of all retail transactions pie. It is therefore instructive to compare e-tailing to catalog retailing to gain some insight into its potential impact.

Catalog retailing, which evolved over a century ago, grew rapidly in its early stages (similar to e-tailing), and it was assumed to become a very important part of the overall retailing environment and market. It allowed customers to shop from home, when they wanted, at their own convenience. While this proved enticing and comfortable for some consumers and some types of products, there are some limitations that limited its growth further.

Advantages :

1. Customers have a much wider choice at their fingertips (many e-tail sites, etc.). Thus, the web creates a global bazaar-style marketplace that brings together many consumers and many retailers and sellers.

2. With web search capabilities (which need further development), it is easier to find the different types and varieties of goods a customer is searching for.

3. Customers can execute transactions/put orders via the same medium the information is provided, so there is no disconnect between the desire to purchase and the ability to purchase.

4. Payment schemes are still evolving, and therefore, this advantage is likely to become more apparent in the future.

5. E-tailers can use price discrimination more efficiently than other retailers.

6. E-tailers can use previous transactions to identify the likelihood of products being purchased at certain price points.

7. Product placement- E-tailers can change the product placement (user display) based on previous transactions, to increase the visibility of goods that the user is more likely to purchase based on their close relationship with previous purchases. Thus, placement can be designed based on the context of the previous purchases.

8. E-tailing includes some advantages to the consumer that no other form of retailing can provide. The hypertext nature of the medium allows for more flexible forms of transactions—the growth of C2B and C2C highlights this point. It allows for ease of comparison across broad product categories with the evolution of shopping bots and allows for more flexible pricing mechanisms that lead to dynamic pricing.

9. This is giving benefit to marketers who provide products with real (perceived) value and consumers in general. It also penalizes the marketers who have thrived in marketplaces that had “information” barriers to entry, where lack of information for customers restricted their choices and led to inefficient pricing and localized monopolies.

10. Inventory-based e-retailers are known the world over for running highly automated and efficient warehouses, bringing new benchmarks in this function.

Limitations :

1. All the customers may not have access to the web, as they do to the postal system. This is a temporary issue as the evolution of the web continues.

2. Ease of use may be an issue, as the web design may appear to be complex for some users or at sometimes a bit chaotic.

3. Online retail stores are not standardized in design in the way catalogs and retail stores (which use planograms for the same) have become.

4. Therefore, different user behaviors and patterns (navigation schemes) need to be observed for each online store. This is again a temporary issue as the evolution of the web continues.

5. Many times, trust deficit, security, and privacy concerns prevail. Consumers are concerned with the exposure of the data they provide/insert during transactions.

6. In Indian context, tax demands and regulatory hassles, coupled with low Internet density and sundry other problems, pose some other challenges.

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E-Commerce, Essay Example

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E-commerce includes the buying and selling of objects over the Internet. It can include services and products, and e-commerce may also be performed on other types of computer networks besides the Internet. E-commerce has become considerably popular in recent years, with its involvement in some aspect of transactions that occur over the Internet. Online shopping and banking are two examples of this common aspect of the Internet and online business as it resembles today’s market.

E-business is much broader than e-commerce. The former represents the application of information and communication technologies to support the business’s activities. E-business includes more aspects than e-commerce, such as the interaction between business customers and partners. E-business goes beyond the buying and selling of goods and services of e-commerce, although it certainly contains it in many cases. Thus, they intersect in the dynamics of online transactions.

Competitive advantage can of course take many forms, referring to the higher earning of the cost of investments. The capturing of advantageous attributes represents an effective strategy, such as the implementation of new technologies into a product or business model. Access to natural resources can also provide a company with a competitive advantage.

Obtaining a competitive advantage can take two forms. Porter (1985) has identified two type of competitive advantage, found in cost advantage and differentiation advantage. The former refers to delivering the same benefits as the business’s competitors, but at a lower cost. The latter refers to delivering benefits that go above and beyond products of competing businesses. As these two forms both create superior value for its customers, a business can obtain a competitive advantage in either, or boy, ways. A business may use either of these positional advantages to prove benefits in cost or differentiation. Or, a resource-based advantage makes use of the business’s resources and capabilities to produce a competitive advantage.

Scaling methods remain an important dynamic, even for small businesses. For instance, one method is used by small businesses in regards to search engine optimization, where such principles are utilized in order to allow the website to be scaled. Scaling allows websites to become friendlier to users and servers. Thus, businesses should be careful to spend time on the many scaling methods available to improve the efficiency and presentation of their website to customers and other businesses.

Online security measures often run into dangerous online criminals who exhibit a number of options in the way of Internet crime. According to Chickowski (2008), “the ways of making money with online scams, identity theft, and hacking are limited only by criminal creativity.” Chickowski also points to the “thriving” underground community of online criminals (2008). A number of scams exist to give problems to Internet crime.

Some of the most dangerous forms of Internet crime are which Chickowski mentions. Identity theft is one growing crime in the United States and around the world, with the Internet serving as a major role. Hackers and other criminals target businesses or users on the Internet for online crimes. For instance, malware writers attempt to exploit Internet Explorer, which takes up nearly 70% of the browser market (Keizer 2009). It has caused users to look for other browsers, account for Internet Explorer’s dropping share.

Internet security is constantly evolving. However, so are methods to hack into user’s and business’s accounts. As a result online crime is undergoing difficult situations in this realm. Not to mention, not all Internet users keep up with the latest technologies and scams. This makes them easy targets for online criminals to take advantage of these users, to infiltrate their accounts, passwords, and other sensitive information.

Someone who uses the Internet would generally be much more likely to continue doing so. The Internet allows individuals to perform a number of activities, both for business and personal reasons that would make continued use of the Internet quite logical. For instance, an individual may find connectivity with friends and family useful. Others may find the Internet complimentary to research for work, or even supplement their work with a website to improve business.

Internet usage can also be seen along the lines of e-commerce, to which we have analyzed briefly. Shopping online is considered quite convenient for many who have engaged in this part of business. As retailers make better use of the Internet, such as cheaper and faster methods of shipping and online sales, consumers will be more likely to shop online. This relationship is one of many in the growing use of the Internet for individuals who are becoming more experienced online.

Overall convenience will dictate increased presence on the Internet for many individuals. The Internet provides many conveniences to enhance the quality of life, to connecting with family via e-mail or a social network to finding additional work online. Of course conveniences exist in e-commerce and business online for consumers and businesses. The nature of the Internet will allow experienced users to continue or increase their Internet usage.

Chickowski, Ericka (2008). “Inside online crime: Of hackers, identity theft and online scams.” http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/Security/Inside-Online-Crime-Of-Hackers-Identity-Theft-and-Online-Scams/. Retrieved 2010-05-25

Keizer, Gregg (2009). “Internet explorer loses market share.” http://www.pcworld.com/article/156306/ie_loses_market_share.html?tk=rss_news. Retrieved 2010-05-25

Porter, Michael (1985). Competitive advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance. New York, NY: Free Press.

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Online Shopping: Benefits and Drawbacks Essay

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Buying things on the internet is more popular than ever – but are there any downsides to this activity? Find more in this online shopping benefits and drawbacks essay.

Introduction

Benefits of Shopping Online

Disadvantages of Shopping Online

Online shopping has emerged as a new and important way of making purchases. Due to the increased use of computers and the internet, more people have started to engage in this activity. Businesses see online shopping as an opportunity that can be exploited to increase profitability. For this reason, many businesses in the UK are offering online shopping services to their customers. By doing this, the businesses are able to increase their sales and attract more customers.

Consumers also benefit from the convenience offered by electronic commerce. To begin with, online shopping is easy to take part in. The WebWise Team (2012) explains that a person only needs a credit or debit card and a secure password in order to engage in online shopping. However, online shopping has some potential drawbacks due to its electronic nature. This paper will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of shopping online with examples from my own experiences in online shopping.

Benefits of Online Shopping

Online shopping is convenient for the customer since he can make purchases from the comfort of his house. To take part in online shopping, a person simply needs to visit the website of the business and browse through the list of available goods or services. He then clicks on the item he wants to purchase and once the payment is made, the transaction is complete (WebWise Team 2012).

The goods are then delivered to the customers’ address within a given duration of time. This is a very easy way of shopping compared to traditional shopping where a person has to physically visit the business in order to make a purchase. Personally, I have used online shopping to buy books from online stores. I have been able to obtain these products without visiting the bookstores in person.

This has saved me the time and expense it would have taken to travel to the physical location of the shops. Another major advantage of online shopping is that it allows the consumer to search for the preferred good from many stores in a convenient manner. Before making a purchase, most people prefer to visit a number of stores and discover the best style of the product they want to buy.

Online shopping makes it easy for the person to search for products from numerous stores. Using search engines such as Google and Bing, a person is able to identify numerous stores offering the same product (WebWise Team 2012). It is more likely that you will find the product that suits your exact requirements due to the great variety presented by online shopping.

When shopping for gifts for my friends, I find the large variety offered by online shopping very helpful. I am able to obtain a large catalogue of goods to choose from and find the most fascinating gift for my friends. Online shopping is therefore very beneficial to me since it gives me access to more shops and products.

The last major advantage of online shopping is that it assists the customer to find the best deal on a product. When making a purchase, a person mostly searches for the store that offers the best quality product at the lowest price. It is therefore important to make a comparison of the pricing and quality of products offered by the various stores. In most cases, different stores offer different pricing on particular products so that they can attract customers.

When engaging in traditional shopping, a person has to be involved in window-shopping in order to discover the best deal. This is a tedious process as you may have to visit numerous stores before you find the best deal. Most people end up settling for a deal that is not necessarily the best. This is not the case with online shopping where one can compare prices at the click of a mouse.

It is easier to find discounts on the product you want to purchase through online shopping by looking for the product through search engines. WebWise Team (2012) explains that online shopping is beneficial when you want to compare prices for products that are identical regardless of the store you purchase them from. I have found bargain deals in electronic products by searching through various online stores. As a result, I have benefited from the best price because of online shopping.

In spite of the many benefits of online shopping, this mode of purchase has some significant drawbacks. Undoubtedly, the most significant drawback is the security concerns associated with the use of credit cards online. In order to complete the online shopping process, one has to offer payment for the product selected. To complete this payment section, one is required to enter his credit or debit card details into the website (Bradbury 2008).

The credit and debit card details are sensitive since they can be stolen by an intruder. If this happens, the intruder can misuse the customer’s credit card by making purchases that will be charged to the credit card owner. This will result in financial loss for the customer. The security risk associated with online shopping has led to many people avoiding this exposure to hackers and fraudsters.

Bradbury (2008) confirms that the fear of giving out credit card details online prevents many people from engaging in online shopping. The risk of having my credit card numbers stolen as I engage in online shopping has greatly limited my participation in online shopping. So far, I only engage in online shopping from stores that I can trust. I have faith in the security system provided by these stores and therefore feel safe when making payments there.

Another significant drawback of online shopping is that it requires the customers to reveal personal information. If this information is accessed by a third party, it might violate the privacy of the customer. In order for the transaction to be complete, the customer has to provide information including his name, address, and telephone number. The customer also has to provide information on the product that he is buying from the website.

Most online stores store this information on a permanent basis in their databases. There are major concerns over the safety of the customer information stored by the online store. Bradbury (2008) states that most online stores in the UK do not implement strong security measures when handling customer details. It is therefore possible for a hacker to obtain private customer information from the online store.

Hackers can steal customer account details and use them to commit crimes such as identity theft. I suspect that some of the information I have provided at an online store was accessed by a third party illegally since I have been receiving unsolicited mail using the email address that I provided at the website.

Finally, online shopping can compromise the integrity of the customer’s personal computer. Surfing the internet is a hazardous experience since one is likely to encounter viruses that will harm the computer. Online shopping requires the user to visit new websites that offer the desired online goods. Bradbury (2008) warns that online shopping can expose the consumer to malicious scripts and viruses.

Most online store owners are not concerned with security. They are online interested in selling their products to the customers. Some therefore end up infecting customers’ machines without knowing. When a computer is infected, its performance may become degraded. In addition to this, it is easy to steal information from infected machines. Bradbury (2008) reveals that some hackers insert malicious scripts that steal customer passwords.

Online Shopping: Essay Conclusion

This paper set out to discuss the merits and drawbacks of online shopping. It began by noting that online shopping is gaining popularity as more people make use of computers and the internet. The merits associated with online shopping were then discussed. The paper revealed that online shopping is convenient, offers greater variety, and enables the customer to get the best price for the products.

However, the paper also acknowledged that there are some significant disadvantages of online shopping. They include the risk of credit card theft, theft of personal information, and infection of the customers’ computer. From the discussions offered in this paper, it is evident that most of the drawbacks associated with online shopping arise from security concerns. It can therefore be claimed that if the security concerns are effectively addressed, online shopping will a safe and convenient method of buying items for the consumer.

Bradbury, D 2008, Is online shopping ever secure? Web.

WebWise Team 2012, What is online shopping? Web.

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IvyPanda. (2019, July 5). Online Shopping: Benefits and Drawbacks Essay. https://ivypanda.com/essays/online-shopping-benefits-and-drawbacks/

"Online Shopping: Benefits and Drawbacks Essay." IvyPanda , 5 July 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/online-shopping-benefits-and-drawbacks/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'Online Shopping: Benefits and Drawbacks Essay'. 5 July.

IvyPanda . 2019. "Online Shopping: Benefits and Drawbacks Essay." July 5, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/online-shopping-benefits-and-drawbacks/.

1. IvyPanda . "Online Shopping: Benefits and Drawbacks Essay." July 5, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/online-shopping-benefits-and-drawbacks/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Online Shopping: Benefits and Drawbacks Essay." July 5, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/online-shopping-benefits-and-drawbacks/.

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E-commerce and Online Selling: Trends and Challenges

Category: Business , Economics
Topic: Competition , E Commerce , Online Shopping

Pages: 1 (661 words)

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Introduction

Perceived effectiveness of e-commerce platforms (peep).

Cybersecurity;
Competition;
Order fulfillment.

Cybersecurity

Competition against the marketplace, order fulfillment.

Low Profit Margins
Counterfeit Products

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Online Shopping: Benefits and Drawbacks Essay

Introduction

Disadvantages of Shopping Online

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Online Shopping: Essay Conclusion

Essays on E Commerce

Modernize Your Payment Methods to Be in Pace with The World

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