P5

Economic and social impact due to speed of changes:

E-commerce sites and the speed of change on the internet has had a large impact on society. Certain products now choose to be released online before they are released on the high street so they can be pre-ordered on sites like Amazon and e-Bay. These sites also contribute to how speed of change can alter prices due to delivery speed. Next day or nominated day delivery can be very expensive, however the shopper can benefit from the online service if they are not worried about the delivery time because then it is normally free. Speed of change can also effect demand and in turn effect prices, on an airline for example, if lots of seats have been booked they can hike prices because they know the cost of the flight is covered.

Bricks and Clicks:

Brick and Click organisations are companies that have an online presence as well as a physical market place. These can also include companies that have a ‘flip’, this means that they have a catalogue, for example Argos has all of these elements including a click and collect. Often the reason for the success of Brick organisations turning into Brick and Click organisations is that the technology in e-commerce has taking steps forward which means people who may have been sceptical about the security of their payment method online now trust that it is secure. This means that they will be more inclined to buy items from the comfort of their own home and either use the company’s delivery service, which is usually free, or choose to collect it when they want meaning that they don’t have to walk around the store which reduces traffic in the aisles and makes it easier for the customer.  

Benefits for customers:

The obvious benefit for customers is that they can buy items as they would do on the high street from the comfort of their own home. Realistically customers could spend all their time in one house for the rest of thier life as they are able to order food and water, luxuries like television, movies, furniture, technology ect. They could even order items to other peoples houses so wouldn't need to leave the house to deliver presents cards ect. Another benefit is the 24/7 service you have available as the websites for stores are always open, unlike the brick equivalent, and you can search the web for discount codes, promo codes or price comparison websites in order to save money.  

Disadvantages:

Paying online is not secure 100% of the time, and some websites will take money from your account with no intention of sending back any items and, for this reason, customers can be sceptical when looking to shop online. There is no element of trying before you buy online as the item is not in the customers physical presence, meaning that they can't be sure of the size or quality will inevitably put some potential shoppers off. Delivery times can put off potential customers as they may want their order for a specific time, and ordering online means that although they might have paid for next day or nominated day delivery they are effectively out of control of when the package will arrive. This can ruin birthdays or Christmas so will put potential customers off and ruin the reputability of the e-commerce business. Turing from a brick to a click business will mean that a business has to make redundancies which will lose a organisations good reputation and put off potential customers. In my opinion the biggest factor of e-commerce is the lack of social interaction which means that people will lose their social skills which are a life essential.