E-commerce is a term thrown around a lot these days. People are very amused by the concept of electronic commerce, where there is buying and selling of goods and services on the world wide web. Unlike traditional commerce, it offers 24 hour availability and global reach allowing producers to “make anywhere, sell anywhere”. Since e-commerce is the exchange of goods or services with electronic money, e-banking becomes an integral part of it where the former doesn’t survive without the latter. Payment for any product or service is almost always done through e-banking services available to us.A large part of the digitally literate community benefit from these services as consumers. This community of consumers is an ever growing community who avail these services at the comfort of their own homes anytime of the day. Gone are the days when you had to travel to a shopping district for buying goods or spend a day in a queue in your local bank just to make a transaction. Recharging mobiles phones and DTH online is becoming very popular as there are many offers available on the recharge sites.
If you are not among the above group of people, by now you are very interested in the whole “concept” and wonder if you can join this community of consumers. Well, the good news is you can. How you ask?? Let me help you with a few steps:
1.Be willing to step out of your comfort zone :- This is your first step. Learning something new can be uncomfortable. People who use these services are not rocket scientists. They are just people with an open mind and willingness to learn.
2.Learn how to use a computer :- If you are a literate person this is a piece of cake. Enroll yourself in a basic computer course or have a friend or family member teach you how to use a computer. A lesson in any word editing software (e.g Microsoft Word) and how to use the internet is enough to start. Get an email account for yourself and maybe join a social network like facebook. Maybe move to using the internet from your phone as well.
3.Get an Internet Banking Account :- Any public sector bank like SBI will provide you with an Internet Banking account these days. The bank should assist you with how to open the account for yourself. Again you can use the help of a family or friend. Learn how to navigate within your account and use services within the website e.g how to add beneficiaries to your account for transferring money.
4.Start buying online :- Try buying your first product on any e-commerce website(snapdeal ,ebay, amazon, etc). Or do a recharge for your beloved.
As part of this digitally empowered community, get ready to feel all the difference. Your efforts will be totally worth your while. You can now express amusement at a friend spending a day in the bank for a transaction or you may help him become a part of this community by guiding him from your own experiences. You may also find yourself doing all purchases, bank transactions and recharges for your family and friends who, let me warn you, is the only con.
You can also sell online. Geographical limitations are no longer an issue. Retailers or manufacturers can list and sell their products on the website, meaning anybody with access to the website is a potential customer. You can now sell anywhere in the world. Your digital shop is now open 24x7 in the form of a website. And you don’t have to worry about advertising.
People often ask “How can I make money online?”. Most of them are carried away by the spam ads that read “I made Rs.30,000 online in one week” and think that you can make money that way. There are ways to earn money online but it is not as easy as it sounds. However selling your product online is one surefire and the most common way of making money online. Here are some steps you can follow:
1. Identify the website: There are a lot of e-commerce websites available like ebay, amazon, snapdeal, ilandlo,etc. You can choose one or more site where you want to sell depending on profit margin, popularity of the website and good customer support provided to the seller by the website .
2. Register yourself with the website.
3. Get in touch with the seller support team of the website:- The seller support team will help you with everything related to how to list your product on their site. Make use of the services provided by the support team to a full extent.
4. Identify a logistics company for shipping purpose:- Use the shipping services of Indiapost, Bluedart, First Flight and logistics company of the likes for delivering your product to your buyer’s doorstep.
From selling handicrafts to pickles and other eatables online, Nagaland has already joined the selling community. Imtisunup Longchar, cofounder of ilandlo.com which is based in Dimapur, says “The pickle maker who makes 20 bottles of pickles a month for her regular clients around Dimapur and Kohima as her market, gets a sudden raise in demand from people living outside the state who wants to eat home made food.” Entrepreneurs are selling their products on facebook pages (Precious Melove, A-J Store, etc). Indihut.com is also doing a noble task of promoting local artists of our region.
From the beginning of time, any new technology was meant to make our lives easier. The invention of internet is no lesser than the invention of the wheel or the discovery of fire. The world is now going digital and we cannot afford to be left behind. Digital technologies are meant to make our lives easier and e-commerce is one such technology. It is high time that our community starts giving high importance to digital literacy and empower ourselves with such technologies.
