Commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services on a large scale. The history of commerce dates back to mid 16th century where trade started in Europe. Trade fairs were held and luxury goods were sold and bought by merchants. Soon wealth became capital and banking systems were developed and money was transacted on banks accounts across and throughout national boundaries. In commerce today we have traditional and electronic commerce where people and companies try to make much profit. This essay seeks to outline the advantages and disadvantages of traditional commerce.
Traditional commerce is a kind of commerce which concentrates on the exchange of goods and services. It is comprised of all the activities that in one way or the other encourage the exchange of goods and services to take place. Unlike ecommerce where there is no physical exchange, traditional commerce encourages physical exchange and there is physical store where customers can visit. There are many advantages of traditional commerce; one of them is customers can personally inspect goods before they buy and this is very crucial for business. Visiting a physical store to verify goods can help one to feel good about that environment. Security is another advantage because the owner of the business cannot loss money through scams and hacks. Customers don’t need an internet to visit one’s store to buy goods and services. Another advantage of this commerce is that fraud merchants can be caught easily unlike scams whose whereabouts are unknown by customers. Goods which are bought have no need to be shipped by the seller and delivered to the customer, but the customer transports his goods after payment has been made. Another advantage is customers can choose mode of payment and this can be cash or credit card.
Traditional commerce has its own disadvantages too. The main one is not everyone has the leisure time to visit the store. Some customers prefer to purchase goods in wide range and this can be done under one roof but availability of products can be an issue especially where there is insufficient stock. Time saving is also an issue and traditional commerce is time wasting because one has to visit the store. This commerce is not cost effective because it requires the owner to employ people to work in the store. Introducing a new product also takes a lot of resources and this includes time and money. People who work late hours cannot access the store twenty four hours and this can be a drawback. Lack of discounts and offers is seen in shopping in store and this is another disadvantage. Discounts and offers can attract customers and this can maximize the profits of the business. Employees who are employed by owner of the business may also disrespect customers and not provide the correct information that the customers need.
In summary commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services on a large scale. Today we have traditional and electronic commerce where people and companies try to make much profit. Traditional commerce is a kind of commerce which concentrates on the exchange of goods and services. It is comprised of all the activities that in one way or the other encourage the exchange of goods and services to take place. There are many advantages and disadvantages of traditional commerce. Advantages of traditional commerce range from product inspection, money security, and personal relationship with owner. Disadvantages range from time consuming, inconvenience of customers, lack of discounts and offers.
