What’s Stifling the Growth of Ecommerce in the Developing World?
Ecommerce has changed the major economies of the world and has made it easier for people to conduct online business. But in the developing world, ecommerce is still in its infancy and lots needs to be done for web page ecommerce to get off the ground. Research has shown that developing countries hold a lot of potential and if everything goes as per plan then its market is expected to grow exponentially. But there are certain challenges that must be overcome for ecommerce to take off. These are mentioned below. Read on:
• Lack of internet penetration. The infrastructure for web based businesses is not fully developed in the developing world. Ecommerce necessitates broad band internet connections but in developing countries, mostly you’ll find slow dial up connections. The high cost of having an internet connection is also a factor.
• Lack of E-commerce designing expertise. People in developing countries have limited or no ecommerce awareness & lack the know-how & motivation for web development. Even if they develop some site it would be ill equipped to enhance the consumer satisfaction.
• Absence of trust. Customers in developing countries are not used to buying or selling products online. They are accustomed to face to face interactions with the seller. Selling the idea of interacting with an inanimate object is difficult and to penetrate this mind set the people in these countries must be educated about the benefits of shopping from home.
• Infrastructure. Web page ecommerce requires a secure payment and billing system, since security is a big issue. Telecommunication Infrastructure & regulations must be conducive for communications & proper management of the supplies and transport required for an operation must be taken care of to complete an ecommerce operation.
• Web design. The E-commerce designing team, including graphic design designers and web developers must work together to build a site that is easy to navigate and where buying/selling procedure is not cumbersome. The site must be attractive and simple enough to make more customers opt for this new business form.
• Policy and legal roadblocks. Developing countries have certain legal and policy frameworks that make it impossible for an outsider to do business online. It’s difficult to do business in such an environment but not impossible, given the opportunities.