DHAHRAN, 22 April — A recent report indicated that by the year 2005, the total turnover of e-commerce would reach the trillion-dollar mark. The study also revealed that e-commerce, which until now is popular only for industrial, commercial and trade transactions, would spread its span to consumer and household items.
“Just a hit on the keyboard and your household items are on the way,” claimed one trading site specializing in consumer items and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG).
In the United States, e-commerce did expand its horizons. While you are working at your PC and suddenly desire to have a quick bite, just open the relevant site; enter your credit card number and order your pizza with your desired toppings, and drinks. In a few minutes, your favorite pizza is delivered and you are munching while still at work.
There was another site — unfortunately closed now — where you could have the choicest of fruits and vegetables. Just select them and potatoes, tomato, fresh apples, mango and watermelon will be delivered at your doorstep.
These claims and future planning do sound very appealing and encouraging.
The time we spend on shopping will be saved and could be utilized in so many other constructive and more meaningful work and projects. In the future, the pace of growth and development will accelerate to reach new heights and eventually society will attain what it has been striving for since the inception of modern civilization — a more meaningful and productive human existence.
But the million-dollar question here is whether society, which would eventually evolve with the growth of e-commerce, will be more meaningful and productive or a society devoid of human intricacies, without the charm of interaction and will eventually lose its humane aspect.
The present society has confined women — especially from the middle class in the developing countries — to the four walls of the home. She has been bestowed with such humiliating and sarcastic titles as “Home Minister” and “Princess of the Kitchen.” The only exposure she has is through her interaction with the wife of the neighbor next door or at the shopping center and marketplace where she takes decisions about her daily needs.
Now e-commerce is destined to deprive her this interaction too. It is a scenario where the poor woman is virtually sentenced to a perpetual confinement of the four walls. Will there be any need for her to go to the marketplace and the shopping center? “What is the logic to go there,” will surely be a question thrown to her by the husband. “Log on to the Net and place your order,” he will suggest.
So it is very obvious that the new order and the progress of e-commerce will curb her personality even more.
Going out and doing the daily shopping is what she enjoys as part of the running of the household. This will also be withdrawn and she will be reduced to an existence with fewer purposes and very little contribution in family matters.
Another very obvious aspect of e-commerce is that the charm of opting for a product or consumer item from the shelves of the supermarkets and in the showcase of the shopping malls will go away. It can be said that on the Net one will have a range of products and one can select and choose the desired items suiting his or her pocket and budget. But what they don’t realize is that it will not be products but just words describing the products.
A stroll at the supermarket has its own charm. A look at the desired consumer item and the touch has its own feel. E-commerce takes away the charm and feel. How can a woman feel the softness of a fabric and smell the sweetness of a perfume on the Net?
She has to decide only on the basis of brand names. How can a housewife test that a mango is sweet or sour without smelling it. There is a plethora of goods, which could never show their characteristics by sheer listing on the Net. They have to be touched, smelled and felt.
E-commerce will also deal a death blow to a new industry and new products. Those brands which do have quality but not very popular in the market, will be swept away by popular brand names.
A consumer who has to decide his shopping through listings only will obviously feel insecure and uncertain with an unknown name.
So the rich gets richer and the poor becomes poorer syndrome will be a harsh reality. Those with popular brand names will flourish while those with a new entry in the market will face extinction even before their entry to the marketplace. And this way the whole concept of a free market society will be rewritten.
These arguments do not mean that e-commerce is a living demon and hence should be wiped out of the cyberworld. Certainly it personifies human development and therefore it should be utilized. No doubt it will have a very positive effect on the industrial and economic development of nations.
But a balance should be struck between the human and commercial aspect of e-commerce. Only if it takes into consideration the human psyche and its intricacies and the market requirements and its relationship with the consumers, the whole concept will flourish. If it becomes more humane, it will certainly be a blessing even to a housewife!