A Comparative Research Between the Advantages and Disadvantages of E-Commerce and Its Traditional Counterpart

De La Salle University[pic 1]

Taft, Manila

A Comparative Research Between The Advantages and Disadvantages

of E-commerce and Its Traditional Counterpart

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Abstract

        So many people are curious in going into business and there are a lot of things to consider in starting such. For instance, a lot of thinking should be done in either pursuing an online business or its traditional counterpart since the former is making its spot in the industry. With that, this is a research paper regarding a study between which type of commerce is more effective when it comes to its impact on consumers. Its purpose is to find out what kind of business is still more prevalent in this generation. In that way, present and future entrepreneurs would know which type to invest on. Included in the paper are the advantages and disadvantages of both when it comes to  their practicality, reliability and stability as viewed by the consumers. Moreover, a self-made survey was conducted online to further enhance the study in such a way that the researchers will get first hand opinions from the buyers themselves regarding which they are more likely inclined to. Consequently it helped the researchers understand more the related literature in relation to the results, which showed that majority of the respondents are still more likely to buy from the traditional type of commerce because of the assurance in safety and comfort they get despite the convenience E-commerce provides. In that sense, the findings recommend that future research could look into the ways how E-commerce can offer the same to be able to be the more preferred kind of business.[pic 3]

Since there are so many factors behind business, a lot are becoming interested. Thus, increasing the number of customers. With that, retailers are beginning to be more curious on how consumers behave. Nowadays, the gap between online businesses and its traditional counterpart is continuously growing in such a way that the former is becoming more and more wide spread, making its spot in the industry. Not only the consumers are getting involved to it, but also retailers are leaning towards E-commerce. Looking more into their foundations, the bricks and mortar is more known and established in the industry before. As years went by, the industry started to be developed as technology got into the picture. Consequently, E-commerce was introduced.

On the one hand, traditional commerce is one that operates in a physical storefront located at a particular strategic area that runs within a period of time covering its business hours and transacts with its customers face to face; hence, the reason why it is also called as the brick and mortar (http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brickandmortar.asp). To begin with, one of the advantages of pursuing a business in a traditional commerce is that the consumers still prefer personal interactions when they make their purchases. There is a better sense of understanding when one communicates directly with another individual in such a way that inquiries, apprehensions and concerns can be addressed right away. Next, they feel more safeguarded when transactions are made in actual locations rather than doing business through the convenience of technology.  In relation to that, some people believe that there is more stability and reliability if there is an existence of a physical premise that they can actually go to. In that way, people are conscious of the physical aspects that make them become more drawn to traditional commerce (http://www.businesspundit.com/encyclopedia/ecommerce/brick-and-mortar/).