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THE ECONOMY IS a buyer's world. The three great trends of our time -- globalization, deregulation, and digitization -- have given the consumer more choices and more information than ever before. And choices and information mean market power. Twentieth-century economists have long taught the notion of consumer sovereignty; but only in recent years have consumers experienced its full force. And then there is the Internet, which has expanded the consumer's horizons from his or her Much has been made in recent years of the benefits of e-commerce. But actual buying over the Internet is still only a fraction of the nation's $ 5. 8 trillion in For now, the real value to the consumer of the Internet is not e-commerce, but information.
By providing consumers with easy access to information, the Internet has already dramatically changed the relationship between consumers and sellers. Think about buying a car. If you have ever gone to a car dealership without doing research, you know what an unpleasant experience that can be. A salesman will fill your ears with talk of rustproofing, financing plans, and options.
He " ll talk about how he is offering you a price so low that there's "barely any money left in this for the dealer. " And you squirm in your chair. Why? Because the salesman has all the information, and you know only what he chooses to tell you. Spend an hour on the Internet first, however, and the experience is completely different. You know in advance not just the sticker price, but the dealer's invoice. You know which options are worth buying and which aren't.
You know exactly what car you want and how it compares with others in reliability and safety. And if you used an Internet buying service, you may even know the best price a dealer in the area is willing to give you. Surveys suggest that roughly half of all car buyers now consult the Web before buying. The same is happening in airline travel. The book-buying business has been transformed as well. And other businesses are following at a breakneck pace.
The Internet is still in its infancy, and as it develops, the consumer's power is bound to increase in a variety of ways. In Adam Smith's market, consumers had only two choices: to buy or not to buy. But in the high-tech market, the consumer can send far more Already, thousands of consumers are participating in auctions on sites like eBay. com (web) and its competitors. And Priceline.
com (web) has turned the old economic model completely upside down, allowing consumers to set the price they are willing to pay while companies bid to serve Moreover, the net allows consumers not only to say how much they " ll pay for a product, but to design the product themselves. Dell Computer has been at the forefront, but others are rapidly catching up. All of this means that ever more control over the key decisions in the economy is now in the hands of Bibliography:
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Research essay sample on Recent Years E Commerce
