Interpretive Structural Modelling of Critical Factors Influencing E-Commerce in India

Introduction

E-commerce can be simply defined as the channel of business through which the process of selling, buying and exchange of goods and services and transfer of money and data over any digital platform is done to complete a transaction. The advent of digitalization has changed our perception of doing business, from a long establishment of transactions through paper has transitioned to the digital mode of transactions, where the buying and selling of products are easier and timeless, making it more accessible.

There is no doubt in the scene where e-commerce has shown its growth from its first usage of online medium until now. In 1995 were there only around 16 millions users globally the number has increased to 4.9 billions worldwide, which roughly constitute the two-third of the global population (Johnson, 2022). The growth in internet users has seen the increase of global e-commerce sector. Concerning the type of transactions, e-commerce they can be roughly achieved through following ways:

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  Business to consumer- common of all, it represents the process of transaction where a consumers purchases products directly through the business. For instance when a consumer buys a product from an online retailer.

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  Business to business- it presents the process of transaction where a business is selling goods or services to another business. Here the buyer is not the end consumer but rather another business operator. This style of business takes place between wholesalers or retailers, where products under transaction are usually is raw material, unfinished produce or a part of component used for further assembly processes.

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  Consumer to consumer- a direct transaction interaction where a consumer directly sells the product to another consumers. This type of transactions taking place can be seen on platforms like ebay, Etsy, OLX, etc.

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  Consumers to business- a category of transaction where an individual sells his products or services to the business operators. This group essentially constitutes the photographers, free-lancers or consultants.

Nevertheless the sole stage of transaction in all forms is the digital platform. Comparing through the traditional method of transaction, the digital transaction of e-commerce is not only effortless but also provides a broader platform to do the business. It also reduces the transaction cost marginalizing to just the logistics costs, secures a better market share giving access to global markets with good business opportunity with an advantage of lower entry cost.

Various works have already shown the impact of digitalization in the business and it has always stood to be of gain. Where in developing countries the major concern lies in acquiring ways to connect the population through the internet, while in developed nations the concern is about the deployment of next generation technologies (E-commerce in developing countries, in press, 2013). Work has been done regarding the developed countries and lack of proper understanding of the impact is seen in under developed or developing countries. India is a growing economy and with rapidly increasing internet users the next step which lies ahead of us is to recognize the parameters that would affect the Indian e-commerce market and how it can be utilized by the organizations to benefit them.