The e-commerce world seems to be booming at the moment. Perhaps this is why companies are looking for ways on how they can tap from its money-making potentials. However, experts have pointed out that all of these are only for the meantime. According to them, the e-commerce industry will face some severe challenges in the future which will threaten the existence of businesses. This post will look at some of these challenges.
1 The Cyber War
Even though there have been measures to ensure that this challenge is addressed, it is still a significant threat to e-commerce businesses. Cybercrime seems to be increasing on a daily basis and taking place in various new dimensions. And this has led to a situation whereby people prefer to do businesses offline. The reported cases in the United States of cyber crimes in 2017 were more than 500 cases.
2 Strict Search Engine Policies
Some policies have been introduced to reiterate the fact that search engines are still relevant in the e-commerce industry. Formerly, the process of search engine optimization was straightforward and less time-consuming. However, all of these will change according to experts as search engines such as Google, Yahoo and others are doing everything possible to ensure that sites are properly scrutinized.
3 Over Saturation
E-commerce industry seems to be green at the moment with lots of people smiling to the bank. However, this is a trend that will not last forever as it is expected to become saturated in a few years. This is the result of stiff competition that is likely to come into existence. For instance, a market such as weight loss is worth billions of dollars due to the high demands of weight loss products. Also, this can only attract other marketers leading to a lot of sellers chasing a few buyers.
4 Increased Government Regulations
This is especially evident in the fact that there will be a need to protect online buyers from fraudsters. Such will force governments to introduce laws that may not be favorable to online business owners. The cybercrime mentioned above is a perfect example. The worst part is that genuine online business owners will be affected in the course of governments trying to protect the interest of buyers.
5 Continued Lack of Credibility
Given the increasing popularity of the internet, one expects that e-commerce will likely spread to other countries in the future. However, experts have dissenting views on this. According to them, most governments, especially in developing countries, continue to issue laws that are unfavorable to e-commerce activities. They still trust the fact that it is yet to stay. Until these laws are improved, people will continue to have this doubt about taking part in e-commerce activities.
6 Handling of Growth
E-commerce seems to be growing at such an incredible pace at the moment. However, it has been predicted that most companies may struggle to cope with such a development. They may find it very hard for scaling their activities to meet the requirements of the times. Such is a challenge that is likely to make many businesses lag behind others.
7 Problem of Privacy
There are emerging companies every day claiming to have personal information about members of the public. Most of these companies make their money from selling personal information to members of the people in an unauthorized way. The worst part is that this is one trend that is on the rise. It is a significant problem for the e-commerce industry will suffer shortly as people may be reluctant to submit their data.
8 The Use of Blockchain
Although most experts have explained that blockchain technology represents the future of e-commerce, there is no doubt that it comes with its challenges. These are problems that the industry has to deal with them. For instance, it is a technology that seems to be in its early stages. There is also the issue of privacy, control, and insecurity. Finally, the challenge is likely how it can be successfully integrated to work with the e-commerce platform.
9 Insufficient Staffing
Most e-commerce businesses are likely to suffer from the lack of adequate staff. This is due to the rate at which applications are created to handle various tasks that facilitate e-commerce activities. The importance of people in dealing with specific tasks cannot be overemphasized. For instance, you have software being created to write different posts within seconds. These are tasks that would have been handled by people.
10 Logistic Problems
It is a problem that has defied almost every idea which sounds like its solution. There can’t seem to be a permanent way of getting it corrected at the moment even when companies always try to ensure the delivery of goods promptly to customers. This problem is expected to increase as more people are taking part in e-commerce transactions than ever before. Logistics companies may find it very difficult to cope with such a development.
11 Too Many Fraudulent Companies
Although rules and regulations guide e-commerce activities in most developed countries, there are desperate companies that want to get their share of the cake. These companies care less about the products they offer to the public. According to experts, the number of such companies will increase only in the future.
12 Social Media Issues
Most companies have been caught up in the immersion trend which seems to be very popular on social media websites at the moment. A careful look at all of these will only point to the fact that these companies may just be left behind should there be a new way of customer interaction. There are many companies using social media websites to promote their brands. No one can really tell whether the popularity of these sites will wane over time or not.
