E-Commerce has boomed in the age of bigger Internet penetration and rate of mobile usage – and this increase has logistics providers struggling to keep up with demand.
This, and more, were uncovered at the Selangor Information Technology & E-Commerce Council (SITEC) E-Commerce Hackathon: Improving Online Consumer Confidence, a symposium which was held on 8th August 2016 with the aim of bringing together industry players of various levels to kickstart a discourse that will result in solutions for the improvement of consumer confidence.
Keynote addresses and presentations by leaders of e-Commerce outlined some of the major challenges faced by each sector. Results of the SITEC Consumer Issues Survey identified key areas of focus, with three concurrent workshops conducted to discuss the issues presented.
Logistics was identified as having the most room for improvement. With the double digit growth recorded by e-Commerce, logistics providers are struggling to cope with the volume.
Currently, providers are looking into a wider integration of service for international transactions and small merchants, as well as improving customs processes for online transactions and the use of technology for more efficient delivery and tracking tools.
In the discussion on Marketplace solutions, problems identified were product descriptions, branding, customer service, marketplace inventory and marketplace challenges.
Recommendations for solutions here were to educate merchants to improve in each area.
While payment gateways enjoyed the highest level of satisfaction as indicated by the SITEC Consumer Sentiment Survey 2016, participants of the workshop voiced concerns regarding security of transactions made without payment gateways, particularly C2C (Consumer to Consumer) transactions.
To address the issues faced by online merchants, the solution for the sector lies within regulatory framework and education to further strengthen the existing infrastructure.
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