Traditional commerce denotes business interactions or knowledge transfer, purchasing or supplying product/services via individual to individual sans the assistance of the web, which is an earlier form of trade approach and falls under commercial store. Ecommerce is a modern idea of the business approach that relates to the financial activities or communication of knowledge, purchasing, or offering products/services digitally through the web. It is a subset of e-business.
Traditional Commerce vs Ecommerce
The main difference between traditional commerce and Ecommerce is that traditional commerce is conducted through face-to-face interactions, phone services, or postal channels, whereas Ecommerce is conducted using the web or other networking communication technologies. Ecommerce offers increased convenience in purchasing products and activities. Currently, traditional commerce has fallen out of favor as a result of the development of ecommerce in the early twentieth century.
An example of traditional commerce is a local business that provides activities or goods to its regional consumers. It is a setup in which clients must personally come to the store to purchase the merchandise. Equipment costs a lot of money in traditional businesses. Renting and purchasing office space is always pricey in the physical business world. You’ll need to recruit people to work in sales, accounting, administration, and safety.
Ecommerce is a commercial strategy that allows businesses and people to purchase and trade products and commodities through the Web. Ecommerce is handled using laptops, iPads, phones, and other digital phones in four primary market areas. Ecommerce transactions provide access to nearly every possible commodity and activity, spanning books, entertainment, aircraft tickets, and financial sectors such as investing in stocks and internet payments.
Comparison Table Between Traditional Commerce and Ecommerce
| Parameters of Comparison | Traditional Commerce | Ecommerce |
| Usage | It is an archaic technology that is still in use in areas where digital networks are unavailable. | It is employed to save both time and money. |
| Process | It may be followed by anybody, regardless of the degree of knowledge. | It is simpler to use and manage if the consumer is familiar with fundamental digital gadgets. |
| Mode | It can take any shape, whether non-electronic or manually. | It only works in mechanical or virtual mode. |
| Time | It is only accessible for a short period, as stipulated by law, and is dependent on the type of organization. | It is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. |
| Inspection | It is possible to examine an item before buying it in this manner. | It is not permitted to examine a product before buying it in this category. |
What is Traditional Commerce?
Traditional commerce is the activity of marketing goods and commodities within a particular sector and, in certain circumstances, a restricted geographical region. Traditional commerce is based on keeping business hours within a specific time period and necessitates storing inventories or maintaining a retail establishment.
Traditional commerce organizations manage marketing, inventory transportation, and product and process innovation in-house with a close-knit group of consultants. Traditional commerce often does not share details with rivals. Traditional commerce frequently relies on face-to-face interactions with customers and leans on word-of-mouth, collaboration, and client recommendations for fresh and recurring ventures.
Personal connection is a critical component of a company’s success in conventional commerce. Many firms connect within the neighborhood, build relationships with municipal officials and trade associations, and fund community activities and football teams in order to attract business. Traditional commerce, sometimes known as commerce, is a subset of business that includes all operations that allow the transaction.
It remains mandatory for every shopkeeper to keep an inventory of the things he sells, resulting in a significant sum of money remaining unaccounted for in the firm. Traditional stores are open for a limited period of time, such as from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and usually from Monday to Saturday. The lack of a showroom/office area will hinder the company’s ability to grow in the coming years.
What is Ecommerce?
Ecommerce, often known as electronic commerce, is the purchasing and offering of products and services, as well as the transmission of payments or data, using an electronic system, most notably the worldwide web. These interactions might be business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), consumer-to-consumer (C2C), or consumer-to-business (C2B).
Ecommerce and e-business are frequently employed similarly. The word e-tail is also used to refer to the financial procedures that comprise internet commerce purchasing. Ecommerce is driven by the web, and consumers may use their own gadgets to explore through an online marketplace and place purchases for items or activities.
The customer’s computer internet explorer will interact back and forth with the web server in the internet shopping site while the purchase is made. Mobile ecommerce (M-commerce) is a growing kind of e-commerce that involves internet sales activities conducted using portable gadgets such as phones and laptops.
Mobile commerce, phone money, and contactless banking are all examples of m-commerce. Mobile robots also give businesses ecommerce potential, allowing customers to execute purchases with firms via voice or text interactions. The alleged downsides of ecommerce include terrible customer service, the inability of buyers to view or feel a product before purchasing, and the time it takes for the product shipment.
Main Differences Between Traditional Commerce and Ecommerce
- Purchases in traditional commerce are done by hand, but purchases in ecommerce are performed automatically.
- Just during business hours may products and services be exchanged for money in traditional commerce. In contrast, in ecommerce, things may be bought and sold at any time.
- The production side is the focus of traditional commerce. In comparison, the consumption side is the emphasis of ecommerce on resources.
- With traditional commerce, items are distributed immediately, however, in ecommerce, products are received at the customer’s location after some time, generally within the week.
- Because of standardizing, there is mass/one-way advertising in traditional commerce. Eommerce, on the other hand, allows for personalization, which leads to one-to-one advertising.
Conclusion
Ecommerce and traditional commerce are both means of trading products and commodities. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Ecommerce is similar to traditional commerce, with the main distinction being the portals via which the trade and commercial operations take place. Ecommerce saves customers time and is thus handy since you may buy products and solutions from the convenience of your own home or from any place at any moment.
Traditional commerce operates in such a manner that you must spend the effort to go to the location/store where products and commodities are kept, taking a significant amount of time. Ecommerce is not ideal for fragile commodities or high-value items, thus conventional commerce is the preferable option. It is not, however, appropriate for the application or purchase of music buys. As a result, both approaches are required in the marketplace currently.
References
- https://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:ijemr&volume=8&issue=2&article=023