CHALLENGES AND

BARRIERS IN E-COMMERCE
What is e-commerce?
 E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of
electronically buying or selling of products on online
services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on
technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds
transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing,
online transaction processing, electronic data interchange
(EDI), inventory management systems, and automated
data collection systems.
There are many challenges and barriers in e-
commerce:-
1.The issue of cyber-security: -
When buying online, customers are often required to provide more
personal information, like email address, home address, phone
number, and personal details like occupation, age, and preferred
language. Often, the receipt is sent later, via email, and the product
is not received for days or even weeks.
 2.Customer experience:-
When it comes to selling products online, one of the barriers to
e-commerce is not making that purchase. It is easy for the user
to just close the window and do something else. This means the
stakes for converting customers and making a sale are even
higher. All it takes is one slow-loading form, or an unclear site
hierarchy to turn a new prospect away forever. Providing a top-
notch customer experience is key to getting conversions and
attracting more targeted prospects to the site. When it comes to
customer experience for e-commerce stores, first impressions
are everything.
 3. Maintaining customer loyalty:-
If you’re a customer looking for a specific product, a simple
Google search will reveal thousands of e-commerce
companies at the ready. Sifting through these results can be
exhausting. Unlike retail stores, where sellers can make
connections with buyers with face-to-face interactions,
selling online is different because it removes that human
element. The big question, then, is how does one build trust
and loyalty without the opportunity to speak directly to the
customer.
 4.Product returns and refunds:-
Did you know that at least 30% of products purchased online
are returned, compared to under 9% for traditional retail
stores? Return and refund policies are a key consideration
for most customers. In fact, many select e-commerce
companies based on these policies.
 5.Online identity verification:-
When “John Jones” enters their information into a website form, there
is no way to tell whether this is a real person or if their email and
contact information is fake. This can lead to large revenue losses due
to fraudulent purchases, blacklisting of the company IP address, and
tarnished email lists. Depending on the region one lives in, there may
even be legal requirements when it comes to collecting valid data from
customers.
 Conclusion: -
In the conclusion, we can say e-commerce is very prominent these

days, but we can’t deny the major challenges we are facing due to
it. Thus, people using e-commerce need to take some precautions
by themselves like by using virtual keyboards and by not proving
personal and financial information on miscellaneous sites. Thus, we
can avoid many huge losses.