The ‘e’ in ecommerce no longer means electronic, it means everywhere.
Ecommerce is defined as the process of buying or selling over
electronic systems, but as the shopper's experience has become more
complex, the 'e' in ecommerce no longer means electronic, it now
means everywhere.
The Harvard Business Review asked in 2011: "Is it an e-commerce
sale if the customer goes to a store, finds that the product is out
of stock, and uses an in-store terminal to have another location
ship it to her home? What if the customer is shopping in one store,
uses his smartphone to find a lower price at another, and then
orders it electronically for in-store pickup?"
From the customers' perspective, they now expect access to the
whole catalog, not just the range of goods in a particular
location, and they expect this catalog to be available whenever and
wherever they want it. People can shop potentially every minute of
the day.
From the companies' perspective, there is an opportunity to
connect with shoppers and have a much fuller relationship than
traditional, mainstream bricks-and-mortar retailers ever did.
