The Impact of Online Selling on Small Businesses Essay - 1

The Impact of Online Selling on Small Businesses - Essay Example The paper tells that selling products on the Internet is just another method, in fact, one of the most modern means through which an entrepreneur can utilize the facilities of the Internet in his business. Apart from using it as a selling tool, the wide range of capabilities of the Internet can be made use of customer support, marketing, recruitment, procurement, communication, and for many other functions. Indeed, today there is hardly any business activity in this modern world that does not pass across the Internet. In the opinion of Adam, the most exciting function of the Internet these days is E-commerce and Online selling, where the provider uses the Internet as an intermediary to sell his products and services directly to the consumers in the global market. Online selling is expected to have a greater boom in the global village as the responsive audience is growing by millions every year. It is the process whereby customers are facilitated with the technology to directly buy go ods and services from a seller in real-time, over the internet without any intermediary service in between. While considering the benefits of online selling many seem to disagree that online shopping will affect the percentage of retail sales in the future, arguing that only a small percentage of online selling will only obscure the market potentials. However, as Adam points out, concentrating on this idea a little deeper reveals that even if the Internet sales constitute only 5 percent of total retail within a few years, that still amounts billions and billions of dollars spent on online selling. As more and more organizations and customers are making the use of the internet to collect information before they make the final decision and to purchase online, it is certain that all business firms must have a web presence. Leaving the online selling, if the firm is not existing on the Internet, it does not exist. Another advantage of the small business that uses online marketing is tha t they have the ability to sell a wide variety of products due to â€Å"infinite shelf space†. Afuah also comments that online stores can easily make a higher proportion of their income out of the low-volume items rather than traditional stores, a trend called as the long tail effect. It makes possible for the firm to reach new markets and new customers. On the other hand, buyers can search for information to decide their final purchase and compare the products to see which offer sounds adequate to him/her. Small business organizations, especially in the developing countries have the advantage of diminishing the costs of a search for information as well as costs of the transaction. It broadens the effectiveness of transactions by reducing the time taken for processing, payments and other functions. As Gingrich points out, a small business is highly benefited by information provided about customers and markets together with the valuable details of product design, financial res ources, and process technology. The widespread use of internet and its functions have changed the way the customers as well as the firms acquire information and operate their business.