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Disadvantage Of The Internet In Business – Is It Advertisement Or Hype
One disadvantage of the Internet in business is that shoppers do not
have complete faith in what they see. They are unsure whether the promotional
advertisement is genuine or pure hype. In advertisements all you see are images
of products you wish to purchase. Images are no substitute for touching, feeling
or putting on, say, a piece of garment for trial.
People are more comfortable purchasing goods across the counter, interacting
with a person, rather than a faceless entity. The facelessness of business
through Internet is disconcerting to a lot of people. People who enjoy social
interaction, and have the sense of community, feel uncomfortable with doing
business through the Internet.
Lack of Trust
Internet in business has created barriers of its own. It is human to socialize
and meet people but in this instance it makes you feel isolated and so,
untrusting. Will you receive the product as advertised or will you get a cheaper
or a fake product?
Doing business without one to one contact may lead to lack of trust. People need
to look you in the eye before putting up the cash. People are leery of trusting
faceless entities with their personal information. Internet, the most powerful
business tool, can be a disadvantage in wrong hands. Disclosing credit or debit
card details make a lot of people uncomfortable as this information can be
‘stolen’ and misused. This is akin to handing over a blank check.
One other disadvantage of the Internet in business is that there is too much
information on a product. The amount of promotional material being offloaded
onto the web is so high that it leaves a potential buyer more confused than he
was, to begin with. For a new Internet shopper it is difficult to decide what to
choose. All this is done in the name of competition but works to the detriment
of the businesses involved.
Some of the disadvantages of the Internet in business:
• A very common ‘negative’ is no face-to-face contact. People prefer doing
business on a one to one basis in a physical sense.
• With the overabundance of promotional information, it is difficult to tell
what is genuine and what is not. One does not get to ‘feel’ the product.
• Information overload leaves one more confused than one was, to begin with.
• Fear of misuse of credit or debit card information
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