1. Unit 8: e-Commerce
P5: The social implications of e-
commerce on society

2. Types of e-commerce:
 E-tailers e.g. Amazon.com and ebuyer.co.uk . A retailer that is a
click only business. They only sell goods and services online.
 Manufacturers e.g. dell.com. These are e-commerce sites that sell
the products they have manufactured themselves.
 Existing retailers e.g. tesco.com and argos.co.uk. These are
businesses that already existed before they set up an e-commerce
site.
 Consumer led e.g. eBay. These companies allow consumers to sell
products using their site.
 Service providers e.g. easyjet.co.uk, and lastminute.com. These
companies normally sell services rather than products on their e-
commerce sites.
 Financial e.g. esure.com. These are e-commerce sites that only
deal with banking and financial needs.

3. Make a mind map…
 Info you need to include:
 What each type of business is e.g. e-tailer
 Give some examples e.g. Amazon etc
 How they make money e.g. selling goods
 How each type of business works e.g. customers buy
goods on line which are posted to customers
 This needs to be detailed! You are doing
this instead of a 500 word essay!

4. Assignment info
Marking Criteria (P5): Examine the
social implications of e-commerce on
society
Format to be assessed:
A DETAILED mind map - to be placed
on blog titled P5 The social implications
of e-commerce on society

5. Social implications:
 Providing added value: e-commerce sites can often provide added value by
offering online discounts, free delivery and other incentives to make using e-
commerce more favourable.
 Ease & security and e-commerce sites make it increasingly easy to buy
products and services online, often with only a few clicks. Faster payment
systems like PayPal and saving favourite products help to make e-commerce fast
and simple. Added security helps to keep sites secure and improve consumer
trust.
 Providing service: as well as selling products and services, e-commerce sites
also provide services to help customers with their purchase. These include
delivery, customer support, FAQ, and payment options. These all have an impact
on numbers of staff needed and costs.
 Economic and social impact due to speed of changes: the way we shop has
changed dramatically in recent years and is probably only going to continue
changing . This means that both socially and economically things are going to
continue to change.
 Implications of brick and click businesses: there are many implications to
consider with a brick and click business as there is a need for consistency
between the traditional shop and the e-commerce site, for example with payment,
prices, products and company ethos.

6. Discuss:
What the implications are
How it could affects the consumer

7. Benefits to customers:
 Access to goods and services for the house bound: this has
allowed for people that could not normally go out shopping for
many different reasons to be able to purchase services and
goods online.
 Anytime access: as e-commerce sites can be used at all times of
the day or night, this allows consumers to shop when it is most
convenient, even in unsociable hours when shops would normally
be shut.
 Internet discounts: these can be added to goods to make it more
favourable to buy online. Also as they often don't have as many
overhead costs to cover with an e-commerce site, they can
sometimes charge less for products.
Discuss:
 What the benefits are
 What effect they can have on consumers

8. Drawbacks for the customers:
 Payment security: this can concern consumers, especially on websites
they are not familiar with. Consumers should be checking sites are
secure and payment methods are appropriate.
 Reliance on delivery services: getting a reliable delivery service can be
tricky. E-commerce sites that offer order tracking or an exact delivery
time are helpful to allow consumers to plan waiting for deliveries around
their day.
 Impact on employment: click businesses often need less staff to run
them than brick businesses do. Meaning there could be less chance
for employment, also people that are hired to work for click businesses
will require specialist skills.
 Social divide: e-commerce may also be seen to create a social divide
between the people that will use e-commerce sites on a regular basis
and those who continue to shop traditionally.
Discuss:
 What the drawbacks are
 What effect they can have on consumers