As per the IBEF, India is expected to outreach the US by 2034 to become the second-largest e-commerce market globally. This data implies the outgrowth of the e-commerce industry in recent years. Although traditional commerce is a mainstream form of trading, the rise of e-commerce has transformed the conduct of trade and commerce worldwide. With these instincts, there is a need to understand the difference between eCommerce and traditional commerce.

After the widespread gains in the e-commerce industry, there has been a lot of discussion on eCommerce vs traditional commerce. This article focuses on discussing the key differences of traditional commerce and eCommerce that are realistic and practical. But before that, it is important to know about the meanings of both trading practices.

What is Traditional Commerce?

Trading, a longtime medium of exchange, traditionally involves the activities of buying, selling, and exchanging goods physically. Brick-and-mortar stores, retail shops, and brand showrooms are active instances of traditional commerce. Here, all the activities like order processing, item packaging, and merchandising are done at the shop itself. Moreover, traditional commerce uses traditional advertising activities like print ads, newspaper ads, billboards, TV commercials, and radio advertising.

What is eCommerce?

The first e-commerce company was started in India in 1999. After the globalization and facility of the internet, modern trading methods of electronic commerce were introduced in the country. There are significant differences between traditional commerce and e-commerce. E-commerce involves all the activities of buying, selling, and exchanging items through the Internet. Here, the products are catalogued and listed on an e-commerce website. The order and payment are done digitally. Furthermore, it employs digital marketing activities like Google ads, social media ads, and email marketing for advertising.

4 Pragmatic Differences Between Traditional and E-commerce

Both the mediums of trading differ from each other in significant ways. Let's look at some prominent points of discussion over electronic commerce vs traditional commerce.

Distinct Ways of Operation

Where traditional commerce operates conventionally using all the physical mediums of storage, warehouses, and inventory, e-commerce requires no such inventory or storage to operate. In traditional commerce, there is a direct interaction of the customer with the seller whereas, in e-commerce, all the work is done over the Internet.  

Contrasting Customer Reach

E-commerce has a wider customer reach than traditional trade. This can be said because e-commerce facilities are available everywhere the internet is present. This gives an edge to e-commerce in traditional commerce vs e-commerce debates. Traditional brick-and-mortar stores are in a particular location, which limits their customer reach. However, they are present in places where there is no access to the Internet.

Variation in Time-duration to Access

This is a prime difference between e-commerce and traditional commerce. On one hand, e-commerce facilities are available 24x7, every day, while on the other, traditional commerce has time limitations. In the online mode, you can order the items at any time, even at odd hours. In contrast, you can't buy a product once the shop is closed.

Dissimilar Ways of Exploring the Products

This has been a major point of discussion in the traditional commerce vs eCommerce arguments. You can look at, inspect, and touch a product before buying it when you go to a showroom. This provides greater credibility when buying things. Whereas in the online mode, you just view the product on the screen before ordering, which many times causes conflict.

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Conclusion

So, these were some of the practical differences between e-commerce and traditional commerce. The arrival of e-commerce modified consumers' habits of buying things. Certainly, it is thriving to improve and provide more personalized customer experiences. Both methods of trading have their own merits and demerits, which contributes to numerous e-commerce vs traditional commerce comparisons.