E-commerce

Electronic commerce (E-commerce) is a buying and selling activities, either in the form of goods or services by utilizing telecommunications networks such as telephone, television, computers, or internet networks as is currently rife.

E-commerce Type:

There are at least four common types of e-commerce:

1. Business-to-Business (B2B). In this trading model, the two parties involved are the companies. For example, PT Timedoor Indonesia sells website and application development services to companies that need a website to run their business.
2. Business-to-Consumer (B2C) is the most common business model where the trade process occurs between companies and individuals. Such as Carrefour, Ikea, Informa, etc
3. Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C). This business model occurs between individuals. For example when you sell a laptop on Olx or use the “market place” feature on Facebook which is then bought by someone else
4. Consumer-to-Business (C2B). This business model occurs when a consumer sells their own product or service to a company or organization. For example, a photographer offers product photo services to a company.

Here are some e-commerce business models that you can do:

1. Retail. Sales of products by a company directly to customers without intermediaries, such as Informa, Ikea, Ace, etc.
2. Wholesale. Sales of products in bulk, usually to retailers who then sell them directly to consumers.
3. Dropship. Sales of products or services of other people/companies sent directly by producers to consumers.
4. Fundraising or Crowdfunding: The collection of funds from a group of people and then used for venture capital, donations, or online loans. Like Kita Bisa, Acceleration, etc.
5. Subscription: Where consumers are required to subscribe in order to enjoy the services offered such as Netflix, Spotify, etc.

Advantages of E-commerce:

1. More efficient operational costs because there is no need for a physical store
2. The goods or services offered are cheaper than physical stores due to “no store rental fee”
3. It is more practical for sellers and buyers because the store can be open 24 hours and reach more prospective buyers from any area, without the hassle of going to the store and the seller does not need to handle payments and billing because it is integrated with online payment systems and courier services
4. Maintain a good relationship between the seller and the buyer for the seller can contact the buyer through the detailed personal data entered when registering the application & website
5. Increase sales through push notification and email subscription features
6. Automatic stock management

Disadvantages of E-commerce:

1. Can’t see the products sold
2. Great risk related to fraud but can be minimized by doing e-commerce through trusted websites and applications
3. Price competition

Timedoor Tips

In order to be able to do E-commerce activities smoothly, if you are a company, we recommend you to have an official website because having a website will build the credibility of your business. A Verisign study shows that 84% of consumers agree that online merchants who have websites are more trustworthy than those who only sell on social media.

Here are things you need to pay attention to when selling online (E-commerce)

1. Focus on customers by providing detailed information or Customer Service who is ready to help customers about the products they purchased, the refund process, shipping costs, etc.
2. Creative. Do a survey to get some inputs from your customers that you can use as a reference in providing a better experience for your customers
3. Focus On Customer Experience. Study the reviews from your customers because you will get things you need to improve to provides comfort for your customers
4. Constantly making improvements.

What is E-commerce?