In 2017, retail eCommerce sales worldwide amounted to 2.3 trillion US dollars and e-retail revenues are projected to grow to 4.88 trillion US dollars in 2021.

That is a big figure when it comes to a single industry. The eCommerce industry has grown vehemently over the years, owing to both technological and consumer acceptance factors.

The market leaders of such a huge industry have to be sure of how they balance operations and consumer relationships. The entire model on which eCommerce works involves indirect contact with consumers.

Let’s look at the big picture.

Major eCommerce players affect every action of the consumer. They cause stark deviation in the market curves. They make a mark.

Every action taken by them makes a difference in multiple ways. We need to be aware as to whether the difference being made is positive or negative in nature.

Well, it is both. We simply need to understand which scale of the balance is heavier.

What problems could the current eCommerce models present?

Centralized Monopolies

Currently, the major eCommerce companies have achieved a somewhat monopolistic dominance over their relatively nascent competitors. This makes consumers look toward limited available options which in turn makes market control centralized.

Lack of Transparency

Knowing the value of a commodity is a fundamental right of every consumer. Although, prices are mentioned, we still remain unsure about the way in which commodities are valued. This, combined with the limited access to real-time discussions about product-features makes transparency limited. All available offers, too, are designed in ways which may cloud the necessity of certain product choices. Hence, consumers end up making purchases depending solely on what they see and not what real value a particular commodity would otherwise hold.

Limited Stock

The quantum of available stock is limited by what the e-commerce giant wishes to put on its inventory. This shows how controlled the market of e-commerce could be. A wide range of products would mean a wide price range. However, limiting the range of products would also indirectly mean hovering above a selected price range. The consumer would have no choice other than purchasing a product with an undeserving price tag.

Narrow Scope of Attributes

The primary attribute that is being sold to consumers is the ‘Price’ attribute. Overtime, it simply gets down to clearing stocks or Stock Keeping Units with the tease of promotional offers. The idea of following a consumer-centric approach gets sidelined and a highly pragmatic business approach takes over.

An environment in which consumers are made aware and given enough freedom when it comes to making choices is what is lacking. For this to happen, companies need to bring change. A shift in the approach of major e-commerce companies is needed in order to solve this issue.

The technology behind current eCommerce giants too, has inherent security issues. There is also the cost that is involved in processing transactions. The existing problems are numerous and require a makeover. As an example, it would be worth the while to mention Runs.com. Now this is an eCommerce platform which is based on the decentralized tech of Blockchain. They have not launched their platform yet. However it would be worthwhile to follow this project since it revolves around consumer based experiences. These experiences would be measured in the form of Experience Keeping Units of XKUs as opposed to SKUs.

A change in the way business is done is always better for the masses and the future of eCommerce.