Sanina Shrestha
Gagangaunda, Kaski- 30
Electronic commerce is the buying and selling,
marketing and servicing of products and services via computer networks. E-businesses
utilize the internet, intranets, extranets and other net-works to support their
commercial processes. Since e-business includes the process of transacting with
suppliers and customers there is an overlap in activities with e-commerce.
Although the terms ‘e-business’ and ‘e-commerce’ are often used synonymous,
the distinction between them lies in the border range of processes in
e-business that incorporates internal transaction within an organization. These
include transactions relating to procurement, logistics, supply chain
managements, payments, stock control and tracking. Ecommerce can be best being
conceived as a subset of e-business where the two concepts overlap is in the
buying and selling of products and services. Electronic business can be
defined as the use of the internet to network and empower business process,
electronic commerce, organizational communication and collaboration within a
company and with its customers, suppliers and others stakeholders. The term
‘e-business’ was coined by IBM’s marketing and internet terms in 1996. Business
over the email and web by communicating, buying and selling with customers,
suppliers and others its stakeholder. In simple terms, e-business means doing
business over the internet. This drastically changes the manner of doing
business. For centuries, business has been based on physical presence of buyers
and sellers and physical delivery of goods and services. In e-business refers
to any forms of business transaction in which the buyers and sellers interacts
electronically using telecommunication networks.
When we talk about the future
of E-commerce business in Nepal, online buying and selling at beginning are
same people are not aware about the e-commerce business. Nepal being a third
world country it has always been a step backward when it comes to Internet
& Technology. But with the latest technology trends in Nepal,
things have been changing over the past few years. After the development of
technology and internet e-commerce business are in increasing trend. Due to
which there is increase in economic condition in Nepal. To talks out past days
when people had to go to Telephone shop to call a local number because very few
of us carried mobile at that time. But now people have their own self phone. In
Fact, Many of youths these days prefer chatting on the internet these days
which is of course cheaper than traditional phone calls & messages. When it
comes to E-commerce business in Nepal, It’s not a new thing in Nepal. In fact, online business in Nepal has
been running for more than 7 years. There are more than 20 e-commerce portals
in Nepal till date. However, if we see data, none
of them have been quite successful when it comes to ROI (Return in Investment).
Manly there are four reasons behind this Firstly, Lack of proper
address. People here in Nepal do not have proper communication in between each
other’s which lacks proper addressing for their business. Secondly, lack of
awareness among people about online business. They do not know about the online
benefits like how fast their business can run through it and how the buying and
selling process can be done through it. In addition is lack of targeted
marketing. People are not aware about the market tends and the customers need
and wants in the market. Finally due to not so good internet connection in the
country, connection problems like slow service, networks, system and the skills
manpower to run the internet’s and technologies.
However things have changed in
fast few years. With the increase in trend in mobile phones available, good
internet broadband and Telecommunications’ cheap Internet rate, people are using
the internet these days in Nepal. The Internet penetration in Nepal has
crossed 50% in the last year, which literally means that more than half of the populations
of the country are using top internet services which have given the positive
impacts in e-commerce business in Nepal. As far as E-commerce business is
concerned, it needs two main things to operate:
– Device (Computer,
Mobile, Tablet, etc)
– Internet (To waves the
web or app).
Nepalese people have now got
both Internet & device widely. It is, therefore, a strong E-commerce
business market and clever Investors and Businessmen knew this at the right
time. Due to which the e business is increasing in our country day by day. E-commerce is literally
killing off the bricks and shutter stores with its exploding offers, a wide
range of products, free shipping, social media access, quality, discounts,
convenience and what not! Be it via mobile or tablet computer, the list of the
orders have become never-ending and in a developing country like Nepal, luckily
e-commerce has established a pretty good market.
Future
Consequences of E-commerce Business in Nepal
1.
Tough competition
The E-commerce business in
Nepal is definitely going to take its height after the development of devices
and internet. Since e-commerce business has been increasing in Nepal, there
might be the tough competition in between each others. We should not forget
that there are already some existing E-commerce business in Nepal like
Sastodeal, Foodmandu, Muncha, Nepbay many more which are already well
established and doing good in their position.
2. Advantage to Customers
Market
competition always yields some attractive deals and offers for customers. With
the increase in competition creates a safe, secure & transparent business
environment. This will also increase in product quality and competitive
pricing. As people have more choices, they tend to shop more and that
ultimately brings in a favorable market condition. Customers don’t have to go
to shop for buying, they can do online shopping directly from home and can
fulfill their need and demand which give advantages to the customers.
3.
Fast Delivery
This will be an added advantage
of customers after a competitive ecommerce business
environment in
the country. For example esawa has already announced free 24 hrs delivery as
soon as it launched and many of such fast delivery are still in the process.
4.
Online Payment
With all those advancements in the
digital wallet in Nepal these days, the online payment system is likely to take
a rise sooner. While people usually rely on cash on delivery (COD), buying and
selling are certain to change in near future.
5. More Employment Opportunity
In
long run, E-commerce business in Nepal has potential to create a lot of
employment opportunity to Nepalese people in the near future. Whether it comes to corporate
people or middle and unskilled manpower, E-commerce needs them all. With
increased competition in the market, it is probably going to create an impact
on local people both in terms of customer experience and employment. It is
going to be a win-win situation for the local people.
6. Time Saving
Online business helps to save the time
of the people. They don’t have to go outside to buy their needs and wants. With
the help of online they can order by sitting at home which ultimately save the
time of the peoples.
Message
to E-commerce Startups
After
the proper development of devices and internets in the E-commerce market in
Nepal, It is first important to take a advantages and not to misjudge any brand
all the time. It is now time to upgrade yourself and build a brand because
brand matters at last.
Some
of the points that Small Business owners & Startups can follow to compete
for a large venture:
1. Focus On Quality & Pricing
Nobody
is going to check or buy any product if that product is poor in quality. It is
therefore always important to maintain a standard quality of the product if
you’re based online. Price is the first thing that people see with the product
image. So, it is important to keep a ready for action pricing with the market
at affordable by the customers.
2. Digital Marketing
It
is now time to prioritize digital marketing for our
business. We can’t long last if our
business is not based on Internet and we don’t care of our Digital Presence.
So, startups can focus on Digital marketing to grow their ecommerce business
online.
3.
Focus On Branding
Branding is now the most important
thing than. An average person is likely to see or hear about a brand at many times
before they make any purchasing decision till they become satisfied with the
product. We can imagine how important Branding has been over the years. It is,
therefore, suggested to work on your business branding from now for a long run.
4.
Customer Relation Management
Our
business can be ruined by negative reviews and we should not take them lightly.
We live in an online world and everything happens within a blink of the eye.
So, it is important to keep an eye on our customers. From good product and price
we can make our customer happy but with a good Customer relation, we can make
them satisfied and turn them into a loyal customer which is a benefit to any
organization.
5. Economic Growth:
E-business
initiatives may include to expand business reach, attain higher level of market
visibility, increases responsiveness, design and deliver new services,
strengthen business relationships, reduce cost and to prevent or resolve
channel conflicts. It increases the productivity of firms and enhances the
economic welfare of consumers.
Challenge to Startups
If you are thinking about a startup in E-commerce industry in
Nepal, we have to be ready for more struggles now. Some of the challenges are
as follows:
1.
Traditional
Shopping Habit:
To go to the markets, chat with vendors, bargain to the
fullest and get things done. Guess what, e-commerce isn’t for them. Ordering
something they can’t touch, feel or bargain doesn’t appeal to them despite many
of the youngsters love doing so.
2.
Lack
of trust:
Imagine buying shoes or any product which look awesome in
the photo but in real it looks different when delivered, it will certainly not
give a good feeling. And once the trust is broken, it takes time to trust it
again.
3.
Lack
of Investment:
Country like Nepal, when it comes to investment in the
e-commerce sector it is practically non-existent with some exceptions. Also,
the startup culture hasn’t gained much thrust which has resulted in the
insolvency of the startup in the e-commerce sector.
4.
Lack
of an effective payment gateway:
Even though various online payment services like esewa,
Khalti, ipay are prevalent in Kathmandu and few cities, they have not been
effective since most of the people are still doubtful about them. Also, most of
the Nepali still do not possess bank accounts and are ignorant about e-banking.
5.
Lack
of e-commerce friendly rules:
An e-commerce business based on Nepal cannot open a
PayPal account until it has a dollar account abroad. Also, the long technical
process and unstable economic policy of Nepal Rastra Bank are the major
problems.
We don’t shop from a website which is backed up by some millionaire.
All we see is the product quality, price & delivery. And if the shopping
experience is good, we visit the same website again. It is as simple as that. So, for startups & small
business owners, it is extremely important to focus on their branding and
pursue their importance of e-commerce business in Nepal to overcome the
challenges.
Conclusion
E-business is the result of
convergence of information technology and communication technology. It is a
comprehensive system of trading which uses networks o computers for buying and
selling goods and services. It gives the possibility for customers to access
the prices at any time of the day every day. The way of ordering is easy, fast
and immediate. E-commerce business provides benefit to organization, production
as well as to customers. Benefits like more flexible infrastructure, enhanced
business intelligence and information management, better and faster decisions
are provided in organization. Benefits like Higher efficiency, leaner value
chain, higher employee engagement, reduces costs are provided in production.
Likewise, more effective and efficient marketing programs, streamlined order
fulfillment, improved customer services are the benefits to the customer after
the development of e-business. E-commerce Business in Nepal has been taking a
right turn in the recent past and one can imagine the future with these. At one
hand Nepal is trying to expand its reach in all over the world in which Nepali
market are definitely going to try to surprise with its E-commerce service.
That helps in increasing the economic condition of the nation. Since Nepal is a
good front line for E-commerce vendors, one can go to any limit to earn
customer trust and loyalty. This will not only create a good business
environment but also be helpful for future startups & Entrepreneurs. So, these
were all about the latest acquisitions and the possible consequences in the
E-commerce business in Nepal. As mention above if tough competition, advantages to customers, Fast delivery, online
payments etc goes on increasing than the future e-commerce business can take a
good advantages in Nepal too. If these trend go on increasing
in e-commerce than Nepal can get lots of benefit in development sector.
References:
https://kathmandutribune.com/future-nepals-online-shopping-palm-hands-list-top-online-shopping-sites-nepal-must-see/-online-shopping-palm-hands-list-top-online-shopping
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