Has the Internet Shifted Power to Consumers - Essay Example

Has the internet shifted power to consumers? Discuss. Yes, Internet has shifted power to consumers Convenience The s now have convenientways of conducting online shopping. Going to the outlets is a time consuming task. There are many consumers that do jobs and they usually find it difficult to go the different types of outlets to buy the things. Many types of outlets have made their virtual presence along with home deliveries that allows consumers to conduct their shopping online. The success for the organisation lies in the purchasing power of the consumers and their convenience and therefore via internet consumers have been empowered to make convenient decisions. Many technological products such as laptops and cell phones can be bought online. Other types of products are furniture shopping that allows consumers to conveniently make their purchases online without the hassle of actually going to the outlet and placing the orders. Online shopping is a highly easy and convenient option for consumers. Also some organisations have the facility of money back guarantee if any customer is not satisfied with the actual product and service that has been received by the consumer once the order was placed online. Also online shopping allows the consumers to choose their preference and customize the product options according to likeness. Dell computers for example allow consumers to customise their laptop details and accordingly the products for the consumers are formed. 2. Knowledge about Market With the advent of internet, consumers now have a lot of awareness and knowledge about the different varieties and ranges of any certain product. The quality, composition and all other details of the product can be known. The companies that are providing a typical type of product can be known through the internet. This increases the options from which the customers have to make a choice. Market knowledge is known by the consumers and the decisions of the consumers are based upon the knowledge of the market. Before as there was no internet, consumers had to travel physically and then gain the knowledge about the market and that too only few markets could be studies but now having the complete knowledge about the market is not at all a difficult process. As we know that knowledge is power, and consumers are empowered highly with the knowledge that they receive through the browsing of the internet. 3. Marketing Intelligence Organisations usually develop strong marketing intelligence tools for catering their customers. This aspect again has empowered consumers strongly via the internet. Consumers, if they get attracted towards an advertisement online may click it and then develop interests for buying the product or not. This shows that organisations need to compete in their marketing intelligence areas so that they can target the consumers and attract them towards their products and services. Consumers usually base their decisions on advertisements that catch their attention and prove its worth in a single glance rather than probing deep down in their details. The more attractive tools used by the organisations; the more they can impact the decision making of the consumers. Internet allows consumers to view all online advertisements clearly with all the details and product features. 4. Comparison of prices Internet as we all know is an open portal for all the businesses and all the consumers to conduct their business transactions or other personal transactions. Internet has increased the competition amongst the organisations as consumers are empowered with the ability of conducting price comparisons of the different product ranges while they make their purchasing decisions. Gas prices can be compared by consumers online and they may make decisions of where to buy the gas. Prices of products and services can be compared with the international market as well. If consumers feel that international markets are providing better offers then through the online portals they can order things from the international market rather than the local market. E-commerce way of doing business is being in development by many of the organisations. As we are residing in a world of globalization, all businesses are compelled in one way or the other to have their virtual presence so that the global village communication channel amongst consumers is present. Online presence also at times adds to the credibility criteria of the organisation. Consumers when viewing the websites of firms are in a better position to make decisions rather than with those that do not have websites. Contact information is easily available on the websites along with other details. 5. Bank Customers about charges Ecommerce has allowed businesses to make their virtual presence in every nook and corner of the world. Now consumers have the option of easily knowing about the bank charges and bank offerings of all the banks through the internet. Through internet, the economy of majority of the developed and under developed countries has faced tremendous market revolution. For some banks, the success rate has increased and for some it has decreased due to the internet factor in the lives of the consumers. Internet has allowed many organisations to increase their customer base and for many to decrease their customer base. Organisations now more than ever need to focus on the demands of the consumers as the power of success for organisations lies in the decisions that the consumers make regarding the purchase of goods and services. Incompetence and high prices can be immediately recognised and organisations and banks may have to give some sort of valid explanations to satisfy their valuable customers. Consumers can switch easily and this is one thing that no one can stop the consumers from doing. They have the power to switch upon the brands they are buying without the need to give any explanation. Organisations need to be on their toes to constantly meet the demands of the consumers and do their business in a way that satisfies customers. 6. Consumer power gaining upper hand and expert power reducing Internet is mostly a necessity in majority of the lives of the consumers. They have gained more power in making decisions that has affected the organisations. Consumers have strongly gained an upper hand in posing challenges to the experts. Organisations have to think in depth about conducting their business the e-commerce way as they have to grab the attention of the consumers. Internet power of consumers has reached to such heights that the expert’s in their respective field have reduced their power of knowledge and the consumer power has increased. An example to illustrate this can be the prescription of the doctors give to the patients. Though doctors are expert in their fields, the internet has allowed consumers to conduct the research on the internet and critically analyse the prescription of the doctor whether the given medicines are right or not. Experts in various other fields mat give in their suggestions and opinions regarding any issue; consumers have the option of researching the knowledge encyclopaedia and give their critical analysis whether the expert’s decision was correct or not. Experts are losing their power with the advent of internet, and consumers are gaining their power of knowledge and their decision making abilities are becoming more powerful than ever before. There are hardly any points present that state that consumer power with the advent of internet has reduced. Consumers have been empowered to a very large extent with the advent of internet and they play a major role in the decisions that are taken by the organisations regarding the launch of products and services for the consumers. Read More