Planning a quick holiday? Air tickets, hotel bookings and the rest of the trip can all be arranged at the click of a few buttons through sites like skyscanner.com, booking.com and Klook, just to name a few.
Feeling Hungry? The food of your choice can be delivered to your doorstep in a few minutes by Deliveroo, Foodpanda etc
Want to enhance your coding skills? A quick search will throw up many relevant courses on sites like Codeacademy.com.
Coursera.org will give you access to a range of online courses of your choice from some of the world’s best universities that you can pursue from the comfort of your home. Moreover, many of them are free!
Building your website or setting up an online store? Shopmatic can help you do that.
Need some assistance with your finances or any other specialized consultancy? There are agencies and freelance specialists with whom you can consult and they will do the job for you. Check out peopleperhour.com, upwork.com etc
The house needs cleaning/ repairs? Just log on to homecleanz.com or handymanservices.sg
What about your Health and fitness needs? Online coaches can be there for you at fitnessblender.com or dailyfitboost.com to guide and inspire you to reach your fitness goals.
These are just a few “services” which have become part of our daily lives and the list goes on….
Online shopping of both “products” and “services” is a lifestyle that we have all embraced, gotten used to and perhaps cannot do without! The internet and e-commerce has changed the way we live our lives these days.
Ordering Services Online
There used to be a time when e-commerce for “services” business was not as common (as that for products) because of the complexities involved in analysing and quoting prices for the services rendered. However, with the development of technology and automation, many such ambiguities can now be eliminated. This has made the ordering of services online hugely popular and relevant equally among the young tech savvy as well as the older who are increasingly embracing the convenience that the digital world brings.
Taking Advantage of the Usual Benefits
Cost Savings
Providing e-services can help the organisation save time and costs (ranging from rental to staff) that it can pass on to the consumer in the form of lower prices. We see this in the case of e-education that allows it to bring new groups of students for whom many such courses might not have been previously accessible.
Flexibility
Information is free on the net and the consumer can visit many websites in a few minutes to make her choice from the comfort of her home 24/7. This is probably why travel and tourism related sites (that have a lot of useful information on promotions, suggestions) have made massive inroads into the business of traditional intermediaries like travel agents.
Ease in Marketing
E-commerce allows multiple selling and marketing options and opportunities for small business owners thanks to social media. Some good feedback and positive comments and reviews help increase brand awareness and credibility among prospective consumers.
No Boundaries
Technology has brought the world closer and your physical location ceases to be a limiting factor as you could offer say your foreign language tutoring services across continents and time zones through your e-commerce website.
Employment Opportunities
Lower costs and increased efficiency has led to the rapid growth of the online services segment. This has also created more employment opportunities, allowing them to work from home by using online freelancing platforms, providing services online and by selling creative products.
What lies Ahead?
Do you see yourself changing your lifestyle in the near future? Unlikely!
If anything, there might be newer areas of service that e-commerce takes over and makes it a norm for all of us.
You will still continue to get the food delivered to your home as you work on your article as a freelancer or plan your next vacation through the travel website. In fact, there could be new market niches (like online brokering services, auctioneering etc ) that are likely to draw consumer attention in the coming years.
With the proliferation of technology and AI, delivery of most services can now be done 100% electronically and hence the “services” segment of e-commerce is bound to grow. So, if you have a skill or service that you can offer, be it teaching mathematics or baking or even yoga or creative writing …this is the time to put your “services” on offer online and see yourself grow! Set up your online store at Shopmatic
Read this for entrepreneurial inspiration
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