Retailing involves selling products and services to consumers whereas in online and mobile this is done through online channels such as websites and apps. The delivery of the products to the end consumers is a major aspect in online retailing as it is the only physical transaction between the consumer and the company.
In online (and mobile) retailing there are 3 main e-commerce models being used:
The Drop Shipping Model: In this model, the retailer has tie-ups with various manufacturers for displaying their products on their website. When a customer places an order on the website, the retailer notifies the supplier/manufacturer about the order and the manufacturer ships the product directly to the consumer. The advantages of this model are that the retailer does not incur any inventory holding cost, less capital is required and the overhead expenses are low. But the disadvantages of this model are that there is no control over the customer experience as usually there is a single
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