What is Retail E-Commerce? Retail E-Commerce Review

1. Overview of e-commerce in China’s retail industry

In just over 20 years, information technology in China's retail industry has developed from scratch, from low-level to high-level, completing a journey that took foreign countries nearly half a century to complete, and has achieved remarkable results that have attracted worldwide attention.

Nearly 100 large chain stores in my country have opened online chain stores, and some large supermarkets and department stores are also working on building their own e-commerce systems and trading platforms. According to relevant data in 2002, among the more than 1,700 e-commerce websites in China, about 1,100 companies are engaged in retail e-commerce.

The hot-selling products on the Internet are mainly books, CDs and computer hardware , but communications and home appliances also showed great market potential in 2002. Online shopping and online ticket booking will be consumer e-commerce markets with great potential .

An online questionnaire survey shows that only 40% of Chinese netizens are satisfied with online transactions, while netizens around the world are much more satisfied with online transactions, which fully demonstrates that the service quality of Chinese retail e-commerce enterprises needs to be improved.

II. Problems in the Development of E-commerce in China’s Retail Industry

1. Outdated concepts

Although various Chinese media have carried out detailed publicity and introduction on e-commerce, many enterprises still have many problems in understanding in the specific implementation process, for example, they think that e-commerce is just online shopping. Therefore, most enterprises fail to make full use of e-commerce to serve the management and business needs of enterprises, so as to reduce costs and enhance profitability.

In addition, the development of e-commerce in the retail industry also faces the problem of how to view the relationship with the traditional retail industry. The traditional retail industry has developed for one or two hundred years, and its operating model and management methods have been widely recognized and accepted by consumers.

However, e-commerce has only been developed for a few years. Although it has developed extremely rapidly, people's acceptance of it is still very limited. People's consumption habits are difficult to change in a short period of time, resulting in the fact that most retailers are unwilling to try and contact this emerging business method. Some even regard the penetration of e-commerce as a competitor and continue to exclude it, which worsens their own living environment.

2. System aging

The information systems of many enterprises engaged in retail business were established and implemented in the past few years. Whether it is the equipment used, technical framework or management ideas, they can no longer meet the requirements of modern business development, which greatly limits the implementation of e-commerce in these enterprises. Compared with the emerging e-commerce enterprises that implement retail business, their service efficiency is low and the cost is high. In the complex market competition, their weaknesses are gradually emerging.

3. Information closure

The information system of most companies is just a simple internal purchase-sales-inventory management system. Coupled with the aging of the information system, these companies have become "information islands" and rarely have timely information exchanges with the outside world (such as customers and suppliers). As a result, the value of corporate information is not fully explored and utilized, and a large number of opportunities to expand business and attract more potential customers are lost.

4. Delivery and payment delays

Delivery and payment are common problems faced by most companies engaged in retail e-commerce. How to find a balance between improving delivery time and controlling costs has always troubled all e-commerce websites.

Although some companies have launched the slogan of "one-hour delivery" to satisfy consumers, there are great difficulties in both distribution costs and actual operations. In addition, payment is also a problem. Network security has always been a sensitive issue. If this problem is not properly resolved, it will always bring psychological barriers to customers' online payments .

5. Goods sold online need to be optimized

E-commerce cannot be as all-encompassing as traditional retail. For example, items that require high storage conditions, such as perishable food, and high-value items such as antiques and jewelry, are not suitable for online sales.

Products that are more complex to use, have higher product value and technological content, and are more professional, such as computers and office equipment, are more suitable for online sales. For daily necessities, people are already very familiar with them, and the traditional sales network is very rich, so they are obviously not suitable for online sales, at least not at this stage. Therefore, the product structure of online sales needs to be further optimized.

III. Main Ideas for the Development of E-commerce in China’s Retail Industry

Traditional retail industry should and must be combined with e-commerce, which is an inevitable trend of retail industry development. The existence of the above problems determines that promoting e-commerce in domestic retail industry is a long and arduous process. Through investigation, I believe that to promote e-commerce in retail industry in a pragmatic and effective manner, every retail enterprise needs to face up to its shortcomings, find and take advantage of better opportunities, conduct in-depth thinking and practical actions.

References

• 1. Retail e-commerce: Baidu Encyclopedia