Unfamiliar Trading Conditions
These can affect both the business and its customers. The main reason online trading was pretty slow to take off was because customers were worried about purchasing online. Usually, once new customers have successfully buy goods online they became less stressed with online shopping.
Businesses that are used to working on a small scale or dealing with customers on a personal level find it difficult to adapt. They may even misjudge the popularity of their website and many other mistakes may occur.
A business that is less successful then what it was expected to be may have unsold stock and find it difficult to pay any money borrowed for website development.
Vulnerability To Hostile Attack
According to the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit, cybercrime costs British businesses billions of pounds per year. It is not just the larger businesses which are threatened by hackers, spoof websites or denial of service attacks (DOS).
A DOS attack happens when a website is overwhelmed by data, such as email messages, in a very short time so that the site is brought down. Hack mailers – as they have been called – target websites at their weakest point (for example Christmas)
Hijacking a website is when the site is copied so that there is a fake version on the internet which customers may use, thinking they are dealing with the original organisation. Sometimes the pages are badly copied and genuine links are replaced with those that lead to pornographic websites to destroy a company’s image and reputation. On some others customers are told to give personal details (such as bank account information)
Liability for wrong or out-of-date Information
Under the Trades Descriptions Act and the E-commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 information given on the website must be clear and descriptions must be accurate. A business that deliberately misled customers could be liable under the terms of these Acts. Equally, if a customer took action based on outdated or inaccurate information there may be a case to answer – although most websites have a ‘disclaimer’ clause to cover this type of problem. However, much depends upon the type of website. For example, the NHS has to be more careful about the accuracy of the information it provides that Tesco.
Language Problems With Global Customer
Multinational businesses with overseas customers normally have a facility to enable users to choose the website version they want, sometimes by identifying their national flag or national map (For example .) Some websites automatically (using I.P address) detect where the customer is.
Small businesses who want to sell to foreign business customers have two choices:
- They may try to work through a local agent
- They could have enquiries for their services translated (Using an expert! Translating online services are not 100% accurate and the meaning may get lost in translation)
Hardware and Software Failures
All computer users are dependent upon their Internet Service Provider to stay online. If the system develops a technical fault, then Internet access is lost until the fault is repaired. This can create serious problems for an online business, particularly if the website is ‘down’ for any length of time.
The system may itself develop issues. The hardware might malfunction or software may be corrupted. Most businesses have back-up servers so they can switch between the two if one server goes down. Software problems may be caused by spyware of other computer viruses. Anti-virus and network security measures are very important.
Data Loss
Data can be lost for many reasons. A report in Europe about the loss of data showed that a total of 1.7 million incidents every year happen, as a result of problems such as:
Daily back-ups of the system means businesses can always reset their systems within 24 hours of time. It is also common to back-up the system before making major changes again to restore the system quickly and effectively.
Global business regulations
Most people are aware that there are many differences between products they see abroad and in Britain. An item you purchase from abroad will always have a different type of packaging label, even if it is made in the UK, to do with something of the culture or language of the country where it was being sold.
There are many advantages and disadvantages of these things risks and issues being dealt with. Below are just a few examples of these advantages and disadvantages.
